January is almost over

January just shot by, unbelievable, yet it still bore fruits, not many, but at least a few that are worth mentioning.

Shooter was selected to screen in the USA, this time at the Delray Beach Film Festival in March, and I really want to make the effort to go there. Basil will also be in the area at the time, which would work out just like the Palm Springs trip, it means we can hook up and get some meetings in with each other to help support.

Fixed the 2nd burst water pipe in the cottage after our big freeze, and guess what, it is to freeze again, so I turned the water off in the street until spring pops it's head up. It's OK, I don't live in the house yet.

'Shooter; is in Official Selection at the Deep Fried Film Festival in the summer, I am so happy that the film has been accepted into its 3rd Scottish festival, lets hope for a result.

Joe Henry is hear for the next few days as we cut the 'Unsigned Legends' project. It was shot in Ireland on New Years eve, on a Sony EX1, and he supplied me with the stock, which has not been reduced, so everything is at a stop until the footage is reduced to work on my system, looking forward to getting creative and doing something special with it.

Mum has been performing again, so pleased for her, as it is slowly building her confidence again, and by the sounds of it she is building a new fan base for her material in Pitlochry, good on you Mum.

So I have updated the poster for Shooter again, and looking forward to more results coming through in the next couple of months.

Shooting in slow motion today

Ok, some of you will be saying,'How can you shoot in slow motion?'
The system I use, captures directly to the on-board memory of the camera, then after a moment, it then writes that information to tape, it can only capture 6 second bursts, but if you plan well in advance, the shots can be spectacular.

Today we were in the woods above Helensburgh, and we filmed a dummy missile shooting out of a rocket launcher, zipping along a thin wire and giving us some magic moments to record on film, if you go to this link, you can follow our progress with Peter Montgomery's feature film, 'The Blood'.

These two dodgy looking chaps in the pictures are Peter Montgomery and Paul Hunter, and as usual we are out in all weathers to get the shots needed to finish the project. Off to post-production, looking forward to the cut.

Now I am home and toasty again, time for a feed.

Moving on

This morning, I took my finger out and started the house moving process.

I called the planning guy, then found an architect, planned a trip up north tomorrow morning to view the cottage and start the drawing and planning process.

Went to the hardware store and started an account, now we are talking, this means I can start ordering materials for the house just as soon as the building warrant has been passed. Got the gutter parts for Mums house as the weight of the snow ripped them all down, and dropped into Peter Montgomery for a quick Photo shop tutorial, for him.

The car has a new starter motor and tyres, it is back up to new again, nice to know that your car is in good order, needs a good clean though, the salt does not do it any favours.

Working with the progress of 'Shooter' is always on my mind, and often takes priority over the other things that I do, but so much has to be done, and all in this new year, like I said, I have taken my finger out and I am on a mission.

Ok, so it's 2010

And we are definitely experiencing the coldest winter in decades, and about time too. For once in my life I have felt it in my bones, that the world is functioning properly and that what we are being fed by the media, is not as it seems. Maybe this is just an extra cold winter, but in my book, it spells out that the world is good.

So, with my wee rant out of the way, we get down to what is happening this year.

After the quite spell of the festive season, I had a number of rejections from film festivals, I was starting to loose momentum with 'Shooter', then this morning I got an email from The Delray Beach Film Festival in Florida, saying, Congratulations, 'Shooter' has gained Official Selection. Suddenly all is forgotten about the last 3 months of not a lot happening. Very Happy Chappy.

Happy New Year