Cinematography blog
A place to chew the fat on all things photographic & more.
MoCo Tracker Tests
DRAGONFRAME MOCOMotion control tracker build Dragonframe Focus control system. This week I have been testing some of my home build motion control goodies. These have been designed for making stop motion animation using Dragonframe software as the interface. I have programmed the controller and finally got the forth axis to work. Wow what a pain […]
MVA NOMINATION
mva nomination music video awards 2021 Best Animation nomination. Our stop motion music video for the Run the Jewels track Walking in the snow has been shortlisted. It’s great to find out that we have been nominated for the Music Video Awards 2021 in the category of Best Animation again after our 2018 win. There […]
Stop Motion Cinematography
Lighting Stop Motion The Discord Tavern scene Stop motion lighting breakdown. One of the great joys in life is getting to create a totally new look to an as-yet unseen world using lighting and colour. The tavern scene in this commercial was great fun to work on, as it’s a little crazy and that meant […]
NEW TRAILER
STOP MOTION COMMERCIAL NEW TRAILER Stop motion cinematography. Im so glad to be able to share a trailer of the latest project I have had the plesure of working on. I am thrilled to see a few of the setups I was able to light have made it into the trailer. Flying cows, an egg-filled […]
CLIO MUSIC AWARDS WIN
CLIO MUSIC AWARDS BEST MUSIC VIDEO WIN Stop motion music video wins double gold. Wow, i’m thrilled for the team after hearing that we picked up best music video and best production design for our stop motion animation music video for the track Walking in the snow by Run the Jewels. It was a huge […]
On Set Motion Control
HOMEBUILT MOCO On SET system TESTS Dragonframe Focus control system testing. I have been shooting a commercial for the past ten days or so. This required some motion control moves and focus pulls. So I used this as the perfect chance to really test out the MoCo controller and focus controls that I have built, […]
D&AD WINNERS
D&AD AWARDS. Im Thrilled to share with you that we have picked up a number on nominations and a couple of wins at this years D&AD Awards. Winning two wooden pencils for the John Lewis Christmas commercial. This was a huge team effort so I can only say that I contributed in a tiny way […]
motion control – focus
Dragonframe Focus control system. This week I have been testing some of my home build motion control goodies. These have been designed for making stop motion animation using Dragonframe software as the interface. I have programmed the controller and finally got the forth axis to work. Wow what a pain that had been, lots of […]
JohnLewis Christmas
John Lewis Christmas stop motion tv commercial The concept. The aim was to enlist the help of different creatives – talented illustrators, animators and makers, all experts in their field – who could bring our vision to life. The group ranged from high-profile directors and puppeteers to university graduates. Everything – from the claymation figures […]
Stop Motion Music video. Cat Stevens.
Cat Stevens Stopmotion Music Video Well, with the old team reassembled the challenge was to top our previous award-winning music video. This time creating an environmentally friendly production for re-recording of a classic track by the artist Yusuf/Cat Stevens. It seemed a tall order when Jon, the other cinematographer and I were brought in and […]
New music video
Shedding some light on animation. Ok so, some things are afoot yes. Currently, this project is still under wraps. However, I can tell you I have just completed another music video with the same team as the Father John Misty video, working with Ridley Scott’s agency Black Dog films and Jacknife Film’s Chris Hopewell. I […]
Is tungsten lighting dead?
Lighting Is tungsten lighting dead? In this modern world of low cost, fancy LED lighting do we really need old fashioned tungsten? People seem to be falling over themselves lately to use LED panels to light everything. However, I feel tungsten is as valid today as it has ever been. Lighting is of course very […]
More StopMotion Music Videos
Today we begin work on another epic challenge – An ambitious stop motion project with large sets, lots of shots and many characters. Right now it’s a little bit secret. However, I can say it’s pretty ambitious with lots of fun lighting setups and lots of animation…I think its time to put the coffee on!! […]
Hobbycraft Animation
Hobbycraft Marty the Monster What can be done in one day if you really put your mind to it? Well, this little animation of ‘Marty’ the monster is proof that if you keep it simple quite a lot really. Hobbycraft needed a little convincing that stop motion could be something there were overlooking in their […]
B&Q Night exteriors
Location shooting night exteriors Shooting night exteriors. This week I have been doing some night shots, filming night exteriors. This took rather a lot of in-camera tweaking to create a profile I was confident to go shoot in low light. I would be having to balance a lot of tiny practical Christmas lights. This was […]