If you are at all sensitive to swear words please do not watch.

and here are my two earlier ones…

Whilst here in Chicago my so called friends Jon Connor and Cristina Valdivieso tricked me into doing something which I thought was a video behind the scenes guide on how to shoot timelapse…they lied.

Below is the result. Read more on their website CanonFilmmakers.com. I don’t like them anymore!

Intervention from Cristina Valdivieso + Jon Connor on Vimeo.

For more info check out www.canonfilmmakers.com

It’s been a while since I wrote something personal on my “personal blog”. It generally is a place for silliness or deep thought. Good mix eh?

My site has been going since I went freelance back in October 2006, it was a very simple iweb site just to showcase some of my work. Just over a year later in November 2007 I started the blog when I got the Sony EX1. Since then it has steadily grown with my use of 35mm adaptors in particular the Letus line.

With the blog I started doing more personal short films and sharing my experiences of shooting them. It also slowly became a resource for people to learn about low budget filmmaking. Totally accidental, just an offshoot of my love of sharing everything. I am really pleased this has happened as it has made the site what it is today. Sure, I could have a simple site which just shows of my work but I am very proud of what the site has become.

Big thanks must go out to Piotr Godek of Odd Web Things who came to me with the idea of turning my iweb site into a proper Wordpress site. We are now on Version 2 of that and the work he has done on it is wonderful. I think it is a big improvement over V1 and much easier to read, navigate and use.

But of course huge thanks must go to all the people who visit every day and have turned a place to showcase my work so I can earn money into pretty much a community. I know many of you from emails, comments and of course twitter (if you aren’t on twitter get on it and half the info I give out and half the silly nonsense I write is via twitter, check out the link on the top right.)

Without all the people who read the site, write to me, make comments I would not have anywhere near the motivation to keep it going like it is. Currently it takes a good 3 hours a day + to run my site and answer emails, maybe longer some days. It’s a labour of love which it needs to be as my day job is what earns me money so I do that during the day and the site in the evening. It doesn’t leave much time for anything else! At some point I will need to get some help running it, maybe guest blog posts and the like. It has been suggested many times that I get a ghost writer for emails and the like and that will never happen. What’s the point? If it isn’t me writing back then why bother writing to me in the first place?

Sometimes it is of course a struggle to keep it going, especially when I am really busy. So you may find I don’t answer your email. If that happens am sorry but it does get to the point very often when I wake up to 300 or so new emails and to go through them all is tough and sometimes I miss some and if I do, then try emailing again or maybe do a search on the site as much is already answered on previous blogs. Just a little bit of searching on my site can help with my workload!

I also want to keep the blog itself as varied as possible. Talking about new work of mine, new products I have come across, events, my own training products. I hope to get my hands on the 1DmkIV soon and the new PMW350 and EX1-R from Sony. I have a review of the Nanoflash coming up as well as loads of other products. Very soon will be my reviews of the Lumix GF1 and the Canon 500d…better late than never? I will start blogging about more random unrelated stuff on the personal blog. Feel free to ignore it. Also do check out my Facebook “fan” page…wanky name fan page I know, but that is what Facebook call it!

I don’t have to talk about this but I feel it is very important to set out what’s what in “black and grey” about exactly what do I make from this site? I get a lot of satisfaction out of the site that is for sure, and I mean it. When people write to me saying how much they enjoy my site it makes my day. But financially…very little. What I do get is work of course, people get to see my work and recommend me and I often get my employment that way so that is of course great for me. I also am an affiliate of Magic Bullet (20% off with code BLOOM20!!!) and have been for a while now. I have just signed up finally to be an affiliate of Zacuto. Despite all this huge promoting of them through critics, filmfellas etc I have done the promoting of their products because I think they are awesome. Being the world’s worst businessman it took Steve Weiss himself to force me to become an affiliate and despite this it still took me many months to get around to doing it! As I said…world’s worst businessman!

Being totally honest now, as an affiliate it is of course in my best interests to talk about Zacuto products. But it won’t be anymore that I did before when I was not getting any money from it and I only promote stuff I think is terrific. If it isn’t then you won’t see my talking it up. So if Zacuto ever start making a pile of crap then I guarantee you I won’t be recommending it anymore, not that I can see that happening! Steve himself has become a very close friend of mine since we started Filmfellas and Critics. Mixing business and friendship is always hard but as what Steve and Zacuto do is the best and I think Steve is a truly great guy, despite being a pansy. Very few owners of companies write to their customers personally and gets so involved. It’s this personal touch and unbeatable customer service service that make me being an affiliate of Zacuto a no brainer.

I have also started an Amazon affiliate store under my Recommended gear page, another way to try and earn some extra money from the site. It lists gear I use and if you buy from it I make a small commission…but it does serve as an information source too. Read what I use and why see it on Amazon and if you want to go buy from somewhere else because it’s cheaper then go ahead! If it can save you money then am totally cool with that! You may also have noticed the appearance of B&H photo video ads here and elsewhere. Am now also an affiliate with them, so please support my site and click on one of my links before buying something there.

The thing is the site has become a victim of it’s success, especially this year. My hits have gone up enormously since I started talking about and using Video DSLRs and I have now had to go to an expensive dedicated server and of course spend a lot more time answering questions. So these affiliate programs are a way of me being able to keep the site running in it’s current form.

Of course another downside of the success are the number of trolls I get, not just on this site but on the forums and Vimeo. I sort of put up with it. But like many creative people I am very passionate and sensitive about my work so if someone is just plain nasty then I just delete or if I am being really stupid, reply…never a good idea. So yes you may say there is censorship on this site and as this is my site I will continue to delete unnecessary comments. Sorry, it you want a place to rant then start your own blog, don’t use mine for your rants! I tried letting everything get published straight away but it didn’t work so now I have to approve everything, sometimes this can take a few days to do. Of course I expected this…I have put myself out there so people will make me a target. An unfortunate side effect and one I will need to learn to put up with. Just don’t expect me to like it!

But getting back to more positive stuff. F-Stop Academy, due to my crazy work schedule, the diversion of the 7D and 5DmkII DVDs and red tape will finally be launching properly soon. Very exciting times. Sorry for delay, we just had no idea of the reaction it would get so it’s been rather overwhelming and we want to be 100% sure everything is rock solid for launch day.

I will continue to remain as impartial as ever. Being an affiliate of Magic Bullet doesn’t stop me saying Color is great! So being an affiliate won’t stop me talking about other competitive products. I will soon be reviewing the new D-Focus from Jag35 and even the LCDVF, the viewfinder for DSLRS that wallops the Hoodman between the eyes and is snipping at the feet of the Z-Finder…what is it like? Stay tuned as a review will be coming soon and when I do any review of a product that could be a conflict of interests due to me being affiliates with certain companies then I will state so at the beginning of it. Also if I am given anything to review (which I rarely am) then again I will state so in the beginning of the review. Just by someone giving me a piece of gear to review will in now way mean they will get a glowing recommendation. What is the point? If I recommend something that sucks then I will be eaten alive by you lot!

Once again, thanks for frequenting my site, reading my blogs and in particular this one and I hope I can help out as many people in the coming years as is possible. Whenever I go somewhere abroad I try to meet up with as many readers as possible so please keep an eye out for those meet ups and I really hope to put as many faces to names as possible!

Oh and you can hear me speak and many more talented people at Converge-One in London on 12th December at the amazing BFI. Please come!

Thanks,
Philip

21st November 2009

Sorry, I know these Downfall parodies have been done to death but I couldn’t resist!!

Just a word of warning. There is the odd F word in there, so don’t watch if easily offended!

Filmed at Zacuto HQ and guest starring Dennis Lennie.

All ungraded.

Just a word of warning. There is the odd F word in there, so don’t watch if easily offended! Sorry about the odd typo in there…

There is a competition to win a seat at Re:Frame by getting the most comments on a video. It closes in about 2 days so I have made a little video with Jon to hopefully boost his chances. His video is already awesome, so I just wanted to give him a little boost.

This is the result…

Brokeback RE:Frame from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.

See Jon’s brilliant video and please comment on it asap so he can come. reframecollective.com/blog/?p=577#comments

Oh and hurry up and book the last remaining places for Re:Frame. Not many left!

I am fortunate enough to be pretty busy. But it wasn’t always that way. When I first went freelance it was great for a few weeks then it got bad. 2 months and about 6 days work. I was very worried. I went freelance to make long form docs, commercials and things like that. But when you don’t have any work you have to take what there is.

I was lucky enough to start doing some work for channel 5 in the UK during my dry spell. They took me with my full DSR kit and FCP and hired me on a day by day basis. They put me on the fun stuff or the “make something out of nothing stuff.” I am pretty inventive, very creative and think on my feet. Working in News for almost 17 years makes you fast, it doesn’t necessarily make you good though! But I got to a point where I could walk into a room, and decide within 60 seconds where to shoot an interview and how to light it. It also made me very fast at editing.

Over the past two and a half years I have been doing shifts for Channel Five in between my more glamorous assignments…it’s not Hawaii every day. But I am lucky enough that my bread and butter challenges me as much, if not more than my commercials or my long form docos. I have to direct, shoot and edit something for TX at 5pm that day, often with nothing set up and no real idea what we need to do. So it’s manic. But the challenge is very exciting. It’s also exhausting. I find days at five twice as shattering as any other shoots.

The great thing about having a regular client is also you they give you great flexibility. If something comes up that I really want to do and I am booked with them, I can generally negotiate to be released from it to do it. i don’t do it often though!

The moral of this tale is don’t be snobby about what work you accept. Do what you enjoy, have fun. I love doing my commercials, my documentaries, my short dramas, my corporates. I cannot wait to go to India next week to make a commercial for Greenpeace on the 5d. If you enjoy working for someone then great. I enjoy working for five immensely. I have made some absolutely nuts pieces for them that there is no way i could have done anywhere else. I love every minute of it. I have a load of friends there and have become great friends with one of the Reporters Ruth Liptrot, we have become a bit of a team there bringing our quirky stuff to life. it’s great to pitch crazy ideas to them and they say go for it and before you know it, it’s on air. For example, check out my Hammer Horror piece, Straight 8 piece and Dutch Ark. Stories I pitched and turned out great.

I always bring my high production values to my work for them. SD DVCAM mind, but always progressive, dolly and track, kino divas, magic bullet etc. All squeezed into a very short amount of time. The moment I don’t try and cannot be bothered is the day I move on.

Today I filmed a very simple piece about life drawing. I made the effort with the Wally Dolly and it lifted it so much. I am not saying use the dolly and track on everything, just try your best at everything you do. With that attitude you will succeed.

I have made some serious shorts for them too. My Anorexia series is very powerful and I am so proud of it. It has been very successful at raising awareness of this illness and I love my Religion series.

Here a few sample of my more fun work for five over the past 2 years including today’s little piece. You can see more here.

Life Drawing from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.

Space Hopper World Record from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.

UFO documents from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.

Hammer Horror from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.

Where is the Loch Ness Monster? HD from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.

Straight 8 from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.

The Dutch Ark from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.

KGB Experience Lithuania from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.

Most of my work you don’t see online. I don’t have the rights to show them on the internet or can’t get copies (like my Discovery HD work). What I do post on my website is some of the paid work I am allowed to show, like NT Live, 3 Seconds, The Echo, Valentine’s Day, The Trench, Siberian Portrait as well as, of course the stuff I shot and directed like Life of Crime, Eddie Gibson, Religion and of course my Anorexia films amongst others. The vast majority is my personal work…

Shooting in Germany for Discovery

Films like Sofia’s People, Cherry Blossom Girl, My Autumn’s Done Come, Return to Dungeness, Love from Southend, Alone in Tokyo and many more here are mostly just my personal projects. You see, my passion is filming, it’s the biggest thing in my life, for better or worse. I am lucky enough to be doing what I love, so when I get the chance…whether it is to test a new piece of gear or just to capture something that I want to capture I go out and do it. I can be prolific at times when I feel really motivated. I have new bits of gear I really need to try out and the best way I find to try out stuff is to film with them and make something out of it. I have the new Redrock Encore, a glidecam 2000, glidetrack, Jag35…still, the gh1 with sigma prime lens and many others. I am desperate to go out and use them but finding the time is hard, amongst answering all the emails, keeping the site running and of course actually doing proper work!

So how do I classify my personal work? Do I call them films, videos? To me they are films, as film to me doesn’t necessarily have to be narrative, have a storyline or deep concept. It can just convey an emotion, a feeling and that is what I like doing the most, as often this emotion or feeling conveys a message in itself. What that message is can be up to you, it can be open to interpretation. But I hope my work can sometimes bring a feeling of positivity to a world filled with a lot of negativity.

Stills photographers like Martin Parr, someone I only discovered a year ago (not that I am comparing his genius work to mine) captures people beautifully and naturally, something I love doing. Like him, I find richness in people’s faces, something that I believe works in moving video not just stills. I love to capture the world around me, people, places, objects, from my perspective. Not necessarily one that you share. But it’s how I see it, often influenced by my mood at the time or inspired by something or someone I meet. It’s hard to put into words. That’s why I do it with my films!

The Canon 5dmkII has recently given me the chance to be really spontaneous in what I can capture, much more like a stills photographer. I kept my films Cherry Blossom Girl and Sofia’s People raw and handheld to emphasize this rawness of “capturing the moment”. It won’t stop me doing more considered pieces with 35mm adaptors, tripods and my ex3. But it has opened up a new word to me…

My goal with this website originally was purely to showcase my work and get work. Somehow, it has evolved into something much more. A place to share information. To inform about my experiences with new gear that I have bought, which has now turned me into a part-time reviewer, the majority of stuff I review I have paid full price for, sometimes I am lucky enough to be given review samples, not very often, but often enough to mean I don’t go bankrupt! I would like to believe I am impartial. I was often accused of being bought up by Sony in the EX1 days, I think my work with JVC, Panasonic, Canon etc has more than shown this to be nonsense. For me if something is great I don’t care who makes it! Every camera I have paid for, I recently bougt a 5dmkII and lots of glass for it, I don’t even have a Canon contact, but that hasn’t stopped me waxing lyrical about it and putting out tutorials and films using it. I even reluctantly put a donate button on my main page as the site is costing me a lot to run recently and taking up so much of my time to keep it going and keeping it fresh. So much so that I am having to dedicate specific days to it now.

More importantly to me, my site has now become a place that inspires people to go out and film. To pick up their cameras and capture life as it is, go and make narrative films, film a documentary about something important to them, to push themselves more. This is what I am proud of the most.

I have started doing more and more speaking engagements, where I get to share my work and thoughts with people in a less virtual environment. Next week I will be running through the JVC HM 100 and workflow with the Canon 5dmkII at the first London Final Cut Pro User Group gathering. Please come if you can, be great to meet you. I always love to put a face to the name, that’s why I enjoyed this year’s NAB so much! Also don’t forget Re:Frame in San Francisco this October, it’s almost sold out so hurry. I will be doing 2 days of solid shooting workshops.

With F-Stop Academy I am hoping to do take this and expand on it in a much bigger way…nothing is going to change here though. I will still be doing what I am doing, making my films and hoping that to some they give pleasure and make you go out and do it. I will soon have a long interview up from a good friend of mine Tom Guilmette, I hope his words will inspire you too. I was lucky enough to have a mentor when I was learning and he helped me immesurably. We can’t all be as lucky as me, but with people like myself, Tom and many others hopefully we can inspire in the same way.

Oh and if I don’t reply to your email or question on my site or vimeo (email me rather than send using vimeo, it’s easier for me to reply), send it again. I get a lot and sometimes miss them but i always reply in the end!

Peace, and keep shooting!

Philip

Need...sleep...

Want to learn how to create the film look? Click below.

Hear me talk about Canon 5dmkII workflow and meet me at the first London FCPUG Supermeet, with special guest the legendary Walter Murch!!

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Anyway here is my masterpiece of blogness (not really) and of course it wouldn’t be a video blog if there wasn’t some mention of my friend Tom Guilmette in it somewhere! Tom, wish you were here mate. Chicago not the same without you!!

Thanks to Thomas Roberts for the lift and the amazing gift! Check out his site here.

Follow me on twitter @philipbloom

Want to learn how to create the film look? Click below.

Hear me talk about Canon 5dmkII workflow and meet me at the first London FCPUG Supermeet, with special guest the legendary Walter Murch!!

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