I went to Scotland in April of this year to help film a teaser for an upcoming drama production. I was one of two camera ops being directed by Hal Watmough. It was great filming in the middle of some vast Scottish landscapes although I regrettably didn’t take any wellies. Wet feet didn’t stop me though, we still got some lovely shots of waterfalls, lochs and everything in between.
I filmed with a Canon 5D Mark 2 and Guy the other op. used a Panasonic GH2.
Back in August I went to Hong Kong to visit a friend for a couple of weeks. We had an amazing time there, despite being slowly suffocated by the incredible humidity. We were lucky enough to stay up a mountain away from the crowds of the city, but we ventured down everyday to explore. Buying film and getting photos processed seemed very cheap indeed, so we ended up taking a fair few. Here is a selection from the first film.
A man painting a sign.
A mechanic working in his not so tidy garage.
The Sai Kung Bay.
Two Sai Kungians enjoying the bay.
A typical housing block in Hong Kong, there wasn’t one building without air-con.
A barrow in an abandoned salt farm.
These were taken with my trusty Pentax using ISO 100 film. It’s the first time I’d used film at this sensitivity and I’m very impressed with the vivd colour and the sharpness not always attainable from more sensitive films. Although I think shooting in the bright Hong Kong sun also helped! I will post more from the other films we had processed in due course.
This is something I’ve been meaning to post for a while. A video I filmed for The Badje playing at the Green Door Store:
I filmed this with a friend, I was using a canon 60d and my friend was using a Sony V1. Only a few shots from the V1 made it into the final edit because it simply could handle the low light.
I recently bought a second hand 35mm film camera; the Pentax K1000. In an effort to learn about exposure, aperture, ISO, and shutter speed I thought this camera, being completely manual, would be the best place to start. Having used it for a while now, it really is good to be starting from the start. With no auto-focus, auto-exposure or auto-everything it’s a lot more satisfying when a picture comes out as you hoped. Not being able to constantly review the photo you’ve just taken forces you to make sure the camera is set up correctly and I like that about it. I’ve selected the best from the first film I got processed.
FILM 01 – Chilli Plant in the Sun.
FILM 01 – Orange Sky
FILM 01 – Bench on Walkway
FILM 01 – Busy Fridge.
FILM 01 – Arch To Beach.
FILM 01 – Rough Sea.
FILM 01 – To the Pier.
FILM 01 – Boats
Again it’s been a good while since I’ve been here. I finished that music video edit and here it is:
A night full of fresh hip hop that’s now every Thursday at Riki Tiks. Some of the animation is a bit ropey but overall it looks good.
My dad has recently begun painting again. He has been an artist most of his life but fell into the trap of letting work take over and never getting anything creative done. Well that’s behind him now and he’ll be updating his blog as he goes though for now there’s just old work, new work will be posted soon at: http://johnpothecary.wordpress.com/
Been doing a lot of editing recently. Currently have two projects: Editing a comedy narrative and editing a promo for a Brighton club night. Both are near completion (I may put up some screen shots in the meantime).
I recently watched this short documentary Undercity:
Shot nicely, very interesting subject, be sure to watch it.
So my new youtube video is up:
Post production took a little longer on this one but I’m very pleased with it. I couldn’t stop laughing while attaching my head to the metronome (think I went a little mad)! Filmed this with Louis in an hour and it was very fun/funny to make. I look forward to making some more of these (hopefully this week).
While I was clearing out an old hard-drive I also found my first ever stop-motion animation:
I made this in my first year of University (2007). I had an excess of post-it notes that I didn’t know what to do with (I had hundreds), and wanted to try my hand at stop-motion. My friend Max Unsted did the music and I think that it’s probably my favourite part of the video. I used a web-cam so the resolution isn’t great but it’s good enough for what was an experiment.
Well it has been quite a while since my last real post. I have been finishing my degree, doing lots of projects and of course working, which hasn’t left much time for posting. Now, as a few of these projects have now finished, I should be updating more often. For this post though I thought I would show what I have been working on:
In the final stages of post-production is a rape prevention film I have been co-directing for Sussex police. The script was written by Peter James and we were lucky enough to secure a track for JLS to feature in the film. Delivery for this is the next week and the film will be first distributed throughout Sussex schools with a view to taking it nationally.
I have been concentrating a lot on film recently, here is a little short I made with some friends. I’m hoping to do quite a few more of these.
I have also begun sub-editing plaground magazine. The magazine is focused around art and design, it is beautifully printed always interesting. The theme for the upcoming issue is ‘exchange’.
That’s it for now.
He hadn’t remembered, I knew he wouldn’t. He hadn’t remembered and now I was going to have to ask him.
“Did you remember to bring the…”
“Ahh no, sorry,” he said.
“Oh,” there we go I knew he wouldn’t.
“I was just really rushed this morning and…”
“No it’s fine, don’t worry.” I said.
We continued to queue.
The Collected Notes Of Oliver Pothecary
oliverpothecary.wordpress.com 