So what’s been happening since my last proper post in January?

Well, I’ve had a few opportunities to use my new flashgun, and I’ve got some amazing shots with it. I absolutely love it! There will be some pictures at the bottom of this post.

At college, we’ve spent the last 6 weeks working on a corporate piece for the Uniformed Services course. After some convincing from my tutor, I got assigned the roll of Director. This meant that I was in charge of pretty much everything. I found it quite difficult on the first day of shooting, due to not fully understanding what we was supposed to be doing, or where we were supposed to be. Everything got thrown at us at once, and it got a little bit overwhelming. However, on the second day of shooting, I knuckled down, and took a bit more of a commanding roll. The area we was shooting in was smaller, and everything was a lot more organised. When my tutor spoke to the group at the end of the shoot, he complimented me on my directing skills, and the improvement between the two days. From what I’m aware, the edit has been completed, and being shown to the client on Monday (4th April). Once it has been written off, I will try and get a copy to put up on here to show all you lovely people who read my blogs [=

Thats about all I can think of at the moment...

Anyway, have some photos to look at.

I’ve been having quite a rough time of it at home recently, and I’m just trying to find some sort of stability in that before I try and focus on my blog.

Thank you to everyone who has read this.
I’ll be back soon

So, I haven’t really been doing much, which is a bit crap. But hey, what can you do.

I’ve started back at college after Christmas, and been given 2 new projects to work with already. One being a merge between Theatre and filming, and another being an informational piece about Felixstowe and/or King’s Lynn that we have to completely organize ourselves. Both projects should seem a challenge, but both hold the potential to be really enjoyable pieces.

Moving on from that though, on Christmas, my parents got me a new Flashgun for my camera, so I should be able to get some more consistently good photos in the future. I have taken some test photos with it around my house, testing the bounce capabilities. In a gig environment, I won’t be able to test it out until possibly 3rd February. Should be fun, and to be honest, I can’t wait.

In other news, I went to the video shoot for Mallory Knox’s new single, “Resuscitate”, in Littleport on Saturday. It was all performance based, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. I took my camera along, and decided to take some production stills for the band, that they are very happy with. The pictures came out very well, and you can view them at the bottom of this blog post, if you wish.

As I haven’t done one in a while, I’m guna do an “Introducing” today [=

FLUX PAVILION

Yes, thats right, I'm doing Dubstep today. Flux Pavilion first caught my eye in December '10 when I downloaded the UKF Dubstep 2010 album off of iTunes. After hearing their remix of Freestylers' "Cracks", I decided to look into them a bit more, and bought their Lines In Wax Ep off of iTunes. I was blown away. Its different from other Dubstep, which is why it has stuck out to me. I suggest you get their EP.
For fans of: Tek-One, Chase & Status

Anyway, until next time...

Well, college isn’t going too bad. Over the last couple of weeks, we have been working on iDents for the college TV channel, SpringboardTV.com. During the process of this, we have covered such elements as stop frame animation and 2D animation via Adobe Photoshop CS4/CS5. This has helped me a great deal, as SFA and 2D animation have always fascinated me for some reason. After doing several demo’s on Photoshop on 2D animation, we eventually took out a camera, cleared out a room, and turned a table upside down. The purpose of this was to make a very basic and short SFA. The scenario was this: I was on a “boat” (upturned table) on a river (the floor, tissues were used to look like waves). While merrily floating along, a river monster (tripod bag) jumps up and attacks me and eats my right arm. The “boat” continues to float off screen. All in all, it showed us the hard work that goes into a SFA, no matter how short. It was certainly an eye opener.

We got separated into groups to make our own iDents after watching several examples on the internet. Myself and Josh Massen decided to work together, and came up with a couple of ideas between us. The initial idea was to make a time lapse of people coming into the studio, leaving random objects on the floor, eventually revealing the Springboard TV logo on the floor. We went into college on Monday 29th November to film this, but fortunately, the UK is currently experiencing an extremely cold spell. This means lots of snow. Luckily, I had bought my Canon 20D DSLR camera into college that morning to try and get some photos of the snow. I then had a brain wave. Why not draw the Springboard TV logo into the snow? Genius! So at about midday, we went to the Walks. Picked a nice, clean area of snow, and set up a time lapse. To show a decent amount of movement in the frame, I set the intervals between photos at 3 seconds, using an Intervalometer borrowed of Peter Naylor. 33 minutes and 339 photos later, we were finished! I took the photos back to college, and have crafted a brief and rough edit of the time lapse. Obviously, some work is still needed, but we’re continuing with that on Thursday.

By the way, I mentioned a couple of months ago about me trying out time lapses. Well, I have set a couple up, and posted them on my youtube page, but here they are. Only tests, remember.
Timelapse Test 1
Timelapse Test 2
Timelapse Test 3

Music time, I guess.

MALLORY KNOX

Forming only in 2009, Mallory Knox have come a long way in such a short time. A truly amazing band. Choruses that are just waiting to be sung back by a large crowd. Addictive music, memorable lyrics, what more could you want? Sorry I can’t be a bit more descriptive about them, its late lol.
For fans of: Biify Clyro, Deaf Havana

Until next time, folks!

Over the last few weeks, I have been doing some filming at Dersingham Bog for my 3 Minute Wonder unit at college. Some of the footage that we have captured, is absolutely amazing. Running lizards, urinating bees and hovering dragonflies. Some truly amazing stuff that we were really lucky to get on camera! That is currently in the post production stages, so look forward to that online very soon.

Now, time for the amazing part. On Tuesday 5th October, I travelled up to Hull University to watch rising UK band Young Guns. I was down as a street teamer anyway, so I got free entry into the gig. However, on the 3rd October, I contacted their manager, and asked if it was OK if I could take photos of their set. And to my surprise, he said yes! As soon as I got confirmation, I started a frantic search for a flashgun, as I didn’t want to take mediocre photos with my built-in flash, when I could potentially take amazing photos with a flashgun. Luckily, my good friend, David Fox, leant me his. So, after picking up the flashgun from David, I commenced the four hour drive to Hull. After a thoroughly enjoyable gig, and some amazing photos, I eventually got in at 4am on the Wednesday morning!

On that Wednesday though, I got an email back from the press manager of Architects (I asked to be a photographer at the Norwich dare of the tour back in March). Inside that email, was the running order for the Architects gig on the Thursday (7th). I took my camera along, David’s flashgun including, and snapped away. Unfortunately, the flashgun was running out of batteries, making it hard to get any decent amount of photos. Although, While taking photos of one of the support bands, I had a crowd surfer land straight on my head! The whole point of being round in front of the crowd is so that our equipment stays safe, then that happened! Oh well, such is life!

At the bottom of this blog post will be a select number of photos from the Young Guns and Architects shows, but for a wider selection of photos please feel free to check out my Facebook page: Jamie Randall Photography©. If you haven’t already, I would greatly appreciate if you would “like” my photography page, and spread the word!

Until next time, when ever that may be… Stay frosty!

We got given a brief for a “3 Minute Wonder”, which has to be a factual documentary. Carrie Golby and myself have chosen to do a short piece on Crime & Punishment in and around King’s Lynn through the years. So production started on that on Thursday, with research. I forgot how goddamn boring research was! But none the less, it has to be done. On Friday though, we had our first theory day. In the morning we got put into Work Experience groups. Now, this part has disappointed me. Now that there is so many students in the Media department (about 35 on ND 1st year, 20ish on FD, and 30ish on ND 2nd year), we have been told that we will be doing six weeks of Work Experience… TOTAL!! So, I’m rather annoyed at that, yet I’m glad that the Media department is becoming more and more popular (when I started at the Media department as a First Diploma student back in Sept ’08, there was 9 of us on the FD, about 14 on ND 1st year, and about the same on ND 2nd year!). Springboard TV should be a conquering force before long! Youtube, watch your back! Anyway, tomorrow, I go into college for my first Work Experience, along with Ryan Sutton, Emily Kissock, and Stacey Campbell. Pete said that we might be doing a Promo film for a Rugby club or Basketball club. I s’pose I will just have to wait and see.

BY THE WAY!!! I have recently got myself a Twitter account! Which, if you want to keep track of what I’m doing, but can’t be bothered to wait for a new blog, keep checking up on that. As you can see, to the left of this, there is a Twitter box with my latest Tweets. Or, alternativly, just look me up on Twitter itself: @Jb_ShadowNinja [=

What else have I got to cover?
[X] Back to college.
[X] Work Experience
[X] Twitter
[ ] Possible gigs to take photos

AHA! I knew I was forgetting something.
My friend, Stacie Cook, recently purchased a ticket for me to go see My Passion, Dead by April and Don Broco at the Norwich Arts Centre on 29th October. Hopefully, I might be taking photos at this gig. Which, My Passion and Don Broco would be awesome to take photos of by themselves. But, if I could take photos of Dead by April as well, that would be AMAZING! What is so special about them? Well, in their native homeland of Sweden, they are chart toppers! And not some underground metal chart… as in the ACTUAL Swedish charts! Their debut album debuted at #2 on the Swedish Album Chart, beaten to #1 ,only by about 1,000 copies, by Green Day’s “21st Century Breakdown”. So, if I can get photos that they like, it might be the start of something big!

Anyway, I can’t think of any music to introduce tonight. So instead, I shall leave. Remember to follow my twitter account [=

http://twitter.com/Jb_ShadowNinja

Catch you later!

I start back at college next week at some point, so I shall have a lot more to talk about regarding my continual learning in the media industry. Until that moment arises, I guess I’ll have to talk about music.

So, on Monday 13th September, Linkin Park will release their forth studio album, A Thousand Suns. And to be honest, I can not WAIT! If you know me personally, you will know of my love for the band, and how much their music has defined me as a person. A lot of people have given them a lot of stick over the last 3 years due to the dramatic change in their sound since their Nu Metal days. But the sound that Linkin Park now have, is different from what ever else is currently out their. Linkin Park are not afraid to do something new, which is why I love them.

Anyway, who shall I introduce this week…

DEPTH

Hailing from Beccles in Suffolk, Depth have been making a name for themselves in the local area for the last 4 years. After signing a record deal with Rising Records, a mini tour in February 2010 with Rules Of Romance, and the release of their debut album, Situations Fulfilled, at the end of May this year, they are spreading their name as far across the UK as they can. They’re on their way to making a real name for themselves, so brace yourselves for them. Catch them live as well!
For fans of: Funeral For A Friend, Finch

Until next time.

“Why take a flashgun if your camera has a flash?” I hear you say… Wait, you didn’t? Oh… right… Anyway, after watching a video that Peter Naylor showed me about lighting (involving a high quality photo shoot done on an iPhone!), I realized that perhaps I should start seeing what sort of photos I could get with another source of light. Now, being poor, I couldn’t afford to buy a new one straight up. So I questioned Stephen about borrowing his, and he said yes. So, at Ipswich, I tested out the benefits of a flashgun. And, oh my god. It gave me some of the best photos I have ever taken. I will attach some of the best of the night onto this post if you want to have a look.

Anyway, the bottom line is this. When I have £119 that I can afford to spend, I shall be purchasing a Sigma EF530 DGST Flashgun. As well as the slow process of trying to save up for a Canon 500D. In the mean time though, I will be emailing As I Lay Dying’s press manager to see if I can take photos at their upcoming Norwich show. I think it’s about time I start making some money out of this. Anyone want a shoot?

No “Introducing…” on the music today. Can’t think of any decent bands to share with you guys.

Anywho, until next time, keep on rockin’!

But first, lets blog. Over the past week or so, I haven’t had much opportunity to get out there with my camera and take some photos. Due to a few reasons. Work commitments, flat tyre on my car, and overall lack of interesting subjects. Although, with the recent rain fall, the amount of possible photos is slowly increasing. In the next major rain fall, I aim to go out in my waterproof, with my camera, and walk around the surrounding villages, and see what I can see. There must be some awesome things to take pictures of during the process of precipitation. Rain hitting the roof of a car for example; with my 50mm prime lens, that would look amazing with the right focus.

Anyway. The footage that was captured at Rules of Romance’s release show is looking pretty damn awesome! I haven’t had a chance to look through all the handheld footage that my little brother, Adam, captured yet, but from what I’ve seen, it looks rather good. Should be going in to actually edit it on Tuesday as I didn’t have time to do it last week. Hopefully, I can edit it together into a sweet little live video. All in 1080p, so it will take lots of render and exporting time, but oh well. Thats the joys of this industry.

Time for my “Introducing…” section I think.

I SEE STARS

I See Stars are a strange bunch. The vocals, and lyrical content you expect to be out of a pop punk band that are slightly too pop. Yet, if you listen to the heavy riffs and pounding double bass drums, you soon realize that things are not as they first seem. Hailing from the US, I See Stars take Synth driven Post Hardcore to the next level, and make it that bit more radio friendly. Their debut album, “3-D”, is only a taste of a developing band that can only improve the sound that they already have on display. Opening track “Project Wakeup” shows the some of the diversity in the influences. Clean vocals to aggressive screams in less than 30 seconds. This track also contains one of the most epic breakdowns I’ve ever heard. Check ‘em out fools!
For fans of: Attack Attack! (US), Four Year Strong

Until next time, here are some photos from Rules of Romance’s EP release show!

So what’s happened? Well, I have not long been back from Norwich, after attending my friend’s EP release show. It was an overall good night, despite one of the support bands suffering from technical difficulties halfway during a song! But fear not! I filmed the entire night in 1080p! So we can see the amusement that unfolded from the problems! I tried to take some photos at the gig tonight, but for some reason, my camera decided to be a douche! I did get a couple of half decent photos though, which might be online later. Otherwise, I got my little brother to help out with filming, by walking in and out of the crowd with one of two video cameras that I had there tonight.

Rules of Romance, the reason I went to the gig, were on the top of their game tonight. Playing every song off of their new EP (except for filler track, “Session”), mixed in with a few old songs, the lads did themselves proud with a performance that a lot of big time bands would be proud of! Crowd participation was a bit low, but that didn’t matter as Biddle swung open the gate separating the stage and crowd, and had a bit of a dance with everyone. All in all, it was a considerably enjoyable evening.

I will be commencing editing of the videos on Tuesday, with a hopeful completion date of Wednesday. What I shall be doing is this; I hope to edit as much footage as I can into a live compilation music video for Rules of Romance, with the eventual intention to upload to Youtube, and give the guys a semi-pro quality video for their Myspace and Facebook. While I’m on the subject of music videos, I briefly spoke to Biddle and Fringe about the possibility of a properly shot music video, but in a gig format. So, it works like this; pretty much booking a venue, advertising it like a gig, and then filming them performing the song over and over again, then editing it all together and making a PROPER video.

ANYWAY, time for my “Introducing…” section:

RULES OF ROMANCE

Proof that good music can come from the farms of Norfolk! Rules of Romance is comprised of a few friends of mine, hence why I chose to promote them this week.

The thing about RoR is this. They have the amazing ability to control your emotions through their music. You don’t find that very often now-a-days. The music they make is truly amazing. It is both uplifting, yet makes you think about life in a more meaningful manor. Each song they write is full of emotion, and passion for music. Biddle is a born frontman and lyricist. For it is his lyrics that will make you look at your life in a different way. His lyrics that will continuously play in your head for days, or even weeks! They are a truly amazing band with passion and belief in their abilities. I seriously suggest you check them out. I can promise you, you will NOT be disappointed!

For fans of: Four Year Strong, Mayday Parade

Debut EP, “Chaps Before Baps”
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/chaps-before-baps/id366459765
New EP, “Seeds”
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/seeds/id384357328