Enlickening

Some lighting practice with my favourite model

Visually Something

A recent creative epiphany, a brilliant artistic blow to the head if you will, has left me with the irresistible urge to make things, and do things in various somewhat productive ways. I've been drawing more, working on my banjo playing, and just generally bettering myself without trying too hard to be nicer, kinder or more pleasant in any way.

Specifically, I've taken it upon myself to master photography. No mean feat, to be sure. Well, I say master, but really i just want to get somewhat good and get to grips with all those pretty buttons on the camera. So, armed with a Canon EOS 500D set to full manual mode and a gung-ho attitude, I set out to capture the world, and perhaps take some pictures of it along the way.

So, you know...

...pictures.

Progress made, more to come.

Mister White

Had a bit of a doodle session tonight, no better feeling then drawing something you're happy with. So, I thought I'd post it here before I mess it up :P

A bit small, and a lot rough, but i'm really happy with how it turned out. will definitely have a crack at a bigger and better version. No points for guessing who it is :P

Picturesque

It has been an uncharacteristically lovely few days in fair ol' Dublin, and, taking advantage of the gorgeous light, i took to the garden with the aul camera. Below is a few of the ones i'm happy with. Taken with a FujiFilm Finepix S7000.

Phoenix Park - Things

These are just a few photos i took recently on a wander around Phoenix Park. Could've spent alot more time there, and will definitely be going back, camera in hand. Decided to have some fun with the zoom lens and see what kinda damage i could do. Anyway, these are three of my favourites under the category of inanimate objects

Who needs a comfort zone, really?

This one may come as a surprise to some. It's fairly common knowledge that i'm not the biggest football fan out there, i mean, i've tried, but i fail to see the attraction. That's just how it is.

So, when Sam Noone came to me looking for help shooting this short piece for his former football club, i was ever so briefly hesitant, but then i thought "what the hell, why not?". The revelation came quickly that, subject matter be damned, i just really love to film things. I actually had a great time working on this one, trying to make the best out of something i knew little about, and i think it turned out quite well in the end. I co-shot this with Dean Douglas Evans manning a second camera, then edited together the finished piece.

A Beat-Down

This, i'm rather happy with. This piece is a small part of a longer film that, sufficed to say, didn't pan out. Shooting this was one of those nightmare shoots you hear about in documentaries about Terry Gilliam, and I gotta say, I'm kinda glad it was. I learned so much from this shoot that i can't help but look back on it fondly. Also, on it's own, i think this scene works pretty well. I won't give context, figure out for yourself what's happening here, it'll be more satisfying that way. I co-directed this with David Fryar.

A special thanks goes out to the main actor (the one that steals the bag), Simon Fogarty, for being so helpful and patient, and just a bit of an aul' legend.

Sunsets and Lens-Flares

After a recent trip to Swords Estuary armed with my camcorder and a Micheal Bay-style sunset, i decided to edit together the footage i got from it into a kind of mini showreel. So, here it is, with some nice background music by Fleet Foxes

Oh Yeah, I Draw Too

I love to draw, always have done. For years, people knew me as "that guy who draws alot". But since i finished studying Animation 2 and a half years ago, i haven't had the same output as i once did. In fact, for a while, i just stopped drawing altogether. Then, over the last 2 weeks, i've had the urge to scribble some things down.

So to that end, below is the first drawing i've done in months that i'm in any way happy with
not much, i know, but it's a start.

Halloween

Here are a few images of what i did to myself for Halloween. Unfortunately, i only have photos of the initial makeup stage, as i forgot/was too drunk to get more after i was in my full costume (which was pretty awesome, by the way).

But i digress, i'm really happy with how this turned out, as it was my first experiment with liquid latex.

The Summit

This was my final Film in Film Production. It was definately a bitter-sweet film to work on. While difficult and stressful in all stages of production, I learned so much from this film in terms of directing, camerawork, and overall organisation. I directed, Produced, Co-wrote and Shot this one. This final edit was done by David McCabe. Again, the sound quality isn't great, but i'm really proud of some of the visuals and again, i think the story is very strong.

also, in the credits, it should be Vincent Browning as Dave (the Dad)

Faith

This was my final film in first year Film Production. We started off going for a western feel for the film, and it evolved from there. I shot, co-wrote, co-directed and co-edited this one. despite the overall pretty dodgy sound, i'm really pleased with how this one turned out. There's alot i would change if i was to shoot it again, but overall i think the story comes across really well, which is the important thing.

Also, best group of actors i've worked with so far, they all worked really well together and were just an awesome bunch of people.

The Conspiracy

This is another short i did in first year Film. This was an exercise in creating an opening sequence for a (non-existant) feature film. We were supposed to achieve this in 20 shots in total, but ours didn't work out that way, so we did some reshoots and came up with this. I manned the camera for this one, as well as editing most of the final cut, and i'm rather pleased with how it turned out.

ICU

This is a short comedy I made in first year of Film Production. Aside from misguidedly starring in it, I also co-directed with Sam Noone and edited most of it. I'm really fond of it in general, because i think the comic timing works pretty well, and it was great to come away from a project having achieved exactly what you set out to do, which wasn't always the case.

The Trinket tree

Again, on our little Newbridge adventure, we came across two of these trees, adorned with all kinds of strange little knick-knacks. It was quite a cool thing to behold.

Here are two of the best photos i got.

Yet More

More from the Newbridge excursion

More Blood

Yet another shot of the "gash" on my arm. Also a severed finger, I had a lot of fun with that.


The "stump" is sculpted out of soft wax, discoloured with red make-up and then just covered in fake blood

Furthermore

I recently went on a bit of an excursion with the girlfriend on which we broke out the cameras on got some photography on. Here are some of the results of that adventure.

Click to Enlarge



More to come...

A Deeper Cut

These photos are of what happened when i got a little more comfortable with the makeup. i created a larger gash on my arm using soft wax to sculpt the wound, then red makeup to colourise the wound and surrounding skin, then some fake blood for obvious reasons... I was quite pleased with how it turned out, especially since it was convincing enough to freak out my next-door neighbour!

Something to kick off with

The two above images are my first attempt at making a cut on my hand. I was conservative with the makeup and wax, and just made a small cut, with some red discolouration around it. I was, and still am for that matter, very happy with how it turned out.

Mandate... and Zombies

Ok, i started this here blog a couple of months ago, with an eye to using it to showcase my various works, be it film, drawing, photography, or whatever. Since then, however, i've left it devoid of any output whatsoever.

I'm determined to change this, and have the perfect excuse to get my ass into gear. This year, i'm attending the Dublin zombie walk with some friends. determined to get serious about being undead for a day, i've decided to break out the ol' special effects make-up and make sure we're all shambling through the Fair City in style. as such, my first submission to this blog will be some nice photos and videos documenting the day, and hopefully showing off my special effects skillz.

so, y'know, watch this space.

Bill.