15th March, 2010
0

Fixed: 1248x702 QuickTime size incorrectly shown when it should be 1280x720

After thinking QuickTime had a really annoying bug that would show some videos at an incorrect size (1248x702 instead of 1280x720 for example) I finally spent enough time trying to find a fix. I came across this very useful post at the Apple Discussions site.

It turns out the incorrect size is caused by a QuickTime feature (documented here). Unfortunately it looks like it can actually only be changed in QuickTime 7 Pro and not QuickTime X. Even so this is a significant hint as I'd always been frustrated knowing I'm not looking at a clip at 100%, pixel to pixel.

7th March, 2010
3

Filmed a peregrine falcon on my roof

Filmed this afternoon on the roof of my house. I looked out the window and saw feathers floating around, and heard all sorts of activity on the roof. So I went outside and found myself staring face to face with this formidable predator. Dashed back in to get camera and managed to get a few shots. The peregrine actually dropped the bird off the roof as he was mobbed by seagulls and crows.

25th February, 2010
0

Documentary about dog mess left in plastic bags

What a strange phenomenon it is, to find dog mess preserved in plastic bags and hung conspicuously in front of you, when enjoying a walk in the countryside.

I decided to make a short documentary on the issue one afternoon at Ashclyst Forest and interviewed a few obliging dog owners.

28th January, 2010
0

New short film - Pass Her By

The story was initially conceived after a phone call with my parent's who live in a house which is surrounded by vast forestry commission woodland. We started thinking about making a short about a unknown homeless character entering the property from the forest. The short would be about the initial conflict between the intimidating trespasser and the apparently vulnerable housewife.

As conversations about the story developed, between myself and a good friend of mine Tom Bates, who has very creative story writing abilities, the character of the house-wife started to develop. She would be in a rather lonely relationship, who's husband left early for work each morning, and she would be left to tend to the house by herself each day. This opened up the potential for the trespasser to fill a need for a new person in her life, after the initial confrontation.

It was then that I realised the trespasser could actually have been created by the house-wife, as a figment of her imagination, as a result of this loneliness and the absence of her husband.

I decided to tell the story as if the trespasser is a real character for the main part, and introduce the idea that he is a figment of the house-wife’s imagination as a twist in the final shot.

I shot the film on location at my parent's house in Ross on Wye. It was by a happy coincidence that it snowed just before our scheduled shoot, which luckily didn't melt too much over the course of filming!

I used a Sony EX3 with stock lens along with a Glidetrack and B-Hague jib. I edited in Final Cut Pro, audio mix in Soundtrack, and colour correction in Apple Color