Letter to Tempa Records

In my tutorial video i used the track 'Perforated' by the Artist 'Skream'. To stop conflicting copy right issues i wrote to Tempa Records to ask permission to use their track in my student film-

HDR Video

Sucker Punch

My first encounter with Sucker Punch was nearly a year ago in the days leading up to it's box office release an annoying acquaintance i knew at the time rambled on about it for hours. Saying how he could not wait for the film and how the sound track is "amazing!". I didn't choose to take his advise, i mean it had Vanessa Hudgens in it... It just didn't seem like my type of film. So you can imagine i was reluctant to watch it last week. But i can now say i've seen it twice more since then and have purchased the film on dvd.

Tyler was his name from earlier and yes he was right it was amazing and the sound track (although not my usual music tastes) was gripping and fitted well into the fast paced, sci-fi, action thriller, fantasy. You could name many more genres if you wanted to for i think this film has an amazingly broad target audience yet doesn't stoop low as some generic block busters do.

The film feels like it is shot in two different worlds, one being the reality and the other the fantasy world where the girls must fight to escape, for their minds can set them free. I love the dramatic gritty scenes in the mental asylum that are not afraid to convey what actually happened in the past at these too easily forgotten prisons. I think director Zack Synder was looking for a sort of 'Girl Interrupted' feel to this half of the film, which i thought worked brilliantly and what the film needed to accommodate a serious side to the film and yet to attract a wider female audience.

The Second side of the film is worlds away from the Asylum, battling in abstract Sci-fi/Fantasy worlds which combine the two together perfectly. The fight scenes are nothing you've seen before, fast paced yet the slow motion is used so uniquely to capture every movement of the girls as they fight these astonishing creatures. And the girls get battered! These fights aren't your average super hero fight these girls take a punch over, and over again making you feel the realism of the action. But what really brings the fight to you in this film are the camera angle. The are just incredible. Leaving your jaw dropped whilst you watch this petite girl strike down a huge Samurai in shots you could not have imagined, the cinematography in this film is ridiculously good. So it's no wonder that Zack Synder also directed 300.

In conclusion i thought it was an amazing film and didn't feel like there were any faults to the film. Some people will not get this film first time as i did, you find your self drifting out in conversation and you've missed some vital information. So you might want to watch it a second time. But i believe Sucker Punch was an amazing film and will not judge a book by it's cover from here

OUDF404 Tutorial Video inspiration

In order to produce a good tutorial video i went out and looked at a lot of different tutorial video's that were similar to mine. I spent a long time on youtube and different sites researching what is the best methods to bunny hop and tried to take these points on board so that i may learn from them for my video.


This first video was produced by the 'livestrong' foundation founded by Lance Armstrong to help people over come obstacles in life after Cancer. The video is very detailed and hold the key components to how to perform the trick


The next video is an amateur video of how to bunny hop. The video is not as well produced at the previous video but still contains key components and different methods of how to perform the trick. The live commentary although crude holds great information in learning the trick.

ttp://www.bmx-forum.com/t/76882/how-i-got-over-fear
Here is a link to a forum i found a couple of years ago. I first read this article when i was begging to start riding my BMX. This article for me helped me tremendously and was actually pushed me in a turning point of my hobby. It is an inspiring article for me and just had to come back to refer to it when making this video. I tried to convey the same simplistic yet meaning message that came across me whilst reading this article into my video

Filming at Mint: OUDF404 where filming can take me

The club Mint in Leeds has been a pioneer in it's own minimal sound around Leeds for a long time. Becoming a huge out selling venue which is soon to launch it's second club in Leeds the Mint Warehouse. I have attended the last few Jungle Jam nights back before Christmas and thought they were amazing. So as you can see it brought me great joy watching this promo video and reliving the night through this exceptional piece.
The only was to start off reviewing this edit is how well it is shot. The choice in len's (varying from wide angle's to 50 mill's) and the cinematography of the shots help bring the club to life in this short yet astonishing picture.

The video starts with a brief introduction displaying the Jungle Jam image on screen. The music is prominent in the introduction and is heating up towards the drop. The song drops from the intro and wastes no time into kicking everything off conveying a senesce of madness in the air which has me raring to go back. The editing is on quirky dropping most scenes to the fast breaking pace of the Jungle music. The mix of fast choppy scenes in the strobe light capturing the extraordinary lights in Mint mixed with the slow motion of people dancing to what seems to be the music in the video gives the club a crazy and careless atmosphere which many people in the target audience would be longing for in a night out.

The main reason why i've chose to review this piece is me and Tom Bone are hoping to be filming for Mint club in Leeds. Before Christmas we were asking to both join a amateur upcoming film group called BiTG they have since produced a video at Mint on a absent minds night -


I am very excited to start work with this group and see where it takes me!

OUDF404 Directing, my role in the group

I took upon myself to direct our 2 minute short piece. It was my role in the group to over see the whole project and make sure it ran smoothly, checking that we had the right equipment and we were prepared on the day of filming. I also took it upon myself in the group to shoot the film from discussion with my two storyboard artists Sophie and Alex who were excellent and worked well in a team in decided the cinematography and directing the photography of the shoots so that they related and lived up to the storyboards. As i a director i put in a lot of research into the genre we were pursing and similar pieces. It was my first time leading a project like this and may have got off to a relatively slow start. But I feel i have brought a lot towards our group and have enjoyed working with my group in this project.

The first day filming in York was very successful. I was thoroughly prepared with all my equipment and the filming went smoothly. Ryan and Sophie stood by ready to help me with my equipment and helped greatly with ideas on certain shots. Alex and Lucy's acting were great. The only problem we came across during the day was the lack of lighting on the end scene, so we decided to call it a day and tackle the problem on Tuesday.

Second day filming went just as well as the first. we polished off the ending scene, renting out the correct lights so that we could film the end night scene. As a director i found it hard at some points managing the group and giving the group advice and positive criticism. I think the main reason is the fact that this is our first group assignment and maybe at first found it hard to convey ideas and communicate with my group. But i feel after this first intense day filming this boundary was soon knocked down and as group have worked extremely well together.

Test Filming OUDF404

A shot that i have been asked to work on in my group is a time-lapse of a looming city.
I decided that my Samyang 8mm fisheye would be the perfect lens for the sense of a dark looming city.
Before filming i took some shots of Leeds to try and create an atmosphere i was looking.

After taking these photo's i decided the shot would fit my time lapse. So i set out taking a time lapse of the sun coming down for my group project

OUDF404 Filming presentation