Whatever happened to ShootingPeople? This question was sparked off by Scriptmonster's latest blog.

A simple email digest, that then grew and grew, it used to be required reading. I used it to develop services, learn, network, crew shoots... But somehow it fell behind the curve.

I realised how clunky it was once I came across forums. As soon as you get used to things like - hey, people replying in near-real time - threads of conversations (not strained day-late replies), chat, private messaging... the whole deal, suddenly a daily email digest seems like a system designed in the age of steam. And they're still at it.

Back in the day there was a debate about setting up a forum. The owners / moderators refused. Real filmmakers are too busy to waste time on fora, or some such argument. One brave soul set up a forum with nil support, and without being allowed to post about it. It failed (as far as a I know - I can't even remember the name of it now).

I put a post on there about a year ago - I needed an 'attractive woman' to play the part of someone getting married. That was considered offensive and I wasn't allowed to post 'attractive' (I kid you not).

Without the 'attractive' the post went ahead and I got millions of replies. Including one from an Italian male, who couldn't speak English and who wasn't based in the UK. This was for a one-day shoot. I was curious, so I asked him (via Babelfish) why the hell he thought it was a good idea to waste my time - oh, I'm thinking of moving to london in a few years and thought I should build up some contacts....

We also got some good replies - but the sheer effort of wading through them, including about half that were wildly inappropriate, plus more that came three days late (those who don't pay for the service), plus more from agencies who then spam you for ever more...

That's why I don't use or read Shooting People any more. About time to cancel my subscription, methinks. It's a shame - I have a real affection for a service that was a strong part of my development in video. But it just didn't keep up.

meanwhile, the latest on the Mac Vvs PC wars...

They are both good and bad for different things. Both have their frustrations and their joys, and we couldn't live without them. Doesn't mean that the PC "let's cobble it together from a bunch of junk" and the Mac "let's get smug" approaches don't grate...

Hello to a new camera - Sony EX1

Exciting times in planet video. New editing system. New camera. New clients.

But let's start with new camera.

I have used the Sony EX1 camera three times in anger now, and I have only had it four days, so it's been a bit of a rush getting up to speed enough with it to feel secure enough to use it for serious jobs. That they were event filming jobs, adds to the pressure... as we all know - there is no second take. *

There is a huge buzz about the camera, and has been for a while since it came out. It uses Sony's SxS cards, there's no tape, and it leaps a couple of format levels from standard definition video - not just HDV but a higher type of High Definition called XDCAM.

There were three major issues (and this isn't going to be a 'review' as such - just my first impressions)

- getting to know the camera well enough (which would be the same for any new camera)
- getting to grips with a tapeless workflow
- switching from PC to Mac

The first is not as huge as it might seem, given that my previous main camera was also a Sony and this one is set up within the same paradigm, with a set of modifications that are interesting and useful, rather than irritating. Most of the keys you want are outside rather than buried in a menu. Not a standard layout (that would be asking too much of Sony), but one that is learnable perfectly easily.

If I didn't think I'd be comfortable with it, I wouldn't have used the camera - event stuff is way too demanding for that.

Knowing that there simply are not any tapes, never were any tapes, never will be... "Er, so what about my fail-safe archive?" is the first question that will occur to any camera operator, editor or producer (or, all three if you're like me). It's a breathless moment for anyone involved in video. It's a jump that happened has simultaneously (just about) with consumers and with professionals, and it's a huge liberation as well as a huge worry.

I'm fine with setting up a good data back up system, and am paranoid enough to know that only two external and one internal copy of the data is enough. However, a new format means new applications, making sure they work, that the workflow is clear and foolproof...

Actually the stakes are no higher than they were with tape, but they do feel dramatically more scary.

It doesn't help to think it through logically. After all, if a tape failed that's all the footage lost. If a unique copy of the data fails, that's all the footage lost. The only safe way to archive tape is to copy to tape or capture to data. The only way to safely archive data is to copy. Plus ca change. But still that cliff-edge feeling is there.

And what about that strange third reason - surely that has nothing to do with the camera, you might have thought. Well, there were a number of (obvious) reasons for the (partial) switch to Mac, but the clincher was the EX1, which I know might seem bizarre. Basically Final Cut Pro handles XDCAM well, and Premiere (my PC application) doesn't is the short story.

I ought to blog about Mac some time. Basically, even as a Mac user myself, I hate the whole "it just works" Mac thing. No it doesn't - no computer does. Sure it falls over less often, but it does still fall over. I'm going to be using PC and Mac aproximately 50/50, and not with the usual office / video split - but using both for both. Which is not my choice necessarily or a good thing necessarily - but it works for me.

The death of tape will, inevitably, be happening to everybody in video. It's already perfectly acceptable in many walks of technological existence, so in some respects video might seem a bit behind. But the sheer size of video data, and the need for a continual, frame-by-frame, verified, safe, secure flow of the stuff, has meant that computers have had to develop a lot to get us there.

So - I'll put this up, but will be adding my thoughts about the design of the camera, the price, the controls, the format, the workflow and geeky stuff like that in due course.


* One event combined Rory Stewart, Orlando Bloom, Pippa Small and my mate Kate, but that's another story.

We say hello...

The current Meconopsis Films showreel via Vimeo (see below for the YouTube version), with some of the stuff we do.


Meconopsis Films' showreel from Ben Bruges on Vimeo.

"I suffer from English teeth..."

So starts the video on the front page of Dentaprime.

Getting a commission to interview people about their dental experiences might not sound that exciting - but it was a real pleasure to meet the four people featured in the video. They had diverse experiences and reasons for traveling all the way to Bulgaria to have serious amounts of dental work completed but one theme ran through all the interviews - the truly appalling and expensive experiences they had at the hands of dentists in the UK.


Dentaprime from Ben Bruges on Vimeo.

Terri Colley was left with a phobia of dentists. She was lectured about the state of her teeth every time she visited - far from the sympathetic service you might expect. Her visits became fewer and fewer until she needed serious treatment.

It made for good testimonials, as all of them were genuine people who wouldn't have given a testimonial if they hadn't believed in it. And that meant that they gave good interviews - you can't fake sincerity (albeit a lot of people try).

An interesting comparison is the German version created by a German video producer. (Or click the German flag at the top of the page) It seems Germans have dental work for cosmetic reasons - the type of people and the reasons they gave for having work is completely different. Is that because their national dental service actually works?

Anyway - a lovely little job, and we're pleased with the end results. Any comments or feedback welcome, as always.

It was an ironic experience for me: I too suffer from 'English teeth'.... maybe I should be saving the pennies for a trip to Bulgaria? I certainly couldn't afford the treatment I need in the UK.

Surely no one sane thought this was a good idea. Go on - try clicking it for the full sized disaster, then hit the back button.

As Photoshop Disaster say, "Red Bull in Hungary makes you wish you had never seen this image. Scrubbing your eyeballs doesn't work, I tried."

for the hell of it...

Some things are made just for the hell of it. So, for the hell of it, I thought I'd share.



The derelict radio station. from Druskq on Vimeo.

If you're interested in 3d creation and motion detection software have a look at the user comments below the vimeo page, and Druskq's comments in response. Interesting stuff.

Textual events

And now for some BOOKS (remember them?). THREE of them.

One. Or, rather, one hundred and one: "101 Screenwriting Tips". I met Alexis Nikki through an on-line writer's group. We were the only two scriptwriters, and quickly realised that feedback from prose writers was actually not that helpful. They got hung up on commenting on irrelevant things (objecting to the use of the present tense, the lack of description, the apparent lack of internal life of the characters, the lack of their thoughts, the lack of shading on how to deliver dialogue) or suggested adding things like camera movements, character's thoughts or various other no-nos. Nor did they help with aspects that really needed their input. So the two of us ended up playing script ping-pong.

Meeting up on London's South Bank would have been great, but she'd brought along some third person, so we couldn't get down to as much of the shop talk, writer's discussion and gossip that we wanted to. And then we lost touch when the writer's group folded. As you do.

Now she's surfaced again (to my attention, I'm sure she was around all along) with a new book, 1o1 Screenwriting Tips and screenwriting and film review blog The Third Draft. She describes her approach thusaway:

"The merit of my book comes from the very fact that I'm a relative beginner in the business. I'm the rookie whose struggles are still fresh in her mind and whose enthusiasm remains undimmed. These pages don't contain a complete philosophy or method, but practical tips that you can consume. If you're a beginner, this book provides encouragement, motivation, and a wealth of information. If you're more advanced, you'll discover some new angles amongst the usual advice."

Which is refreshingly honest or a great spin, depending on your level of cynicism. It looks interesting and I'm sure I'll return to it to do more of a review. The timing seemed apt - just as I was going to do a screenwriting workshop for my local IOV meeting. So I bought it forthwith. (Well, clicked a button, forgot about it, then it arrived weeks too late to be useful. Thanks Amazon.)

Two. Me mum! My copy of Alison Wilson Smith's book Nature's Playthings arrived today and it's fantastic - the company have done a really good job with it! I was 'proud son' material anyway - but here's yet more reason to be so. It's a hard book to define adequately. On the one hand a manual for the games children can play with things they find in nature. It's also a memory of three or four generations of bringing up or being around children. On another level it's an oblique commentary on the 'thing'-obsessed, sedentary, overly-protected, TV and computer-focussed childhoods we provide our children. I'm not sure the cover conveys all that, but the inside certainly does.

I have to declare an interest (apart from the obvious filial one), there's some lovely pictures of my son Tom, and I took a few of the photos in the book, including this portrait of her on her boat on the Cam. Given that I only had a point and shoot camera, I'm quite surprised at how well they have printed. Meanwhile Tom (at four years old) is completely unfazed at his 'Nanny-on-the-boat' writing a book - after all she writes him lovely letters so why not a book? And it's not as if it's the first book his picture has been in - he also appears in Colin Barratt's Digital Video for Beginners with his other nan.

Three. My dad! (Yes, this is getting silly.) James Bruges first brought out The Little Earth Book so the obvious sequel The Big Earth Book is a sumptuous coffee-table update and revision of the little one. A former architect, he's been a green activist for a while now, and both books are highly recommended for direct, positive, big-picture solutions to our current ecological crises. And more power to his elbow: let's hope they make a difference.

So, as former writer's group colleague, son and son all I can say is, "BUY! BUY! BUY!"

Web video

It's not really there yet, is it. I'm currently testing the various services to see if I can get something half decent through one of the 'sharing video' services...

And so to this one. Frankly, I'm appalled. How can the blue (of the Mec petals at the beginning) change colour? It's a different blue! How can that be an encoding issue? And that's before we get onto the rest of the quality issues. Well, see for yourself:


... and this is following best advice. I encoded to a high bitrate MPEG2, square pixels, Main Concept codec care of Adobe Media Encoder - which looks stunning played directly. Then I uploaded to Google and let them do their worse. Hence the above.

I'll do the video-geek thing of putting up a few more tests, to see what you think. Next is Google via MP4, and I'll try latest advice for encoding for YouTube and I also try, yet again, to see if I can get Vimeo to work (reaches for the rolleyes smiley... )

This is so far away from being an acceptable consumer experience though....

Cab Calloway re-mixed by Remyyy

I stumbled upon this by accident (via the dad of the band of another track this user re-used... I think). Anyway - a re-mix of an old Cab Calloway number (with a link to the original) that is just somewhat surreal - particularly when it's a near-close lip synch. Just thought I'd share!

Just make sure you hang around until the main vocal comes in, it's worth it...



You don't know me from Remyyy on Vimeo.

How sweet is that?!

If you ignored the 'it's just a message and will only irritate' message and actually listened to the 'utter' at the top of the page (and sorry to waste your time with an answer phone greetings message, but I did warn you). But if you have, you'll hear how professional it is.

I like it. Even more, I like the fact that it's an introductory present from a couple of voice over artists. In fact, I'd go so far as to say, that it's the nicest business-related present I've yet had. As they said

Emma’s done a custom phone greeting for you. We’ve attached it as an mp3; hope you can find a use for it. It’s a small bribe to make you feel warm and gooey towards us! (Maybe you never use voiceovers – it’s ok, use the greeting anyway.)

How sweet is that? See Emma Thurston's website and Colin Day's website.

At the same time David Petherick introduced me to utterz.com, hence the new widget on the page. Hence the test. Hence the irritating bit of audio you listened to (don't deny it). Hence this explanation.

Utterz seems like an interesting combination of radio, conversation and messaging. You can post a message, pic or video from your mobile phone to use it on their site, or to post out to your own site. It might be something we use with our media simulation work, when we have to feed back from a muddy field in the middle of Wiltshire.... but that's another story.

In the meantime, I need to work out the video equivalent of Emma and Colin's present. Is there one? Answers on a postcard. Or via an utter. Or maybe even a video postcard. Now there's a thought...

[Stop press: utterz doesn't seem to be working so i've removed it for the minute until I work out what's wrong.]