Setting off a Chinese Lantern in East London
(via my Vimeo)
I was at a BBQ round a friend’s house last night, and as it started to get dark they brought out a Chinese lantern. Off it went, and as it did so we realised that we were basically on the flight path for some fairly low-flying planes coming into London City airport. Oops!
Who needs a Vuvuzela, when you’ve got a Kuduzela?
(via my Vimeo)
I just remembered that the girlfriend’s aunt and uncle bought me a Christmas present last year all the way from South Africa: a plastic Kuduzela, n instrument which is traditionally made from the hollowed-out horn of a Kudu antelope.
Once you get the hang of it, it makes one hell of a noise, and it looks so much better than those crappy vuvuzelas. I’ve just about mastered the art of getting the sound right, as you can tell.
And yes, my t-shirt says ‘Getting Lucky in Kentucky’.
Heather’s Cupcakes
(Via my Vimeo)
My friend Heather is setting up a business selling gourmet cupcakes, and long-term, she is planning to open a coffee shop/patisserie, ideally in Wimbledon Village.
She’s entering a competition run by Barclays bank which is awarding grants to start-up small businesses, and asked me to make a short video for her entry.
I shot a load of footage of her making the cakes, and serving them to a load of our friends, as well as a brief interview describing her intentions. I then edited about 60 minutes of footage into the 90 seconds you see her, and am really pleased with how it turned out.
Hopefully she’ll do really well in the competition, and as it’s a public vote I’ll post her link here as soon as I have it.
Carnevale in Venice
Via my Vimeo
The sights and sounds of the opening weekend of the 2010 Carnevale in Venice. It was a crazy couple of days, with so many people dressed up in medieval costumes and masks. The colours and designs were just incredible.
I’m delighted with how this video turned out, because it’s exactly as I envisaged it as I was filming. I was just taking quick clips of people walking past as we wandered the narrow streets and alleyways, and have then edited it even further. It’s full of quick cuts, which is a new style for me, but I am really pleased with the end result.
Bus Stops Are A Bit Different In Venice…
(via my Vimeo)
The water bus was one of the highlights of my trip to Venice a few weeks back. That sounds like something a bit odd to say, but it was a cool way to see a lot of the city quite quickly.
Our hotel was on the Lido, about 10 minutes from the main Venice islands, so we had to cross the lagoon every day to go do stuff, as well as get to the airport. The bus route from right outside our hotel handily went all the way up the Grand Canal, via St Mark’s Square, which was incredibly handy.
I found it so funny to be stood there, waiting for a bus whilst bobbing up and down. I’ve never felt seasick queueing for a bus before…
The buses themselves were fantastic, pretty much what you’d expect from a bus on water. We always stood outside, soaking up the sights and sounds, which I can highly recommend.
video, iceland, self made, orcas, killer whales, nature, holiday,
Orca-Watching in Iceland
(via my Vimeo)
Yep, part two of my whale-watching trip in Iceland a couple of months back. After the dolphins, we were heading back to shore when a message came over the radio that a pod of orcas (aka killer whales) had been spotted in the area.
We eventually spotted some fins a little way off, and before long there was a big pod of them around us, ranging from a mature, large adult male (the really tall fin in the video) down to a few calves. They got really close to the boat, and were quite incredible to watch.
It’s quite fantastic how smooth and sleek they are, given their size and bulk. They came out of the water a lot more than the dolphins did too, which made for an amazing sight. I think the best footage of them is from about 1:30 to 2:00, and then the last 30 seconds or so. But watch the rest of it anyway!
The first minute is the same as my dolphin-watching video, just so it is self-standing as a narrative by itself as well.
Dolphin-Watching in Iceland
(via my Vimeo)
I’ve finally got round to finishing the video of the dolphins I saw whilst in Iceland with the girlfriend at the start of December. Procrastination is a wonderful thing.
The boat trip we were on was theoretically a whale-watching excursion, but there are loads of dolphins in Reykjavik bay too, and it was a pod of these that we first came across. A little later, we saw a big pod of orcas (killer whales) too, so stay tuned for that video when I find some time.
They were really playful, swimming alongside, in front of, and underneath our boat, constantly coming up above the waves in ones and twos.
It really was quite the experience being out there and seeing them so up close. It’s astounding just how quick they are, and swiftly they can change direction. Their colours were also a bit of a surprise, as I hadn’t expected quite so much white/pale grey on their top halves, which you can quite clearly see when they get really close to the boat.
Oh, and there’s a brief cameo from the girlfriend at the start, as well as my tortured narration throughout. There was a guide on the boat, and it’s her voice you can generally hear describing the dolphins.
Looking Out From Waterloo Bridge
(via my Vimeo)
Filmed from the top deck of a bus the other evening, as we headed south across Waterloo Bridge. London looks freaking awesome lit up at night.
Monsoon in London
(via my Vimeo)
There was a brief burst of torrential rain this afternoon, and I grabbed my camera to record some of it. It was really damn loud, and we were a bit worried that soon it’d be flowing down the inside of the windows.
I need to re-edit this video, as I left a couple of the clips a bit too long. Something to do tomorrow night…
