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Tuesday 23rd June saw the live final of SupaJam’s ‘Fast track to FIB Heineken 09′. The competition sees Vince Power partner up with Supajam to find Europe’s newest super-band, in a chance to win a slot at this year’s Benicássim festival in Spain, playing alongside Oasis, The Killers and The Kings of Leon.

I had been hired by David Court and Nick Stillwell of SupaJam to produce and direct video content for the event as well as provide the bands with a live promo video for one of their tracks. The final bands were all, in their own right, superb, with killer tracks capable of topping the commercial charts instantly. The bands included The Paris Riots, The Doups, Lost Knives, Suds and Soda and Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle.

You must check out The Paris Riots track ‘The Indian’ at Supajam great track which gives an idea of the quality of all the bands.

We decided to shoot Sony Z1 so we could balance cost with kit and get the best possible deal, allowing us to cover the event with four cameras and have space to maneuver around easily within The Pigalle club! I hired in some crew from London through Mandy.com which was a new experience and I was really pleased with all the guys, who I would recommend instantly. We also got some additional kit from VMI in London who gave us a great deal on the cameras.

The day kicked off at 11am after grabbing the kit from VMI. We initially had a chance to meet the bands and then film the sound check to grab some extra coverage of the intend promo track! We also got a feel for each of the bands stage presence and checked out our audio feed from the desk!

The live final itself played out to a packed crowd at The Pigalle Club with each band putting on such a fantastic show which was all captured on camera for those that couldn’t make it. After playing three tracks each, it was up to the industry panel to announce a winner and after much deliberating the judging panel couldn’t pick just one winner meaning that both The Paris Riots and Polly Mackey and the Pleasure Principle will be heading to Fast track to FIB Heineken 09, courtesy of SupaJam.

We’re now in post production at the fantastic WhiteHouse Post in Soho, London with editor Ed Enayat. We will be working hard to get the videos too SupaJam who intend to release them in the next week or two for the fans who couldn’t attend the packed out event, so watch this space!

For those unsigned bands that didn’t enter this year keep checking out www.supajam.com for other competitions and events as well next years competition!

On Tuesday 23rd June I will be directing the live final of ‘The Fast Track Competition’ run by SupaJam. The event will be held at The Pigalle Club, Piccadilly Circus.

The competition sees five of Europe’s best unsigned bands play against each other to win the chance of performing at The Heineken Festival in Spain alongside Oasis, The Killers and The Kings Of Leon. We shall be filming all of the bands, The Doups, Lost Knives, Suds and Soda, Paris Riots and Polly Mackey and the Pleasure Principle performing three of their best tracks in order to impress the panel of industry representatives.

We shall be covering the event with four cameras and the videos are due to be edited by Ed Enayat at WhiteHouse Post in Soho. They will be avaliable on the SupaJam wesbite and facebook in the coming weeks but I will keep you posted!

If you want to attend the event check out www.supajam.com and prepare for an impressive night of first class music!

 In December last year Tom and myself worked for Design agency Clusta to help capture their vision for The Media Foundry Showreel. 

 The showreel was shot over the course of day but has been through a lengthy post production process by Clusta, lead by Steve Ellis. The guys have produced a fantastic piece of work, the results are final available online!

Check it out here!

 I was watching TV this morning and stumbled across the Brothers Cider advert, where I spotted Nicholas Keith in yet another commercial! Please check it out here!

 

 I felt I had to share this as Nick is as not only a great, talented and funny guy but also a regular in our work, taking on the lead for ‘Leave of Absence’ and rounded off the cast for ‘Long-Standing’.

 This video shows how using the blue screen footage shoot at Cordial AV, Mark Buckley was able to construct the animation for the Duke music video. It is a useful insight into how easily blue or green screen can be applied given the correct planning!

Check out and enjoy!

 This Saturday (30th May) I headed back to Cheltenham to screen a selection of short films at the Wychwood Music Festival at the Racecourse. Tom and myself had been invited down by the Viewfinder Film Festival and Cordial AV as part of their three day program.

 However when the program came through we had been scheduled to screen at 11pm till 1am on the Saturday eve! Although this would give us more time to take in the acts my immediate concern was that at a music festival surely people would  be too incapacitated to attend!

 With Tom being ill I decided to leave on the Saturday and head back after the screening. I managed to convince a friend of mine to come on the provider I’d drive so he could drink as much as possible. The festival itself was held at Cheltenham racecourse and is the cleanest, family orientated festival known to man where even the drunks are friendly.

 The festival itself was packed and the cinema tent was parked in a small corner of the racecourse next to a very loud stand up tent! It was being run by Tim Pellat and Rob James of Cordial AV who’s knowledge of all things digital would blow up the likes of Stephen Hawking’s fragile mind!

 After a quick catch up and a beer we managed to catch a few acts whilst the sun was still in the sky including The Beat, Supergrass and the immensely funny Mundo Jazz (check them out was surprised how much I laughed during their set and I was soba).

 As 11pm approached I headed over to the cinema tent with a very drunk Simon. The tent was empty so we opted to start the two hour slot by screening Duke ‘Message in a Bottle’ in hope people would be drawn in by the music. It initial seemed to work but no sooner had people walked in, they walked straight back out again! Now I had started I continued on the course playing ‘Leave of Absence’, ‘Long-standing’ through to ‘Spirited’ to a small intimate audience of around 16 people. Other people came in and out as the evening progressed but overall I was happy with the turn out as I had expect about two people to attend! Thanks to those that did turn out!

 The most amusing sight of the day came as I finished the screening and a couple walked into the tent with a wheel barrow. Inside the barrow they had a small child curled up and covered in blankets, sheltering from the cold, fast asleep. This image typically summoned up the festivals hippy / family vibe!