Get out of the way… and collaborate!

Are you collaborative? Is your organisation? We often say we are, but are we really? Do we 'get in the way' of the process? Filmmaking, in theory, is a collaborative process. But like so many working partnerships (teams, institutions, organisations) some productions are bound to be more collaborative than others. So often the tone is …

Comic Scene Podcast – interview

In February 2019 I sat down with Phillip Vaughan (@phillipbvaughan), host of the Comic Scene Podcast, to have a chat about how I started out as an illustrator of children's comics and the artists, stories and publications that continue to inspire my work now as a designer and filmmaker. Conversation included how I started at …

Open a scene like Hitchcock

So you make short films for your organisation? Maybe you're part of a comms team or your role includes documenting what you do to share with customers or staff. Where do you go for inspiration? What films can you watch to get ideas for work projects? Is it okay to open your film like Hitchcock? …

Capturing Creativity

Ever found yourself at 2am working on a passion project wondering why you do this to yourself? But this is not about me. While I was making Open Close Movie last year I asked myself that question. It's rhetorical really. I know my answer and I know I will do it to myself time and …

Creative Pipeline, Perth

Creative Pipeline project is part of the Famous Grouse Ideas Centre, Perth. It supports young people age 16-25 who are currently not in education, employment or training into the Creative Industries. In September of last year I had the privilege of working with Helen and some of the young people at Creative Pipeline. I provided …

The Alien Cormorant and the SuperFly

This is part one in an ongoing series of short films (140 secs) about creatives –  what they do and how they do it – called #SuperFlyOnTheWall Earlier this year I made a feature length documentary about street art (#OpenCloseMovie). I realised that I knew a lot of people like me, working in their spare time …

Coming soon…

Wheels are turning... Excited to talk about this, but when the time is right. For now there's just this... https://youtu.be/B67Tu70ch3E

#MakeSomething

This is what I tell my kids. Usually after I've turned off the wi-fi or taken away the TV or Xbox... "Dad, what can I do?" "Make something!" For seven years now I’ve actively been finding ways to get people creative with the technology that would have had me giddy with excitement when I was …

V&A Dundee #MadeOnAMobile

On Saturday the V&A Dundee Design Museum opened to the public for the first time. Both Saturday and Sunday were ticketed by lottery and I didn’t even apply... avoiding disappointment!     As it was I got in for the first time the previous Tuesday to have a conversation about capturing (on a mobile of …

#OpenCloseMovie – watch online for FREE

It would seem that Open Close Movie has been the journey of exactly a year... Saturday 16 September 2017: I meet with Russell Pepper, founder of Open/Close Dundee, for the first time to discuss the possibility of me making a film about his project. Thursday 8 February 2018: Filming of Open Close Movie begins. Saturday 12 May …