If you haven’t heard this from @garystewartband you should. It’s lovely.

It’s been nearly three weeks since we wrapped on our first fully-independent film. I’ve had a lot of time to think (maybe too much time) about the experience, and I’m starting to see my thoughts in groups.
What we did well: morale was awesome on the first couple of days (thanks Sage and Benjamin for keeping spirits high on the first night, and Matthew for your unflagging energy throughout); we were willing and able, rolled with the changes, and solved problems as they arose; we stayed on schedule with minor exceptions; we ate good food (when we remembered to eat); we got good actors and good performances; the footage looks good.
What we can do better: define roles; firmly establish on-set hierarchy and authority at outset; bring on more crew at appropriate times and in appropriate positions; do loads more pre-production organization; keep communications open, especially among leaders; lead by (better) example; set protocol, including when to transfer footage and who watches the dailies when; set crew call early enough to get reports delivered in crucial meetings; say no to things we don’t have in our budget; schedule run-throughs and actually run through the shots as planned; get the shots that count and get more than one “perfect” take of each shot; make sure everyone wears (at most) only a couple of hats and that the duties of those hats don’t conflict.
That’s a lot. It’s been humbling to reflect on, and I bear a lot of the responsibility, in particular I’m guilty of “wearing too many hats” and not leading by (better) example. Next time, I will improve. This time, I’m trying to chalk it up to inexperience and move on to the next thing.

garystewart:

Seasons Greetings folks! I hope you are all well. Me and my lovely band were recently involved in ‘Anthologies’ -a non-profit,voluntary project which works with musicians,promoters,venues and other individuals to capture unique performances by musicians who are based in Leeds or are visiting Leeds on tour. We were asked to play for a special ‘Christmas Anthologies’ which is raising money for a Charity called ‘Simon On The Streets’. Here’s our video-it’s of my newest song,’Blue’. You can head over to the Anthologies website and see performances from Hannah Peel,Sam Airey,Paul Thomas Saunders and many more here-

http://www.anthologiesleeds.net/christmas2011

I hope you like the video-please feel free to shout about it and send people to the Anthologies website if you do : ) Here are a few links;

Donating:  http://justgiving.com/anthologieschristmas2011

Facebook: http://facebook.com/anthologiesleeds

Twitter: http://twitter.com/anthologiesuk

All donations go directly to:  http://simononthestreets.co.uk

Thanks and Merry Christmas!!

Gary x

Each one is slightly different, ranging from right frontal lobe throbbing to between the ears stabbing to “my head feels like it’s gonna bust open,” and my new favorite, intermittent snow vision with a red hot poker strike right above the amygdala every two to three minutes. Since reading Oliver Sacks’ book, I’ve been intrigued by the visual representations of other sufferers’ migraines, so I’m going to start documenting mine. Watch this space.

Last night for a hot minute, I was assigned to direct my two partners in a dialogue. I’ve since been reassigned to act in a concurrent dialogue and, while I’m looking forward to working with that group, I have to admit I’m sad that I’m in a different group. Matt and Andy are both excellent actors and their other filmic skills influence everything they do, which makes them brilliant fun to direct. And for me to say it’s fun to direct (at all)? You know that’s a helluva good time.

Mottled.

purringheart:

Radio Bliss is released today, download it for free from our Soundcloud

or from our facebook page

Vinyls will be available soon.

New favorite. Cheers.

asickling:

A few chaps I made before the summer