But what I can say about this entire period, is that it was the training for what was to come. Each video, as much as the artists I would go on to work with on other projects so I was always able to right the ills I had felt on certain projects. Again, what is seen in the later work, is a sense of self. Shackled by the corporate model that is unavoidable, was also my lack of adventure and that personal touch. And I think at the time, it's impounded by the fact that my expectations are set so incredibly high that I can only be disappointed by the results. It's just the separation I had made between the music videos and putting how i felt about the wider world into them just wasn't a thought at this stage, even though it permeated my work when I was much younger and as a writer on a prospective TV show. Maybe audiences did want that? Maybe they wanted their silly short videos and nothing more? I guess that would be fine if I didn't feel that depth was the one reason that set apart my favourite pieces of entertainment, that work should have something more to say than what's on the surface. And nothing more. But the videos all looked nice and served their purpose really; little calling cards. But to be fair, that wasn't enough.

As much as my previous short film work had shown an understanding of the wider world outside, the only two projects I felt even close to that deeper thought and feeling was CHASE and SÓHM, be it concerns about how we are killing the environment or how the determination to succeed can be your own downfall, the music video work is what it is; be it a fast paced narrative video in ELEANOR, PEPPERED CHICKEN and ROUNDABOUT, oner's in the form of HOW LONG and FOLLOW ME to band performance based with INCINERATOR, ALL YOUR BASE, PERCEPTIVE ROMANCE and GARY DUNHAM. They are what they are in the long run; templates for the work to come. That's not to say, outside of the aforementioned work to come, there wasn't clear dips in quality, this was just the starting gun. Now, each of them hold their merit but in retrospect, they are improved on, developed and recreated better. I remember at the time, looking at other's work at the time and knowing, feeling, I could do better. Coupled with the fact, it's the one time my personal life truly affected the work, at least in the latter half of the period which I wouldn't allow to happen again. It was 100% focus on making some cool looking shit and getting some attention.

So, where to begin?

Well, as I'm working off the videos I refer to as my favorites, there are several, as shown in the grid above. I see this as my training period; learning the kit, learning the concepts and trying different things out. This work is mostly "safe", the steady plateau before it becomes a bit more music video-like but this is also the most productive period of the lot. This is also quite a turbulent period for me personally, which I am certain, effected the work in the latter period to a certain degree. I made a handful of music videos, promos, materials for the TV show but also an animation and a short film.

So, jumping into the beginning of 2013, having made the contacts I had the year previous, I was ready to hit the ground running. If the next project didn't do what I was expecting, I was ready to just throw the towel in. The running theme of some of my attitude of this time and why it doesn't affect me much now, is that I was a great believer of using my time effectively, hated having my time wasted. And while (some times) that is unavoidable, some times it did it's utmost best to make sure my time was eaten up in every little way. Video projects take time to make and when dealing with projects with many moving parts, players and locations, time easily escaped me. But when I say, almost every waking moment was spent on making these videos, I'm not exaggerating. Also, juggling the temperament of other creative individuals plus the ideas I wanted to achieve, was difficult. It remains to be difficult. But it's subtle game of tug-of-war that I've gotten better at over time. When I mentioned previously about making more than the 41 I have achieved, more like 60 music videos potentially, it lies on my lap primarily; if I'd fought the idea a bit harder, if I'd pitched it better or if I'd shot it better, they may have or remained to exist.

The video that sets this new passion into motion is STEVE HERON's PICTURESQUE; my tale of two girls on a night out and the escapades that ensue. It's a fun and bouncy video and immediately puts smile on my face when I watch it. It takes me back to when I spent days shooting this video, trying new things and spending an inordinate amount of time grading it to the point it was pitch perfect. The amount of work spent on a video about the simplest of things from the most jovial of perspectives, starring two friends of the band was insane. But it shows. Every frame of the video was thought and deliberate. This was the quality benchmark I needed to keep me enthused about making videos in the first place.

Now PICTURESQUE does a few notable things, concepts that I repeat in later videos to this day, how it looks and feels. It's the staple for how I shoot films now, the perfectly white balanced middle, the use of locations actual colour as opposed to to added a colour hue or shooting at a different temp. This was about maintaining the realistic nature of the piece because it was instantly relatable; we've all had that one night out. Whether it be in this particular instance or with it being a single emotion or action we can relate to as people, the meticulousness of the production began to shine through. It was about an appreciation of the world I lived in and the beauty it holds. Notably, in the final scene when the sun is rising and it graces the city with its orange glow. The use of the sunset, more so, the lighting style of shooting into lights and figuring it from there. It always looks nice regardless of the colour temp or frame as it creates shots that just bounce from the screen. Think Terence Malick and how dawn and dusk are sen there and where I'm coming from. The idea of the dawn and/or end of something is a symbolic visual that permeates my work. It highlights character change and character evolution, be it on the journey they are taking themselves. In the case of PICTURESQUE it was a very literal new dawn for me personally. As a result of shooting things that way, you find that many of my videos contain nothing but silhouettes.

The amount of time it would take me to finish some of the videos from this point onward, including the multiple shooting days and other odds and ends, was excessive. It would be the case that any project, for the most part, I had the most affinity to because I had spent the most amount of time with making it. One of those videos would be KAT HEALY's THE HAUNTING. Much like its title, it was a meditative and surreal journey through the astral and supernatural. It was as much an experimental piece as much as it's loose narrative was to draw a distant romance and feeling of regret. It's about memories and seeing things differently, and in this case, through the lens of a camera that acted as the transformative device but from a personal perspective, it was how I personally played and viewed the world, through a lens.

The tone of the this video is something that any of the serious projects I have produced end up taking the sense of. There's a deliberate ethereal sense to the dramatic stories I produce in that they are only so real. Be it in the colour casts, the use of slow motion, there is some way, a slightly surreal way I view the world. It takes away from the grim nature of some of the places I set the characters and add some element of beauty. Be it as a narrative base or as a purely band performance like SALTWATER.

THE HAUNTING and subsequently SALTWATER were the product of pushing the shooting style that bit further. I didn't have access to many of the things I needed to make this video possible, be it a smoke machine or a piece of track to do the one thing that I use more than any other in the videos; the push in. Originally, I used to use the zoom to create the same effect but in the absence of using a specific video camera (I use a DSLR for costing) I didn't have the money for a continuous zoom lens. To replace it, to a greater production value, the push-in is something I've used from the time I had access to it. The push-in, also accompanied by the side track that I use as well, add the immediate effect of pulling you closer to what is going on. I'll introduce characters this way and reveal certain things to the audience as well. In all cases, the push-in shots are immediately show reel worthy but just a staple part of the toolkit I have at my disposal.

Because so much of the things I do within filmmaking are about economy and how style can be achieved with very little, the way that certain aspects tend to repeat was just as a consequence of that. The fact that I frame subjects in the centre of frame or use the same kinds of camera movement, shoot close-up's to such a degree and keep the wide shots static, have just been the product of my own interests as well.

After making so many videos and films, there is a certain correlation between the projects. I guess that that is what has evolved into my own style. What has evolved over time is the pacing of the work, the use of movement and taking certain aspects of my previous work. Some of that, including the frenetic handheld camera coupled with certain lighting aspects and solid static shots, big wides and off-set frames have shaped what interests me from a filmmaker's perspective. I've taken some of the amateurish aspects of my work from an earlier time and coupled it with a simple development of skill in lighting, use of lenses and how to compose frames and develop scenes. Another thing that has seeped into the work, is the experience of working in different formats, from tape based formats and moving onto card based HD. The use and look of he CRT has been something, even though not viable in this modern age, but still looks cool. Enough that I based an entire music video around the concept and continue to repeat it in my future work.

The idea of using the TV was as a direct reference to modern's society's dependence on the information it casts. Without taking into the realm of oppression and how the masses are controlled by technology but with the advent and dependence on smartphones, I don't feel the comparison to be too far off. From the gentle stab of a characters nostalgia to references to the state of television programming. In other ways, rounding off this period of some of my favourite work, was SHADOW OF THE WITCH. It's a take on the actual oppressive nature of man, in this case, playing God. Inspired by low-budget horror films, H.P. Lovecraft and RE-ANIMATOR this was one of the few opportunities to just play about a bit. Be it the simple camera tricks, home-made blood effects and what we had at our disposal within the location on a shoot day that lasted 16 hours, it's haphazard style was just a result of the time we barely had to make it. Taking my interest in low-budget horror, loads of players and the use of a great location, it's one of the biggest videos I have ever made.

It's part of a collection of work of this time, that included a violent aspect to the narrative. As it takes a deeper concern with the nature of corporations. Certainly this aspect repeats itself in the same style of video, namely with metal bands. I wouldn't want to feel like the style itself is typecast to the type of music but in some instances the lyricism and content of the songs lends itself to more extreme content. Now, I'm not shy to the content of the songs, I'd spent time filming bands of extreme metal which didn't't appeal to everyone but as I have come to realise is that I've adapted my way of working to style of music. I have such an eclectic variety of music I have created for a many number of bands. Over the years, I'd always wanted to specialize as a metal music video maker, as I felt that had best described my interests and style, I've made some very surprising and adaptable pieces of work.

By the end of SHADOW OF THE WITCH, once criticism I did have, was the length of the video's opening title; something of a slightly obsessive necessity I have continued to continue producing. Each title specific to the film or video it is representing. One thing that almost all of the videos exhibit up to this point is consistent title sequences.

But after finishing off the previous periods worth of work, the time was book-ended by the making of another short film project. The one thing I will say, is everything post-DRIFT is when the work hits that sweet spot. The quality peaks (and troughs) are still apparent but overall, it starts hitting a quality marker that I had hoped to achieve much sooner but it was only on the basis that I had made a bunch of videos and projects to get to this point that made it even possible. Before bypassing it completely, here is DRIFT.

DRIFT, for all intents and purposes is an incredibly personal film about this point in my life. Telling the tale of a relationship that is slowly pulling itself apart (a recurring theme in much of my writing) the film was about how aspects of life tend to repeat themselves and that letting go of the past can be especially hard. Using the patented colour casting and of using single shots and takes to play out scenes, its a noticeable improvement in filmmaking from the likes of CHASE. It's a great example of how I use film and storytelling as catharsis. Stylistically, its solid if a tad simplistic in comparison to some of the video work but it does illicit certain aspects that repeat in other projects. In this case, it is the representation of water. Using the stretch of water that represents the endless sense of longing of the main character was just another example of using stretches of water or waves within my work.

These aspects notably repeat, either as a character specific symbolic concern or as an threatening force, to be reckoned with. In other cases, its just for the sheer power of its majesty as great place to be. Seen here in my first video of this period after DRIFT, BOOZE CRUISE; my third outing with the guys in ROBOT DEATH MONKEY. It's a relationship with the a group of guys I've known since College, the same group who formed SYLVANUS, the first music video I ever made. I have made more than 5 videos with those guys. My relationships with the bands have seen me work with the same folk year after year and form consistent bases for creative and interesting work that follows a through-line each specific mantra of the band in question. It's been a steady incline of working with THE MARVELS, STEVE HERON, ECHO ARCADIA and ECHO ARCADIA. And as a result they have always produce the most ambitious of the collection. The strength of the relationship, or call it friendship, has an impact on the work. Coupled with, for instance, I make something previously I don't particularly like, I'll put the special effort to make sure I right the personal ill.

There's not much of note about the remaining videos in this list, as I've pointed out, the videos, some times throw-away or deeply significant, all reach a level of quality that has improved over time. Its a matter of preference. As I have mentioned, one I don't particularly favor over another, may be another's favourite. I have less to say about the videos as I've spoken about the video, certainly in the latter part of the collection, at length that doesn't require repeating. You can find that in the blog. Again, the videos that I had spent the most amount of time on, appear to be the best. It's about this time I create videos with some of the best band sections I've filled, accidentally enough in the videos where the music was much heavier and fast-paced.

When it came to shooting band sections, each shot should be it's own self-composed and purposeful moment. I had, at times, relying purely on pace to sell those shots, cutting between the beats in the edit to maintain the audience attention. As time went on, it was about how that band section complimented what was being seen and told in the story. The best, I feel I produced was in this video for CLOSER, STRANGER DANGER. This video was the first time that, after hearing the song, a litter of images entered my mind. I like the idea of songs taking my minds to places I wouldn't immediately go to. As I had pointed out, when writing scripts and developing stories, I tend to begin with a title or a distinct image and develop it from there. With the creation of the videos after this point it require a bunch of empty thinking to let the inspiration come from a different place. It's less a case of what shot should proceed the next but more, what kind of image suits this musical arrangement / drum fill / guitar solo, etc.

... And referring back to my earlier feeling on how the heavier the music the more extreme the content, LUNATIC FRINGE for BLACK TALON. This is the beginning of the creation of darker and deeper themes within the videos. The difficulty with dealing with theme, in this case, a very dark edge of society, is the mass appeal and already established fan base of the music. It would be more forgivable and allowable to this type of music but probably less so in pop promo. Overall, LUNATIC FRINGE, which swaps out the idea of the edge of society as a comparison to the monotony of every day life, was deliberately controversial. It stands as one of my favourite videos of this genre.

What can be seen as the work progresses and I have less and less to say about the work other than "it's better" is that the work is so much engaging and exciting. I'm getting away with performing narratives in videos that previously I would find difficult to pitch or would have bounced back. But really, by the time it comes to the end of this period, it culminates in two of my best videos; UNIVERSAL THEE's SPEAKER and ECHO ARCADIA's HURRICANES. I've spoken and written about these videos at length in other posts on this website and both of them say very different things. They are the culmination of of this period's worth of work and stand as some of my best work to date.

This is the point where the videos hit their peak and although, very different they both illustrate a the balance of the music video with the telling of a narrative and also, the balance between the drama and/or the comedy being displayed. The emotional value of the characters and the stories here what becomes the new plateau. They are the stand outs from the entirety of the collection to date. And also, one of the few things that links these videos (and many others in my collection) is that the main characters walk. The idea of taking characters on very literal journeys is a narrative construct as well as a symbol of the emotional journey are undertaking.

Entering into the other half of this period, it is separated by one of my most ambitious short films to date; THE BICYCLE MAN.

As much as this feels like another form of progression into the videos, other than what I have said about the work previous, how it is made and how it was intended to be perceived, these remaining videos, the bulk of work for 2017, elaborate and progress the already established formula. In that case, there is nothing more to say about how the videos are made other than these are the culmination of years worth of trial and error and plenty of mistakes along the way. For more specific information on them, you can find it in the blog. But here they are, completing the roster of favourite and most recent video work (2017) that I feel, speaks for itself.

As much as I have come to the end of this post, it's rarely ever over. I'll probably add to this over time and change and tweak it over time but the hope is that people read it, or simply understand that as a filmmaker, I perform certain actions for very specific reasons. My mantra has always been to be able to explain every aspect of the way I do them, so I can best illustrate in writing treatments and producing storyboards to what individuals are looking for. Also, being able to explain how doing something specific like lighting this shot a certain way, why this scene is in slow motion, why this frame over another, how this scene is blocked, where the motivation begins and ends etc. is what I feel makes me a better filmmaker. And really that's how I see each of these videos; as tiny vignettes, stories and films about a time in my life and story of the songs they are relating to. I know that coming into 2018 I've decided to slow down on the music videos but I don't want to close it off completely. just want everyone to know how much work and myself has gone into the making of these videos. The nostalgia trip is strong here and by highlighting my favourite work along the way and hopefully many others, I am encouraged to improve on the work I am still to produce. Like the nuances and stylistic choices I have decided to show here, there are still others that give it that signature I've always wanted. As much as each of these videos and show is that they have each been a personal journey, much like the characters in the storiesI have told, for the most part. What I can say I have taken from this trip is that from being someone who, at one point, didn't have any aspiration to make any music videos, ended up making 41 (and counting) of them, so really I would just tend to keep my options open from now on.