Smokin Jo and her new project, TRNSSTR, are going to be performing live over the next few months, starting towards the end of December. So she asked me if I fancied doing some visuals for the event, and I immediately said yes.

I’ve been doing the odd bits of visuals for small parties here and there, using a mixture of “static” animations and physics-based graphics (all in Flash). But for this event I really wanted to use some real footage, especially as I have access to an EX1 camera through my brothers’ production company, which is a lot nicer than the camera I usually use (FX1). It has a variable framerate that can capture between 1 and 60 fps, which means that you can do some nice slow-motion stuff, and it also gives you the option of changing the lens, which gives the footage a real filmic look, losing a lot of digital traces..

So the other day, on my 1-hour break from a Flash project for Orange, I wrapped myself in clingfilm and set-up the camera (maybe it wasn’t in that order), with the help of brother #1.

We agreed that the clingfilm wasn’t right, and that if shown to a crowd of [temporarily] mentally and emotionally fragile people, would have been the perfect way to empty the venue - as well as crushing the poor souls of those who happened to be there.

However the lighting and the feel is just perfect for what I imagined, so based on this idea we’re going to shoot it again next week, with the help of my friend James who knows a bit more about lighting and styling than I do. I’ll be behind the camera this time. And Jo’s hidden the clingfilm.