New Boyz - Jerk

Someone mentioned this lot being valid evidence of hip hop not being dead in an article i just read. I have a contrary opinion (they're just the cool kids v2.0) but you have to say this video is entertaining. Hiphop kids wearing skinny jeans, doing what looks like the river dance is good in my book. The bright colours, genre defying trouser selections and tiny skinny legs jumping about all make for a brilliant video. Terrible song though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv9VKKXwVxU&feature=related

Films

Being as my new camera has an HD video function, I tried making a short film this weekend in order to practice using it, and get back into editing. What came out probably won't be a masterpiece, mainly due to the fact I wrote the idea in ten minutes the night before shooting, and asked my (very patient and kind) parents to help me shoot it up on the top of Dartmoor in the freezing cold with no notice whatsoever. The things I learnt are as follows:

1. My Dad can learn lines really quickly, and is actually quite good at acting. Given he only got given his script just before shooting, he did a really good job, although he did have some somewhat inexplicable problems with the line 'hold on, dont go'.
2. Focussing is really difficult.
3. Pushing peoples generosity to breaking point in order to make a short film is only going to be exasperated further if you ask them to do it on a freezing moor.
4. Always remember that your sister is a proper trained actor (and thus your Mum has first hand experience of good acting) when asking said Mother whether your first, hopelessly lifeless attempt at acting is any good. The response is never going to be positive.
5. Dad was the star of his school plays as a boy. He played Dick Whittington! It was really weird trying to realign my perceptions of my Dad from practical, manly, down to earth bloke, to preening, squealing, drama ponce.

Anyway, hopefully it will be up on my blog (or maybe, if there is some burst of ingenuity and inspiration, my website) when iv edited it and rerecorded the dialogue somewhere where the wind isnt overpowering everything. In the meantime I thought id post up some of the short films I made with Si when we were much younger. This one is my favourite, and (topically) features another top dad performance, by Ron Ward.

Landscapes

Weird Advert

Saw this the other day on a Durex machine in a toilet. Is this really the best way to illustrate the fun that one can have whilst practicing safe sex? Its a bit terrifying. As well as the obviously hideous, leering bloke, the horror film lighting, and the bizaare look on the womans face, the advert gives off a David Lynch film type atmosphere, with these people looming over an innocent couple, mid coitus, egging them on with their strange unneccersary ice lolly. Maybe its just me.

TWINS

TWINS

TWINS

Havent really posted on my blog recently, feel a bit gutted I cant seem to keep it going consistently! I've been making a new version of my site, which i can update myself (www.jamesmidwinter.com)

Anyway, heres something I've been 'working' on for a while; a major new project! I noticed that even though there isnt a uniform policy at my work, people would still often wear very similar outfits. I was even guilty of this subconcious conformity!

Did a little commemorative shoot of all of us who lived at 12 Indigo Mews. Sim came up with the idea of recreating the Band on the Run cover!

Was getting some stuff on off my phone to post up later this week and found this little video of Michael prancing about with loads of fake blood and animal guts. Its from about 2006 I think, which was about the time I really started to think I could take photos for a living. Looking at these images now makes me think I must have been delusional. I think the biggest travesty of the set of photos that came out of this was the pair of overly decorated jeans i made Michael wear. Horrible.

Beng

These are some of the images I shot for Kam's pitch for his film script Beng. The script is set in Robin Hood Gardens, a council estate near where I used to live and its a look into the life of a Bengali family living on the estate. Hopefully London Film are going to give him some money to film his story.

So these are some of the images that the band Detachments picked from the shoot I did last friday. I was quite pleased with this shoot, mainly because the images didnt actually require much retouching, just a little bit of colour work, and sort of came out how I imagined them beforehand. The weather turned out perfectly, and the sun at the end of the day was brilliant. The first image I posted earlier this week was shot on the same piece of land that I shot my old image of the guy with no hands in a warehouse. That warehouse is gone now, and its just a really run down, overgrown bit of wasteland by the thames. The warmer images are the ones I shot when the low sun came out, I think I like them best.

I think i'm going to pick different images from the ones the band decided on, I think we're both looking for slightly different things, but its always interesting to know what pictures the client is going to choose. I do really like the image where Sebastien the lead singer has his arms out to the sides though. I asked him to imagine he was Nicolas Anelka celebrating a goal (pretentious of me I know), I think he got the cocky, confident look I wanted really well. Adding this to the desolate, cold landscape, I think the pic definitely reflects the groups music.

Detatchments

Been very busy recently, got numerous things lined up since I finished the book, on Friday I shot some publicity shots for the band Detatchments. You can have a listen to their stuff here

http://www.myspace.com/detachments

I'm in the process of working out final images, but heres one for now.

Mum and Dad battering one another

My Mum and Dad came to stay with me and Nicole this weekend, and we had a lot of fun playing the Wii after a few glasses of wine. If you told someone 10 years ago that there were tears in your eyes as you watched your parents try to batter the living daylights out of one another they would have probably directed you to social services. These days this is a happy, good bit of family quality time. Check out Bailey going mental because he cant understand whats happening.




The next video shows Mum finally knocking Dad out, I loved Dads reaction! For the record, (and so I dont get a clip round the ear) while Mum was better at the competitive games, Dad was a lot better at the balance games, and showed a suprising natural aptitude for the skiing games.

Victorian Soldiers

Victorian Soldiers

New Adventures

New Adventures, a band I did some photos for earlier this year (the ones in the forest at the start of the Day section on my main site) have put a new version of their website online. Go to www.newadventures.co.uk

They've got some really good new songs up on their myspace (www.myspace.com/newadventures), my favourites are Nostalgia and A Sad Song to Protect you from the Rain (which is also available as a free mp3 download on their site.)

blog mention

I've been ill for the last couple of days, but something thats really cheered me up is being featured on the creative blog Ektopia. (www.ektopia.co.uk) Its an amazing place to find brilliant artwork, photographs and ideas when you need inspiring, Since I first started following it I've bookmarked so many of the featured websites its ridiculous. Give this guy a magazine to edit!

Glenn

Drowned World

I have a new set of images up on my main site now (www.jamesmidwinter.com) called The Drowned World. It was an off the cuff shoot in Stoke Newington and features my friend Osmo Puupera. I'd just read The Drowned World by J.G Ballard, and wanted to capture some of the intensely hot humid atmosphere the book has. I think I'm going to gradually extend this set, because they are some of the only images I've shot recently that I'm not sick of after about two days! The images below are a few of the shots that didnt make it into the main set.

If you're interested in seeing some photos that Osmo and I did last year together go to noblondeboys.blogspot.com. Osmo's personal site is www.puupera.com

Sue's Retirement Do

Sue's Retirement 2

I'm not sure what world famous, multi-multi-multi millionaire NBA basketball star Kevin Garnett would think of a likeness of his head sitting in the corner of my mums back garden. I made this when I was about 16 for my Art GCSE, and its quite nice that my Mum has kept it all these years. It makes her garden look quite bohemian I think.

Ok, so heres the last of the big images that didn't make it into the final cut of my book. I may turn this image into another set of pix though, because I actually really like it, it just didnt fit coherently into the book.