CRUELTY TO MERMAIDS

I've had a lot of positive feedback about my involvement in the Weird Girls Project. I'm editing the video right now with Julia Knight at Trim. However I must admit there's been a surprising number of "concerned" emails about the health and well being of the girls. Specifically people in the UK and USA have been worried about my immense cruelty at putting 16 girls in a pool when Iceland's autumn temperatures were dipping to -2 °C. I can see why people might worry ; There I am wrapped up like a Siberian explorer, yelling into a megaphone while the girls, clad in spandex, are making flower formations in the apparently freezing cold pool.

However if appearances can be deceiving double that on film shoots and multiply it by the square root of 100 in Iceland. Icelandic people, by the way, have made no such appeals for the prevention of cruelty to mermaids. As they all know geothermal heat has been used by people since time began. And Iceland happens to be a hot-bed (sorry) of geothermal activity, being situated on the mid-ocean ridge of the Atlantic Ocean where tectonic plates meet and magma reaches the sea floor. The water at Sundlaugin Laugaskarð pool is naturally between around 35 and 40 °C. The girls were mainly complaining of being to hot!



WEIRD GIRLS SHOOT BEHIND THE SCENES
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittyvonsometime/sets/72157608316502781/

GEOTHERMAL HEAT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_heating
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_power_in_Iceland

Sundlaugin Laugaskarð pool
http://www.infoiceland.is/infoiceland/vorur/Default.asp?ew_0_cat_id=3241&ew_0_p_id=5925127

THE BLUE LAGOON- THE ULTIMATE GEOTHERMAL EQPERIENCE
http://www.bluelagoon.com/

SOME WEIRD GIRLS PICTURES FROM SHOOT with EMILIANA TORRINI SONG

I'm over the moon about how The Weird Girls Project photos have turned out. This photo shoot was done alongside the filming of the video, which uses "Heard it All Before" by Emiliana Torrini as the soundtrack. There was also a documentary shot on the day. You can see how the project has developed from September to the present day, including Emiliana's reactions to the shoot, Perez Hilton's love of her music and info about the shoot day, by following the blog below.



This is me being a director. This is a standard look in the trade. The megaphone is a recent addition to my ensemble. It works so I'm sticking to it.




Some of my girls being fabulous.


If you'd like to see the full collection of official photos, taken by Hörður Ellert Ólafsson follow this link to producer and artist Kitty-Von -Sometime's flickr page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittyvonsometime/sets/72157608316585383/

The video, which I directed in Iceland earlier this month, is currently being edited at Trim in London and will be out very soon on this blog. I'll be keeping Perez Hilton informed too because he's a big fan of Emiliana. Aren't we all!

WATCH THIS SPACE PEREZ HILTON

Apparently Perez Hilton is a big fan of Emiliana Torrini, having recently sited her video for "Big Jumps" as a favorite and described her as the "perfect successor to Feist". I recently emailed him just to let him know that we are currently editing "The Weird Girls Project" film using "Heard it All Before". He must be looking forward to seeing it as he replied that the whole thing was "Fab!"

Oooohhh...Watch this space Perez. 

EMILIANA IS EXCITED ABOUT NEW FILM

When Emiliana saw photos from on set at the Weird Girls Episode 6 shoot she was very positive. In fact her reaction was; "Wooooooobeeedooobeee!" which sounds like excitement to me. She's the first person, apart from the crew and the 16 Weird Girls who performed, to have seen anything from the top secret shoot. (That's right even Perez hasn't sen a thing yet. No preferential treatment here people.) 

We are currently editing the rushes into a film using her track "Heard it All before" from "Me and Armini" as the soundtrack.

Follow the progress of the production on this blog from Sept 24th 2008, when it all started, until the film comes out. The very first online link will be here. 

Here's a teaser pic...to tease you with....

MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS RESULTS

You can see the results of the MVA Awards hosted by Adam Buxton here.
http:://www.promonews.tv/2008/10/14/uk-music-video-awards-2008-all-the-winners/

It was nice to see everyone, although a little cloud of sadness hung in the air with the sad news of Gideon. (See blog two down.)

EMILIANA + THE WEIRD GIRLS + DAN CAREY= HAPPY THINGS

I 'm counting my lucky stars. The closer it gets to editing time for Episode 6 of The Weird Girls Project the more excited I get and the happier I am that we are using Emiliana's music. I don't think I'd fully comprehended how much she's loved in Iceland until I went there. It's great when people like your friends, but when it's an entire country that likes them, that's amazing...and...a little weird. But in a good way.

I don't know if it was the excitement of the day, the incredibly good weather or a love of Emiliana that made two dozen people arrive so cheerful (and on time) on the freezing cold morning of the shoot. Whatever it was it was great and the Weird Girls turned out in full force. (Incidentally none of them are that weird, and that's not the point at all. The way I see it, the point is providing a bit of joy and fun for girls who might otherwise feel like weirdos for having hobbies like running around in spandex. For an explanation of "why" they do it see my first blog on the subject at the very bottom.)



As I've already said in an earlier blog the shoot day was a great success. We managed to shoot everything I'd hoped for, fighting hard against the clock. Incredibly we shot 4 x 64min tapes in 4 hours. Impossible? Well..we had the good fortune of acquiring a second camera courtesy of the kind documentary crew who were covering the day. It's a luxury a music video director shouldn't get used to! We had a lot of fun though and kept blaring out "Heard it All Before" on the loudspeakers. I'm sure all of Iceland could hear it.

Here's a mystery shot to whet your appetites. It was taken by Freida, who did a very good impression of a peeping tom and caused a stir.




After the shoot it was food and hot tubs for 16 hungry Weird Girls and a handful of crew. The best lamb I have ever tasted was provided by Kitty-Von Sometime.



The only pity is I know Emiliana would have enjoyed it too and she wasn't around due to music commitments. Throughout the process I've been keeping her informed about what I'm doing. She's been so brilliant about it, giving me total creative free reign, never questioning a thing. I think we built up that trust by making the "Sunnyroad" video. Dan Carey (AKA Mr Dan) who I've written about on here already, has been amazing too. Dan co-wrote the album with Emiliana and he's given me just as much trust and freedom as she has.

I'm really looking forward to editing this and seeing what fans of Emiliana think of it.

GIDEON BAWS WILL BE SADLY MISSED

A friend called me yesterday with the sad news that our mutual friend Gideon Baws of Shynola died this weekend whilst at a wedding in LA. Of course the appropriate way to find out should be more personal than this blog but having phoned everyone I can think of who needs to know I feel that I need to say a few words here. I guess the shell shocked feeling of it all clouds any notion of what the correct response should be.

The news has shocked everyone who knew him. All I know is that he died of heart failure. Gideon, a lovely and gentle young guy of 33 was the last person I'd expect to hear this about. He always seemed healthy and in good spirits. He didn't do drugs or over-do booze and he was young.

Although Gideon wasn't someone I hung out with all the time he was someone I knew and liked. The last time I spoke to him was too long ago. He'd called me to see if I wanted to go trampolining. I was busy, going on a date. It's clear to me now that it must have been over a year ago as I've been Charlie for that long now. Whilst it's pointless to get into knots over that one trivial occasion it would seem silly not to take stock and consider how important keeping in touch is.

There are a lot of people who'll miss Gideon. Those who knew him will be hit the hardest but there will also be a creative void that was once filled by a truly talented guy.

Goodbye Gids.

COLLABORATION- THIS IS MR DAN

Mr Dan (AKA Dan Carey) is one of the best brains in music and arguably the nicest man in Britain, if not the world. He's mixed, produced, written, and remixed with the likes of Hot Chip, CSS, Franz Ferdinand and the lovely Emiliana Torrini (who's music, co-written with Dan, I'm using for Weird Girls Episoe 6). Mr Dan is great. Most excitingly though he's the person I'll be collaborating with on my next project. For now we'll call it "IDEA".

"IDEA" was born of a marriage between my burning desire to push myself out of my comfort zone and make some music, and Dan's long obsession with expressing himself visually. In short; we plan to turn the musician/ video director relationship on it's head by switching roles and creating our own independent music video. Obviously we'll need each other's help. There will be rules and we'll be trying to facilitate and inspire but not to influence the other persons idea too much. A list of the rules will be available soon. What I love so much about Dan is his enthusiasm for things like this and his unerring faith in the process. It truly is an adventure.

Will keep you posted.

LOOK IT'S MR DAN
http://www.myspace.com/iammrdan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Carey_(Music)
http://www.complete-music.co.uk/writers/middanc.htm

GET TEKTONIK

(MINUS THE MULLET)



Ok so if you have absolutely nothing to do this weekend, why not learn Euro street dance craze Tektonik. It's artfully demonstrated in this highly watchable vid for "A Cause Des Garcons" by electro sensation Yelle.

YELLE TEKTONIK
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VqRR10Xy3GU

Music video directors take note; These kids are almost certainly doing it for themselves. And it rocks.

Don't cry, get dancing.

LEARN WITH THESE LINKS

TUTORIAL (this one is good for foot moves)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_v0GJV0FqEc

Use these arm moves in combination and you might be half way there.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pZPse6Xer3A
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rvh_x5EJVs

I HEART ICELAND

After spending a week in Iceland for the Weird Girls Episode 6 shoot (featuring music by Emiliana Torrini) I can truly say I love the place. From the incredible scenery to the kind cab driver who radioed the coach so that we would not miss it, to the documentary crew who gladly leant us their camera as a B-Cam, Iceland kept on delighting and amazing me.I love the girls, the boys, the "can do" spirit, the cabins we stayed in and hot tubs at Núpar in Ölfus ( http://www.nupar.is), Naked Ape clothing (www.dontbenaked.com) especially cat-suits and extra long leggings, Ghostdigital's new single "Hovering Hoover Skates" and their old album "In Cod we Trust" (http://www.myspace.com/ghostigital), Reykjavik's village feeling, The Blue Lagoon Spa (http://www.bluelagoon.com Not the cheesy soft porn film with Milla Jovovich....), Icelandic fish stew, the nations affection towards Emiliana, wearing spandex, the weird weather, the accent and layering lots of jumpers.

I  hope the economic situation results in less strife than people are expecting. Icelanders are a resourceful bunch anyhow. And as I overheard one person say in Reykjavik, "We can party our way through most disasters". I just hope most Icelanders realize that we don't actually think they are terrorists.....Thanks for that Gordan Brown...

I'll be back.

Weird Girls Episode 6 with music by Emiliana Torrini will be visible on http://www.alitaylor.tv AND http://www.academyfilms.com VERY SOON. 

WEIRD GIRLS- OH WHAT A PERFECT DAY

Oh happy days! Iceland's weather gods decided to be very kind to us yesterday. Weeks of rain clouds parted to reveal bright sunny skies, the perfect shoot weather. Today the rain is back on in full torrential force, making us feel that we were fortunate indeed.

On top of that, the 16 lovely Weird Girls and crew who took part were all brilliant. The theme and location will be revealed when the video comes out in a few weeks time. Editor Julia Knight and I are very excited about cutting this.

Thanks everyone who took part!

Availible soon to watch at http://www.alitaylor.tv

WEIRD GIRL DIRECTOR ARRIVES IN REYKJAVIK

My journey began at the receiving end of a facebook message from producer Kitty Von Sometime asking me if I'd come to Iceland and shoot the first full video Episode of The Weird Girls Project. That was a couple of months ago and sitting in my small but perfectly comfy room in a Central Reykjavik guest house, I can't quite believe the time has come.

The trip from London was uneventful until I arrived in Reykjavik to find it snowing heavily. Fortunately I was wearing most of my clothes, double gloves etc . Myself and one native Icelander were the only ones left outside the airport as numerous families and pre-booked mini busses carted people off to their respective homes and hotels. There were no taxis. Apparently most cabs still had summer tyers on so we were unlikely to see very many. Luckily I was rescued by the nice Icelandic guy who eventually found a cab, offered to share it and then was generous enough to cover my share of the fare by way of "A welcome to Iceland gift". Very nice, thank you. I wish I'd asked his name. That would have been polite.

My luck didn't last at the guesthouse. Well it did really, but it had a lapse. Following a sign that directed me to the back of the building in the adjacent street, I came across some sort of icy death slide disguised as a path. This would have been fine, I have been snowboarding, but somehow as I fell to the ground my suitcase handle managed to wallop me in the mouth. I arrived at my guest house looking like I'd just been in a bar brawl. And as I stood there spitting blood into the snow, wearing all my clothes and a silly hat, in front of the sleepy looking middle aged man I'd just woken up, he said, "Welcome, come in" as if I was the most normal person in the world, and I knew I was in a very special place indeed.

They seem a generous and trusting lot. I just hope they don't laugh at my duck-billed bruise face tomorrow.

MY NEW VID "WE ARE HERE" FOR "LANGUAGE" CUT AT TRIM EDITING

At long last I've been working at Trim again with the very talented Tom Lindsay. We've been cutting a video for Shoreditch band "Language" and their new track "We are Here". It was great working with this band whose performance has that great mixture of energy and weirdness that I love so much. We'll put a link up soon.

Check out Trim, the best edit facility in London if you ask me. And a stones throw from Brick Lane, which is a way nicer place to be than Wardour street.

http://trimediting.com/

http://www.myspace.com/languageuk