Nightmare at Madame Tussaud’s

I thought Halloween would be the perfect time to share my Nightmare at Madame Tussaud’s with you. I didn’t realise editing the video would be an even bigger nightmare!

I hadn’t intended going to Madame Tussaud’s whilst I was in New York, but I found myself in Times Square one evening with not much else to do and it was just there. Lit up in front of me. It was still open and I had a pass that included free entry so thought I might as well go and see what it had to offer.

Well it was a complete nightmare. So horrific I had to make a video so I could share the experience in full with you.  Continue reading “Nightmare at Madame Tussaud’s”

Starring the Whaligoe Steps

A visit to the Whaligoe Steps should be on everyone’s NC500 wishlist. They’re notoriously difficult to find though, so if you are planning to visit have a look at the step-by-step directions I’ve given here. I got lucky with the weather and so used the opportunity of a nice day to explore and decided to launch my film-making career whilst I was at it!

If you’ve looked up ideas for travelling around Scotland in recent years, two types of ‘tour’ will have jumped out at you:

Outlander and NC500.

The Outlander tour routes are all about visiting filming locations used for the Outlander TV series and some (all) of the places you’ll get to visit on these tours are amazing. I know because I’ve been to some of them. But that’s for another post.

The other type of tour that jumps out at you from Google is the NC500 or North Coast 500. This is something a brilliantly-minded marketing official at Visit Scotland came up with a few years ago. Many tourists visit Scotland each year. Many tourists go to the Highlands each year. Many tourists do not venture further north than Loch Ness. The Great Glen and its lochs, including Loch Ness, form a watery geographical border stretching from Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east. Until recently this also seemed to be a tourist border. For some reason, people didn’t venture further north than this. Continue reading “Starring the Whaligoe Steps”

Greek Orthodox Easter – the video

A short video to capture the sounds and atmosphere of Orthodox Easter.

If I ever want to get good at making videos, I need to start actually making videos. Greek Orthodox Easter in Crete provided me with a good opportunity for a first attempt, as photographs alone couldn’t do justice to the occasion. I didn’t have a tripod or a specialist video camera, so I just pointed my usual camera and pressed the record button. I think I’ve done okay at capturing some of the sound and atmosphere, but I obviously have a LONG way to go to perfect my filming technique! 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=pgL0KQyiQlw%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded

Jake Bugg and ideas for film-making in Amsterdam

Feeling inspired by this music video.

This could be my favourite music video ever. It’s basically just a walk round Amsterdam, a city I love and feel I know quite well. I don’t take many photos when I’m there as I feel I’ve taken them all before. However, when I go back at Easter I was thinking of experimenting with my video camera and trying to capture some of the spirit of the city on film. I’m going to be studying this music video pretty closely for tips.

PS The music’s pretty good too.