After the phenomenal television experience that was James May on the Moon, I couldn't resist making a video to reflect the major themes of the two programmes. This is the first time I've gone for a more metaphorical take on a vid - I love this version of Teardrop because it builds so beautifully, like the narrative structure of the two documentaries.

This vid isn't so much a James May vid as a whimsical look at his passion for the moon. I attempted to capture his progression from observer to participant in the U2 flight, and the emotions that this journey evoked in him, as participant and presenter. I found it an hour and a half of incredibly emotive television; not just because of the subject matter but also because of the exquisite filming and editing. Because of this, this took comparatively little time to put together as a lot of the cuts and transitions were there already. If James doesn't get a BAFTA for this, then the producer and editing team certainly should!

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This was one of those slightly mad projects that crept up on me when I had a bit of free time, and ended up being something a bit more than a bit of fun. I'd toyed with the idea of using 'Sharp Dressed Man' before in a different fandom, but rejected it as a concept because it's such a tricky song to use. Although the premise is great for a really visual, literal vid, there simply aren't enough lyrics in it! The guitar work, while phenomenal, is also the dominant force in the music, making it rather tricky for me, as someone who tends to vid to lyrics, to execute convincingly. Anyway, with a bit of chopping, I managed to get the song down to a manageable 2.41 from 4.30, which solved the lyrics vs. guitar problem, and Im pretty pleased with the result.

I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a slightly cracky tone to this vid - after all, James May is more notorious than famous for his sartorial sense, but to a dedicated fangirl such as myself, and thousands of others around the globe, we love him all the more for his slightly left field approach to fashion! This vid aims to show why we all adore him for his wardrobe choices ;).

For the first time, I've also broken two of my own vidding rules: firstly, never use stills and moving images in the same video, and secondly, never use a flashy transition as it'll detract from the story. In my defence, however, Ive tried to use the stills in as dynamic a way as possible, and the transition was needed to bring a bit of life to the stills. And since I've recently been accused by a class of students of having FAR too many pictures of James May on my computer, what better way to use them than this?!

Many thanks to the people who supplied the stills for the video - most were found on The James May Board, some were pinched from Photobucket (thanks especially to Laura_221 and puppieloved, who both seem to have an endless repository of stills!), a couple were personal pics taken by Kathryn, used with her permission, one that seemed to come originally from www.james-may.co.uk, some from James-May{dot}Net, one from www.simonpbarlow.com and some more came from rootling around on Google. All are used with humble thanks :). If Ive failed to credit you for an image, please do let me know :).

Also thanks to the wonderful Sealgirl for the fab footage of both Killer Sharks and The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2009, without which, this vid wouldn't be half as much fun :)

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To view and download a full quality, pretty version of the vid, with its actual soundtrack, please feel free to visit:
http://the-emporium.org/Site/T op_Gear.html
Virtually as soon as I'd finished my first Holding Out for a Hero vid, I felt compelled to do another one - it seemed the muse hadn't quite finished with me! I love the beat in this version of the song, and I'm very fond of Imogen Heap's voice, too.


To justify doing a remixed version, I had to push my technical boundaries a great deal. I promised myself that I'd only do it if I could learn how to do new things with Final Cut Express, and make it look as professional as I could. As a result, it's taken me over three months to get it done the way I want it! The new version includes some split screen, fast cutting, colour highlighting and various other accent effects, and I think it's my most technical vid to date. I've also tried hard to get some internal movement in this one - movements within the clips that match a motif or beat. I was particularly pleased with moments at 0.56, 1.35 and 2.37. The starting countdown sequence was taken from the Prelinger Collection, which is a really amazing archive of royalty free clips. The end switch off sequence I created myself using Livetype.

In terms of subject, I'm afraid this one's also an irony free zone ;). Whereas before I injected a little bit of humour into the vid with some of the clips I chose, this one's all about James being, well, rather gorgeous really! I've gone to town on all the things that make my heart beat just that little bit faster when he's onscreen, and as a result it's a rather glorious mash up of what I consider to be his best bits!

As with the first version, I hope, if he ever sees this, that he takes it in the spirit in which its intended and is a little bit flattered (and that Jeremy and Richard don't tease him too much for inspiring such efforts in his fangirls!) :).

The song is property of UMG and I claim fair use under section 107 of the 1976 copyright act. I make absolutely no money out of this whatsoever, I'm just eternally grateful to the BBC and to UMG :)
30th April 2009

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Episode 2 - Part 1

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Another in my series of showing off video editing software capabilities. This time it's iMovie 6, which is a free download for any iLife 08 user. If you are interested in fan videos, iMovie 6 is what you want—iMovie 08 is fun for many things, but it lacks what you need for fan videos.

iMovie 6 works on Panther (Mac OS 10.3.9), Tiger (10.4), and Leopard (10.5).

Music from the soundtrack to "A Knight's Tale."

For more information about fan vidding on the Mac, visit http://foolishpassion.org

Video clips are from the BBC production of "Robin Hood," starring Richard Armitage, Lucy Griffiths, Joe Armstrong, and Keith Allen.

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This is a music video I did to test out iMovie on the Mini Mac. Ive also been wanting to do a music video chronicling Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship and Anakin's turn to the dark side for some time now. The song I used is Seether feat Evanescence - "Broken"

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