Craftypics's Blog

What are YOU up to March 2013 in Adelaide.

The full lineup is now out- Check it out -CLICK here.   it’s pretty awesome.

Returning to Womad is Jimmy Cliff. It was quite a few years back since I last saw Jimmy cliff at Womadelaide where he played the final night audience with the rain hammering down on the crowd and then the rain cleared.

Hugh Masekela is a Big name musician who as far as I know hasn’t played a Womad before but he has graced the stage with the like of Paul Simon

A few fun local bands are also in the mix. The Cat Empire return yet again to the Womad stage with their infectious dance tracks. A pleasant addition and one that I’ve been saying for a few years would suit the Womad crowd is  The Herd, one of my favourite bands/conglomerations to come out of AUS in the last 3 years. A great example of Aussie Hip hop with lyrics that mean something.

Like any Womad years there are a lot of Acts I still need to read up on and listen to samples of their work, but hopefully I’ve wet your appetite to take a look at who’s playing and then write the dates in your calendar

By the time I got into Fowlers at the Adelaide Zombie walk after party, Adelaide band Stomp the dog were into their last few songs of their set and the floor area was packed full. I was able to get near the front of the stage to snap a few photos only. Prior to their set they premiered their new film clip for the song Network which featured many Zombies and was shot in Adelaide a few months back.

I contacted the band and their management and asked for permission to use a track of theirs to accompany the rest of the Zombie walk footage that I had taken during the walk and here is the final result.

Hope you like it

It’s so easy to procrastinate, so when I found out about the International Rode Video competition that was just about to close I made a commitment that I would get an entry in come rain or shine.

Those who found out early about it had 2 months to film and edit. I had one week.

First thing to do was to brainstorm ideas for a short 30 sec-2 min video that contained a Rode Microphone. There were no doubt going to be plenty of band/performer videos being entered so I needed something different. I needed something that could be shot and edited in the short time frame and given other commitments ( lectures, assignment and driving the kids around ) I finally had an idea.  With just 2 days to go I set up and shot the animation sequence in the afternoon and then late that evening asked my daughters to assist with playing the acting roles and voices. I did a rough edit that night and the final edit the following day.

It’s got plenty of room for improvement but at least I managed to get it done and submitted. Here’s hoping others like the video.

Always on the lookout for new challenges I started looking at expanding from Still Photography to Video when I got the 5DMk2. I soon realised it is a giant leap and whilst a background in Photography knowing about apertures, framing and lighting is beneficial, video adds a whole new range of issues to overcome and things to learn. It is 30 years ago I was started shooting Video and filmed a few weddings, but in those days it consisted of putting a large unwieldy camera that then hooked into a seperate VHS Tape deck. Cameras were mounted on a tripod and just left there. The footage wasn’t great quality and editing was difficult.

Thirty years later and good quality video production is affordable but you need more than just equipment. In 2011 I decided it would be beneficial to invest some time doing some more formal training. I headed back to life as a Full time student and enrolled at Adelaide College of the Arts in a “Film and television Production” course. A lot has been learnt so far, but this is only the start.

Every day I ask myself and my children

” What did you learn today ? “

If you don’t learn something new every single day you are being lazy.

Well, it might have been 3 months since Womadelaide but I havent forgotten about the great performers we saw this year.

Video Highlights from Friday

Video Highlights from Saturday

Video Highlights from Sunday

And of Course lots and lots of Photos from the event are up in this gallery