Escapades In Brixton With The BoHo Scarecrow

THE BOHO SCARECROW now has a splendid new movie camera capable of shooting in Full HD.

I headed down to the indoor market today at Brixton Village for the Spacemakers event to film the day. Everything was very new in terms of familiarity with the equipment but the progression in the DV technology is remarkable. Even mid-range cameras have a huge amount of cleverly minaturised technology packed into their neatly designed bodies.

I enjoy filming immensely. This type of job isn't the kind that you can plan in too much detail for because things change quickly and all you really need are one or two random subjects to crop up to get on camera, and you're streets ahead straight off.

For those of you interested, I will be editing through next week and should have the first of the three scheduled versions put together by the end of next weekend.

On the tube ride home I had a moment to think about what comes next. Its been years since I finished my film degree at Canterbury. I simply haven't had the technology at my disposal since then, because I've spent the money on recording studios, guitars, amplifiers and capos.*

I am already thinking about bigger projects. Particularly my own music projects. We have converged in the digital space, musicians and film makers, that is. I can do both, and its a little like a bomb going off with all these projects that I've wanted to do for years suddenly being tangible.

Its quite simple. Ken Russell. Here is a man who has had budgets ranging from a few coppers to the biggest of all time (circa 1974.). All the man ever needed was a camera and the rest comes together. Ofcourse, people either love or hate Ken, but Michael Powell did the same. Film is balance between content and apparatus. Content is generated within the constraints of one's budget, but the budgetary constraint actually can be a blessing. You just need to be more inventive.

As for sound, you should ALWAYS overdub dialogue in narrative film. If you can't afford a boom or even a simpler arrangement, then you can go for overdubs or non-diagetic sounds. I am a fan of non-diagetic sound. Film is not reality, it is a projection. Quite literally, ofcourse.

So, film is where I am taking The BoHo Scarecrow project. It was always part of the DNA of how things would develop. Still early days and the learning curve is steep, but expect some boho brilliance in the near future.

Your friend,

The BoHo Scarecrow.



*Capos cost about a tenner a go, and I seem to lose them immediately. As I like using capos and play a lot of gigs I have lost a lot of them, often immediately and rarely without finding them afterward hence they have probably cost me more than the cost of a small bungalow in the Outer Hebridies that would be the perfect home for my parents.