I WISH I had started this a long time ago rather than back tracking, which is what I am doing now, to find my favourite videos on Vimeo and collect them in a channel. But, better late than never. So I have started a collection of some of my favourite work from some amazing filmmakers on Vimeo.

The channel is quite eclectic. Narrative, music video, timelapse, animation. You name it, it’s there. But I need your help to find the stuff I am missing from the back catalogues. I will be going through the old Critics episodes to help me along, but if you can remind me of some of the best stuff you have seen, please post it in the comments below. Be great if you could post other people’s work rather than your own, which I am sure is great too (maybe get someone else to nominate it), let me know what it is and why I should check it out please! I want to make this one of the best channels out there and perfect for couch mode on Vimeo or watching it on internet TV!

Ethics statement. I am not currently sponsored by Vimeo or affiliated with them. I just love the service! This may come across as a bit of blogvertorial but it isn’t!

Our attention spans have gotten pretty short – mine certainly has. Watch something at your laptop or desktop computer, and you end up having it in smaller windows whilst you multitask. Or most likely, if it doesn’t grab you within 20-30 seconds, you are onto something else or skimming it. Not fair on the filmmaker but it is a pretty standard thing to happen.

Now, how many times have you sat on your sofa flicking through dross on your TV but given it way longer than 20-30 seconds before switching over? I have lost many a half hour to stuff I would never plan to watch, simply because I am comfortable on my sofa and my boredom tolerance is a lot higher.

So if I have a spare half hour and am sitting on my sofa these days having a bite to eat or just chilling, do I turn on my Sky box and watch TV or do I actually watch something more useful with my time? Sure there are loads of films I can watch but I do not watch them in chunks. When I watch a movie, it’s an all in one thing. These days I watch stuff on Vimeo. On my large flat screen TV…and you know what? It’s about 100 times better watching something on my TV than on my laptop.

I get sent a lot of requests to watch stuff, and it’s tough finding the time. When I am at my computer, yes I could have it on whilst doing other stuff, but that’s not fair as I mentioned. It needs my undivided attention and when I’m at my computer getting my attention is hard. Emails popping in, tweets etc…yes full screen helps but it’s just never an enveloping feeling like when watching stuff on a TV.

My first internet TV was my Panasonic TV. It has Dailymotion and Youtube but not Vimeo. I looked at some stuff on Youtube but as many of you know, finding good stuff on there is hard. Then I got a new TV for my bedroom, a Samsung LED one and that had Youtube, BBC iPlayer but more importantly Vimeo. I linked up my Vimeo account to the TV and I could watch all my stuff on the TV, and also whenever someone sent me a link to watch when I was at my computer, I would click on “watch later” and it would go into that queue. Sitting at my TV, I can now click on “watch later” and I can catch up properly on stuff people have sent me. This for me was a revelation and from that moment on I loved internet TV.

Advantages of this are simple. It gets my more or less undivided attention (mobile phone can still ping!), big screen, I am comfortable, and everything looks better through internet TV, despite the blow-up to the much bigger screen. Computer screens are not flattering to video, as they are not optimised for it and are too bright. TV screens are of course optimised for video and suddenly everything looks so much better.

If you don’t have an internet TV or your TV doesn’t have Vimeo, there are many add on devices that give it. A Samsung internet Blu-ray player, a Roku box and now more recently Apple TV has something very useful in it: Vimeo. Although Apple TV is only 720p. Then again I am not actually sure what resolution my Samsung TV plays Vimeo at, am sure someone will tell me shortly.

Watching Vimeo on Apple TV at home

So in my lounge my Apple TV has been plugged in again and become a useful device again for me.

Even my parents have an internet TV (well I advised on its purchase), not that they are using it to watch Vimeo, but they have iPlayer on it and use it.

It’s clear this is the way we will be watching our content in the future. Not just through Vimeo but through Netflix, Lovefilm, iPlayer. TV and movies on demand. With internet TV we are able to create our own TV channels. Features wise it’s pretty basic. I would like to see more stuff added, easier access to channels, the ability to add shortcuts to channels, groups or users. Typing stuff on your remote is a pain so having more customisable options would be great.

Of course monetising internet TV like this is a lot trickier. But I expect banner adverts will be an option to be added onto them at some stage if we want, like Youtube does with its partner program, and of course if you have a feature then if you can get it onto iTunes (like my documentary Confluence should hopefully be soon) then there is a simple clear monetising method. But that of course needs Apple TV to watch on your TV!

In the meantime, use it like I do, to enjoy fantastic content that is online that frankly is a pain in the arse to watch on your laptop. Internet TV is the best thing to happen to Vimeo in a long time. If your TV hasn’t got it, get an add on device that lets you have internet TV! The only real downside is you need to go back to your computer to comment on something!

That's me near the front watching "Clash of the Titans" in 3D

So far every 3D movie that I have seen at the cinema in the past couple of years, Beowulf, Avatar, Clash of the Titans have left me feeling not quite happy with the experience. Almost as if it has got in the way of the film. Avatar of course was spectacular visually and I saw it twice, once in IMAX and once in “Real D”. Titans in “Real D” too…Both gave me a slight headache, not as much as Beowulf but it still happened. It doesn’t help that I hate wearing glasses and it never feels “sharp enough” if you know what I mean. Like the way the images projected and the glasses work just aren’t 100% spot on…it’s hard to put your finger on it.

One thing I noticed in Avatar and also when I saw the ironically very flat Clash of the Titans remake  (which was not shot 3D but all done in post) was that the deep depth of field shots worked for me and anything with any type of shallow depth of field felt like cut outs or more accurately 3D pop up books. That seems the best way to describe it for me…Didn’t help that it was an utterly soulless movie which wasted amazing material and made you care for no one…but that’s me just going off on one (why did Sam Worthington who is raised by English sounding Pete Postlethwaite have an Aussie accent? Why remove the Andromeda love story so we don’t care about her anymore? I could go on but I won’t! But I liked Gemma Arterton though! )

The problem is the way we have traditionally made movies is using selected depth of field to draw your attention to what the director wants you to see in frame (there are always exception to that rule, Citizen Kane being a famous example.) But when this is done in 3D that’s when I feel that pop up book  issue…

I really wish I had seen Clash of the Titans in 2D. I kept taking off my glasses as the 3D was bugging me and thought this looks much better, just not in focus! Also the cinema had the damn cheek to charge me £2.50 for the 3D glasses!! Rip-off!

I am not sure what the solution is, as am not sure how well having deep DOF for everything in a 3D movie would work. I understand Kung Fu Panda had deep depth of field for 3D and fake Shallow DOF for the 2D version. It’s a shame I didn’t know that when it was out as I am very curious to see how well it worked. Certainly an animated film can do 3D better than a real movie as you have so much control over the DOF. With a camera you don’t. If we had deep DOF for 3D movies it would be a lot harder for the director to direct our attention to something in the frame that was key…also am not sure our eyes can cope with it either…

Pop up book

I myself will be experimenting with stereoscopic 5dmkII rigs soon but these cameras have notoriously shallow DOF so will everything I shoot look like a pop up book? Do we all need to start using 1/3″ chips for 3d? That’s why the Panasonic “concept” 3D camera looks so interesting, apart from it’s intriguing use of twin lenses one camera. It looks based on an HPX 170 so will have 1/3″ chips, meaning nice deep depth of field (bet you never expected me to say that phrase did you?) Shooting with cameras which cannot be genlocked together is going to be damn tricky but not impossible…

Also, we are experimenting with some post processing Canon DSLR footage to create 3D from already shot 2D footage to see the results. Very curious to see how that works out…

The upside of the big influx of 3D movies is cinemas are finally updating their knackered old projectors and going digital meaning we don’t have to put up with degraded 35mm prints after a week or so of showing them like we currently do and of course part of the reason 3D movies are being pushed is they are damn hard to pirate, it takes the experience back to the movie theatre and away from the bittorrents.

3D TV is also really big right now with Sky TV in the UK launching the first 3D TV service, but you need a “3D ready” TV for it and still need to wear those damn glassed! I am very keen on seeing this in action, they premiered their first football games in 3D this weekend in pubs and clubs. As I will be in Vegas from Friday for NAB I will also be able to check out all the latest 3D tech, I expect it to be littered with it. It’s just until we can walk into a movie theatre or watch TV without wearing the glasses I just don’t feel as excited about it as I did when we got HD. Until the many issues are ironed out it still feels somewhat gimmicky. I am sure in the future it’s going to be amazing as these things always get better, it’s just there is something so perfect about 2D, something so classic that I just hope it never dies out. We have enough 3D in reality, do we really need everything we watch to be like that too

Most of my work you don’t see online. I don’t have the rights to show them on the internet or can’t get copies (like my Discovery HD work). What I do post on my website is some of the paid work I am allowed to show, like NT Live, 3 Seconds, The Echo, Valentine’s Day, The Trench, Siberian Portrait as well as, of course the stuff I shot and directed like Life of Crime, Eddie Gibson, Religion and of course my Anorexia films amongst others. The vast majority is my personal work…

Shooting in Germany for Discovery

Films like Sofia’s People, Cherry Blossom Girl, My Autumn’s Done Come,  Return to Dungeness, Love from Southend, Alone in Tokyo and many more here are mostly just my personal projects. You see, my passion is filming, it’s the biggest thing in my life, for better or worse. I am lucky enough to be doing what I love, so when I get the chance…whether it is to test a new piece of gear or just to capture something that I want to capture I go out and do it. I can be prolific at times when I feel really motivated. I have new bits of gear I really need to try out and the best way I find to try out stuff is to film with them and make something out of it. I have the new Redrock Encore, a glidecam 2000, glidetrack, Jag35…still, the gh1 with sigma prime lens and many others. I am desperate to go out and use them but finding the time is hard, amongst answering all the emails, keeping the site running and of course actually doing proper work!

So how do I classify my personal work? Do I call them films, videos? To me they are films, as film to me doesn’t necessarily have to be narrative, have a storyline or deep concept. It can just convey an emotion, a feeling and that is what I like doing the most, as often this emotion or feeling conveys a message in itself. What that message is can be up to you, it can be open to interpretation. But I hope my work can sometimes bring a feeling of positivity to a world filled with a lot of negativity.

Stills photographers like Martin Parr, someone I only discovered a year ago (not that I am comparing his genius work to mine) captures people beautifully and naturally, something I love doing. Like him, I find richness in people’s faces, something that I believe works in moving video not just stills. I love to capture the world around me, people, places, objects, from my perspective. Not necessarily one that you share. But it’s how I see it, often influenced by my mood at the time or inspired by something or someone I meet. It’s hard to put into words. That’s why I do it with my films!

The Canon 5dmkII has recently given me the chance to be really spontaneous in what I can capture, much more like a stills photographer. I kept my films Cherry Blossom Girl and Sofia’s People raw and handheld to emphasize this rawness of “capturing the moment”. It won’t stop me doing more considered pieces with 35mm adaptors, tripods and my ex3. But it has opened up a new word to me…

My goal with this website originally was purely to showcase my work and get work. Somehow, it has evolved into something much more. A place to share information. To inform about my experiences with new gear that I have bought, which has now turned me into a part-time reviewer, the majority of stuff I review I have paid full price for, sometimes I am lucky enough to be given review samples, not very often, but often enough to mean I don’t go bankrupt! I would like to believe I am impartial. I was often accused of being bought up by Sony in the EX1 days, I think my work with JVC, Panasonic, Canon etc has more than shown this to be nonsense. For me if something is great I don’t care who makes it! Every camera I have paid for, I recently bougt a 5dmkII and lots of glass for it, I don’t even have a Canon contact, but that hasn’t stopped me waxing lyrical about it and putting out tutorials and films using it. I even reluctantly put a donate button on my main page as the site is costing me a lot to run recently and taking up so much of my time to keep it going and keeping it fresh. So much so that I am having to dedicate specific days to it now.

More importantly to me, my site has now become a place that inspires people to go out and film. To pick up their cameras and capture life as it is, go and make narrative films, film a documentary about something important to them, to push themselves more. This is what I am proud of the most.

I have started doing more and more speaking engagements, where I get to share my work and thoughts with people in a less virtual environment. Next week I will be running through the JVC HM 100 and workflow with the Canon 5dmkII at the first London Final Cut Pro User Group gathering. Please come if you can, be great to meet you. I always love to put a face to the name, that’s why I enjoyed this year’s NAB so much! Also don’t forget Re:Frame in San Francisco this October, it’s almost sold out so hurry. I will be doing 2 days of solid shooting workshops.

With F-Stop Academy I am hoping to do take this and expand on it in a much bigger way…nothing is going to change here though. I will still be doing what I am doing, making my films and hoping that to some they give pleasure and make you go out and do it. I will soon have a long interview up from a good friend of mine Tom Guilmette, I hope his words will inspire you too. I was lucky enough to have a mentor when I was learning and he helped me immesurably. We can’t all be as lucky as me, but with people like myself, Tom and many others hopefully we can inspire in the same way.

Oh and if I don’t reply to your email or question on my site or vimeo (email me rather than send using vimeo, it’s easier for me to reply), send it again. I get a lot and sometimes miss them but i always reply in the end!

Peace, and keep shooting!

Philip

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Hear me talk about Canon 5dmkII workflow and meet me at the first London FCPUG Supermeet, with special guest the legendary Walter Murch!!

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I have been blogging via my website www.philipbloom.co.uk for over two years now. Thanks to everyone who reads it.
Most of what is on there is very much focused on my work as a DP and Director. So I wanted somewhere where I could write about other topics. Some still work based but much broader. So here it is…the relaunched “Bloom’s Blog”.
I hope you find it interesting, funny, insightful, engaging, educational, enlightening, inspiring, annoying, irritating and just plain boring in equal measures! This will be at times quite a personal blog, so if you don’t like slushy reminiscing…sorry!
Let’s start with a bit of context. Twenty years ago I got into this business, yeah am that old, my aim was to be a cameraman. I become one full time about 4 years after getting my first job in TV. 2 and a half years ago I quit Sky News to go it alone. A terrifying thought. I was making very good TV, getting to shoot and direct my own docos and long features and I had a very good salary, a company car, a company yacht moored in St. Tropez, a company apartment in Belgravia, a company country house in the Cotswolds, a company wife, a company mistress, three company children and a cat. Now all I have is the cat, well three now. I got them wet, mustn’t feed them after midnight!