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Dara's Travel Blog - One

Written by Dara • July 29 2011 • 2 comments

Above is the only still photo I’ll be posting for this travel blog. It’s the requisite ‘Fake Dog Films at the U.N.’ photo, taken in Vienna. The rest of the blog will consist entirely of a wee film I made on my way. It’s made up of hundreds of photos I took around Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, England, Scotland, and of course, Ireland. Probably the most efficient way to display photos from a trip. I liked the idea that you can freeze the film on any frame and it will be a different and interesting shot.

Big thanks to all the lovely people who hosted me and helped me along the way. I hope you enjoy the film!

— Dara

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Stop Shooting Me

Written by Dara • June 06 2011 • 0 comments

I make films. That is my main thing. You know that.

But, I also take pictures. A lot. About 50,000 since I got my hands on our Dad’s first digital camera about ten years ago. Which is why it has probably taken me so long to choose a select few to hold up as an example of my work. But, after quite some time sifting through hard drives, it is done

Not only that, Syncostyle – aka Gearoid, Tech Wizard of Fake Dog – has helped me put together a brand new website to host my portfolio. Many thanks to Gearoid for all the great work he put in. He really is a wizard and should possibly be burned at the stake. The portfolio also features my design work. I like designing posters and album covers and that sort of thing. They sometimes come out like film posters, which is to be expected. But you can see for yourself. I hope you enjoy.

It is called Stop Shooting Me.
http://stopshootingme.com

— Dara

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Weekend of Film

Written by Dara • March 15 2011 • 10 comments

Recently I had a weekend that consisted almost entirely of film. More so than usual, even. It began on the Friday evening when some Fake Dog Films screened at The Forest Cafe in Edinburgh for a mini-film festival they were holding. They showed Distance earlier in the day, and it went nicely with their fund-raising slogan – ‘Save the Forest’. I wandered along in the evening and caught Streets of Rage and Crackdown 2.

The schedule, featuring… Fake Dog Films? Hey, that’s us! And only a couple of typos!

Cannon discerns his audience, ‘Who are these people?!’

Raising a can to the knacker-drinkers of Crackdown 2! We salute you.

Down in front! Actually, looks quite nice, doesn’t it? Good work, down in front. You can stay.

You’re on the Streets of Rage now, everybody in the audience!

Just before the films screened, guidelines were handed out for the 48 hour film competition that was also taking place. I participated with a friend called Julien, a funny French man who makes cool music films in Edinburgh under the name Pundigrion Films. We had an idea to incorporate music into the film, but once we were given the rules we discovered the theme of our film was to be Crime/ Gangster. So, we had to figure it out a bit. The location we drew was Leith, one of my favourite areas in Edinburgh, though less fancy than most of it. Perfect for the theme, but I didn’t want to perpetuate any negative stereotypes – poor, old Leith gets a bad enough rap as it is (though generally not unfounded). So, we wandered off for a few pints and talked it out. Well, we went for pints.

Early the next afternoon, we met up and headed out to a park in Leith I thought would make a good location. I had sort of thought out the idea, but it was still a bit up in the air with regards actors and plot and general content. At one point ten musicians were going to come, and then it became one. In the end, we got just enough shots before everyone had to go and the sun went down. Below is what I thought might be the future of the low-budget tracking shot (so called as the camera traditionally runs along smooth tracks as it moves, though Fake Dog’s tracking shots are usually handheld and dirty). But, it did not prove quite as effective as I thought. Maybe with some practice. It was fun, though. For film nerds, I was using a Kamkorda Hands Free Shoulder Pad with my Canon EOS 550D, and the 18 – 55mm kit lens. I even had some mics tied to the top of the camera at one stage, which made it more difficult to see. Luckily, I am adept at cycling. Okay, nerding over. Now check out my rig:

Yes, my hair is long.

Anhywho, the original idea for the film was to shoot it all in one shot, so I wouldn’t have to stay up all night editing. But, of course, it didn’t work out and so I stayed up all night editing. But, I finished around 5 or 6, and so that was the film wrapped up in about 20 hours! 48 hour film? Pah! Could’ve knocked out a few more films! But I’m rather glad I didn’t. Instead, I dropped the DVD in to The Forest that morning and caught the Sunday Double Bill (The Red Shoes/ Requiem For a Dream) at the Cameo cinema, further cementing the title of this post. Later that evening I went to the screening of the film which went off with several hitches, none of them to do with Fake Dog. And we did not win, but the lovely girls who did shared their cider winnings with us! So… it was almost a moderate success in that sense. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In case you’re curious, the film is online (cheers to Julien for uploading it, as I probably wouldn’t have). It features some kind folks called Jack and Joanna in the cast, with thanks to Richard for helping us out behind the scenes, and Julien is in it, too. Keeping in mind this was made in about 20 hours, it’s not terrible, I don’t think. You can see the tracking shot taken from my contraption in the running scene. I was waiting on my bike to take off and pounce at the action. Like I said, it needs practice, but it has potential, certainly.

I like the idea of having a film all wrapped up and finalised so quickly. It’s very satisfying, and it doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect (not that I’m implying the possibility of perfection, of course). It’s great to say it’s finished and start something new. I’m still working on some Fake Dog projects we shot quite awhile ago so I may adopt a similar approach to editing them, but more on those later. For now, enjoy A Short Film About Theft (got the theme in the title there, just in case our thematic relevance was brought into question).

I’ll be uploading some of my real, slightly less imperfect, films I’ve been working on soon. And there are a couple of Fake Dog Films to come as well. It has taken too long, but I hope you’ll agree they were worth the wait when you see them.

— Dara

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Jiver

Written by Dara • February 11 2011 • 10 comments

Jiver is an idea that Webby and I had a few years ago about an average young man called John Iver who decides to run for local election. To sound older and more respectable, his campaign posters bear the name ‘J. Iver’, which gains him the nickname ‘Jiver’ (making him a big hit with students). You may remember Gearoid and I even made a short promo for it a while back. Well, that was a snippet of the idea we had for a Jiver series. We pitched it a few times to no avail. ‘It could never happen!’ they (probably) said! But look – it’s only gone and bloody happened!

It’s quite encouraging to see a young, positive, fresh voice running for election. The similarities to Jiver are amusing to me, though, down to the odd, neatly combed hair (well, roughly combed with a hand in my case). Jiver, however, was running out of spite. He’d had enough of a local politician called T. Lynch, who was always in the paper giving out about silly things (like burning the shrubbery in the park, as ‘it’s a breeding ground for delinquency!’). When Jiver is unable to feed his beloved ducks because Lynch is being interviewed there, it’s the final straw. And there was a love interest in there for the ladies. He is helped along by Lynch’s secretary, who also dislikes her boss (he is a massive dickhead, but very funny). Jiver kind of learns to be a decent politician along the way, and finds some causes he really believes in. But, even if he does get voted in, can he really become a politician?

That’s the series in a nutshell. It went through a few changes and scripts, but that was the latest version. There is also a 30-second pitch we made that doesn’t really belong on the internet, but I will send a private link on to anyone who is curious about it. And there are even a couple of short scripts to read, too. We may as well share them now as with the inevitable imitations of real life to follow, and The Thick of It pretty much nailing political satire, I do not think we will ever make Jiver. And Val Falvey, TD kind of covered Irish politics, though I have not seen much of it. It is sort of a pity, but this is how it goes. We have made many other things that we thought we wouldn’t and are proud of, like A Dog’s Life (the final episode of which will be out soon). Mainly though, I would’ve liked to play Jiver. I’d imagine he would’ve been fun to portray: a cross between Alan Partridge and myself, most likely. Not that there isn’t some crossover there anyway. Here is the promo again for anyone who fancies a minute of Jiver. Savour it! And if you really want more Jiver, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll send on the scripts.

— Dara

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Fake Dog at the Edinburgh International Film Festival!

Written by Dara • July 04 2010 • 10 comments

The Edinburgh Film Festival took place last month from June 16th to 27th and I was there front and centre for some serious plugging opportunities! And a I caught a few films, too!

The opening film was The Illusionist, an animated film set in 1950s Edinburgh, directed by Sylvain Chomet (Belleville Rendez-Vous (2003)). It sold out pretty sharp-ish, but I went along to the red carpet anyway!


Ben “I dispatched the blaggard with my shiv“ Miller

Ewen Bremner (yes, it’s Spud from Trainspotting!)

His name escapes me, but he was in Harry Potter, apparently!

One of the festival highlights was a special gala screening of The Man Who Would Be King (1975) in the Festival Theatre, which Sean Connery attended! That’s right, John Mason himself.


“Your besht?” Brilliant. What a legend. He was really nice, and quite funny. He’s 80 now. Mad.

I also attended a screening and Q & A by the Quay Brothers. They’re American identical twins who make stop-motion films in the classic Eastern-European style. Very weird stuff, but interesting.

One of my favourite parts of the festival was the retrospective of British films, called After the Wave. These were all films made after the landmark British new wave films of the late ’50s and ’60s, which often dominate British cinema history. My favourite film from the programme was The Hard Way (1979), which was shot in ’70s Ireland with Lee Van Cleef and Patrick McGoohan (so I’m claiming that one as Irish and not British!). And I really liked The Final Programme (1973) as well. Some of the films even had the directors in attendance.


Ken Russell was in attendance at the screening of his film, Savage Messiah (1972). He wasn’t up to saying much, but it was good to see the man in person!

Horace Ové attended the screening of his film, Pressure (1976), the first British film to be directed by a black man. It’s about the British-born son of an immigrant Trinidadian family, trying to find his place between two cultures. Some of the amateur acting lets it down, but it’s quite a powerful and interesting film.

I also bumped into a few familiar faces on my travels.

Myself and Timothy Spall. He was very sound. I gave him a Fake Dog business card and all. So there’s a very distant chance he could be reading this blog. If so: Hello, Tim. Alright mate?

And I met Brian Cox! It was very exciting.

And here I am with B.M. (he’s much bigger in real life)!

Tilda Swinton was also about. She and film critic Mark Cousins organised a big dance towards the end of the festival, as co-ordinated by Laurel & Hardy in Way Out West. Then they explained their new scheme to introduce children to cinema, called the 8 1/2 Foundation, followed by a screening of The White Balloon (1995).

Other notable screenings included the international premiere of Boy (good) and The Good Heart (not good), and the world premiere of Jackboots on Whitehall, which featured my old mucker Timothy Spall voicing a puppet of Winston Churchill. And I caught a few others screenings in there, too – you’ll see the tickets below! Now some random shots to finish off!

And there you have it! That’s my report from the red carpet. If you’ll excuse me, I must be jetting off to my next big premiere! What’s that? Crackdown 3? Moro out!

— Dara

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You Can Trip On My Synthesiser

Written by Dara • April 27 2010 • 10 comments

I was recently at an electronic music exhibition. It featured a vast array of various devices and equipment, from all the big names, and even a few workshops and performances throughout the day. I had no idea what most of the very technical gear did, but I got to play a theremin, so I was happy! Possibly not as interesting as Webby’s travel blogs to anyone but myself, but, if you like synthesisers, then read on, my friend!

Or, look on, rather…

— Dara

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