I’ve found it very frustrating over the last few years that my commercial art, fashion illustration and film work has been spread over a number of different blogs and websites. I thought it was high time that I merged the streams into a single location. Here goes…

…did the world end? No. That’s good.

So then, after a three year hiatus it appears that I’m delving back into the world of children’s literature: blame Kickstarter! Please believe me when I say that I tried very hard not to get sucked in. I’ve now rationalised my change of heart to the point where I feel that if any new idea comes along for circumventing the traditional way of publishing books I feel duty bound to, at the very least, give it a go.

The book is called Tippett (two ps and three ts) it’s a hard backed picture book for children of all ages and features a new art style from me; something I’ve been messing around with since 2010. Of course every Kickstarter campaign needs a promotional video. It shows you’re committed and also if you’re asking strangers to pledge money towards your cause it seems important to put yourself out there in some fashion as a living breathing human being. That being said it’s an odd experience to film and edit yourself.

Below is the set I created for the shoot. On the right hand side you can just see a  fake wall I made out of photographic paper and gaffer tape. I was a bit worried when the plant, which I’ve had for a year and a half, started wilting or should I say lacking direction but some of my Brother’s Baby Bio came to the rescue. I just may have rung him up and hysterically screamed “The plant is dying…I need it to live for the sake of continuity.”

I used a Rode Videomic Pro for the sound. The results using the shoe mount on top of the camera weren’t great so I ended up buying a 3m extension cable and gaffer taping the mic to a footstool just out of shot. I live on the Hackney road and the traffic outside my flat is a nightmare. You can clearly hear a car horn right at the start when I say “Hi!” I kept this take in the final because I thought it was funny and the added ambient noise added to the sense of emergency.

Here is the preview link if anyone wants to check it out before it goes live, hopefully later this week. Any feedback would be appreciated.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/89442931/252903462?token=ea2da989