I’m determined not to discuss the weather, because it is so stereotypically British. Just gonna say that I am sick of the mono-cloud wetness that lasts for weeks. Let’s make a distinction between talking about weather and climate. At the moment, the climate is so hideously bad that the infrastructure in the UK can’t actually take it. I had to move work online earlier this month because the flooding was so bad that trains couldn’t run. Okies, complaint over.
It was a busy start to the year. It was nice to start with a break, but then work was quickly frantic. In previous years there has been an extended time off at this point, while work is being submitted and graded at undergraduate level. So much so that I managed to be in Agadir for most of last winter. Not so in the new gig. We had work being marked from the previous cohort, work being submitted by the current cohort, pitches for the future projects, screenings of the old projects, meetings about the current projects. It was quite a stressful and emotional time. Okies, complaint over.
I managed to finish a short film called Traumfänger. I’m not going to write much about it here beyond saying that I’m not happy with it, but I am at peace with it. In reality, it kinda provides some closure on a project that I planned with Will Whiting just after the pandemic. Most of that footage ended up in two music videos (here and here) and indeed a third music video (here) that had thematically belonged in that longer film but was filmed much later. The third music video became a dream sequence in Traumfänger so it all balanced out in the end. Needless to say, I think I have to move on from this idea now as the Freudians’ will be after me.
Music-wise, I am in the process of mixing and mastering a new project. That probably deserves its own post in the near future as there is quite a lot of progress on that which would make this post horribly long and repetitive.
Overall, a busy and productive month and a solid start to the year. Apart from the weather.
READ: The Righteous Mind – Jonathan Haidt, V for Vendetta – Alan Moore, Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell, At War With Yourself – Samuel C. Williams, Ordinary Victories : What is Precious – Manu Larcenet, A Modest Proposal – Jonathan Swift
WATCHED: Ice Cold in Alex, Tabu, The Holy Mountain, Sabotage, The Ox Bow Incident, Friends, Fools, Family: Rouch’s Collaborators in Niger, Through the Olive Trees, Where is My Friend’s House?, Safety Last, Silver Lode, Come Drink With Me, 2046, ABBA: Against the Odds
