2013/2014 roundup

So it's been roughly ten thousand years since my last post, and a lot has happened:

My third and final year of university came and went in a blink of an eye. We barely had lectures this year (at least, I don't think we did?!) and unlike the previous two years, all films were individually made. For my graduate project, I directed and edited a short documentary about adult toy collectors. It's very good.

To celebrate our three years together, the course planned an end-of-year award ceremony. I joint-won 'Best Dressed Male'. Highlight of my life, obviously. I also created a short summary video, compiling memories that we've made together. The video made at least one person cry, something I'm immensely proud of.

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I've been blessed with many fancy dress opportunities this year, a favourite among many was my Halloween efforts as pregnant Kim Kardashian. The costume contained an inflatable Santa belly, charity shop wedged shoes, and a month's practice of contouring.

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Speaking of fancy dress, BU's Summer Ball was a few weeks ago. Yasmin and I decided to dress as Tina and Louise Belcher, characters from the animated series 'Bob's Burgers'...the majority of the public thought I was dressed as Dora the Explorer, but it was a big deal for the select few who actually recognised our costumes! The night was one of the best university experiences I've had, from the BBQ pre-drinks during the day, to the fairground rides at night, and the regrettable idea of staying up for the survivor's photo on Bournemouth Beach at 5am.

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I turned 21 this April, so naturally it was the right time for a Bar Mitzvah-themed pre-drinks. We spent the night at Toast, one of the most fun student nights around. Holly and I had learned the entire choreography to Iggy Azalea's 'Fancy', and were excited to premiere it to the crowd. Halfway through, this disgusting girl told me to stop dancing (who says that in a club?!) so I threw ice at her. You can't say she didn't have it coming.

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In terms of my retail work, late-2013 saw Topshop Castlepoint take home Store Of The Year, and I got to go along to the awards ceremony and hang with Nick Grimshaw. Last month I said goodbye to the team, as my time in Bournemouth came to a close. I had mixed feelings about leaving; I'll miss some of the team, but after over three years, I was absolutely ready to leave retail for good!

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And after months of planning, Cheyne, Zac, Yasmin and I finally went on holiday! We stayed at my parent's place in Mijas, Spain and took advantage of the sunshine and absurdly cheap alcohol. From day trips to the town, to taking Cuban dancing lessons, we did it all and I wouldn't have changed a thing! (Although accidentally  purchasing turkey mince meat instead of beef was a mistake I'll never make again).

Documentary planning

So with our final year of university looming (how?!) we've been given the summer to think about our final projects. Everyone on the course are expected to make two individual films; their minor (three minutes) and their major (10-15, depending on the genre) on top of their dissertation. 

Although my group's documentary turned to shit last year, I'm keen to try another with a group I crew myself, as opposed to being allocated people to work with. While I was still at school, I fell into a bad crowd; the Doctor Who toy collectors. I'd spent pretty much my entire night on the message boards talking to adults across the UK about the range, which shops to target...y'know, the usual(!) Anyway the thought of adults collecting action figures from what is, essentially, a children's market is interesting to say the least, and so I thought a short documentary about adult toy collectors would be a fascinating insight for others. The working title is 'Mint On Card' which is a collector's term for when an action figure is untouched, in its original packaging (a.k.a. mint condition). Here's a film poster I mocked up, basing the design on a combination of vintage Doctor Who/Indiana Jones and Star Wars film posters.

I sold my collection in waves on eBay long ago, but here's a taster of what my old bedroom looked like. (not pictured: a bedroom door painted like the TARDIS) Oy vey.

♡TEEN IDLE♡

I wanna be an idle teen, I wish I hadn't been so clean...



I'm very proud to debut my first music video, Teen Idle by Marina and the Diamonds. Marina talked about this song in an interview: "I originally got the idea for the song seeing a jumper at a fashion show that had huge holes on it with 'Teen Idle' emblazoned across the front. Lyrically, it's a strange song as it crosses polar opposite themes -- innocence and darkness. I had waited a long time to write that song and it helped me acknowledge some experiences that I'd had in my teenage years. Ages 16-20 were kind of blackout years for me- Like I didn't even live them or they didn't belong to my life. I don't really remember them. It's most definitely one of my fan base's favorite songs on 'Electra Heart'. I'm really proud of it. The nicest thing about being an artist is realizing that a feeling or experience you had that you always thought was really obscure or embarrassing, is in fact very common, and that we all deal with pretty much the same stuff in one way or another."

Taking Marina's idea, I created a concept where a woman is looking back on her past and regretting how she lived out her youth. I played on the lyric "Feelin' super super super suicidal!" and storyboarded a sequence where the idle teen (played by Emily Victoria) carries out her last moments in a hotel room, where she poisons herself in true vintage Hollywood form. Just before she dies, she lives out her final fantasy by imagining being crowned 'Teen Idle'.

The film took several months worth of pre-production, one day to shoot and a week in post-production. I'm very happy with the result, and would hope to one day get Marina's feedback on my take of her song.

Frame.

I had a leftover picture frame insert I didn't need, so thought I'd try out some possible poses for when they put my face on postal stamps. what's your favourite?

Get Your Gleek On.

Hello again, I'm rubbish at this whole commitment thing but I'm back with a new blog post, finally.

One of my best friends at uni had a Glee/Mean Girls-themed party. It was a massive success; the place was packed, everyone made an effort to dress up and the I'm happy to say that the music playing was NOT from Glee! Here's some snaps.

Wagamama? Mm maybe I'll order a burrito.

Today I jumped on a tube to Central to meet up with Yasmin and Zac, some uni friends. We were supposed to meet with Cheyne but she got a last-minute job working at Wireless Festival! We ate at Wagamama (Zac thought it was a mexican restaurant...bloody tourist) then had a look around Oxford and Carnaby St. Yas bought some bangin' shoes and I bought a leopard-print shirt. I know, I know; a bit jazzy. but if I wear it with black jeans and creepers it shouldn't look too garish!

Young Forever.

This Sunday i'm meeting up with some university friends in Central. Luckily two of said friends live in the area, but we waited until the third came up for Wireless Festival for our reunion. Not too sure what we're going to do, but I'll bet it involves eating and shopping which I am more than okay with.

Pinboard.

I'll be leaving Halls in a few days and I'm actually pretty gutted! Lyme's been pretty great and I wanted to do something that would always make me remember my time here. So, I decided to create a mix-media collage of the massive pinboard from my room! It's full of little scraps that I've collected over the past few years; tickets, posters, wristbands, polaroids, notes. I used Nina Chakrabarti's "Wallpaper" as inspiration. Check her out, you'll probably recognise her illustrations!

Beach Walk.

It was weird not being with family on Father's Day so I had a little walk along the Dorset coastline for a couple hours...it seemed like something my dad would do. Although I'm not sure why; it was exhausting! Got some pretty snaps though.

Rocket Man.

These are some stills from a viral advertising campaign we created for the Space Youth Project. have a look at our final video and let me know how much you like it below.