Two things have happened since I last posted...
Number 1 - I'm another year older, and
Number 2 - I got a promotion to Senior Operator!
Why does that bring me back to post I hear you ask? Well it's entirely down to my namesake Andrew (H) who commented on this issue (and one other) when I was chatting to him this evening. The other thing he commented on was the fact that (in his words) "you lead a very interesting life". I was telling him about meeting David Graham (the voice of Parker and Brains in Thunderbirds) when I went to record his narration for the Supercar documentary I'm working on presently. Andrew asked me if I ever kept an online journal as he'd be interested to read about the kind of things I get up to...
Well I naturally said yes I did keep a blog - but that I didn't update it very often. Well, seeing as I'm a year closer to being senile, and as I already can't remember some of the things that have happened to me in the last few weeks, I thought I should at least jot them down here while they're still happening....
That's the trouble with doing the kind of things I do - it all happens VERY quickly. In the last two months I've learnt to (and since taken over) directing live television news, as well as helped film and edit a documentary about Supercar (another Gerry Anderson puppet series) - In that time I've met one of the writers, a model maker who did a lot of the pictures that first captured my imagination in the TB comic in the early 90's, another model maker and collector who has worked on Doctor Who and various other TV shows. Two of the directors, one of the cameramen, and two of the puppeteers who worked on the Supermarionation series - from the late 50's onwards, as well as one of the voice artists (as already stated David Graham) - that on top of helping to actually finish the form of the documentary. I've also been to two of the old AP films studios, seen original music cue sheets and paperwork from the Barry Gray archive, as well as behind the scene's footage that has never before been seen!!!!
So you can appreciate why I have trouble remember in what order things have been happening...
List of names for my insanity
David Elliot - Director
John Read - Cameraman
Mary Turner - Puppeteer
Roger Woodburn - Puppeteer
Alan Patillo - Director
David Graham - voice artist
Martin Bower - model maker
Steve Camden - model maker
Hugh Woodhouse - Write
All the documentary stuff has been in my own spare time - so it's no wonder I'm knackered - but it's looking fantastic, so it'll all be worth it in the end.
State of play
At the moment - the documentary is very nearly half finished. I've the unenviable task of mixing the audio - which is to be frank a bit of a mess. The interviews have been shot by three different cameraman in approximately 20 different locations - and so by their very nature, vary from interview to interview. Basically I've had to even a lot of the levels out so everyone speaks at a similar level - as well as treating their voices slightly to make them all a little bit more even. Some peope's voices are very bassy, others are quite muffled - so I've EQ'd the worst offenders in order to bring them into line slightly with the rest of the interview.
Spent Wednesday (20/6/04) afternoon in Golders Green at David Graham's house recording his narration for the characters part of the documentary - he reprised his voice of Dr Beaker with amazing accuracy, and even more amazing delivery - VERY few fluffs and nice easy person to work with. Bloody knackered - was up at work at 5.30am, and didn't get to sleep till midnight, then had to be back up again at 4.45 the next morning... I did however meet up with a friend I hadn't seen in over 6 years by chance on Tonbridge railway station as I was waiting for my connecting train at 10.30pm!!!!
Thursday (21/6/04) spent the afternoon placing clips and narration into the documentary in order cover edits and flesh out the piece. Same time to bed again - more knackered
Today have just been rendering some of the moves on the still images. Am using Truespace 2 in order to get these moves from the high quality digital copies we have been supplied with from Carlton's picture archive, as well as a number of people's personal collections.
Swanny says.... "I won't think of them as curtains..." (only a few people will ever get that!)
posted by LAMPS at 23:58
