The 2011 Babysweet Sessions Review

Before writing this I decided to look back at the last 2010 entry and see what I had promised to do or set out to achieve. There was nothing so therefore I haven’t really let myself down. This year started off fairly productive, took a bit and is coming back round for the final hurdle. Without looking at Live gigs / performances here is what happened in 2011.

is it the sea? is it the sky?

I made 4 music videos. That is the most I have ever made in a year. In terms of improvement I think they were the best I have made but if I had made 10 videos this year then maybe I would be much better at it. The most successful video was the Cashier No9 video for Oh Pity. It was my first music video to get played on MTV2 (Rocks!) or whatever it is known as these days. It was always a goal of mine to do that so now I need a new music video goal for 2012. Maybe get it on again or get a video on Pitchfork. I feel Pitchfork is actually a little down the toilet. Or maybe my taste is. We don’t agree on a lot, 24bit is a much more “part of the family” website. I would love to get back on to 24bit but Pitchfork is the sort of Hidden Treasure and the exposure would be magnificent.

Besides Casher No9 I also made videos for Kowalski, Grand Forever and Gathered Ghosts. The Kowalski video was definitely the toughest edit I had. I thought the whole project was a disaster and going to need to be re-shot entirely. We didn’t even have a plan for the video. I can’t remember one thing we really spoke about besides getting the “Morph” suits. It turned out well though. The first video of the year for Gathered Ghosts was my favourite at the time. It was just a marvellous situation. An amazing label, an amazing band, an amazing song, an amazing actor in an amazing city. I thought that video would have caused more of a stir online but it wasn’t to be. The Grand Forever had little presence online despite getting a premier on Fake DIY. It took 30minutes to make and was my favourite at the time. I still love it but I have watched it back only once or twice since it went online. I wanted to keep it special or didn’t want to catch myself out as a Conman.

Photo of the Year?

I only ever judge the progress of Babysweet by looking at the Short Films section and seeing how much it has grown. I look at and think it hasn’t really grown this year. there were four music videos, a couple of corporate jobs and Cornelia’s single Launch. The Single Launch is one of my best pieces of work in terms of photography. There is also a Gotye mini-documentary that is done but not allowed online until January that I feel is strong. It’s going to change anything or make any money or bring any popularity but it’s just a really basic mini-documentary that I don’t mind watching. There are also a couple of Daughter performances I shot very recently that I am quite proud of. They should be online maybe before Xmas. I think I have made them quite interesting. It a tough call with live performances. The amount of live videos going online is large. It’s hard not to get bored of some of them. That then translates to filming them I find. You would look at a shot and think “I don’t want to film that” or know that you could film it in a way that would go down well but you can’t bring yourself to do it. That’s why I enjoyed the Daughter / Gotye videos as I made an effort to try and make it different to other live stuff I have done.

I live in a Music Video Asylum

So besides Videos and Live Performances the only documentary I have made was “A Musician and a Scene” which is going online a couple of hours after this is written. You can read about it here. I was hoping for bigger things from this film. Festivals, Late Night TV etc. Applying to festivals is a full time job in itself though and I just haven’t got round to it. Although there may not have been stuff appearing up here for a month or two at a time I have been working on other things. That has been the real “win” of this year. I now make my living from Directing and Editing. Surely that is the biggest success I could have hoped for this year. I am allowed to improve and develop and pay the rent all in one. I have been doing it full time since June and looking over that period it is great. Sometimes I moan about it but I am just being a dick then. What more could I want?

In trying to find another picture i couldn’t find one where i looked decent.

Of the Top of My Head Favourites of 2011

Albums

The Peoples Key by Bright Eyes

Let England Shake by PJ Harvery

Blue Suicide by Coma Cinema

Video of 2011

The Leopard by We Cut Corners (Dir: Eoghan Kidney)

This video just stood out to me as clever and magnificent. No fucking around. Just got the job done.

FM Belfast: Underwear (Dir: DANIELS)

This video was out in April 2010 but I only saw it this year. It’s perfect.

End Of the Top of My Head Favourites of 2011

Theres too much you can write about that stuff and I can’t be arsed. Top Irish stuff I liked is the Wonder Villains Zola Ep and I like The Jepettos “Goldrush” free single. It’s not that I am all about the quiet poppy single it’s just that they are most prominent in my head at the moment. The find of the year was Coma Cinema. Pretty slow on the up take considering it was the 3rd album released by them before I caught on. They are the best band I have heard since I first got a Bright Eyes addiction in 2004. The beauty of how i found them was through Vimeo. There is a video guru making a name for himself called Tyler T Williams. I came across a couple of his videos and just watched and re-watched them. Then the music seeped in, I went to the website and haven’t looked away since. The music is all free to download. It’s completely free and legally so. I don’t know how the main Gent survives by giving his music away and sometimes there are a few tweets that would suggest he is close to death. If you check out his blog then you get links to all these other killer bands that have music on bandcamp for free. The latest one I have found are called Happy Trendy. They are great and free. Check them out.