The current UK government’s decision to axe the UK Film Council, along with numerous other arts funding bodies, has come as a shock to many media practitioners and commentators, especially those who were either supported by this outdated and pedantic unit – including cinematic bores … Read More →
Author Archives: Brett Gerry
Inception (2010; dir. Christopher Nolan)
This is an over-hyped, fatuous film that fails to live up to the estimation of a number of critics and commentators, who have lauded the film with platitudes that it barely supports. Helmer Nolan, whose work consistently riffs on Heat (1995; dir. Michael Mann), has … Read More →
Photos from the Blood on the Catwalk shoot
Here’s a slideshow of photos from the recent Blood on the Catwalk shoot, the latest feature film production from the Act2Cam workshop programme, filmed by Brett Gerry Films at the exclusive Polam Hall in Darlington. This was an eventful and stressful two day shoot, but … Read More →
The Truth About Raoul Moat
The reaction to homicidal gunman Raoul Moat, whose criminal career ended with his apparent suicide, suggests, unlike the recent Cumbrian killing spree, that a large proportion of the public not only feel pity for Moat but endorse his campaign against the British police force, which … Read More →
New YouTube series offers alternatives to standard online exposure
YouTube features its own promoted videos on its homepage, and, whilst it may be churlish to suggest the platform has ulterior motives for elevating certain uploads, they are by nature bland, unimaginative and safe. The discerning browser therefore needs alternative avenues to find content that … Read More →
iPad Unboxing
Having just purchased an iPad Wi-Fi 32GB, here’s a slideshow of our first unboxing. The iPad offers a revolution in business practice for the creative professional; lightweight, portable and featuring higher resolution than featured on an iPhone or Android handset, it’s perfect for exhibiting showreel … Read More →
Is Lady Gaga the innocent puppet of an evil mind-control government?
A recent tweet by Gari Sullivan, editor and co-presenter of North East podcast The Cultural Thing, indicated the most watched video on YouTube isn’t a TV episode from the BBC or Channel 4, both of whom now offer free and complete content on that platform, … Read More →
Captain Wardrobe Must Die (2008; dir. Roger Armstrong)
“I hate that shitty office job in IT,” says this film’s main character, modestly played by helmer Armstrong, “I’d rather work in the media.” This blank-faced confession, wrought by the fictionalised Armstrong during the filming of this semi-fictionalised documentary, reveals the heart of Captain Wardrobe … Read More →
Does fear of reprisal make critics less critical?
The over-hyped release of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010; dir. David Slade) not only underlines the unbalanced emphasis given to throwaway and adolescent material, but also the innate fear of modern critics and theorists to actually criticise any high-profile, mainstream films or television programmes – … Read More →
Official Beanz Trailer
A revolution on screen. A film devised entirely by its cast of 11-19 year olds. The first feature film from actor-trainer Steve Wood’s Act2Cam workshop programme – which aims to teach young people the skills necessary for working in film – showcases the talents of … Read More →
All you need to make a movie is a misappropriated quote…
Alternative filmmakers’ poster-boy Jean-Luc Godard, whose work has recently suffered ill-judged attacks from spastic critics in this country, remains massively influential on educators and theorists, despite their unbalanced concentration on the first ten years of his film-making career, ignoring almost totally his later and vastly … Read More →
On location photos from the Act2Cam residential programme and film shoot
Here are photographs from the recent Act2Cam residential programme that ran from 17th to 24th July 2010, again teaching students how to perform as well as produce television and cinema. The course took place at Polam Hall in Darlington, Co. Durham, and was attended by … Read More →