My Website

My website is now up and running, please take a look:

www.pippaholman.com
www.pippaholman.co.uk

There are still improvements to be made and work to be added, but it is a start!

Hans Island You've Been Told Video

Full HD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=246FkIg_mi8&feature=player_embedded

After shooting the band performance and final scenes on Sunday, we only had a few days to finish the rest of the filming and do the editing as their single was due for release less than 2 weeks later. With thanks to willing volunteers we finished the individual scenes - that showed a balloon holder in a mundane situation, 3 days later. We also filmed ourselves to use in the video to increase the number of characters. With limited access to the editing suite in university, we finished the editing and the video a week later.

The most challenging part of this project was getting the singing and instruments in sync to the song. We realized that on the day they had not been singing or playing exactly the same - in reflection we should have made sure that they were. This meant that there was a lot of footage that we had to cut because it didn't work, and we had no time to re-shoot. We tried to find the clips that worked the best, but they are not perfect.

We also didn't have as many volunteers as we would have liked - on the time scale we were given most could not make it for the individual scenes. It was a difficult video to produce as we were reliant on volunteers.

Editing and producing the video was a hard task, as we had to sift through 2 to 3 hours of footage to find the best bits, and only a few days to do it. We made it flow as best we could and quickened the pace of the footage towards the end of the video to create more energy and action as the song reaches its peak. It then calms down at the end to reach the conclusion of the balloon release and to signify the freedom and the letting go.

All in all, with practically a none existent budget and little time, I think we did a good job. It was a challenge but we heavily enjoyed this. There are things we would change on reflection, but for a week and a half's work I think it is a rather successful piece of work.

We hope to work on further projects like this, we enjoyed the variety of the designing, filming, directing and editing. It was a good learning process and we will only get better.

Hans Island You've Been Told Shoot

Me and 3 friends collaborated to work on a music video for Hans Island's debut single You've Been Told.

We pitched the idea of using balloons (green ones that would match their logo) that could be released to represent the running away in the narrative of the song. The band liked this idea and after further discussion the story of the balloons evolved. The video would feature a number of people in mundane situations who would be holding a balloon, and then, inspired by the song, everyone would gather at the end to where the band are playing, and release their balloons. We hoped this would evoke feelings of freedom and of letting go.

After settling on some barren wasteland in Salford to shoot the band performance and the balloon release, we advertised the event on facebook a week before, and on a sunday morning everyone gathered. We began by shooting just the band playing, using different angles and a mix of tripod distant shots and hand held closeups, and then filmed the scenes where everyone made their way to the band to release their balloons. Me and my group had to direct the band and the balloon holding volunteers, which was quite a challenge as we are all very shy! It was a stressful, nerve-racking, fun, exciting and unbelievable day all at the same time, and we loved it. We soon all got into the swing of being directors and camera people.

- My photos on the day, not the best but didn't have much time considering I was filming all day.

Location Location Location - Hans Island Video

Finding a location for shooting the Hans Island Video where the band will be able to perform, where a lot of people can gather, and where we will not get in trouble for trespassing etc.

This is one suggestion - its close to the city centre of Manchester and can not really be seen from the main road.

Its also rather intriguing and dramatic.

A Million Pigeons

A Million Pigeons : The Home of Creative Blind Dates

A brand spanking new Manchester company that brings together the up and coming creatively talented to create music videos, photo shoots and album/single artwork.

If you're an artist or designer and want to work with record labels or awesomely talented bands get in touch and send us a link to your stuff...

If you're in a band and want videos, promos or artwork, send us your stuff and a rough idea of what you need and we'll find a designer that suits your style...

Jo Lowes from A Million Pigeons introduced herself recently to our year group at university. She is going to offer a number of different projects that we could be a part of. If we like the sound of the brief then we can come up with ideas and pitch them, and if the client likes them then we will go ahead with the project.

The first opportunity was a music video for the band Hans Island, for their song You've Been Told which is due for release very soon. Myself and three friends decided to collaborate and we pitched an idea to the band which they liked and the idea grew with the discussion - and so we are producing a music video. It is all getting rather exciting!