johnjoe

From A Horse In The Kitchen, To Wedding Venue

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 19:50:08 GMT

A week of contrasting workflow

A busy week creating video and photographic content for a clients new high end wedding venue in Berkshire England.

We created this long form video which is designed to be informative and engaging. This client didn’t want any music of voice over for this item.

AI use in social media

We also created a social media starter pack of five videos for the client and in the sample below you can see our early test of using AI created video content. In this example we have used veo-3 AI image creation for the first few seconds. AI created video is truly amazing, but not easy and there are lots of challenges such as having a consistent characters, same voice etc. You only get an 8 second clip, so if you want to add to the story with further 8 second video content the character image can change and the voice can change which is a massive problem. Give it another year and hopefully VEO-3 will have improved in the key areas that are really problematic currently. This video sample is from a wide range of video and photographic marketing work for a new luxury wedding venue, Awberry Farm nestled within the West Berkshire Countryside in England. An exclusive and special venue and we wish our clients all the best.

And Then The Horse

For a different client, we came up with the idea of a horse strolling through a kitchen with the owner taking no notice as if this was a normal occurrence. Again, this is an early test of our use of AI generated content

From Portraits To Products This Week

Sat, 22 Mar 2025 10:52:58 GMT

Picture Frames, People and Cars

This week we have enjoyed working for a range of local companies such as Readymades in Basingstoke and McCarthy Holden in Hampshire.

The photoshoots have varied from people to products, plus designing a recruitment campaign with video content as part of the marketing mix.

Like Car Images - Check out Proche 911 Dakar

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 10:35:21 GMT

First Drive: Porsche 911 Dakar

By Jack Evans, PA Motoring reporter

What is it?

Dak ar. It just sounds exciting, don’t you think? And when combined with one of the most famous three-digit bad ges in the world – 911 – you get something that feels pretty special even before you’ve sat behind the wheel. Limited to just 2,500 examples worldwide, this is a car which has some genuine off-road heritage behind it alongside some serious mechanical upgrades.

We’ve been given the chance to try out one of the very first Dakar models built, taking it both on the public road and across off-road surfaces too.

What’s new?

The Dakar takes its inspiration from the first overall victory by Porsche in the 1984 Paris-Dakar rally so, as we mentioned, it really does have some proper off-roading history behind it. To follow this through onto the road, the 911 Dakar has been ext ensively re-engineered over the standard Carrera S upon which it is based to ensure that it really can go here, there and everywhere.

It has apparently been in the works for a little while at Porsche, too, with engineers tinkering with the idea for many years.

What’s under the bonnet?

You’ll find the same 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged engine that powers the 911 GTS in the Dakar. Here, it produces 473bhp, and uses an eight-speed automatic transmission to enable the Dakar to go from 0-60mph in 3.3 seconds and onwards to a top speed of 149mph, which is lowered over the standard car’s due to the fitment of Pirelli Scorpion off-road tyres.

It rides 50mm higher than a standard Carrera S, too, and this can be boosted by an extra 30mm using a clever lift system. This high level can be used at speeds of up to 103mph, too, after which it then lowers to its standard-setting automatically.

What’s it like to drive?

It’s a strange sensation to drive the Dakar. For one, the surroundings are incredibly familiar; the dashboard, wheel and main touchpoints are all identical to the regular 992-generation 911’s. On the road it feels quick and easy to drive, too, with only a little bit of tyre roar coming through to remind you you’re not in a regular 911.

It’s when you head off-road that things get even stranger. You’re in this comfortable, refined cabin taking on lumps, bumps and ruts that would completely destroy a regular 911 – but the Dakar bowls over them with ease. It’s wonderfully adjustable on the throttle, too, and means that it’s not tricky to drift it around gravelly bends. A little more speed helps the Dakar to really float over imperfections, too, while the engine’s superb response – coupled with Porsche’s usually-excellent steering – makes it a joy to drive over terrain that would have most sports cars quivering in their boots.

How does it look?

The increase in ride height means that immediately you can tell that this isn’t a normal 911. The chunky tyres really suit this bodystyle, too, while the classic two-tone finish with decorative vinyl and white wheels – part of an £18,434 Rallye Design package – ensure that nobody misses the Dakar driven past. In truth, we think it’d be quite good to have it as a more subtle design.

It’s the little details you notice up close that really shine through, however. You’ve got the GT3 ‘nostrils’ in the bonnet for better cooling, while the slightly widened wheel wells and sills give the car a chunkier appearance. You can get all manner of powered accessories for the roof, too, such as extra lights while there’s the option to fit a roof tent for go-anywhere accommodation. Around the back, that fixed spoiler is made from Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic, too.

What’s it like inside?

As we’ve mentioned, the interior of the Dakar is very similar to that of the standard 911. It’s wonderfully ergonomic, too, with plenty of adjustability and comfortable yet supportive bucket seats. You do get a smattering of Dakar-specific badges, too, including a number plaque ahead of the driver and custom kickplates.

You still get a full sat-nav setup, too, while the thin-rimmed steering wheel is still one of our very favourites available today. Porsche’s driving mode dial allows you to easily cycle through different settings, too, including ‘Rallye’ which has been designed specifically for loose surfaces.

What’s the spec like?

At £173,000, the Dakar is by no means cheap. In fact, in standard setup it’s £51,000 more than a regular Carrera GTS. What you’re really paying for here isn’t higher quality interior materials nor more on-board technology, but the extensive mechanical upgrades that make this one seriously capable off-roader.

In fact, despite having added stainless steel body protection in areas such as the front, rear and sills, redesigned suspension and a lift system, the Dakar is just 10kg heavier than the 911 Carrera 4 GTS. You’ve got lightweight glass and a featherweight battery to thank for that.

Verdict

The Dakar could be passed off as something of a novelty, but it’s way too accomplished for that. This is a car that has been extensively engineered to ensure that it’s great to drive off-road but still behaves just as you’d expect a 911 to when you’re on it. Porsche could’ve just put some extra stickers and jacked up a regular 911 for the Dakar but, being Porsche, it has gone much further than that.

With just 2,500 examples being made, this isn’t a car that’ll be a common sight on the roads. But its very existence is to be celebrated – it’s an example of a car manufacturer taking a different angle and delivering it beautifully.

Facts at a glance

Model: Porsche 911 Dakar

Price: £173,000

Powertrain: 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged petrol engine

Power: 473bhp

Torque: 570Nm

Max speed: 3.3mph

0-60mph: 149seconds

Economy: 24.9mpg

CO2 emissions: 256g/km

We Love Film So Review Time

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 20:21:21 GMT

Damon Smith (PA) reviews the latest new releases

GEORGE FOREMAN: THE MIRACULOUS STORY OF THE ONCE AND FUTURE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD (12A, 129 mins)

A long and unwieldy title for director George Tillman Jr’s biographical drama about the Texas-born athlete, who hit hard inside and out of the boxing ring.

Based on a script that Tillman Jr co-wrote with Frank Baldwin, the film charts the rise of George Foreman (Khris Davis) from humble origins and a troubled youth to his first taste of success with his fists at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games held in Mexico City.

Success against Joe Frazier and Ken Norton solidifies his standing as a champion until the widely publicised Rumble In The Jungle against Muhammad Ali (Sullivan Jones) where Foreman was knocked down for the first time in his career.

He subsequently finds God and becomes a born-again Christian before disproving the naysayers with a late-career comeback to claim the heavyweight championship.

Released: April 28 (UK & Ireland)

THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY (12A, 108 mins)

Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent assumes the title role of an unlikely people’s champion in a life-affirming road movie written by Rachel Joyce and directed by Hettie Macdonald.

Harold Fry (Broadbent) is an unremarkable man, by his own estimations, living quietly in a sleepy seaside town in South Devon with his wife Maureen (Penelope Wilton).

The sexagenarian considers himself a failure as a husband and father and when he learns that dear friend Queenie (Linda Bassett) is dying, he pens her a heartfelt letter.

Standing at the post box with his missive, Harold comes to the startling realisation that a letter simply isn’t enough.

He continues to walk, out of his town and northwards, bound for Queenie’s hospice around 500 miles away in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Harold resolves to see Queenie in person, convinced that she must stay alive as long as he keeps putting one foot in front of the other.

His walk of hope inspires people across Britain including unlikely travelling companion Wilf (Daniel Frogson) and the kindness and generosity of strangers propels Harold closer to the hospice.

Released: April 28 (UK & Ireland)

POLITE SOCIETY (12A, 104 mins)

Writer-director Nida Manzoor’s feature debut is a coming-of-age action comedy that focuses intently on two sisters growing up in London.

Muslim teenager Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) clings on to dreams of becoming one of Britain’s leading stuntwomen and she makes videos of her daredevil antics for a YouTube channel with the help of her sister Lena (Ritu Arya).

Lena recently dropped out of art school and has returned home to the chagrin of their parents (Jeff Mirza, Shobu Kapoor).

The bond between siblings is tested when doctor Salim (Akshay Khanna) woos Lena and sweeps her off her feet to the visible delight of his controlling mother (Nimra Bucha).

A jealous and embittered Ria becomes suspicious of Salim and she employs her self-taught stuntwoman skills to confirm his true intentions.

Released: April 28 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)

RODEO (15, 106 mins)

Young rebel Julia (Julie Ledru) is determined to join the ranks of an illegal motorcycle gang called the B-Mores, who perform stunts and tricks on their mean machines.

The men turn a profit for their jailbird boss Domino (Sebastien Schroeder) by souping up motorcycles.

Riders including Ben (Louis Sotton) and Manel (Junior Correia) are fiercely opposed to a woman joining their testosterone-pumped ranks.

Julia meets this hostility with undiminished resolve, quietly earning the respect of gang members Abra (Dave Nsaman) and Kais (Yannis Lafki).

She also makes a powerful ally in Domino’s long-suffering wife Ophelie (Antonia Buresi), who is at the mercy of her husband’s prison cell edicts as she struggles to raise their five-year-old son Kylian (Cody Schroeder).

Released: April 28 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas) and streaming from April 28 exclusively on Curzon Home Cinema

Amazing Interior Spaces

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 18:58:11 GMT

Interior Photography Insight

Being a commercial photographer and videographer gets JohnJoe into the most amazing places and spaces.

Recently we had the pleasure of creating interior photography and video content for marketing a home to be sold in the UK. Some of the images and the final video for marketing are shown below.

The kitchen was the main feature of this vast property, which was going to the open market at a £3,250,000 guide price by the real estate agent . Most of my interior photography is achieved with Canon 24mm / 17mm tilt and shift lenses and are shot with three images of each photo which were later edited as a HDR image in Lightroom or similar.

The video is created with a mix of walk through clips using DJI / canon equipment and when it comes to editing the background music is usually sources from SounsStripe or Song Freedom. The voice over is an essential part of the production and this is created by multi award winning voice over artist Voice Of Drew .

Take a look at the finished product if you have three or four minutes.

If you need interior photography or a corporate video just go to our Contact Us page and ping us an email for a free no obligation quotation.

Corporate Headshots

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 13:49:35 GMT

Companies invest in promoting their best asset - people

We enjoy headshot photoshoots for companies who need professional team photos for their web sites. People are always self conscious but what great results we had this week with staff from a leading Hampshire property / real estate business and you can see from these sample images of Andrea, Ashlyn and Elizabeth who were radiant.

Despite recent economic pressures on companies, we've noticed an uptick in corporate headshot enquiries in November.

#photography #corporateheadshots #portraits

Promotional Video For Web

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 15:37:38 GMT

Video Production for Dynamic Asset Recovery

We enjoyed creating creating a promotional video f or Dynamic Asset Recovery, who specialise in certified data destruction at any site with a mobile unit. There is h igh demand for video to promote services or products so do ask John Joe for a free quote and ideas on how to market your business with video.

30 Second Promotional Videos For Music Festival

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 09:40:39 GMT

Ten 30 second videos created for the client

We were asked to produce some 30 second promotional video for showing at the #Lowdefest music festival, in #Hampshire UK. These were created for a major real estate sponsor. No sound due to music festival venue.

Below are some samples of the ten 30 second videos created for the client.

Commercial Business Photography

noodle@mccarthyholden.co.uk (john holden) — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 10:34:17 GMT

Lighting and focus stacking essential

The photoshoot for Absolute Alignment in the UK a great success, in part due to good lighting and the use of focus stacking to get near and far elements in focus. To ask about how we can help promote your commercial products or service email jjtopshot@outlook.com

Kitchen Manufacturer Photo Shoot

noodle@mccarthyholden.co.uk (john holden) — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 10:07:11 GMT

Good to work for Lewis Alderson Kitchens

We were impressed with the quality of this wonderful kitchen, which is the nucleus of family living in a fine country house in Hampshire UK.

Staff Business Photoshoot for web use

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 16:57:06 GMT

Each Business Has It's Own Style Ideas

For the purpose of web site use, we find the most popular request is for the clean look of the white background with the staff member looking relaxed.

We normally shoot at the clients premises bringing along all of our lighting gear / white background etc., which means work productivity can be maintained because staff haven't got to take time out to travel to a studio. We usually work to 30 minutes per team member and that usually gives the subject person enough time to relax and look their best.

Commercial Architectural and Residential Photography

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 19:41:36 GMT

We Build On Our Reputation

We have created a track record in the creation of eye catching #property and #interior design photography and video content. In this brief blog we show some samples of our work.

The lighting and sky were just perfect for this exterior photography for a real estate agent in Hampshire UK

Early evening at this amazing country house above and we couldn't have asked for a more enchanting sky.

A commercial premises restaurant in Reading Berkshire with a stunning back wall image.

Presenter Led Video Marketing for Property Developer

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 19:21:59 GMT

Presenter Led Video Content Adds Value

We have enjoyed creating this video marketing for clients Castle Developments.

Video Marketing In 20 Seconds

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 10:25:46 GMT

A Facebook TV style advertising sample

Getting the key message across about a clients services or products in 20 seconds requires engaging content and tight editing. This is a sample created for Castle Developments who are offering self-build plots in the UK.

It is great t o be working on video marketing for these developers and this Facebook advert was created out of the opening sequence of a video about their self build plots (full video can be found at https://vimeo.com/502559370 ),

The right video content is vital in tapping in to the vast audience available through digital marketing at Facebook and other social media opportunities. So if want engaging video to attract more customers, do contact johnjoe.co.uk for a free no obligation quote.

A Sensitive Matter - Jimmy's funeral video

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 20:07:39 GMT

Working discreetly and in background

A remarkable man died young and we were asked to record the funeral.

This is a video commissioned by Jimmy’s loving mother Rita, who organised a funeral for her son to reflect his love of horses and wanted this shared.

Working discreetly and in background, we supported Rita by creating a memory in video of a day that was unquestionably a blur for her as the events of the day unfolded.

We hadn’t planned to record the service but the vicar made an impromptu invitation to film inside the church. Had we know this was possible we would have set up multi camera points and proper audio but the video captured from the back of the church with just the camera audio just about worked.

Product Photography can be very black or white

Wed, 02 Dec 2020 10:40:45 GMT

background choice is highly influenced by the actual product

We enjoyed producing product images for Delibo Wine Agency, who wanted crisp white backgrounds and precision photos of their fine wines.

As you can see from these sample photographs, product photography is very black or white when it comes to background choice and is highly influenced by the actual product.

We also take time to use the Xrite colour checker passport to make sure of accurate brand colour interpretation.

Portrait photo shoot today for Kathy's new book cover

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 20:06:06 GMT

Kathy's new book written in lockdown

We enjoyed a photo shoot in Hartley Wintney with Kathy and Tony, who wanted some photos for the book cover of Kathy's forthcoming new book about the work of Mount Moriah Trust in the Holy Land. https://mountmoriah.org.uk

Part of the enjoyment of this job is meeting seemingly ordinary people living locally, doing extraordinary work in far flung places of the world.

Today's video creation about a self-build opportunity

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 19:18:14 GMT

Wednesday Kent, back to studio Thursday to finish video

The Self-Build Opportunity Of A Lifetime? - We were pleased to be commissioned to create a fast turnaround video with limited marketing assets, about some self-build plots on the Surrey / Hampshire borders, so after a trip to Kent on Wednesday we were able to create this video for the developer client. https://vimeo.com/460340568

Have You Self Built A Home

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 17:42:50 GMT

If so, we want to hear from you

If you have ever experienced self build house, Johnjoe.co.uk are looking for people to talk to camera about the self build experience.

Ideally we need less than a minute worth of comments and insight in the final edited video, so to achieve that we would need about 2 hours worth of the persons time to answer some questions about the self build process. We are hoping a few comments from real people who have experienced the joys and challenges of a self build project will be useful and inspiring information for anyone seeing the video.

We would like to shoot the video comments outside the self-build house. The comments and tips will be used in as part of a video about a self build opportunity on the Hampshire / Surrey borders and all content will be owned by JohnJoe.co.uk for any purpose.

The ideal l location for us to conduct the video shoot in within a 30 mile radius of Basingstoke in Hampshire. A £100 fee will be paid to the individual and the interview / questions will be done with safe Covid-19 protocols (i.e. a boom microphone will be used, the camera will be at a distance and the shoot will be outside the self build house.

If you can help please email jjtopshot@outlook.com or phone 07470 707275

Post Lockdown Upturn

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 16:13:02 GMT

Fearing the worse - experiencing the best

The return to post lockdown work has been far better than anticipated, with the booming UK property market giving and unexpected boost to the demand for professional photography and video work.

Take the video below for marketing a country estate in Hampshire England, where we provided a wide range of services from interior photography, aerial drone videos and photography and professional voice over from Drew Campbell, all combined in the editing process to create a powerful marketing tool for the estate agent and property owner.

The photography, filming and editing with voice over was completed over a five day period.

The next sample below had an immediate marketing impact, with a buyer agreeing to purchase within days of seeing the video. What made the feedback from the selling agent even more exciting, was the fact that the buyer had seen the property for sale previously but wasn’t inspires to view by the photography, however , this time around the JohnJoe video motivated the person to look and they then offered and a house sale was agreed. The power of video marketing working at it’s best for the client.

Other work requests are also picking up, from food shoots to the inside of machines at macro level!

If you are looking for a free no obligation quote, then go to our contacts page and send us your thoughts.

The Staff Photo Shoot

Sat, 04 Jan 2020 19:51:31 GMT

Good Looking, Efficient and Cost Effective

Had a great time recently with the team of Shield Security in Aldershot, Hampshire on a photo shoot of some staff portraits for their new web site. Really nice people providing amazing 24/7 security services for companies and private individuals alike, helping to protect property against crime before it happens 01252 319899 Shield Security Services Ltd.

Companies frequently need staff photos taken for web or brochure use. To make life easier for our corporate clients we bring the studio lighting / background to their place of work, so none of their staff have to leave their work premises making the job efficient and very cost effective. At £50 per person the John Joe rates are very competitive, so if you need you staff photos updated do get in touch.

Property Developers Push For Video Content

Sat, 04 Jan 2020 18:23:01 GMT

Creating Buyer Engagement In 15 seconds

We are well known in the property sector for the delivery of property marketing with professional video content, which increases the level of buyer engagement online.

Not surprisingly many of or developer clients wanted video content for the new year, designed for use on Facebook by way of sponsored advertising. With Facebook advertising the key to success is getting the key messages out in under 15 seconds, which is a challenge.

From short video PR following an open day event, through to a comprehensive video tour with a presenter the outcome for the developer is outstanding marketing and PR. The video below was created for T A Fisher and showcased their new homes in Hampshire UK. The photography and video capture plus the video edition were all by John Joe.

Don't Look Down!

Mon, 07 Oct 2019 11:33:15 GMT

Old school photographers risk factor

It was pure chance that when visiting a couples home in Hampshire I notices a great photo of a construction worker on a high crane jib, without the now customary safety harness, hi vis jacket and hard hat.

This was the first time I met Graeme and his wife Marion and as I looked at the photo, I casually said the photographer behind the camera clearly had no fear of heights. Graeme swiftly replied, no I didn’t and so commenced a conversation about his days as a press photographer.

Graeme kindly gave me some background to how he approached taking the photograph in this short video blog.

He was a treasure of fascinating stories including a Mia Farrow incident in Wokingham Berkshire and the fact he was the first to have a photograph on the front page of The Times – I can see another short video blog on the horizon!

Every Frame A Painting

Sun, 05 May 2019 18:08:48 GMT

The Extraordinary Works And Quirks Of Stanley Kubrick

As a new exhibition celebrates his life and work, Luke Rix-Standing looks back at the career of the movie-maker with the Midas touch.

In the late-Nineties, Stanley Kubrick was on the set of Eyes Wide Shut - a divisive, erotic drama that would be his final film. One scene required Sydney Pollack, an experienced actor in a minor role, to walk across a room and open a door. A first-time collaborator with Kubrick, Pollack made the grave mistake of asking the director how he wanted this done. "I don't know Sydney," he replied, "you tell me."

Two whole days and hundreds of door openings followed, after which an exhausted and exasperated Pollack asked what else he could possibly do. "Well Sydney," said Kubrick, "I didn't think it would take this long, but don't you want to get it right?"

The episode is typical of a man widely considered a genius, mostly for his film-making, but also for personifying the public image of what a genius is expected to be.

Extraordinarily secretive, agonisingly perfectionist, and fabulously enigmatic - Kubrick required total control over script, style and sound, and disavowed every production in which this was denied. He never gave interviews, was so afraid of flying he wouldn't film abroad, and spent his days ensconced behind the electronically locked gates of his mysterious Hertfordshire mansion.

He made his first film partly with his winnings from a chess competition, and thereafter released just 12 features in 45 years. As a new exhibition on his life opens at the Design Museum, we take a look back at the life of one of cinema's most celebrated visionaries...

The man in the chair

As a film-maker, Kubrick did not take inspiration from the great practitioners of his art. Indeed, he took greater encouragement from incompetence. "I believed that I couldn't make them any worse than the majority of films I was seeing," he once said. "Bad films gave me the courage to try making a movie."

Though many of his works are now top-10 regulars, his career had a rocky start. He roundly derided his first feature - 1953's Fear And Desire - as "a bumbling, amateur exercise", and later went to great lengths to ensure it wasn't seen. A Killer's Kiss, The Killing, and Paths Of Glory followed, finding favour with critics but not with the paying public.

In 1959, he helmed swords-and-sandals epic Spartacus, at the request of its A-list star Kirk Douglas, who denied him the control to which he was already accustomed. Next came a wildly ambitious adaptation of Lolita - Nabokov's story of a sexual relationship between a middle-aged professor and a pubescent girl - which was savagely cut by the censors. For Kubrick, both projects were tainted by frustration, and both were promptly disowned.

Young British actors and directors are often enticed across the pond by the bright lights of LA, but for Kubrick it was the other way around. Disillusioned with Hollywood, he fled America for the English countryside in 1962, and never looked back.

Kubrick unleashed

Finally safe from the tycoons of Tinseltown, Kubrick set about making movies his way. His style switched from naturalistic to obliquely surreal, while his storytelling began to betray a marked pessimism about the human condition. He picked up visual trademarks - long corridors; Steadicam tracking shots; geometric, frame-by-frame composition - and pioneered new methods for shooting in low light.

1964 brought the triumphant release of Dr. Strangelove, a jet-black cold-war farce that spat at the popular Hollywood narrative that adversity brings out the best in people. Four years later came 2001: A Space Odyssey, a vastly over-budget sci-fi epic spanning the whole of human history, a magnum opus that overwhelms the senses with a swirl of kaleidoscopic existentialism.

It ranks alongside Citizen Kane, the Rite Of Spring, and every painting by Vincent van Gogh as a masterpiece that was not wholly appreciated in its time. At the New York premiere, many of the audience walked out, others jeered, and one prominent critic declared it "the biggest amateur movie of them all".

In a strange quirk of history, cinephiles may have hippies to thank for the film's success. Stoners flocked to the film in droves, and for a while John Lennon claimed to catch a showing at least once a week. The marketing execs soon caught on, and the second round of promotionals bore an extra tagline: "The ultimate trip."

Now firmly fixed among the great masterpieces of 20th century cinema, it seems almost too easy to say that 2001 was ahead of its time.

A career chameleon

Kubrick was a man for all genres, and with a portrait of a paedophile and an apocalyptic comedy already under his belt, he was developing an uncanny habit of filming the un-filmable.

After the exorbitance of 2001, he wanted to prove he could handle a low budget, and decided to do so with the Beethoven-fuelled ultra-violence of A Clockwork Orange. Based on the eponymous novel, the film was a box-office hit, but gained unwelcome notoriety after it was cited by defendants in several rape and murder trials. Kubrick promptly pulled the film from UK cinemas, and it was not theatrically re-released until after his death (in 1999, aged 70, mere days after a final cut of Eyes Wide Shut was screened).

His next offering - costumed period piece Barry Lyndon (1975) - could barely have been more different, but Kubrick still managed to scope out trouble. He unwisely shot scenes in Ireland featuring uniformed British redcoats. Following death threats from the IRA, he fled to England by ferry under an assumed name.

Though not his most enduring work, this slow-paced drama became synonymous with visual authenticity. Kubrick used satellite lenses to shoot indoor scenes by candlelight, and penned a now-famous letter to American projectionists with detailed instructions on how the film was to be shown. "An infinite amount of care was given to the look of Barry Lyndon," it read. "All that work is now in your hands..."

A 'method' director

Giving others responsibility was not something Kubrick did if he could avoid it, and "infinite amount of care" was perhaps an understatement. "No matter what it is," said A Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell, "even if it's a question of buying a shampoo, it goes through him."

He paid real aeronautics engineers to design the set for 2001 (including a $300,000 centrifuge), temporarily blinded McDowell shooting the infamous Ludovico Technique scene, and insisted the tabletops in Dr. Strangelove be green, despite shooting the film in black and white.

The demands he placed on his actors were legendary, and often interfered with their wellbeing. Most famous by far is his treatment of Shelley Duvall - on the set of 1980 film The Shining, he exhausted and belittled her so systematically that her on-screen hysteria was barely put on.

In the notorious 'staircase scene' (in which Duvall backs away from an advancing Jack Nicholson weakly swinging a baseball bat), her bloodshot eyes, pathetic whimpers and feeble swipes come mostly from the fact that it was take number 127. "If you did a film with Stanley, you were married to him," recalled Shining co-star Philip Stone, "there was nothing else in your life."

In his later years, productivity slowed to a crawl. 1987 brought nihilistic 'Nam flick Full Metal Jacket - best-remembered for R Lee Ermey's fabulously foul-mouthed drill sergeant - and Eyes Wide Shut followed 12 years later. Kubrick died suddenly in 1999, a few months before the film went on general release.

The cult of Kubrick

It's easy to see how Kubrick attained semi-mythic status, but Christiane, his wife of 41 years, has since sought to straighten the record.

"He was sad about all the stuff those people wrote about him," she told the Guardian in 2005. "All those awful stories... that he was phobic, obsessive, weird. I flinch when I see all these things about Stanley the so-called crazy man."

On set, she admits he was, shall we say, meticulous, but at home she paints a picture of a committed family man. "He was immensely gregarious - not like they always say... [and] he was a great dancer."

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition runs at The Design Museum, London, until September 15, 2019. Advance booking recommended. For information and tickets, see designmuseum.org

Facebook Video Marketing

Sat, 04 May 2019 10:18:18 GMT

Eye catching video with a fast message uptake

The challenge as normal for Facebook video marketing content is of course to get the message out within the first 12 seconds, as well as finding or creating the image to catch a viewers attention in the first place.

With the project shown above the client wanted to let people living in #Hampshire and Berkshire in the UK know that there was high levels of buyer interest for equestrian property, so the opening clip of the black beauty was ideal to capture the eye of anyone interest in equestrian pursuits.

The text flowing out of the horses mane was created in Adobe After Effects, which is a really powerful video editing software. The job was completed within one day from when the the client requested the job.

Hoofs crossed for a positive outcome for our client.

In the second sample above, the client wanted to reach house buyers who work in London and needed a home with good train services to Waterloo nearby.