More Music Movements

A steady day or two. I've submitted the Masculinity Two to the distributor and uploaded the video. The single will be released on Thursday September 26th. I've also created a B-side, a second track for the single called The Games Played As Children, a quiet piano piece with a few faux-strings which sounds like something from Kate Bush's Aerial.

Part of me wonders why I put so much work into this, but I remind myself that this work is part of the art. I also feel the need to do things as neatly and correctly as I can, that the very orderliness is a beauty and art of its own. In art, quality is more important than quantity, more important than even being noticed. This work I do is the only contribution I can make to the world, which is why it is my life mission. I must do what I am able, and push to do the best I can.

Empathy, Entropy and the Ocean of the Universe

Here's a write up of something that I've been thinking about over the last few days.

There was a comment in the film Three Colours: Red about the dissipation of guilt when helping an injured dog by taking it to a vet, that this was of more emotional benefit to the helper than the dog. This made me think that perhaps the emotion was as good for both the dog and the helper, and that all emotions represent a dialogue, always something shared rather than experienced by one party.

This made me think that guilt, love, hate; all feelings, were essentially two way communications and that both parties feel the same thing, and by communicating, both parties understand a little about the other and move towards feeling the same level of emotion too. I thought perhaps that empathy was an inherent part of all communication and that, over time, the feelings will equate and so subside.

I imagined that these feelings which were passed from one person to another, were then passed from each party to others too, spreading through all of society to gradually settle, in the same the way that the bonds between molecules of water in an ocean communicate their motion, gradually calming the sea towards a smooth, glass-like surface, like a calm lake. Perhaps, I thought, all information works in this way, and that emotions between people on a macroscopic scale, also apply to atoms and sub-atomic structures.

Particles communicate their forces to each other via force-carrying particles, essentially tiny information packets that are exchanged between particles; shared information, as in the emotion example. Perhaps then, particles also exhibit this form of what we think of as empathy.

Over time, entropy increases, that is, the disruptive ripples in the sea will average out to create this peaceful accord and smooth water; yet this doesn't occur in the real ocean of course. The ocean has existed for billions of years, yet is still in turmoil. Each breeze, each motion of the moon, each swipe of a fish's tail will disturb it. It seems that the real universe is too big and too complex to actually calm the real ocean, no matter how much the water particles try to average out their movement.

Perhaps the ocean will eventually settle, given enough time, but I don't think so. The mechanism here is that any two molecules which communicate will average out their information, so causing a gentle 'sanding smooth' of the information, a tiny move towards equality, yet in the vast universe there will inevitably be sections that cannot ever communicate with other parts due to distance.

The speed of light limits the speed and range of communication, and if any-one part of the universe cannot communicate with a single other part, then pure equality, complete entropy, is impossible, and the ocean of the universe could never settle into the state of a smooth lake, even if small puddles could.

If so, then the universe as a whole, due to its scale, cannot die a perfectly smooth death. Entropy can only maximise in a small, closed system. The open nature of the universe, due to limitations in the speed of light and ability to communicate, will limit the growth of entropy.

Single Artwork

I feel that the video is finally complete. There comes a stage in an artwork, at the end, when making tiny changes, where you become unsure if a change is for the better or not because the difference is so tiny. At that stage, either option is fine; it is complete.

First thing this morning I composed a piano tune for the ArtSwarm Children's Games, a second one, and added some strings and a flute this time. My incentive for this was that the film extract I chose had a few nice scenes left that weren't covered by the first video, so I've made two now.

After that, I got started on the Masculinity Two single artwork. I had designed an image already, but this didn't really fit the new look of the video, so I changed things a bit and made a new cover that does match the black, white, red look. Here it is so far:

I've designed some new Marius Fate text for the album too because I wanted a custom font, so I drew about 30 different signatures using Quink Ink and nib pen; truly the ultimate way to draw! I tried a few other pens, including a couple of Japanese Brush Pens, but none were as good as the my standard nib, a Leonardt No. 41, the only nib I use. I rely on it so much, I've bought 4 spares, just in case they stop making them!

I feel weak and tired today but very enthused, the joy of lots of jobs to do. This one single or album won't change the world. I want to make 10, 100, 1000! On we push.

First Finished Draft

Driven mad today tweaking and endlessly working on the Masculinity Two video. Lots of new segments were filmed yesterday evening and have spent today incorporating these. Like the Fly in Amber video, the initial script proved to be only a slight guide as a lot was changed. The character of the ringmaster has gone completely, and the dance part is now lots of short segments. Many parts are short repeated sections, which I'd prefer not to do, but this can help sometimes too, adding a structure to the video akin to a visual rhyme.

These lips speak the chorus and will be part of the album art:

The video has lots of highly exposed colours, which I had planned, and it gives it a look like the old Nice Video, Shame About The Song video, the imagery of which has remained stuck in my mind since the 1980s and its appearance on the telly. Such is the power of the surreal. Here again is proof that the British consider art comedy.

After over a week, I'm near the end of this video at last. I can now either move onto another new video for fun; this magic time when a piece of art is optional can sometimes create good work in a flash of time, or I can continue work on the music, the album, the book, the single release, any marketing ideas.

Masculinity Two Lyrics

While I am at it, here are the lyrics to Masculinity Two. I've realised that most of my art is about the battle between logical, emotionless, rational thought, and emotions; and this song is too. It's about a computer nerd, an emotionless, logical thinker, being unmoved by female advances. It is a critique that he can't be a rugged, animalistic male, yet as a result is unresponsive to affection.

Masculinity Two

You can blink at me slowly,
you can flicker your lips,
but it won't get to my,
metal heart.

You can signal me baby,
send me sex in your sips,
but it's ice in the soul,
of the dark.

Welcome to the new paradise,
what do you want to do?
Want to come and a play game with me tonight?

Masculinity two.

Welcome to the new paradise,
What do you want to do?
Want to come and a play game with me tonight?

Masculinity two.

This is what you all wanted.
This electro control.
This is love into fire,
into death.

So keep signalling baby,
I'll keep looking away,
as I drink as I die,
as I play.

The Glacier and the Swift

Another full days of working on the Masculinity Two video yesterday. Here is a screen grab.

I'm eager to get this over with! I've spent two months this year working on music videos. It odd though that I'm starting to enjoy the process, at last perhaps. I'm still growing and learning, and these short video poems can perhaps epitomise the best of cinema. They have the ability to convey beauty, narrative, drama, and lots, in a very short intense time.

I watched Three Colours: White a few days ago and it was a boring experience. Blue looked beautiful and colourful and had lots of feeling and inner complexity and links which made the film symphonic. By comparison, White, was a mish-mash. A simple story. The most interesting characters were the side characters, a strange man asks the homeless hero to kill a Polish man because the victim-to-be is afraid of suicide. An intriguing plot, which is then dumped and never mentioned again. This man was an interesting character, as was the protagonist's brother, as was an old farmer, yet these characters had few lines and little bearing on the empty plot. One minute of most music videos has more emotion, plot and startling imagery than this entire film.

In painting news, I've had a note from Art Fair Cheshire asking for details of greetings cards and prints (presumably limited edition reproductions; this ambiguity with the word 'print' is an annoyance to many artists, especially printmakers) for the exhibition. This is remarkable because I've not heard prints or cards mentioned at all. I'd have gladly offered some of my limited edition prints for sale. Yet, after over a year of working on this exhibition, they send an email on a bank holiday weekend and ask for these details within 48 hours. In such a short time, all I can offer is greetings cards. I am actually exhibiting some framed prints, and had I know about this would have shown the originals with the option of a print, which is certain to help sales.

I'm keen to get these videos finished and move on to new art and music. Every day I work on one type of art, I neglect another. There is so much I can do. I want to write symphonies and piano concertos, and practice piano more, paint new, larger paintings, my greatest ever, build the second Richard Dadd cabinet and a new sister for it, record new music, release and refurbish more of my old games; yet I must move one tiny, tiny step at a time. I must continue working on this music video, and perhaps others. Eventually I will have time for new art. I must move like a glacier, though I want to fly like a swift.

Full Video Day

A full day working on the Masculinity Two Video. I needed more footage for the choruses and I wasn't happy with the first take of Marius at the computer screen, so the first few hours were spent recording this footage. A lot of time is spent getting every aspect correct; the lighting, the costumes etc. The lighting, framing and camera focus are difficult when filming along. This scene took three full takes, and after reviewing, another two.

Lighting is especially complex because even slight changes can mean the difference between darkness or far too bright. Everything must be perfectly set. This is one aspect of filming I rather enjoy, the cinematography, perhaps this is the painter in me.

In the afternoon, the editing and converting. Frame by frame, note by note. I decided to have swiping transitions, sliding one scene over another, which involves a lot of maths in AviSynth, exact frame numbers etc. It's time consuming but not difficult beyond that. After a full day of this, the final video is perfectly timed, but, looking at the final result, it is less slick in parts as a result. The music is so rhythmic (thanks to my special mock-human drums, this music is not digitally regular) that sharp changes in the images seem to work best. The music itself has lots of contrast between loud and silent too, again intentionally, so the images must mirror this.

Here is a scene from the start. I wanted a flickery line effect and did this simply by using white noise, and expanding it from a mere 20 pixels or so to fill the screen width, creating darting bands of light and dark like a dancing barcode.

This video will take several more days. After five days work, I feel that I'm only halfway though, and lots of new footage is still needed. This is my last important creative hurdle though. After this is complete, I'll celebrate, schedule the single release, and get back to the album as a whole.

More Masculinity

More work on Masculinity Two today, lots of hard editing, and a new video recording of a ringmaster, to go with yesterday's recording of Marius at a computer screen. Both will need better retakes, and I probably won't use the ringmaster at all. Most of today was frame by frame effects; slides, lights, flickers. Very time consuming to experiment with what works best and the exact look and feel of the timing. Experimental animation is the most time consuming artform in the world. Progress is very slow, but steady.

I'm aching to do some more, new artwork on new, relevant and exciting projects and themes. I'm bursting with ideas and energy, but tied to this, tied to Marius for weeks or months. I toyed with scheduling the single release now, but it's best to complete the video first.

Onward on this slow track we push. On to the new pastures of art. On, as fast as I can, with as much power and mastery as I can. Onward to glory.

Masculinity Two

Another long sleep after a very busy day yesterday. I've completed a high quality render of the Fly in Amber video and scheduled this on the Mark Sheeky Music Channel for a Thursday night premiere. I spent a long time wondering what days and times might be best for video premieres; so now, painting talks will go live on Wednesdays at 8pm, art videos (usually ArtSwarm videos) will go live on Mondays at 8pm. ArtSwarm episodes, as ever, will go live on Fridays at 8pm, with the Premiere option, and now music videos will Premiere at 8pm on Thursdays, starting on this Thursday, August 22nd with the new A.I. video.

After that, some initial Masculinity Two filming and conversion, which was time consuming but necessary. This video is complex, and I decided that a look like the artwork would be nice, so I will try to match this look in live video. In the afternoon, shopping for a secret graphic project and in the evening, making the sculpture for this.

Have been working on a first draft of the Masculinity Two video today. This is so difficult, but my plan is to assemble lots of test images and make a full length video in draft quality, then modify and modify; sculpting it like a painting from rough to smooth.

I'm full of art ideas and the desire to create, although I know that my work is ignored and of interest only to me. I must remain stoic and faithful, aiming to produce the best I can while I am alive. I am Merlin, clinging to a staff on top of a mountain in a storm. I must proceed from Lear to Prospero, and in doing, so I understand Shakespeare.

The end of Dreams

A excited night, considering the new Masculinity Two video at 3am, working out possible strategies and scenes. After then sleeping I dreamed of art critic Andrew Graham Dixon, who sat and watched me paint an enormous canvas from a distance (it must have been about 3M by 2M). He called me 'that annoying artist' or something very similar, but liked my work and asked me to visit him at his Nantwich gallery the in the next week, which I considered a good thing. His gallery, which I walked past in the dream, was a posh high-street building with gold lettering, perhaps inspired by Clive Christian's shop there.

So, I woke late to a quieter morning. I recorded a piano tune which I played yesterday at 7am or so. It's a quiet piece in a reflective, Erik Satie sort of style which will form the soundtrack to my video for the next Children's Games ArtSwarm. I thought that I could put the music to a very slow video of children playing, and today made this too.

In the afternoon I recorded two more scenes for the Fly in Amber video, removing a few more too. This video has been my most time consuming so far. The quick (30 mins!) Children's Games one reminded me that I can make some simple videos. I had an idea for a video for the Let's Take a Walk in the Desert song from Tree of Keys. All I need is sand and a skull!

Onward I must push.

I've had the first invites to Art Fair Cheshire, in Macclesfield Town Hall, 26th September to 3rd October. This will be the closest thing I'll have this year to a solo exhibition. I'm disappointed that they didn't invite me to perform, when I made the offer and the suggestion of performances in the first place. However, performance is extra work, and this gives me time to meander and talk to other guests at the private view. My pianistic skills can wait for a better, and perhaps better paid, occasion.

I've also recorded a short poem to video for the FOLD collective this week. I've no idea when or if or how this will be used.

Filming Continues

A busy few days, focused with determination on filming, this difficult task. At times I've despised every moment of this time consuming and frustrating form of art, but it is a new country to explore, and I'm starting to appreciate the challenges and creative opportunities of filmmaking. These music videos, especially with music without words, are like visual poems. There is an element of mood, the music really affects the mood of the scene, but there is a lot of freedom too. It's often difficult to impose drama in the film if there is none in the music. The emotions must follow the music.

For the Time, Falling video I had a key scene of the bear falling at the dramatic peak of the music, the rest merely building to it. This was quite simple, but this Fly in Amber video is more complex because the music is two, almost identical, repeating sections. Initially I had some toys and puppets filmed in darkness, a king and queen character, myself playing the piano in daylight, and some scenes with Deborah. It felt a bit like a mish-mash and over complicated so I simplified to dividing scenes into day and night, with the real characters mostly in the day, and the toys mostly at night, but there needed to be some sort of journey or aspects of memory which are difficult to convey in characters that can barely move.

The most affecting scenes were the ones with main characters, with my hand acting as sort of god, placing characters which might move a little. This worked well but the plot needed to be worked and reworked to fit these. I've filmed and refilmed everything at least four times, including playing the full piece at a keyboard, which didn't work well enough to use. The video still isn't finished but I can see an end in sight.

I am learning new technical aspects with each film. This time I've made an adapter to fit the spotlights on tripods, essential for lighting. I've also extended their power cord to 5M and added a power switch.

I've also learned a new fade up technique, fading to white by boosting exposure. This was directly inspired by a similar effect in Three Colours: Blue which I watched last night and had a similar fade. Most digital fades to white look weak and pasty, like a white fog gently appearing, rather than the flash of glory I wanted.

Two full days of filming. More to do today. I need to film some playing cards. This is my first film that uses some computer graphics, a falling playing card. This is the first CGI I've used in years. An easy job with a rotating, moving plane. I can't match the shadows of the environment very easily, so the results look a bit fake, but not so bad. Even Avengers: Infinity War, which I watched yesterday, looked very fake in almost every shot. It had the emotion of a digital animation, rather than a real film with real actors, and yet this was still perhaps the most emotional of all of these Marvel spectacles.

Fly in Amber Filming

A good day of filming, many planned scenes from the Fly in Amber video filmed, but the video as a whole has a lot of problems. There are three narratives; myself playing piano, a toy king and a toy princess ('the pencil king'), and Deb and I playing parts which mirror the toys.

Each part has a different and disjointed thread. Each is filmed differently, so the colour and tone balancing is different, which makes the results look bit a disjointed. Also, I can't move the toys to make them act but I really need to tell some sort of story with them. Normally I'd locate a dramatic point and build to it, but with music this isn't always easy, there are two in the music itself.

I must keep working at it. Identify problems, and try solutions. Act more, think, act, think.

I've spent the evening watching Avengers: Age of Ultron. I noted the special effects overtly, made me think how easy they were, albeit time consuming (perhaps in the realm of decades). These Marvel films are the most popular artform on the planet at the moment yet the narrative is effectively from the 1950s and 1960s. Anything they say about the current era is coincidental and mainly due to the fact that the films are set now, rather than conceived as 21st century dramas. They are post-world-war-two escapism and nothing deeper.

Work

Awoke filled with sadness at the death of my painting. I feel I haven't painted anything serious or seriously in years because I have nowhere to show my work. The lack of selling isn't as debilitating as the lack of people to see it, but, I fill my time fully and as best as I can.

Sad now that my head is full of a beautiful symphony in the Beethoven or Haydn style that starts with a single note then expands into falling scales which are fugued and end in joyous majors, like the start of Beethoven's 7th, the most joyous of music. Yet nobody will hear this and I am unable to do anything about it but make a few notes, as I can, which I've just played on the piano. The music that fills my head, the entire symphony is so wonderful. How sad I am not to be able to share it or do anything about it. I feel trapped by the mediocre work I must drudge through when even this is for no reward.

Music filming set for today. If I am to release this Marius Fate music, it must be done but I wish it were over already. Filming takes an interminable time and the results seem so poor, and it's an artform I don't care for at all due to its sheer forgettability, it ages so quickly due to technological factors. It is, however, an outlet and possible for people to see.

Ate badly yesterday after a day of stomach pain and awoke in pain again, but less so than yesterday. On I must trudge, focus and do my steady best today.

The important thing is to focus on quality. I can paint or make music at any future time. So much to do, so little time. Time will always be limited so the key thing is to keep working at an efficient pace and with care.

Filming

Lots of filming down today, a day of frenetic energy and times of total tiredness between. The period between 11am and 12pm was particularly intense, setting up the camera, sound equipment, props and costumes for playing the mock-piano outside in the garden. The results were passable. I did a sensor clean on my old Canon camera yesterday too, which helped a lot. One key thing I did was take a wide aperture ISO100 exposure of a white surface first to note the dust pattern, and so check if the dust was gone. A simple blower was all that was needed to clean.

Anyway filming wasn't easy but I had enough time and space to grab to film a few short segments of playing.

In the afternoon, I recorded several scenes from the toy drama. I'm already faster at this stuff than when I made the House of Glass video last year, a video I might revisit for its Marius Fate relaunch. I need a few skills to make this puppetry more interesting. Stop motion animation holds little appeal, I simply can't afford the time. Often it seems that the harder I work, the less I get. As an artist I hardly make any money anyway, so if I make things for the quality of the art, then making good work and the most I can of it must get priority. This is the golden age of my life, I must make as much as I can.

I need reliable ways of making still and scenes move smoothly and be attractive with my limited equipment and resources.

Dreams of a Fly in Amber

Spent yesterday prop making and editing the first videos for the Dreams of a Fly in Amber music video. I hope that this will take less time than China Syndrome. Part of the film will include vignettes from various toys and models, here is a prospective still.

At times all of this work seems in vain given the low view of my of video work to date, yet a video is better than no video. Ideally I need one for each piece of music, or at least per album, and they are one of the few types of promotion I can do alone.

Also yesterday I completed the Love is Dead artwork, framing the paintings and decorating the frame. I also assembled the videos for ArtSwarm, edited the title sequence and script etcetera. Filming is on Tuesday.

I'm sleeping for 10 or 12 hours each night now and feel tired most of the time, but still working at a good pace. An artist's work never ends, it is a life commitment and everything is given to it.

Today, more filming. I must push myself.

Rattenfanger and Love is Dead

A busy few days working on the illustrations for Deborah Edgeley's new book, Wilkommen Zum Rattenfänger Theater. These are now largely complete. The scanning and filing process takes up at least as much time as the drawing.

Yesterday, more work on my refurbishment of Love is Dead, a small sculptural piece with paintings. I fixed up some damage to the thorns with Paraloid B72, then etched the surface to add more fine detail before repainting and retouching. The frame is now largely complete, just waiting for the paintings to be inserted. I'm not perfectly happy with the central portrait, but it will do for now. There comes a time when an artwork should be called finished.

I'm now keen to move on and complete my music videos, particularly the Marius Fate videos so that I can release this music.

Poetry and Ink

A busy few days. First, a good night at the Peterloo Poems by Manchester People on Tuesday night, at Manchester Central Library, sponsored by The Portico Library, with the ceremony mastered and organised by Paul Morris. Deborah and I were scheduled near the end which made the event more difficult to enjoy, my concentration before my performance was focused on my lines and act, but there was a mix of poems from the 18 poets; many political, a monologue, two which involved singing and one with a bit of audience participation. Members of the audience were invited to read at the end and these were on equal terms to the scheduled performers. Here's a photo of my Rusty Saxon piece courtesy of the Poetic Prince, Anthony Parker.

Deborah read and sang Janus Never Blinks.

In the day I finally completed the China Syndrome video, and yesterday uploaded and scheduled this for YouTube. It will premiere on September 7th. Then I started ink illustrations for Deborah's forthcoming poetry collection. This will take a few days.

This Rust is Saxon Blood

Productive day yesterday, putting together a script for an absurdist theatrical piece for a poetry event on Tuesday at Manchester Central Library. My piece, This Rust is Saxon Blood, is about the foundation of the North/South divide during the Norman conquest. Have been rehearsing and memorising the words, which is often a matter of recalling the links between the end of a sentence, or the end of a verse, and the first word of the next. Imagery is also important. For this I've also designed a costume and a prop friend, Guillaume, made from sack cloth.

After that, made a short video for the next ArtSwarm programme on the theme of gardening, piano variations on the theme of English Country Garden, with a hastily filmed video.

Then, booked the tickets and paid for my entry into this year's ING Discerning Eye exhibition, which is an excellent art exhibition of smaller works. What is nice about this event is that there are six different judges each year and all work is judged in person, rather than by photo.

Today, collection of work from Bickerton. Later this week, creating new illustrations for Deborah Edgeley's new poetry collection.

More Video Work

The new month continues and I'm keen to get as many videos complete soon, not taking up too much time. Have re-filmed segments of the new China Syndrome video three or four times, each different and now have broadly completed a video. I must avoid worrying about perfectionism for this old piece of music, there is only so good it could be given my time constraints.

The same is true about the Marius Fate music and videos. I hope to have three videos done as soon as possible; China Syndrome from Stupid Computer Music, Dreams of a Fly in Amber from Music of Poetic Objects, and Masculinity Two from The Modern Game. Always more to do.

The opening at the Williamson Art Gallery for the Wirral Society of Arts was excellent, really high quality work. I spoke to one or two people. The venue was outstandingly hot on a below average summer day of 22 degrees. The building really needs air conditioning, for the sake of the artwork if nothing else.

In the night, thoughts about gravity fill my mind. Massive objects radiate gravity, theoretically in all directions equally and homogeneously, which obviously can't be the case in real life. I imagine that quantum effects restrict the flow of this information only to areas where it is used. Gravity that is never acted upon is simply never emitted (I must work out how this could be tested, by testing itself you break the rule). This factor could eliminate infinities and lower or change the amount of energy emitted by a massive object; perhaps this could be the test.

Does gravitational radiation contain energy, or merely information? Transmission of information would seem to require some form of energy, and is generally prone to the possibility of error (nothing is perfect, and I suspect that errors in information transmission are of fundamental importance in all things). A planet moving towards another due to gravity does not require energy of momentum, according to general relativity, it is merely moving more slowly through time, and so is simply moving as always, simply deflected by something like a perfect mirror. Thus, gravity is information contained in space which radiates from massive objects. Do neutron stars and other stars lose mass purely due to gravitational radiation? I recall reading so, but can't locate this quickly. If a single proton emits gravity, it must also radiate and decay by this method, but this seems somehow unlikely, counterintuitive. A single proton radiative gravity in all directions is predicted.

China Syndrome

Manically busy day making a new video for China Syndrome. First, I did my regular computer backups, as it's the first of August, then updated Prometheus to fix a bug in the exact sample calculation of certain timing events. Details unimportant but song events that might manipulate the tempo need to be processed to calculate timing, I have a feature that can calculate the exact output sample of a particular part in the song, if, for example, I wanted to do very specific edit or something. Anyway, these calculations are much more complex than they appear, as most songs vary in tempo.

After that I exported a list of frame numbers for major sections of a new edit of China Syndrome, then exported a list of frame number for the main lead notes. Then I made up some 320x320 pixel images and processed each one by hand, making them fade to darkness over 11 images, saving these out as still images that can be animated. Then I animated these in AviSynth, each in time with the notes in the song. This took until lunch; a record tome as this took me a couple of days the first time I used this technique.

In the afternoon I knew I had to film sections. First I made a small recording of the chorus of an electronic tunnel zoom effect; I'll superimpose myself over this at some point, then set up various rooms to record different verse scenes, and changed outfits three times and filmed each scene, with the music playing for later synchronisation.

The final scene involved playing two synths.

After all of the filming and conversion, I decided that the chorus that leads up the finale was too long and, perhaps stupidly, re-edited the music! This made everything out of time, and also means that I don't have enough filmed material to fit into the song, so more is needed.

The whole process has taken 12 hours, more or less without breaks. If I had thought about the music first, I could have been more efficient. As it stands, I might have to move lots of furniture and wall hangings again (as each scene needed) and re-film some parts. One take was out of focus too. There are many downsides to filming and acting alone; these can be overcome with quick tests, makers to know where to stand, autofocus etc., but the chance of being out of focus or not in the middle of the shot is much higher. It's amazing how much I can achieve alone. These words would probably make a suitable epitaph (of course, nobody would read it!).

I expect this will take another day or two to complete. Tomorrow, I'm off to the Williamson Art Gallery, which is hopefully not flooded, to attend the opening of the Wirral Society of Arts exhibition.