Next project - Motion control rig

So here is the next big thing I am working on with Felix's Machines. It is called the Gantry robot and is a motion control rig I have access to. Very exciting times!

Commission - Music video

So here it is. My first proper commission to direct a music video for a successful Dubstep producer called Pinch.

Everything I have directed up until now has been off my own back (funded by my camera work). So this came as a welcome challenge.

After a few meetings with Rob (Pinch) I asked him lots of questions as to what he liked, was inspired by and what he was hoping to achieve etc etc. and all this combined with the serious budget restraint, I came up with a plan.

We kept the concept super simple and concentrated on making less look like more with our lighting techniques. Shot in two half days. This is the result.

http://www.youtube.com/tommansfield#p/a/u/0/42rJdkh4BY8

Another film - Filthy Pleasures

From the contacts i made doing the 'Gully Side' film, I got a call asking if I could help out some guys with the filming of a night club scene just round the corner at a club called Lakota.

At first I was thinking maybe not as there was no money in it and I would probably never see the footage I was helping to film (which I haven't).

But then I remembered I had been thinking of this funny idea for a short film, and to shoot it out side Lakota would be a perfect location!

So I called back the guys and made a proposal of a trade swap. I'll help them, if they help me.
They accepted my offer and we made this funny little film.

See it here:

http://www.youtube.com/tommansfield#p/a/u/1/J6QDlJJj5cI

I played it down at the Cube (local mini cinema) the other week, and got a great response, which was a rewarding experience.

A random film collaboration

So it was an absolutely beautiful sunny day, and Tom S had just come round. We were both at a loose end and thought we should take advantage of the amazing light and film something with my jib and his camera.

Then, as popping down to the shop for some milk, we bumped into another neighbor who had some ideas, and after a few phone calls, said we should meet him in the local park in about half an hour.

So we packed the gear to the car and made our way to the park. When we got there we met some people who said we should go to another park and set up for a little acapella rap in the center of St Pauls! We thought this was all a bit ghetto, but what the hell, its all for the comunity, they'll love it.

So we went and set up.

This was the result. Gully Side:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tomswindell#p/u/8/GMHy97bXTeo

Apparently the rapper 'Bugsy Number one' was supposed to be pretty good, but he only gave us one rap (which you can see in the link above) then left!

So all in all, we could have done it a bit better filming wise, but it was an interesting random film collaboration.

Another BBC shoot

The producers from 'The Restaurant' called me back for another shoot. This time down in Devon shooting a big period house.

Unfortunately as I arrived to set up, it started to rain, and did not let up for pretty much eight hours solid! A wet days shoot slowed down progress a lot, but we still managed to get some decent shots, with the help of some creative rain protection rigging.

Other jib jobs

So as the summer passed I did quite a few other jib jobs for various short films and corporate promotional videos.

Have a look at some of them here, or you can look at more jobs and photos here:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tommansfieldmedia








A grand designs style shoot, rising up from behind a flowering rhodidendrum bush to reveal a grand period building.










A shoot for a period drama, involving grand old buildings, horses, a period costumes.












A South west screen funded film involving a river, a boat and period costumes.
Shot on: EX3, Pro 35mm, zeiss super speed primes
Film: Undertow









A corporate job for Modern world recording studios shoot. Jibbing over very expensive sound equipment in a tight confined space with no problems.










A shoot of a mono-log play for local production company.

Jib for BBC

I got a call from the BBC after my friend recommended me, asking if I could do a shoot from them for a TV series called The Restaurant, airng at prime time on BBC2!

It was great! I had my own assistant and a 40 grand HD camera on the end of my crane.

The shoot went well, with no hitches.

Aardman Jib shoot

So I got a call from my editor friend asking if I could help him with some 'Grand Designs' style shots for an documentary Aardman were making about the making of their new building in Bristol.

New Jib - New film

So now I had completed my new jib, it was time to give it a proper test. This was around spring time and I had noticed how beautiful the bluebells were looking, and knew they grew in the woods, so I went looking for a location, and found a beauty!

Then, later that day, I was introduced to Ed in a local pub, when I said to some friends that I wanted to test out my new camera crane, (Jib) and I had a location in mind.

After juggling between our availability's and the weather, we decided to just go for it before the bluebells disappeared altogether.

This was the result:


http://www.youtube.com/tommansfield#p/u/2/hy364P7bIXY

Another global You Tube Feature!

Yes! Another global You Tube feature!

We got well over 260.000 views in one week!

See it here:

http://www.youtube.com/tomswindell#p/u/8/m_Ajg1G3vik

thanks You Tube!

My third film - Felix's Machines

I discovered Felix's Machines on You Tube some time around Christmas last year. His machines were amazing, but I thought the way in which he had captured them didn't do justice to what they deserve.

I strait away got visions of filming his machines in a similar style to my typewriter film, so I got in contact with Felix, showed him my previous work, and a collaboration was born, the result was this:


http://www.youtube.com/tommansfield#p/u/4/GqRPtxdBMqo

Winning a film comp

Around the the end of the summer I found out about a film competition where the challenge was to make a film about skateboarding in forty hours from begging to end, in a group of three.

This looked like loads of fun, and as I have a background in skateboarding, I called up some friends and the challenge was on.

This is what we made:

http://www.youtube.com/tommansfield#p/u/3/mTVYRHYUQdk

This was a collaboration with Louis Gane and Matt (Boyo) Williams for a competition where we had forty hours to make a skate video from beginning to end.

I had a lot of fun making it, and it turned out nicely because we won first place! Despite running out of light to film the finishing sequence.

"Team Kez took the Jib-Vid crown, as well as the Best Editing and Most Creative awards, with this entry starring Boyo sleep-skating his way through Bristol."

Whole new jib

As it was getting to the end of the year, the weather was getting colder, nights longer, and I was generally getting less work, i decided it was time to go back to the work shop and make a whole new jib.

I wanted to have a jib that could easily take any camera and was really sturdy. So I started developing, designing and researching how I was going to do this.

I looked at the Jimmy Jib triangle and Cam mate for inspiration, then found a manufacture who could supply the materials, and professionals to weld it all together.

It took a few months, and a lot more time and effort than I will go into here, but the final result was a brilliant jib, very strong, light and versatile!

New hot head (pan & tilt system)

So as I started to do more jib and tracking jobs, I decided it was time to up grade my equipment as my current jib could only take small cameras like a Sony Z1.

I did some research and found a heavy duty hot head (pan and tilt system) that could take any camera. So I invested in the Camera Turret PT24.

When it arrived. I modified it to fit onto my jib arm and tested it out on a short community production. It was great!

You can see shots of it in action here:

http://www.youtube.com/tommansfield#p/a/f/1/rfkO97PcpgU

Note: look at about 8 mins in to see some of the best shots.

Another You Tube feature

This film came about totally by accident. Me and Tom S were checking out a location to do some filming of an art exhibition in a recently re-inhabited building, when Tom got a random call from some poets he had met a few months ago. They were in the area and were just wondering what Tom was up to.
I had just set up my track and dolly between the two pillars to test out some shots, when the two poets turned up.
We thought we should take advantage of the situation, so got we got David (Dai Brezzey) to stand in and say his poem.

The result was this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZSUKFYX0FM

To our surprise, as soon as Tom s uploaded it to his You Tube page, it got featured on the UK front page of You Tube, and got well over 30.000 views in a week, which we thought was great, but then it got featured AGAIN! This time on the global You Tube front page! It got over 100.000 views in a day!

My first film review

A little while later I discovered this review about my film. Apparently a You Tube favorite!

reads as follows:

Life Cycle

22 August 2008 82 views No Comment

Tom Mansfield’s “Life Cycle” tells the unique story of a postman whose ambitious outlook on life leads him to his true calling. As we watch this man’s world unfold, we are given a deeper and more in depth look at his daily life. By the end of his journey, there’s almost nothing stopping him from chasing his lifelong goal.

The movie starts out with a very creative shot. The camera is positioned such that it follows the tires of a bike as it makes its way down the street. After several seconds pass, we see this bike belongs to the local mailman who is making his way around the neighborhood. He proceeds to stop at several houses to deliver their mail. The production crew makes good use of materials by showing their introductory credits on the mail parcels themselves.

As the mailman makes his way down the hill, his path is interrupted by what appears to be a professional mountain biker. In an attempt to avoid a collision, the biker swerves suddenly, and as a result, drops a personal belonging of which we could not distinguish. As the man speeds down the hill, the postman approaches the item and carefully picks it up. Assumingly, he is going to return the belonging to its owner. Consequently, the postman places the item in his mailbag and continues down the hill in the direction of the mountain biker. Stylistically, the filmmakers decided to keep the camera static until he has disappeared out of frame.

The plot continues, however we have transitioned from a street in the rural neighborhood to a trail in the woods. We see the mountain biker look behind and spot the mailman not far behind. Thinking he’s being followed, he cautiously shifts into higher gear and increases his speed. The mailman, unable to keep up, begins to stumble on his bicycle. As he starts to decline down a rugged dirt hill, his tires loose traction and he begins to swerve. However, he is able to maintain his direction and balance throughout this ordeal. Suddenly, we see a smile emerge from the mailman’s face. To us, it appears as if he is getting enjoyment out of the situation. In the next shot, we see the postman drop his bag full of mail onto the ground. Symbolically, this acts as the transition into the mailman’s future. But what specifically does the future hold for him? You’ll have to watch the video and find out for yourself!

Personal Review
This video was very enjoyable from the moment it started. I was immediately drawn by the creative use of titles to introduce the movie and production staff. Needless to say, the brilliance behind this film didn’t stop there! Throughout the entire movie you’ll discover a mix of excellent sound production, cinematography, and overall presentation.

What I truly like about this film is that the plot plays on the idea of one man and his dream to become a professional mountain biker. When fate brings him in contact with another such biker, he instinctively takes the opportunity to follow him. As a result, he is able to leave his old life and find his true calling. Fortunately, for our postman, it looks as if there will be a happy ending to this short film!

This story is very inspiring, and will hopefully show you that no matter how hard you search, the answers to your destiny may fall right before your eyes. This film is excellent and will most certainly be listed on our top picks for movie reviews!

Thanks You Tube!

My second film - Featured on You Tube

So I had made the equipment, and had another enthusiastic film maker living on my street. I thought it was about time I made another film. after all that's MY MAIN PASSION: film making. I only made the camera supports to facilitate the process.

So I developed what I thought would make a nice little film. A film that would be exciting, use innovative camera angles, and was about something relevent to my life. the result was this:


When a postman defers from his usual well beaten postal route, he discovers a path that will lead him to his true calling in life.

See it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7i0aylmCHQ


It got featured on the front page of You Tube! (Link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qts7xupn438&feature=player_profilepage

Meeting Tom Swindell

I should mention that at some point during this time I met another keen film maker called Tom Swindell.

http://www.tomswindell.co.uk/

He was living on the same street as me, I was introduced to him through my next door neighbour, and after showing each other our work, we decided to make films together.

First of all I helped him with a few shots for a community documentary he was making about Bristol graffiti.

See it here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tomswindell#p/u/20/ijIUO9VM-X4

I remember how excited he was about the jib and what potential it had. This was the first of many more collaborations.

First Jib + Track and dolly

So I made the jib and track and dolly, and I'm pleased to say they were a complete success!

I started using them to increase the production values of my own films, and soon found that other people wanted me to use my gear to film their projects too.

It was great, and I found that I got a real sense of job satisfaction from using my gear to get exciting new cinematic camera angles on what ever I shot.

So I continued doing that for a year or two and made some of the following films:

http://www.youtube.com/tommansfield#p/a/f/2/EZSUKFYX0FM

(Using the track and dolly)

http://www.youtube.com/tommansfield#p/a/f/1/rfkO97PcpgU

(Using the track and dolly and jib)

First post

Ok. Need a blog, so here goes.

First things first. A bit of background.

I am a freelance director and specialist cameraman currently living in Bristol.Uk.

Originally from Norfolk. I come from a big family of artists and designers. I have been using cameras and making films since discovering my granddad's old cine camera as a small child. Since then I have studied art and design for years, always with a fascination towards lens based art forms.
After school I moved to Bristol to study a degree in time based Media production. During that time I did a lot of industry jobs and developed more skills. This is where I discovered much more about professional film making.

Since then I have been putting all my experiences into working as a freelance director and special cameraman.
I have had success, and with that success, I have been re-investing it into making more films, learning more specialist skills, developing equipment such as making special camera rigs, and collaborating with other talented people.

I have quite a back log of news to bring us up to date so I will start off with a brief overview poignant moments since finishing uni and working as a freelancer.

HERE GOES:


I own a jib (camera crane), and various other camera support rigs, like a mini universal tracking system, flat bed track and dolly,suction mounts, body harness. BUT THIS WAS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE.

So. Finished uni, and Made a film which got short listed for DepicT 2005 Encounters film festival. Having my work shown in a big film festival was a great experience and really gave me a taste for what it might be like to be a successful film maker. It definitely put some fuel on the fire for my passion to make more films.

http://www.depict.org/shortlists/146/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktMpk0qihdM



Trying to describe how someone looks at you can be a difficult task, especially if their unique aura makes your heart race! Attempting to describe the indescribable is a challenge. Could you paint that picture with a thousand words? After all, a picture can say a thousand words.


After that I started to make a bit of money making corporate videos, a few weddings, filming plays, live gigs, etc.

Then one day I discovered I had free access to a professional engineering work shop right next to my mums house.

THIS WORKSHOP WAS INSPIRATIONAL! You could literally make anything in there.
I got to thinking, and thought I should make some equipment to raise the production values of my films.

So I moved home for a few months and using my design knowledge (with help from my design engineer brothers) built a track and dolly and jib.

See them here: