Out of the blue a few weeks back I got a tweet from an RTE (Ireland’s national broadcaster) filmmaker, Glen Mulcahy asking me if he could direct message me. He had been looking through the Mobile Photography Awards website and came across this image of mine which won an honourable mention in the annual awards. Seeing my surname, he guessed I must be Irish and he googled my name, found my Twitter account and got on to me. He wondered would I be up for making a short film about my mobile photography. I was really surprised, but I could not let such an opportunity pass me by.
Glen is a pioneer in mobile journalism and gives training courses on how to shoot and edit using mobiles as a news-gathering platform. He has trained over 140 RTE Staff and also delivered training courses around Europe and the Middle East for various TV networks. He told me he wanted to make this short film using only the iPhone and video editing apps (Filmic Pro and iMovie). I was intrigued and excited.
We arranged to do the shoot over two days. Glen and I met in my workplace on the Wednesday evening and after a short get-to-know each other chat, he filmed me as I was teaching (a big thanks to my students for agreeing to be filmed). We were a little anxious about weather conditions for the next day, but thankfully the dreaded rain held off and we were able to get out and shoot around the city centre on the Thursday morning. It was a great experience for me to see a professional filmmaker in action. Glen had a great eye for angles and an overall vision for how scenes could be reconstructed in editing. Escaping a short shower, we took shelter in a nearby cafe and it was fascinating to see how creative and adept he was using only an iPhone and the video editing apps of Filmic Pro and iMovie. I have since downloaded the two apps and have been messing around with them, but I am still in awe at the dexterity, speed and skill that Glen displayed as he cut and edited the short segments we had just filmed near the Nano Nagle bridge that crosses the River Lee near the iconic St. Finbarre’s Cathedral.
We moved on from the cafe to shoot around The English Market and French Church Street where I was lucky to get one or two good shots. I had been anxious that Murphy’s Law would strike when we were out filming and that I would not be able to get anything good when I needed to.
During the time we spent together we had some very interesting conversations about photography, art, advances in technology, travel, and life in general. We had arranged that once we had completed filming in the city centre that we would head to my house to film the interview part. In conversation about photography and how I feel about it, Glen had said to me a few times – “that’s what we need to get on the interview – you need to talk about that.” However, when the camera was on me and it came for me to actually talk about myself and my photography, I became a little tongue-tied. Only natural, I guess. It was the first time for me in front of the camera. However, seeing the end result I don’t sound too bad. And all in all, I am very pleased with the film. It is a film shot and edited by a professional using only the iPhone. It is exciting to have been part of Glen’s pioneering work.
You can watch the video below and there is background to the film here. Hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about me, about Cork, about my iPhone photography. I am very grateful to Glen for showcasing my work. You can follow Glen on Twitter here.