published by Marcus Moonen on Sat, 13/10/2012 - 14:13
Update Time goes by so fast, when you´re busy! I can´t believe that it´s already been so long since the last update. There´s lots of news so let me just jump right in!
Black Devil Disco Club During the summer I got in contact with French electro legend Black Devil Disco Club's, Bernard Fevre. His remix album Magnetic Circus was coming out and he was looking to have videos made for the tracks, after some deliberation we agreed that I would do the video for "Magnetic Devil", a fantastic melancholy psychedelic track that sounds a bit like one of my favorite bands Boards of Canada.
Because of a strange coincidence, my original idea for the video had to be scrapped. Another filmmaker was working on a video for another track off the same album and had come up with much the same elements in his video. It was late summer before I was ready to shoot the first footage for the video. I had a beautiful actress to work with and we were very lucky to shoot on one of the last sunny days of the summer.
I did a rough edit on the video, but I felt that there was something lacking. I was not yet satisfied with the mood of the footage, I decided that the video needs a bit of a rough edge, something to make it a bit more dark. The track has this very subtle mix of sweet melancholy and something that is darker and more intense, so I wanted to reflect that in the images. In early October we shot additional footage and currently I am working on a new edit. I feel that there is just one more element missing and I'm hoping I'll be able to incorporate this and finish the video soon. Here's a screencap from the October shoot:
Distel Earlier this year I shot a promo for my friend Distel. We were both very happy with the result and decided that we would shoot a full length video for the track "hxxx" off his upcoming album. Because of the mood of the track we decided that we wanted to film the video in an abandoned building, preferably in a ruin. After some searching we found a hotel that had been abandoned since the 1970's. It stands in the middle of a forest, alone, no roads leading up to it. We spent a day filming there, risking our lives under collapsing ceilings, treacherously unstable floors and lots of debris, broken glass. I'm still working on the edit, after the video is cut, it will need quite a bit of work with regard to coloring and effects, but I'm very excited about this one. It is going to be one crazy video! Some photos of the location and a preliminary screenshot:
Heroes For Ghosts - Behind The Scenes I finally got ' round to editing and uploading the behind the scenes video for The Gathering's Heroes For Ghosts. It brought back great memories of the fun times we had shooting in Norway! The Gathering have a new album out called "Disclosure". If you haven't heard it yet, pick it up fast, because it's great! Here's the announcement and the two videos:
Upcoming Videos At the moment I'm talking to The Gathering about doing another video to promote the new album, so that is something that might happen before the end of the year, depending on scheduling and budget. I really hope we'll be able to make it happen, because the album deserves a push! Also I'm still talking to my friend Robert Rodèlle about doing a video and I'm pretty sure that before long this will happen. I love his music and I think my images would fit perfectly. With a bit of luck and persistence, we'll be able to start filming before the end of the year.
Portfolio As you may or may not know, I´m also a musician and photographer, and this summer has been quite productive on all fronts. So I decided that it would be a good idea to create a comprehensive online portfolio behind a very simple url: http://marcusonline.info. Here are two photos I took this summer and a track off my album The Oxytocin Party (free torrent download):
published by Marcus Moonen on Sun, 12/02/2012 - 17:27
Update Don't you just long for summer, when it's this cold? =)
It's been some time since I've updated the blog, that's because I've been very busy over the last months. In my regular life, I have a job and in October, that job changed. I now have to travel up to 4 hours every day back and forth from work. It's a fun job, but the traveltime kills me (and much of the things I plan to do).
I haven't yet found a good solution for mobile blogging to Drupal, so as long as that's not possible, the updates to the site will be sporadic, probably... However... That does not been that I haven't been filming. No sir. Let me tell you what's going on.
The Space Between In my last post I talk about the auditions for our new short film The Space Between. Well, after a few more rounds of auditions we've finally managed to cast all the actors for the film. We needed three male and two female actors, preferably from various countries, to make it an international cast. Well, we succeeded in that! We have actors from Ireland, the United States, the Netherlands and Brazil.
Up first is a last overhaul of the script, writing the shooting script and then rehearsals can start. I hope we'll be able to start rehearsals in March and I would love to start photography in May at the latest. Not that there's really a rush, but I'm excited to get started on this. I'll keep you posted!
Distel Promo My friend Distel asked me to shoot a promo for his upcoming Ultra performance. I loved his idea for the promo, so one Sunday afternoon we set up in my bathroom and started shooting. Strobe lights, a TV set to white noise and a part of the stagedesign used by my old band IndusTree were all packed into the tiny bathroom. Have a look at the result here:
Zeno & Rodèlle Zeno van den Broek, a soundsculptor and visual artist, for whom I've previously filmed one of his performances, has asked me to help him with a new art project, where he will present his paintings. He's asked me to film the paintings and make it an almost tangible experience. I was excited at the concept, so I told him I'd do it. Unfortunately real life got in the way a bit and we haven't yet had time to discuss details, but I'm hoping that we will soon be able to make some plans.
In the last couple of months I have been talking to another artist and sometime collaborator of Zeno's, Robert Rodèlle. Robert and I have been discussing doing a musicvideo for one of his tracks for quite some time now, but unfortunately we haven't yet had the chance. I consulted on his latest musicvideo (see below) and since we've been talking about what we want to do for his next video.
There's an idea floating around to push the boundaries of decency as we might let ourselves be inspired by one of Marquis de Sade's lesser known works. I'm really excited about the prospect of working with Robert on this. Hopefully we'll be able to find time this summer. Have a look at Robert's latest musicvideo:
Last thoughts I've been talking to my friend Marko Martens about entering a film into a national filmcompetition, mainly because I want to work with him on a project. We're not there yet, but I'll keep bugging him.
My friends from Hong Kong, Robot Entourage, are working on a Zombie film, for which they've asked me to do the soundtrack. I've asked my friend Distel to help out and one of the tracks is close to completion. I'm still waiting to see the footage (and frankly to find some time) to start on the rest of the soundtrack. I've seen stills and from what I can tell it'll look amazing. I'll see if I can show you a still sometime soon.
Last night I submitted two videos to the Vimeo Awards competition. Unfortunately I couldn't submit Heroes for Ghosts, because it was too long. I did enter these though: in the category "experimental" I entered my sci-fi short 9 and in the category "music video" I entered Distel - onde, the promo I shot which you can see above. So fingers crossed and wish me luck! =)
Well, that's it for now. I still plan to do a series of articles on the shooting of the Heroes for Ghosts musicvideo, so watch out for that. Now I'm off to enjoy my Sundayevening!
published by Marcus Moonen on Tue, 20/09/2011 - 08:00
Castingsession today! This afternoon we will be holding the first castingsession for The Space Between, our new short film in our fantastic location Absolute Zero. It's been (and still is) a bit hectic, to get everything ready for the actors to come in and show us what they got, since both Andrew and I have the toils of daily life to contend with as well. But we'll be ready!
Candidates We've been asking people to register themselves as candidates for the film through our "The Space Between Facebook Page" and we've been talking to people we meet at work, in clubs, on the streets! As it stands, we're looking forward to quite a turnout for our two planned castingsessions. I've met a few of the candidates and all of them were lovely, making me a bit sad that we only have 5 parts to fill for the film. Maybe talk to Andrew about writing in a few more characters! ;)
---Information for candidates--- As you might already know, we've planned two castingsessions on the 20th and 22nd of september. We would love to know if you're gonna come, but you can also surprise us by just dropping by. We're looking for 3 male and 2 female actors. All the dialogue in the film will be in English. We are looking for an international cast, so any nationality is welcome. You will however have to speak... English! :) During the castingsession the director and screenwriter will ask you a couple of questions to get a feel for who you are and you will be asked to play a short scene in front of a camera with another actor or actress. The film is being shot on professional equipment, however it's low to no-budget, so this is something you would do for the experience and the exposure. We plan to submit the film to many filmfestivals and competitions.
If you feel like this is the opportunity you've been waiting for please let us know by responding to one of the events on Facebook (link below)! If you have any questions, contact us through our Facebook Page. More information about the film and schedules will be available at the casting sessions.
published by Marcus Moonen on Wed, 15/06/2011 - 04:43
Less than 24 hours to go... Before the video goes live!
I'm done, I've finished, I've completed it, it's a wrap! The video for the new The Gathering track Heroes For Ghosts will be released tomorrownight Wednesday 15 June at 23:58 CET on The Gathering's Youtube Channel. I hope you will check it out and let us know what you think of the video!
Keep an eye on this website, because in a few days, I'll post a story about the "making of" of this video and tell you what crazy adventures we went through to get all the shots! I'll also talk about what equipment I used, why it is sometimes better to shoot from the hand than from a stabilizer and how it feels to risk your camera hanging over the bow of a speedboat at 40 knots! ;)
Update: Above post stated that the video will be released on the 16th of June. This should of course be the 15th of June!
published by Marcus Moonen on Wed, 25/05/2011 - 06:43
Since I got back from filming the music video for The Gathering's new track Heroes For Ghosts (free download!), I've been working almost non-stop on thinking about, structuring, designing and editing the video... And I've loved every second of it! Not only because I love what I do -make films-, but also because I LOVE the track! It's hypnotic, it's got drive, it's ecstatic and it's beautiful. And I think the video will do it justice.
Editing can be a very lonely job and you have to be careful not to become too myopic. There´s a risk you run that you won´t be able to look at the work objectively anymore, after a while. I was very lucky to be able to discuss my work with two kick-ass filmmakers, one in Hollywood, the other in Hong Kong. Their feedback and perspective were invaluable, so thank you Joe and thank you John for taking the time to watch an early version and giving me feedback!
At this point I'm about 90% - 95% percent done. There's some minor adjustments I'd like to make and then it's ready to go live from my end of things. So hopefully it won't be very much longer now! Stay tuned, folks!
published by Marcus Moonen on Wed, 27/04/2011 - 07:16
Famous Dutch rockers The Gathering are releasing a new album this fall. This album is Norwegian native Silje Wergeland's second record as the band's new singer.
The Gathering have expressed a desire to get closer to their own artistic preferences, the heart and soul of their music and this can definitely be heard in the new track. An epic 10 minute journey from melancholy to ecstasy, the song is a testament to the band's creativity and musical prowess. I'm very excited to have been asked to shoot a musicvideo for this track.
I'll be flying out to Norway by the end of this week, where the video will be shot. We decided to film the video in Norway because of its' beautiful and dramatic landscape. The band's photogenic singer, Silje Wergeland, a Norwegian native, will feature in the video.
We are still looking for actors for the video. So if you are in Norway and would like to have a chance to star in The Gathering's next video, check out this page and let us know!
In collaboration with mainly Frank Boeijen en René Rutten (the band's keyboard player and guitarist respectively) I've written a script for the video and the band have given me license to experiment, so nothing is set in stone. It's an exciting and (just a bit) daunting prospect to have the freedom to shoot what looks good and fits with the music.
I'll be shooting the video on the 5D MkII, with a set of Canon primes, I'll have a DVtec shouldermount with me and a Glidecam HD 2000. I can't tell you any details yet, but I am a bit nervous about getting the shot from that speedboat... ;)
published by Marcus Moonen on Thu, 13/01/2011 - 02:19
First of all: Happy New Year everybody! =)
Recently I had gotten an assignment from my art academy to shoot a short film about a specific space. Which is not an easy thing to do, because you have to have an inspirational space, you have to have physical access to the space and of course, permission to film there. After some deep thought and rummaging in my memory for a suitable spot, I remembered the parking garage I'd park my car in sometimes.
I have a fascination with empty spaces and I'm a big fan of science fiction. These two themes somehow always seem to blend together quite well. So one day as I was parking my car again, I thought I'd drive down to the bottom layer of the garage, to see if it was indeed empty as I'd suspected. What I found there was a world that gripped me immediately. I was entranced by the light, the symmetries and the space.
Next day, I had my still cam with me (a Nikon D3000 with an 18-200mm lens on it) and I started taking some pictures to see if I could capture what was going on here, that made me feel like I was in an abandoned spaceship hurtling through the vast reaches of intergalactic space. The photo's turned out quite well, I thought. I had found my space!
During classes I'd convinced my teacher and colleagues that this was something worth pursuing and armed with my tripod, my Panasonic DVX100B camera and a warm jacket, I one late night drove into the garage and set up my gear.
At first I had a hard time capturing the images that conveyed this feeling of solitude and timelessness, but as I let go of the need and relinquished control, slowly the images I'd been waiting for started to come through my viewfinder.
Unfortunately I have been ill for a week or two and I haven't had much time or energy to work on this, nor on one of the other projects I'm working on. I did work on the sound-design for this film in the CausaliDox studio, adding sub-bass drones, hisses and clicks to conjure up an aural image of an abandoned spaceship.
The film's title will be "9" . The deadline for this project is next weekend. So I'll be posting the film online after that. That is if I don't decide to make another version that is less clean, than required by the academy. Anyway, I'll post it soon.
I've also been writing a plan for this film. It's a first draft of a film-plan, so it definitely can be improved upon. It is in Dutch, I'm afraid. Click on the PDF link below to open the document. Feedback welcome as always.
published by Marcus Moonen on Sat, 11/12/2010 - 02:15
My friend Peter Johan Nijland is performing with his band Hadewych on December 18th 2010 in Den Bosch during MOL.
Hadewych conjures the ultragrotesque. As they put it themselves:
Music in its directness. Music that is true to itself as music. Non-conceptual music. Music that reveals being. Avant-garde music, ritual music, atmospheric aesthetics of old black metal, prepared piano music, 20th century composers (e.g. Cage, Scelsi), some ambient, some shoegaze, some art rock, some ultra.
Peter has asked me to help him create visual art for the Hadewych performance next Saturday. He's looking to bring the forest into the venue and use abstract images of body positions to accentuate the music. We'll be heading out to the forest to shoot the footage, one of my favorite places to be. And since I haven't had any time to be in a forest for a while now, I'm looking very much forward to working there with Peter this Sunday.
published by Marcus Moonen on Thu, 02/12/2010 - 04:33
After some misadventures trying to build a Wordpress site, I decided to give Drupal a try for my new website. I needed to upgrade the old static HTML site I'd built. It was quick, it was dirty and it was obsolete. A dinosaur. I needed something spiffy, SEO-savvy (meh, sorta ;) and easily manageable.
My good friend guaka introduced me to the wonderous world of Drupal and even encouraged me to dive into the beta release of Drupal 7. He has been building websites that range from sites about dumpster diving across the globe and creating The Hitchhiking Guide to a site for his family's Teak Furniture business. The learning curve was as steep as a Himalayan mountain and the concepts were hard to grasp at times, but I made it through somehow (and I couldn't have done it without guaka's help. A big thank you!).
I've been able to build a site that more than ever suits my needs, has a place for all the content I've been creating over the past years and will allow me to update frequently and painfree. And best of all... It's modular, so there's somewhere to go if the need arises.
Please check out my new site, for which I will be adding more content in the months to come. Also I hope to find time soon to tell you more about my music, my other great passion. When Drupal 7 will see its' official release I'll probably add more functionality. I see this webspace as a living, evolving entity that will grow with me, as I hopefully will grow as a filmmaker.
published by Marcus Moonen on Fri, 13/08/2010 - 09:24
The showreel is finally online! Having major computerproblems and lack of energy & time, I'm amazed I finished it. The excellent music was produced by Peter Johan Nijland, many thanks! Check it out here.
