Friday, May 23, 2014

QR Code. But Does it Work?

I don't have a smartphone, so I don't know if this works. It should take you to a free documentary movie that I want to promote. QR Code

Thursday, May 22, 2014

From Rough to Finished.

Hear me shed my mystique on this recording that reveals I'm far from a one-take-perfection kind of guy. Quite the opposite, in fact...

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Fracking is Coming to You

63% of the UK is now in danger of being fracked. This is no longer something people can say they don't mind as long as it's not near them: it will be near all of us. Even if you're not geographically affected by the resultant pollution, our water and farming - and so the food you eat - will be. Watch this and learn what the government and the BBC don't want you to know. No, seriously, do watch it.

Monday, May 19, 2014

A Weekend of Birthday-ness

Yesterday was my birthday, so it's been a weekend of small but enjoyable celebrations. On Saturday, my wife and I went up to visit the London Transport Museum. I've been meaning to visit it for ages, partly for U&F research, partly because I like museums and I've never been to this one. We (or I at least) had a fabulous time looking at old trains, buses and trams. Look, here's a Routemaster ...


We then went on to meet some chums for a meal and a few beers, which was equally fab.

Then on Sunday - having been sung "Happy Birthday" and 'liked' the many kind birthday wishes I received on Facebook (for which - if you left one, I thank you), I sat down to tackle the recording of Episode 6. After about 90 minutes, it was done. Phew! Of course, this isn't the end of the process, it's only the beginning. And talking of the beginning, here it is - the first minute, just so you know I'm not lying.
https://soundcloud.com/mike_bennett/first-minute-of-blood-and-smoke-episode-6

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Good news! I finished writing it today!

Episode 6 is now officially written. It's good, I like it. It took a lot of fussing and cutting and re-working to get everything sounding as it should, but the finished result is on par with the rest of the story. I'll record it tomorrow than I'll edit it and get it out as fast as I can. Huzzah!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Still Writing Ep 6

I'm still writing it. I cut a few chunks of speech today because I felt they added nothing and perhaps over-complicated things. I'm about half way through this current edit. As you know, it doesn't always take this long, but this one is - I'm not sure why - taking longer than other chapters. I think a lot of my difficulties stem from the way this story is told - an audio recording which has no visual clues: I can't go into characters' heads and see what they're thinking, I can't see what they're doing etc etc. But anyway, I endeavour to rise to the challenge. I write on ...

Friday, May 9, 2014

Ep 6 Update

I'm still working on the text. I've finished the second draft, but I'm now going through it again and doing a third draft. I'm halfway there. Of course, when I record it, I'll be creating a fourth re-write as I go along. That always happens. And then, when the audio is finished, that'll be the finished product. Drop by again on Sunday, when I should hopefully be well into the recording process.

I realise it's late; I tried getting some unpaid time off work to finish it and other U&F jobs I have to do, but he can't get anyone to cover my classes. Bear with me. I'll get there.

Grotesque and Hilarious Underwood and Flinch Images

  A while ago I used the A.I. art generator, DALL-E, to create some images of Underwood and Flinch. The results were … er … not good, and ca...