steelcityman

I thought I’d better make an effort and get on with the old Blog ..I say old because other newer things seem to have taken the place of the blog, namely the VLOG on my You Tube channel.(Aside from the fact that I’ve been quite ill and got blue lighted into hospital for two weeks and the subsequent recovery time, due to heart failure ..and complications… I haven’t had the wherewithal or motivation, let alone the strength, to either write in the blog or film the vlog…but Hey !! I’m back !!).

I’m finding that Vlogging is much more challenging, much harder work, more time consuming and, of course, much more expensive to execute. Apart from the computer, there is the camera…mine is a Canon 750d, external mics, tripods, lighting set up, sound recorders and software for editing. I spend money I don’t really have, not quite getting into debt, but not far off !!! … Anyway, as I was saying, vlogging is much more challenging both personally and, because I’m a technophobe of the highest order, technologically, but I find the rewards are much greater. I get a buzz when it goes public on my You tube channel.. and an even greater buzz when people leave comments. I get a buzz from this WordPress Blog when it is published and comments come in, but it requires far less effort (and expense !!) than making a film and striving to get it technically ‘right’… I’m no Cecil B De Mills, but I enjoy pretending to be !! lol.
There is a young man residing in ROTHERHAM, a town next door to the ‘STEEL CITY’ by the name of HARRISON FLETCHER, who is a remarkably fine film maker and You Tuber (check out his You Tube channel )                                                                                                     . He read my blog about me questioning whether or not I was too old at 68 to be a You Tube Vlogger and, he also watched the film  I made of the  same subject  on my ‘steelcityman’ You Tube channel 
, after which he approached me and asked if I would like to be part of a documentary film he was making as part of his media and film making degree course at Salford University, in Media City, the Northern powerhouse of TV and program production. I was really taken aback that Harrison had chosen me to be a part of his work and I agreed on the spot…instantly …. maybe even sooner than that !!!, and after some dialogue we agreed dates to do the filming. He first visited my home to get some background on the ’70 year old vlogger’ as he titled me, shot some footage and did a short interview and we agreed another date for me to travel to a studio in Media City to do a longer more in depth interview, with some ‘B’roll footage both inside and outside the studio. I must say it ws a very professional set up and it all made me realise how make do and mend my filming set up was … There were cameras worth thousands of pounds..lighting rigs to die for with all the attendant controlling software … Really put my pokey ‘front bedroom studio’ to shame…. If nothing else, it gave me something to aspire to !!!

I was a little nervous at first as the interview and filming progressed, but soon warmed to it and got quite comfortable with it all in the end, and really enjoyed the whole thing. Even my lovely wife Christine appeared in a cameo

role (which freaked her out a bit !!!) but she did well and put it in her experience bank.  After the filming, we all went and had a few drinks and a meal (Italian),
had a good laugh and left for the station for the rail trip back to Sheffield … a good day indeed.

A great big thank you to Harrison Fletcher and his wonderful partner Tasha, they treat us like royalty and made things easy. Hopefully the documentary will be released soon, on You Tube, and when it is I’ll post the url so you can see it if you so desire.

Now then …. If I sit close to the phone and just wait a little longer….it may ring….long distance. It’s taking a while, it been ten minutes since I sat down and started waiting ….waiting…..waiting………..