This film was created for my University Course. I had to take a world war one poem and adapt it into a piece of film. The story I wanted to tell in this film was that of a young Russian man who had recieved a letter from the army asking him to join the war effort in World War 3. Whilst deciding whether or not he wants to join the army, the man begins to imagine all the possible things that could happen to him, and all the things he might see if he were to join.
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
"A Journey Through Freedom" (2014)
This piece of film was created by me. My roles were:
- Cameraman
- Editing
- Sound
- Producing
The script had already been written for me for the project, and my task was to simply interpret it. In this film, Andy Cox plays a character living in a world were the government has completely taken over the world. Wanting to rebel against the authority, Andy meets with another character to collect the blueprints for a building, which he presumably wants to destroy or infiltrate.
"A Journey Through Love" (2014) by Charlie Ansell
This piece of film was created by Charlie Ansell.
In the film, I play a jealous stalker, who meets with a character played by Ren Ball to collect an SD card which contains photographs of the person I am supposed to be stalking.
In the film, I play a jealous stalker, who meets with a character played by Ren Ball to collect an SD card which contains photographs of the person I am supposed to be stalking.
"The NoTo Mob- Community Heroes" (2014)
This 10 minute documentary film piece was created by myself and Andy Cox to promote awareness for the group "The Noto mob", which combats unfair traffic law and unfair parking law. I had multiple roles in this project, including:
- script writing
- producing
- presenting
- editing
"Anthem for a Doomed Youth" (2014) by Tim Wilcox
In this film I play a character representing the common man who is going to war against Andy Cox, who in this film is supposed to embody the government.
"The Meeting" (2013) by Vittorio Falcucci
In this film by Vittorio Falcucci, I play a comedian's manager, as I try to convince him to perform for free for a hospital patient.
"The Meeting" (2013) by Andrew Cox
In this film, I play a homeless person along with Lex Wilkinson. This was one of the first films I appeared in on my TV Production Course at University.
"Christmas Alive" (2012) Music Video
This music video was the second one myself and my creative partner Rhiannon Twigg created for Andy Case's Nustart Records label back in 2012. The artist was Janelle Walton.
This track in this music video was created to celebrate the christmas season, and was created for a student record label in Nottingham called NuStart Records. The video itself was filmed in Clethorpes UK, and it was the first time that myself and my Media partner Rhiannon had gone out of the city to record.
My roles in making this video include;
Cameraman
Editor
I thoroughly enjoyed creating this music video, as I have never worked with this genre of music before. It was also an opportunity for me to experiment with a different style (black and white) and on terrain I have never tried recording on before (the beach.)
This is NOT the official edit of "Christmas Alive". The official was edited by Andy Case. This edit is simply for myself and Rhiannon's portfolio and personal archive.
This track in this music video was created to celebrate the christmas season, and was created for a student record label in Nottingham called NuStart Records. The video itself was filmed in Clethorpes UK, and it was the first time that myself and my Media partner Rhiannon had gone out of the city to record.
My roles in making this video include;
Cameraman
Editor
I thoroughly enjoyed creating this music video, as I have never worked with this genre of music before. It was also an opportunity for me to experiment with a different style (black and white) and on terrain I have never tried recording on before (the beach.)
This is NOT the official edit of "Christmas Alive". The official was edited by Andy Case. This edit is simply for myself and Rhiannon's portfolio and personal archive.
Gregory Crewdson Sound Piece (2014)
This piece was created as part of my University Course using a photograph taken by Gregory Crewdson. I created this piece using various sound effects I found across the web, and used them to tell the story of a person breaking into a house, being confronted by a guard dog, shooting the dog and then setting fire to the house.
"The NUSA Showcase" (2010)
This very early in my career documentary film piece was created to emulate such informational current event news programs such as "The One Show." In order to accomplish this our group at the Nottingham University Samworth Academy split into 3 smaller groups, covering 3 stories, one about creativity, one about social networking, and one about Haunted places in Nottingham.
My roles in this piece included:
My roles in this piece included:
- Editing
- Content Contributor
- Producing
- Camera
Note that this was created very early in my Media career, and I have improved a lot.
Illuminaughty Productions Film Intro.
A short production company introduction I created that will be played before all of my future productions.
"Loss:Confusion" (2014) Workshop Film
As part of a workshop, I and a group of students were made to create a film based on the emotions of Loss and Confusion. The story with this film is that I play a character who receives a text saying "we need to talk", but then promptly lose my phone signal. The rest of the short shows my journey trying to get the signal back.
"Monologue of Insanity" (2014) by Andrew Cox
Another war poem adaptation which I appeared in.
Poem is Anthem for a Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen
I had a lot of fun with this film, playing a type of character that I don't usually get to play, and also being given a large amount of creative control when it came to how I wanted to present the character, how I wanted him to move, speak and ultimately appear.
Poem is Anthem for a Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen
I had a lot of fun with this film, playing a type of character that I don't usually get to play, and also being given a large amount of creative control when it came to how I wanted to present the character, how I wanted him to move, speak and ultimately appear.
"The Death Bed" (2014) by Lex Wilkinson
This is one of a few film adaptations of world war one poems I appeared in. This film was adapted by Lex Wilkinson. This was a very challenging shoot for me, as I was wearing very thin clothing in an outside shed in extremely cold weather- so cold in fact that I actually became ill because of it!
Adapted poem is "The Death Bed" by Sassoon.
Adapted poem is "The Death Bed" by Sassoon.
Sunday, 28 December 2014
"Pull Yourself Together, Man" (2012)
This music video was commissioned by Andy Case, who at the time ran a record label called Sharp Records (more recently known as NuStart Records) and Cameron Whiley was arguably his biggest scouting success. Cameron has worked with Warner Bros and Universal Studios in the past, and had quite a promising future in the music industry.
As such, I was honored when I was asked if I would be willing to create a music video for his latest track, "Pull Yourself Together, Man."
When we began the discussion for this music video, we wanted to get better acquainted with Cameron's new persona. In the past he had been known as "Scarzy" and wanted to leave this persona behind to show he had grow up. Therefore he was using his real name, and wanted a music video that portrayed him in a much more mature manner.
Here are some promotional photographs and artwork which I also created using Adobe Photoshop:
An edited version of one of the shots I took was also used as the album cover for the track being released on the record label website.
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Saturday, 27 December 2014
"Diamonds in the Backyard" (2011)
This piece was filmed very early in my film-making career. We were commissioned by a local charitable group called SupportNet to create a documentary film piece about them which would promote and advertise their cause- their cause being providing the elderly and vulnerable with activities and a place to meet others and general spend their time with other people.
In this project, I managed to get involved with many different parts of the film making process, including meeting with the charity founders in pre-production to pitch our ideas and discuss possible problems and such, scripting, camera work, editing, and I even appear in the documentary at one point giving my opinion of the charity.
The real challenge of this project was trying to get a variety activities the charity performed into our film, otherwise we would have had a lot of repetitive shots with not a lot happening. Therefore, it was necessary for us to revisit the SupportNet base of operations many times to collect more diverse and interesting pieces of footage for our film.
Once we had finished the film piece however, our work wasn't over! We organized and hosted an event for the charity at the Nottingham University Samworth Academy, which was attended by the founders and members of SupportNet, as well as members of Nottingham City Council.
This was a fantastic opportunity for us to try and help SupportNet, as this event and documentary came at a time where funding for such charities were being cut by the Nottingham City Council, and we hoped our documentary would in some small way help them spread their message further and generate interest in the importance of what they were trying to do.
A couple of videos of our presentation which were shot before and after the documentary were filmed can be viewed here:
In this project, I managed to get involved with many different parts of the film making process, including meeting with the charity founders in pre-production to pitch our ideas and discuss possible problems and such, scripting, camera work, editing, and I even appear in the documentary at one point giving my opinion of the charity.
The real challenge of this project was trying to get a variety activities the charity performed into our film, otherwise we would have had a lot of repetitive shots with not a lot happening. Therefore, it was necessary for us to revisit the SupportNet base of operations many times to collect more diverse and interesting pieces of footage for our film.
Once we had finished the film piece however, our work wasn't over! We organized and hosted an event for the charity at the Nottingham University Samworth Academy, which was attended by the founders and members of SupportNet, as well as members of Nottingham City Council.
This was a fantastic opportunity for us to try and help SupportNet, as this event and documentary came at a time where funding for such charities were being cut by the Nottingham City Council, and we hoped our documentary would in some small way help them spread their message further and generate interest in the importance of what they were trying to do.
A couple of videos of our presentation which were shot before and after the documentary were filmed can be viewed here:
"The Meeting" (2013) by Christian Sarmiento
This film was the brain-child of a guy named Chris Sarmiento, another student at the University for the Creative Arts. it was filmed during our first year, and after seeing me during my acting in another film, Chris decided that he wanted me to play the doctor character in his interpretation of "The Meeting."
In this film I play a psychiatrist who is working with a patient with a split personality. One personality is an average person, and the other is a psychopathic killer who has killed all of her previous psychiatrists.
I really enjoyed acting in this film, and since it was created at a time where I hadn't acted in anything for quite a while, and was trying to get back into it- it helped me to sort of rekindle the passion I had for it.
It was also a nice change of character for me. I have been continuously type-cast in the past as a deep, brooding character with anti-hero or villainous tendancies, and to play a character that has to be somewhat compassionate, (and ends up being the victim) was an interesting experience.
In this film I play a psychiatrist who is working with a patient with a split personality. One personality is an average person, and the other is a psychopathic killer who has killed all of her previous psychiatrists.
I really enjoyed acting in this film, and since it was created at a time where I hadn't acted in anything for quite a while, and was trying to get back into it- it helped me to sort of rekindle the passion I had for it.
It was also a nice change of character for me. I have been continuously type-cast in the past as a deep, brooding character with anti-hero or villainous tendancies, and to play a character that has to be somewhat compassionate, (and ends up being the victim) was an interesting experience.
"The Note" (2014)
This short film was an experiment in my directing skills. It tells the story of a young man (played by Sam McKeown) who is torn about his feeling for another person. He continuously contemplates writing a note to tell the person how he feels, but in the end decides not to.
It's a somewhat cheesy plot, but i think it turned out pretty good. The camerawork was done by Michael Hoad, and he did an excellent job with framing and such. Sam McKeown also played his role very well, and managed to show quite a bit of emotion, despite the film having no dialogue whatsoever.
It's a somewhat cheesy plot, but i think it turned out pretty good. The camerawork was done by Michael Hoad, and he did an excellent job with framing and such. Sam McKeown also played his role very well, and managed to show quite a bit of emotion, despite the film having no dialogue whatsoever.
"The Meeting" TRAILER (2013)
A 2 minute trailer I created for my TV Production university course at the University for the Creative Arts in Rochester. For this project, I was tasked with creating my own 2 minute film based on a 10 page original script I wrote specifically for this project.
I was literally given a concept which was a "meeting." This could have been the meeting of two characters, two inanimate objects, a literal meeting (in an office etc) and I would have to create a script, storyboard and trailer for my idea.
I had a massive amount of input in this film, as it was my own project, and as such, it was my job to work the script, camera, sound, editing, storyboarding and directing. You may also notice a cameo appearance by myself in this film.
The people in the trailer, Vittorio Falcucci and Ruby Rogers had very minimal experience in acting at the time this film was made, but the two had very good chemistry together, and got the atmosphere I wanted to portray across in a great way.
The story being told in this film is that of a young man (Lucas) who is contemplating suicide, after realizing that with no job, no family and no focus- his life is going nowhere. Whilst contemplating this however, he meets Jess, who convinces him to give her a week of his life to persuade him it's worth living. They spend the week together, but due to an illness, Jess dies.
The script, if you feel like checking it out can be read here:
Experimental Photography (2010)
The following photographs were taken and edited in 2010. It was my first timer using a DSLR camera, and the point was for me to experiment with colour, and also to briefly experiment with abstract photography.
As you can see, a lot of the photos I have experimented with involve abstract shapes and such, and also a technique I call "colour popping", where certain parts of the photos are coloured differently to others, Photography was something I enjoyed thoroughly- so much so that I actually decided to photograph and create my own holiday cards back in 2010. One of the shots I am most proud of can be seen here:
Slender The Series Trailer (2011)
As part of my Creative and Media Course, I decided to create a 6 part web series based on the internet legend of the Slenderman. Information here: http://theslenderman.wikia.com/wiki/Slender_Man
The trailer is arguably better than the actual series I created, which was mostly experimental, and with the limited equipment we had to use and the fact that I didn't have access to as many actors as I would have liked, the finished product was actually very fun to make and watch.
Unfortunately, I don't see it as being one of my best pieces of work.
Trailer taken from my old Slendertheseries youtube channel.
The trailer is arguably better than the actual series I created, which was mostly experimental, and with the limited equipment we had to use and the fact that I didn't have access to as many actors as I would have liked, the finished product was actually very fun to make and watch.
Unfortunately, I don't see it as being one of my best pieces of work.
Trailer taken from my old Slendertheseries youtube channel.
"Tizzy" Album Cover and Magazine (2007)
This picture is of a CD Cover I created back in 2007/2008. The artist is a grime/rap artist called Tizzy, and since I created the cover, it has appeared in a magazine, which is currently on display at Nottingham University Samworth Academy.
This was my early days working with a program called GIMP and Adobe Photoshop. I'd been using it for a couple of years prior, but this was the first time it had been used for something other than my own personal enjoyment.
The fact it's been displayed in a magazine is an absolute honor, and I'm very happy that my work had some form of exposure.
This was my early days working with a program called GIMP and Adobe Photoshop. I'd been using it for a couple of years prior, but this was the first time it had been used for something other than my own personal enjoyment.
The Michael Jackson Mural (2011)
In 2011, I was attending the Nottingham University Samworth Academy sixth form, where I undertook a Creative and Media Advance Diploma. One of the units of this diploma involved me creating a piece of creative work which I was commissioned to complete.
This involved me brainstorming ideas with my work partner Rhiannon Twigg, making a list of the materials we would require to create the work, collect the materials needed, as well as actually create the piece of work.
Our idea was to create a mural which would be kept in the sixth form way after Rhiannon and myself had left. It would be a way we would leave our permanent imprint on the school, and embody our time there. It was while we were walking down a corridor that joined the P.E section of the school to the music section one day that we began to discuss the ideas we had.
We decided to re-coat an already existing mural of a runner going from the crouching position to the running position, and also add an iconic Michael Jackson silhouette which would join the sports and music sections.
We began work on the mural during the Easter Holidays of 2011. Here are some photographs;
Once we had completed the mural, the school was so happy with it that they placed it behind protective perspex plastic to ensure that it wouldn't get damaged.
This involved me brainstorming ideas with my work partner Rhiannon Twigg, making a list of the materials we would require to create the work, collect the materials needed, as well as actually create the piece of work.
Our idea was to create a mural which would be kept in the sixth form way after Rhiannon and myself had left. It would be a way we would leave our permanent imprint on the school, and embody our time there. It was while we were walking down a corridor that joined the P.E section of the school to the music section one day that we began to discuss the ideas we had.
We decided to re-coat an already existing mural of a runner going from the crouching position to the running position, and also add an iconic Michael Jackson silhouette which would join the sports and music sections.
We began work on the mural during the Easter Holidays of 2011. Here are some photographs;
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| The completed mural behind protective perspex. |
Introductory Blog Post
Hello!
Mark Cooper here with my new blog- which I've set up to serve as a kind of portfolio of all the creative and media type works that I've been a part of- or been in charge of- over the years. My work can be found across the web, and on many different websites, and because of that, it can get a little confusing as to where certain work can be found. Therefore, I'm making this blog to store everything in one place.
So at this point, you might be asking yourself- Who is this guy?
Well, as I said- my name is Mark Cooper. I'm a 20 something student from Nottingham in the East Midlands, and at the time of writing this, I'm currently attending University where I'm taking a Television Production course. I've always loved being creative, and I've always found myself pushing more towards subjective subjects like Art and Drama, as opposed to the more academic subjects like Maths and Science.
Even from a young age, I adored creative writing, and whilst the majority of my friends would spend their time picking their noses, playing Nintendo and generally messing around outside, I would often lock myself away with nothing more than a notepad and some pens. From there i'd find myself writing, drawing, doodling, and even creating scripts. I actually wrote my first (and admittedly terrible) script when I was about 7 years old. Achievement Unlocked.
I'd create my own worlds through my writings, and would use the stories I wrote as a form of escapism. Something I always wanted to do was make films, but since I came from a single parent family with hardly any money, we didn't really have the disposable income needed to purchase a video camera (or the tapes required. Tapes? Hey, it was the 90s.)
Something we did have though was an old tape recorder and player, and this was something I was allowed to use. As a result I found myself creating my own Audiobooks, based on the stories I wrote.
Although I was just a little kid, and to me I was just having fun, I was actually unknowingly teaching myself valuable creative techniques. How could I get a sense of setting and atmosphere across without visual aid? How could I use foley and soundtrack to create something more than just me speaking into a recorder?
I had a massive amount of fun experimenting with this tape recorder, and I look back at these points of my childhood with the fondest memories. It also allowed me to go wild with my imagination, and ultimately opened the door for more creative experiences which I would have later in life with other forms of media, and allowed me to get to where I am today.
So what do I do now?
Well, right now I have a skillset that I truly believe is incredibly unique. A lot of the people I have spoken to in the many areas of the media industry are focused purely on their own section of the media, and often cannot- or choose not to deviate outside of their respective areas, either because they aren't comfortable with doing so, or because they are so skilled and successful at what they already do that there is no need for them to try other things, or go into other areas.
I'm quite the opposite. Having come from a background and area where there weren't many opportunities for me, I choose to take advantage of the ones that I currently have. As such, I've developed skills within the following areas;
Mark Cooper here with my new blog- which I've set up to serve as a kind of portfolio of all the creative and media type works that I've been a part of- or been in charge of- over the years. My work can be found across the web, and on many different websites, and because of that, it can get a little confusing as to where certain work can be found. Therefore, I'm making this blog to store everything in one place.
So at this point, you might be asking yourself- Who is this guy?
Well, as I said- my name is Mark Cooper. I'm a 20 something student from Nottingham in the East Midlands, and at the time of writing this, I'm currently attending University where I'm taking a Television Production course. I've always loved being creative, and I've always found myself pushing more towards subjective subjects like Art and Drama, as opposed to the more academic subjects like Maths and Science.
Even from a young age, I adored creative writing, and whilst the majority of my friends would spend their time picking their noses, playing Nintendo and generally messing around outside, I would often lock myself away with nothing more than a notepad and some pens. From there i'd find myself writing, drawing, doodling, and even creating scripts. I actually wrote my first (and admittedly terrible) script when I was about 7 years old. Achievement Unlocked.
I'd create my own worlds through my writings, and would use the stories I wrote as a form of escapism. Something I always wanted to do was make films, but since I came from a single parent family with hardly any money, we didn't really have the disposable income needed to purchase a video camera (or the tapes required. Tapes? Hey, it was the 90s.)
Something we did have though was an old tape recorder and player, and this was something I was allowed to use. As a result I found myself creating my own Audiobooks, based on the stories I wrote.
Although I was just a little kid, and to me I was just having fun, I was actually unknowingly teaching myself valuable creative techniques. How could I get a sense of setting and atmosphere across without visual aid? How could I use foley and soundtrack to create something more than just me speaking into a recorder?
I had a massive amount of fun experimenting with this tape recorder, and I look back at these points of my childhood with the fondest memories. It also allowed me to go wild with my imagination, and ultimately opened the door for more creative experiences which I would have later in life with other forms of media, and allowed me to get to where I am today.
So what do I do now?
Well, right now I have a skillset that I truly believe is incredibly unique. A lot of the people I have spoken to in the many areas of the media industry are focused purely on their own section of the media, and often cannot- or choose not to deviate outside of their respective areas, either because they aren't comfortable with doing so, or because they are so skilled and successful at what they already do that there is no need for them to try other things, or go into other areas.
I'm quite the opposite. Having come from a background and area where there weren't many opportunities for me, I choose to take advantage of the ones that I currently have. As such, I've developed skills within the following areas;
- Acting.
- Pre-Production.
- Post-Production.
- Script-Writing.
- Story-Boarding.
- Graphic Designing.
- Voice-Acting.
- Fine Art.
- Video Editing.
- Project Pitching.
...and many more skills which I am continuously adding to whenever I get the chance. The plan is to become a "Swiss-army knife" of creativity (love that term), being able to effectively operate as a one man production team, which I hope will allow me to always have a place in the media industry.
So now you have a bit of an idea about who I am, I hope you'll follow my work and see where it takes me! I'll also be posting retrospect work that I have created in the past so that you can see how my work has developed over the years.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll check back often!
-Mark
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