"My Ship" - Nadia Ackerman | Music Video

Nadia Ackerman's song "My Ship" was inspired by a young boy looking out to sea, when asked by his mother "What are looking for?" the young boy commented "I'm waiting for my ship to come in."

We shot this video one rainy afternoon while on tour in Australia. It's amazing how many things lined up perfectly for this video happen.

Here let me list them for you... ready.
1. The weather.
It was June, Australia's winter and usually it's rainy season. But this particular June was one to go on record as one of the highest rainfalls ever! It was drizzling during our shoot, the rain had slowed down just enough to make it tolerable for the boys to stand outside. You'll also notice that the sea was placid barely a ripple in the water. A calmness that gave a sombre feeling to the video. Perfect visually for creating that infinity horizon especially with the bit of fog to help mask the industrial cargo ships not far off shore. By the way Harvey Jones, the synthensizer mastermind in Nadia's band, and I went on a bike ride down to the same area the next day. The sea was raging! 4 foot swells and gail force winds. You would not have believed it was the same beach.

2. The costumes.
Nadia was the artistic director of this video and wanted the boys to wear pirates costumes. We were in Melbourne for only a few days. Doing radio interviews and a gig at The Toff our time was precious. Fortunately the pirate threads arrived on our second to last day.

3. The actors.
Jack and Sam were amazing! You just never know with kids. With Nadia's direction they adhered to her every command. They did manage to give the camera a "rude" finger or two during the playful running around scenes. We all got a good chuckle.

Jack and Sam are brothers very close. Jack, the older brother, has aspergers and the expressions he gave are so genuine we were besides ourselves. While Sam the younger one, who may be the next dance sensation, was an excellent supporting role.

4. The edit.
Due to the weather and the boys attention span we managed to shoot for barely 35mins. Not nearly enough film I thought at the time. I did my best to get as much cut away footage as I could. We got a couple of takes out of the boys for each scene. Nadia who loves to edit did an amazing job piecing the story together. I really wish we had had better weather conditions to get more B footage. Seriously I thought by the time we were done shooting my Nikon P7000 was going to short circuit it was so wet. Regardless Nadia managed to edit what we had to a solid music video.

In hind sight I really would not change a thing about the shoot for this music video. I've learned over the years you can plan and plan and plan a shoot. I was traveling with limited gear for the tour and no assistant. However sometimes you just have to go for it. As I state in my quote at the bottom of my website "Imagine NO excuses... All that is left is the space to create."

More info about
Nadia Ackerman
Harvey Jones

Airline Travel Needs To Change

Traveling by air is usually divided into 3 parts. Waiting, waiting aaaanndd... waiting.

Today I'm traveling to Copenhagen. So about 5 hours before I needed to be at the airport I checked in online with my airline. Cool the flight status is on time.

So now we wait to be picked up to go to the airport. Well low and behold the shuttle van is on time! However there is an hours worth of driving around picking up more passengers so I have to wait some more.

Once at the airport you wait in line to check in, but I just did that online why should I wait to check in? No matter upon checking in the ticket agent informs me that the flight is delayed by an hour. Which equals waiting some more.


Next the security line where you have to wait for your ticket to be checked, wait for more bins to put your stuff in, wait to be told which TSA device they want you to go through. "WAIT sir. Hold your arms out please." A pat down prolongs the waiting I'm about to do in the terminal.

Finally you get to the waiting area at least we know what happens here. Yep. I heard you say it.

Board the plane we wait til we get to our destination. Disembark the plane then we wait for our baggage. Uuuugh.

OHHH wait a second wait in line for a taxi. Get in the taxi and zoom off to your final destination. Damn it!!!! Traffic so we have to wait some more.

As I was standing in line waiting in this whole process a woman said to me "Wouldn't it be great to just wiggle your nose and be where you are going?". "HELL yes!" I said.

Abkraken - A Film Made by Neighbors

Phew!!! We did it! What fun.

Just the other day I blogged about a neighborhood film challenge with On My Block Films. It's been edited and submitted to the filmmaking challenge website and is now live on the On My BLock Vimeo Channel.

Even though I recently blogged about On My Block we had been planning our film for weeks. We had 6 people total involved, 1 dog and 2 businesses. Not quite the level of a Hollywood film production. Lucy Frend who is a unique clothing designer was the "Block Team Leader". She came up the abstract and creative storyline. Watch the film below.

"Abkraken" - Park Avenue / 97th-98th Street from On My Block Films on Vimeo.

My role was Director of Photography. I tackled all the filming technical issues. Like types of cameras we used how to get the look with various lenses and so on. To get the "point of view" look I opted for the Hero Camera. Lucy wore the head strap with the camera mount. I directed her on how to move with the camera on her head to give the best footage. We only used one other camera that was the new Nikon D800. An incredible camera the quality is by far astounding to the other DSLR's I've used for other films.

The editing process I was also involved in giving a tutorial in iMovie. Impressively Lucy was quite inventive using a scrubbing brush on a wood chair to give the sweeping sound of the guy sweeping the sidewalk. He's actually the owner of Guthrie's Inn.

The beauty of this project is NOT having to be a pro filmmaker. It's all about community... getting to know your neighbors. Through this film Lucy meet Kathy who is also from England. I got to be in front of the camera for once I was the bartender. As well as I got to pass on my expertise in filmmaking. We got to know the business owners. Myung of 97th Street Cleaner is an avid dog lover. So am I!!! It's amazing what we find out about one another through a fun project such as making a film.

Are you interested in making a film and getting to know your neighbors? Yea.... go on then.
Register to make a film with On My Block Films just CLICK HERE.

For more information:

On My Block Films Presents - A NEIGHBORHOOD FILMMAKING CHALLENGE.

Calling all non-filmmakers & filmmakers - On My Block Films

Although we live in a city of over 8 million people, a lot of us don’t even know our neighbors. When you’re not connected to the people living on the other side of the wall, it’s hard to have any sense of belonging within a community. “On My Block Films” ( OMB ) creates an opportunity for neighbors to introduce themselves, work together, and create trusting relationships through the collaborative filmmaking process. The films created will live on past the festival window as a source for community pride and as a living map of the world’s most creative city.

OMB encourages novice as well as professional filmmakers to participate. Our goal is to capture a wide spectrum of blocks throughout the five boroughs.
Beginning August 1, all eligible films will be posted and screened online from the time they are finished until November 1, 2012. The public will be able to vote on a film by liking it on Vimeo. The 30 films with the most Vimeo likes will move on to be judged by the Judging Panel the first week of November. The top-scoring 15 films will be screened at a physical outdoor festival in November. Awards will be presented to Best Narrative Film, Best Documentary Film and Best In Show.

I plan on doing a film something abstract and fun. Next door is my Tailor and I know the Bar owner. That's two people right there. Maybe I'll use my Hero camera... yea that sounds good. My creative ideas are flowing. Now I just have to get out there an meet my neighbors. Yea a bit unnerving but hey it will be fun. That's the whole point of the project, have fun and get to know your neighbors. What do have I to lose? Space on my external hard drive that's about it.

Lights, camera, action!!!

How about you? Interested? Of course you are... check out On My Block Films for more details.

Here's the OMB schedule:

Dates: August 1 – OMB will kick off.

August 1 through October 31 – Films will be shot, edited, uploaded to Vimeo.

August 1 through October 31 – Public Voting will be open.

November 6 – Judges Panel will vote.

November 17 – Top 15 films will be screened at On My Block Film Festival.

For more information

On My Block Films Presents - A NEIGHBORHOOD FILMMAKING CHALLENGE.

Circle In The Sand - A documentary film about love, hope and forgiveness.

For the month of June I travelled with Nadia Ackerman, singer / songwriter, and a simplified version of her band ( Harvey Jones and David M Patterson ) on a music tour across Australia. Starting in Sydney Nadia had to overcome many obstacles along the way. Not only was she the tour manager, the marketing coordinator, social media promoter, webmaster, the performer, the songwriter, the financial backer... Nadia was also confronting a 20 year old wound, the loss of her father.

The documentary film Nadia and I are creating is going to cover what it is like for independent music artists to make it in the music industry. As well as bring a personal side of the story about family, relationships, and dealing with the death of a parent.

What we've noticed through the process of making the film that timing is everything. We had some absolutely magical occurrences happen during the course of the trip across Australia. Things we can't explain unless we put a visual to the story.

This documentary film can use your support. I have set up a KickStarter project: Under Going to help fund the film. Yes... this post is quite late in the game. With only 57 hours, just over two days left to reach the funding goal your pledge is imperative to creating this film. July 5th is the deadline to reach the goal. But we are committed to making this film happen. So if you are out at the beach celebrating 4th of July I completely understand, don't forget to apply your sunblock.

Here is the link to support the KickStarter project - Under Going:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spencergordon/under-going-a-healing-process-to-release-the-past

Under Going - Hope, Strength and Love - Documentary Film

The Sydney portion of the tour was amazing! From radio interviews to raising money for a little girl named Natasha that has leukemia, live gigs to a presentation at the TDP with kids about being a singer.

On top of the whole tour there has been another side of the story. 20 years ago Nadia's father passed away. But his presence is still evident through various signs. We've had some magical occurrences let me tell you about one in particular. On June 18th Nadia and her family picked up her father's ashes from the cemetery. On this gorgeous crystal clear sunny day they scattered his ashes out to sea. I was filming from a respectful distance on the beach to give the family privacy. I had wired Nadia for sound to help capture the emotion and story. The power of the moment unfolding swept us all away to tears. I had to remove my earphones when I heard Ben, the brother, mention "I wish he was here so he could have met my kids."

Alright..... back to the magical occurence. So after the scattering of the ashes we all went for fish & chips at the Newport Arms. A beautiful serene setting for such an emotionally charged day. As we are getting out of the car at the Newport Arms parking lot Nadia asks her father for one more sign. (By the way we've had other signs along the way during this trip.) Nadia and her family are enjoying their lunch reminiscing about various stories of her father.... laughing and smiling. All of the sudden Nadia's friend Kate looks up into the sky and notices the word HOPE written in the clear blue sky. None of us heard a plane perform this acrobatic script maneuver.

The meaning of Nadia's name is HOPE.


Here is a small clip of the song "In The Middle Of My Chest." from the show at Blue Beat.


Contribute to the documentary film via my KickStarter project by clicking here.

For more information:
TDP = Talent Development Project
Nadia Ackerman

Under Going - A Documentary Film

Do you know someone that has had a traumatic life altering event happen so overwhelming it almost crushes the essence of who they are?

20 years

It was 20 years ago that Nadia's father unexpectedly passed away. A teenager at the time, this tragedy devastated Nadia. A debilitating darkness that consumed Nadia to her core crushing her natural artistic creativity. Fortunately Nadia had the sense and the strength to seek help. Through the therapy process it unchained a record's worth of heartfelt lyrics creating an album called "The Ocean Master". Nadia's artistic soul was reborn.

Journey

June 8th, I will be traveling to Nadia's homeland with a simplified version of her band. Nadia, Dave, Harvey and myself are driving across Australia. We will embark on a 3 week road trip filled with live music gigs, teaching children to sing, a family unification culminating with Nadia's releasing of her father's ashes at sea. Two decades later, a final resting place for her father and a healing milestone for Nadia.

Purpose

This project is to create a documentary film about hope, strength and love.

Nadia's story will be an inspirational film about changing one's life.

The goal is to raise $2,500 dollars via the KickStarter project. This will merely reimburse the project for the expenses mentioned below. Anything over the goal will be used to pay a professional film editor. An important task to creating a powerful and inspirational film.

Your donations will go directly towards essential film documenting equipment: external hard drives to store the many hours of film footage, video memory cards and rental fees for lighting, sound and video equipment.

Contribute TODAY! Click Here


Thank You. Your support is very much appreciated.


Be part of the experience follow the progress of the project.

Like the Under Going - Facebook Fan Page.


To find out more information about:

Nadia and her band.

Nadia Ackerman - click here

Harvey Jones - click here

David M Patterson - click here