The two videos were created in response to a commissioning brief from the artist’s management. They wanted “deep, dark visuals” and two videos linked by the same aesthetic style and story, but with the narrative kept fairly loose and abstract.

At the time, I was submitting quite a lot of pitches for a fairly wide variety of acts – from radio-friendly dance music, to guitar-based rock. Once I’m sent a brief, I’ll have only a couple of days after first hearing the track to come up with an idea and draft up a pitching document to send to the label. It can be tricky jumping between different musical styles and trying to generate strong ideas that I’m committed to making, and that have a decent chance of securing the job. For me, when I’m at the basic ideas stage, there’s no point sitting at a desk with a pen just trying to force something out – and it’s a hundred times worse in front of a computer. What I usually do instead is listen to the track loads of times on a loop while concentrating on any kind of visual or emotional response I feel to it. Usually I don’t really get anything, and just find myself getting sleepy. At this point I kneel on the floor with my head resting on a chair in a really uncomfortable position, and drift off to sleep. Ten minutes, I tend to wake up with sore knees and the beginnings of an idea.

For this project, the initial idea involved a mysterious night time journey through an alien and deserted cityscape. I imagined the ‘walker’ being small within the frame, and swamped by darkness – always kind of frightened by what was around the next corner, but somehow compelled to keep going; inexorably, rhythmically, as though in a dream.

After kneeling on the floor, the next stage of my process involves getting out the pen and paper and approaching the initial idea with a critical eye and some discipline – thinking about how any specific effects or visuals can be achieved; taking the brief, budget and deadline into consideration; and starting to work out how the idea might be structured over the duration of the track. At this stage, it sometimes helps if I think of the idea as someone else’s crap brainwave that I’ve been tasked with whipping into shape – it makes it easier to leave the first type of woolly thinking behind, and get on with preparing a developed idea. (I should mention that I’m sometimes helped out at this stage by Halcyon directors Jack and Alex – for them it really is someone else’s crap brainwave). The outcome of this stage should be the creation of a pitching document to send to the label. This should give a good sense of the idea – the look, the atmosphere, the narrative trajectory. It has to be appealing to try and win the job, but also achievable, in case I do.

On this occasion, my pitch was successful, and the project rolled into motion. Beth Allan from Forest of Black came on board early on as the Producer, and we worked together closely during pre-production. She brought together all the logistical side of things – organising the crew, the scheduling, the budget, the equipment, the contracts, and probably a hundred other things I never even knew about. Meanwhile, I was working on the storyboard and shot list during the day, and at night, cycling around Glasgow taking pictures of potential locations.

As Beth brought new crew members on board, I would discuss with them what I was looking for. It was my first time working with a professional Production Designer (Moley Campbell), Make-Up Artist (Nicole Stafford), and Costume Designer (Louise Allen), and they really brought the project to life.

The filming technique employed was slightly unusual, and involved the performers having to move extremely slowly while we took a series of photographs. Having tried the required movement myself in the creation of the test footage, I was aware how physically demanding it was. Consequently, I decided that it would be best to cast dancers rather than actors, to ensure that they had the necessary physical control and stamina to create the desired aesthetic. Jen Farmer and Rob Heaslip took the leading roles, with Sarah Swires and Julian Capolei doing an amazing job on the ‘dancing couple sequence’.

The shoot itself was a slog, but by that point, the vast majority of my contribution was already complete. The real hard work at this point fell to Michael Sherrington (Director of Photography), Rory Stewart (Assistant Director), and of course, the actors. The process of filming can be fairly stressful, so I like to have made my creative decisions in advance – I just turn up on the day with a clipboard and stick to the plan.

For more work by Ciaran, see his showcase on Central Station here or visit the links below.

More: Website | Vimeo | Twitter

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Want to read more blogs by artists? Look here.

But what did he do before all this? Find out below.

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1. Suppose the first job I had where I was paid money was being a busker on the streets of Liverpool. I used to play Bunnymen, Teardrops and even Soft Cell on the acoustic. Youth by the latter sounded really good unplugged. But i guess my choice of music was too much of a niche to rake it in. My other competitors would play the Beatles and I’d be history. Also, I spent a lot if time being attacked by body poppers, religious nuts and small kids. I’d keep going with blue cold hands. Only stopping when i’d snapped all of my strings.

2. My second pitstop on my illustrious career saw me coming up with the notion that I ought to get real job. So I signed up to work at the sickness benefits department at the department of health and social security in a poor part of Liverpool.  I worked in an oppressive red building that looked like a stazi outpost. I worked with Pete Best’s brother, Rouge, he was a drummer too. Mentioning Ringo was a no no at the tea break. Anyways, I’m not allowed to talk about it but rest assured that there was a very eccentric bunch used to sign on. One time somebody thought it was funny to play “Money money” by Abba. By the time the track hit “must be funny – in a rich Man’s world” – all of the claimants were smashing the place up. I’d never seen chairs embedded in concrete ripped out of the floor before.

3. About this time I thought my creative life was over until my old tutor Dave Clapham gave me the chance to work in his Liverpool studio. You can see Dave in Bad Night For The Blues, he plays the lord mayor. I used to cut promos for him for the likes of Deaf School, Icicle Works and The Farm. Working for with Dave was my third job. I made a little animated film called Safari. With that I got into art college.

4. My fourth job was weekend job while I was a student. I worked in Farnham Hospital. I was a cleaner and gave tea to geriatric patients. I’d steal the daffodils from the hospital garden and give them to the old ladies who would burst into tears. Most of the patients thought I was the gas man. I of course would oblige pretending to read their gas meters. I really enjoyed working there. I love talking to people.

5. My fifth job was the one which really connected me with animation. After college I was taken on as a runner at Paul Vester’s Speedy Films. They were the production company that made lots of ads. Milky Way two cars racing, Reach flip top man, Vitalite and Paxo the rooster booster. I became the production manager and worked on a film about New Yorker’s who had been abducted by aliens. I managed to escape the invasion and I’m thankfully still here to tell the story.

Photo by Louise Haywood-Schiefer

More: Website | Twitter

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We’ve asked professionals in creative industries what jobs they have had in the past to get their foot through the door (or at least pay the rent). For more in the “My First 5 Jobs” series look here.

Write, Shoot, Cut is a blog for people interested in short filmmaking, independent feature films and carving out a career in the movies. Curated by Edinburgh based scriptwriter, Neil Rolland, the site showcases short and independent films and the people behind them as well as having interesting interviews and features that aims to encourage and inspire.

The latest short featured on Write, Shoot, Cut is a film by Lee Hardcastle. It’s a Pingu remake of John Carpenter masterpiece THE THING. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToCq_c3wOM8&feature=player_embedded#!

Short Film #12 – Pingu’s THE THING (2012) Lee Hardcastle

Visit Write, Shoot, Cut here. Now.

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I work in a film and animation studio in Brixton, South London called Factory Fifteen. I have always  been interested in animation from a young age, and take my inspirations from comics, manga and sci fi books. After studying a Masters degree in Engineering, and a second Masters in architecture, I founded Factory Fifteen with fellow graduates from the Bartlett School of Architecture. I am in the process of developing as a Director/Animator to build up to doing features and longer forms of films.

Where I live on-line? Mainly google!! either the image search or gmail.  I watch a lot of vimeo, and follow blogs like DEZEEN, and BLDG BLOG.

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‘Where I Make’ invites readers behind the scenes of artists from many disciplines to share photographs and a little insight about where they create their masterpieces. See more from the series here.