Latest trailer with brand new music by moi.

The final piece of the jigsaw – the last character!

The first album from Tranquility Base!

This bittersweet melody was originally composed for the third series of comedy TV show “The League Of Gentlemen”

For the 20th anniversary of this website, I’m pleased to give you a sneaky peek from the Twilight Ballrooms (or at least the pub near the Twilight)

Another look at an AI generator. This time it’s the turn of Stable Diffusion.

None of the images you are about to see actually exist in real life.
See what happened when Artificial Intelligence generated images of Wits End!

My latest project using entirely original music and graphics.

Detail is key to making something believable. Here you can see one of the many background buildings in Wits End. A closed down fish bar called The Golden Chip. And there’s a little story to this. My family used to own a holiday chalet in Scratby (the original name for Wits End) in Norfolk. But …

I’m working on a big sweeping shot from the foyer of the Twilight through to the auditorium. It’s one of my biggest shots so far in one take and brings with it a variety of challenges and workarounds. The biggest challenge involves the strain I put on my computer. The greater the strain, the longer …

What does liminal space have to do with creepypasta?

How to key out just the green screen and not the character. Top tip!

Great news – our nemesis has gone legit

Unearthed archive footage of Wits End from 1979

My first co-production with my (7 year old) son.

Here’s a great simple trick to get any extraterrestrial terrain you want and it’s closer than you think, despite being out of this world!

Ever wondered how to isolate vocals from the music and vice-versa?

This is “Dexter’s Tune” by Randy Newman – from the film Awakenings (1991).

My foray into Synthwave Art

BBC rejects the new ident I did for them specially for the pandemic.

2021 will see the end of Adobe Flash Player

And they say nerds can’t party!

“Tunnels & Spheres” – This year’s showreel, much of it courtesy of a lockdown and extra time on my hands. Everything here is by moi, including the music!

A rare glimpse behind the scenes with a top tip for those doing post production on a budget!

I did my very own cover of an A-ha classic using isolated vocals of the man himself!

A demonstration on the wonders of stabilising footage from handheld cameras using motion tracking. Who needs a tripod on location when you’ve got a 4k phone and stabilisation software? This is taken from my jaunt to Blackpool, just before lockdown!

Forget the Great British Bake Off – when you’re rendering goes wrong during the bake you get more than deflated soufflés.

A bit of casting today – of the virtual kind.

An important message from the Twilight Ballrooms – released at the start of lockdown.

Latest entry from the Twilight Ballrooms Movie Diary. Find out why these titles got the boot!

Get a flavour of the new film from Tranquility Base Presents by visiting www.thetwilightballrooms.co.uk – listen to some of the music, check out some of the scenery and read about its blighted history. Then thank your lucky stars you’ve never been there for a holiday! If you check the site out during the Christmas period …

The benefits of shooting in a virtual set.

It is 50 years to the day that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

My tribute to cult scifi classic The Tripods.

Introducing my latest character and protagonist in “The Curse Of The Twilight Ballrooms”

A throwback to the 80’s

I found the old front door of the old Twilight model today. Question is, should I incorporate it into the New Twilight on the pier or is it not in keeping and too ornate.I’m stumped cos I quite like it. The original was not my drawing btw but from a royalty free library and then …

To celebrate the news that the next Doctor Who is Jodie Whittaker, I’ve extended what I did back in 2014 and have produced my version of the Doctor Who titles. The new time-tunnel is essentially a donut in Element 3d – check out this tutorial to see what I mean

The history and evolution of the Twilight Ballrooms concept. From a house shaped theatre perched on top of a crumbling cliff to its final incarnation, a crumbling variety hall on a pier in Wits End. This video will show the real life venue that inspired it – a venue that sadly burnt down almost 100 …

Things may seem shut down and deserted round here….

Since becoming a dad, the Twilight Ballrooms project has ground to a halt. That’s parenthood, there’s just no time to engage in the work required. So to sate your appetite and in a rare entry for the Twilight Ballrooms’ Movie Diary these days, I’ve decided to release this rough clip of an experiment I did …

At the start of this year I became a father! As any parent will tell you, the new responsibility is a full time job. And that’s as well as the other full time job that pays your bills. Naturally, progress on my film projects and posts to this site have become few and far between. …

I visited Eastbourne for a photoshoot back in 2011 – for the Twilight Ballrooms project. I took many photos including many of the historic and famous Victorian pier.Sadly the amusement arcade caught fire yesterday and completely gutted the first section of the pier. Many have said that it’s a relief the fire only took 30% …

My first attempt at a Doctor Who time tunnel

My effort from the latest tutorial from Video Copilot.

This short clip that I posted on Facebook seems to have gone down really well with the viewing public. Don’t know why? 😉

I do believe I put this time-lapse on Facebook but for some reason completely missed the blog, which T-Base fans, really won’t do!

An experiment with Rotascoping. Also this was originally shot just using an iPhone5s. Not bad quality, huh? One can make movies so cheaply these days!

A little experiment with particles and the demo of Red Giants’s Form software.

Have entertained the notion recently that the Twilight would look like a pavilion and it and the Rubicon rollercoaster, essential parts of the film, would be on a rotting pier rather than on the edge of a cliff.

We have recently had a heatwave in London and along with the great weather comes other extremes, namely thunderstorms. Having not posted much of late, I thought I’d try and win favour back from my readers with a freebie. Here is a royalty free clip (not for resale) of it raining heavily to add to your sound library.

Check out my fantastic time-lapse of a sunset in the Maldives taken earlier this year. You can tell it’s on the equator by the fact that the sun sinks absolutely vertically.

As excitement builds with the election of a new pope this week, Tranquility Base Presents exclusive behind the scenes footage of this historic moment.

Happy New Year, but also Happy Anniversary. Yes can you believe it, 2013 marks the 10th anniversary of Tranquility Base Presents. To mark this milestone, I’ve put together a short film documenting the slow but steady evolution of this, my film making website, from the first ever shots with a webcam up to todays experiments with computer graphics and post production and the bits in between!

Some great things happen by accident. Here, I turned a bit of footage into a winter scene by simply keying out a random colour from the grass and placing a white solid background behind. Not only does is get a snow effect but great frosting too.

Recently got into a new site called Pinterest. I found the app version and downloaded to me iPad. Now I’m hooked. It allows to pin most (more or less) pictures on the internet into a folder on Pinterest. So if, you’re doing some compositing on FOG (see below) you can collect a folder of other peoples images to inspire you. Just inspire mind, no stealing! And I was inspired, though it’s your decision whether I actually got a decent foggy composite, rather than just a bleached effect!

Quick experiment using the 3d import function in a demo version of Photoshop. Could be useful tools for compositing?

What happens when you mix the music/lyrics of Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice with samples from the KLF’s “What Time Is Love?”

Happy Halloween from Tranquility Base Presents, plus a video of my day trip to my favourite spooky film location!

Next year Tranquility Base will celebrate it’s 10th Birthday! So if I find anything of historical value from the archives I shall stick it on the site. First up is the original T-Shape which was designed by Alex Treadway. Here are some of the original photos used. The plan (oh so many plans!) had been …

Have been playing with the 30 day demo for Pro Tools. Alas, all good things must come to an end. I do hope to raise the cash to buy this or if anyone’s feeling generous they’re welcome to buy it for me. It costs about £500, but compared to Logic, Cubase and Garageband, it’s worth …

The day has finally come! Now the works have finished in my flat I could finally collect and hang the picture I purchased earlier this year from Uli Meyer, pride of place above my telly. Indeed, I imagine many a TV program is now doomed as it will inevitably steal my gaze. The piece is …

The lead character in this movie will be played by yours truly naturally. Have taken time to start creating the character in the flesh and this included a trip yesterday to Charles Fox make up in Covent Garden. I was dreading the visit, knowing nothing about makeup. But the staff could not have been more …

Nothing excites me more than that feeling of realisation that you can do something and it’s much simpler than you think. One such things I discovered last night. Using my phone’s 3G to connect my iPad online. And what’s more it’s wireless. My humble Galaxy Ace has under tether settings, something called Mobile AP, which …

Today I had the privilege of being given a personal tour round the animation studios of Uli Meyer, a local based artist here in Camden Town. He has worked with big animation companies such as Warner Brothers, Touchstone, Disney & Universal to name a few. But it is his collaborative work with the late Ronald …

Anyone who doesn’t know, my flat is undergoing extensive repairs since a flood last November… and yes, it’s STILL going on. So I’ve been quite preoccupied with that on what feels like a full-time basis. I’ve also been doing lots of web-design favours for friends. So what I’m saying is basically it’s been a while …

The latest picture of the Rubicon rollercoaster. If you don’t know the history of the Twilight Ballrooms and the dreadful accident that happened involving this rollercoaster on Saturday 26th May 1973 then I suggest you visit the history section on the website, www.thetwilightballrooms.co.uk and brush up on your knowledge!

Wishing you all a very wonderful Christmas holiday. This pic was taken in practical darkness using an 8 second exposure. The bright orange glow in the background is the light pollution from Eastbourne. Love the droplets of water on the bush on the left – very festive I thought! Click on the pic to enlarge.

Welcome to the brand new Twilight Ballrooms Movie Diary

Had a marvellous few days in Eastbourne. Fought off the temptation to spend my time at tea dances and instead headed off across the South Downs taking in Beachy Head and a fab National Trust hamlet called Birling Gap which, for me, is the nearest thing in real life to Wits End I’ve seen so …

I have been working hard, honest. The thing about pre-production and/or learning anything new is that at the end of the day, you don’t really have anything to show for it. Well, I thought I’d change that and have edited a quick montage of all tester clips and stuff generally marked on my hard-drives as …

Meet Scott Mowbray – Actor/Electrician.

Pre-production on the Twilight project has now taken half a year and may take another year or so at this rate. It’s slow but I’m learning so much. However, I am going to have to take some shortcuts, especially with the drawing, which ain’t necessarily a bad thing. Have found a new website called http://www.archive3d.net/ …

Check out this cover of the song I wrote for David Garland Jones! They’ve even written some new lyrics!

Visited my dad today and was browsing some old photos. This one is of the road I grew up in, though taken long before I was born I might add. As way of demonstrating the effect to my dad I’ve had another go with this pic. It’s only rough and distortion is quite visible towards …

Whilst the movie project is called The Twilight Ballrooms, there is also a LIVE show with the same name. This is also written by me but is completely different storyline from the film which is set in 1980. The LIVE show is set in present day and is presented by the Ballrooms’ resident magicians Malcolm …

Experimented today with something called “Vanishing Point”. There is much you can do with this Photoshop filter which helps you edit a 2d photo in a 3d environment. One of the cool things is when you export it to After Effects. (Check out this tutorial from Andrew Kramer) By moving the virtual camera in the …

Today was a bit of a Red Letter Day for Tranquility Base Presents in general. After months of research and general umming and erring, I finally bought a new video camera. However, no ordinary camera. You maybe surprised to learn that I actually bought a DSLR – something that I’ve seen other enthusiasts do of …

Have completed this 3d model as part of the local village store. The sweet wrapper images were a real bonus and are courtesy of Jason Liebig from Flickr! Many thanks Jason. The actual model may well end up as a blur in the background, but that would still be the case if I were dressing …

So the last few weeks have been a mixture of different Twilight related projects. Lots of 3d drawing, notably the top of the Twilight tower which has now been added to the Ballrooms. I have also been designing numerous posters from the Twilight’s history. I did something similar to decorate the set when we took …

Found this little gem from the Tranquility Base Archive. Kylie Vilcins plays “Adelaide” in the rather weird monologue shot around the same time as Starmaker (in which she can also be heard singing “I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts”) Although uncompleted, there is something appealing about the character. She reminds me of an Australian …

Bought 2x85W softbox lights and stands to use with my green screen from Amazon. There is a slight problem with fluorescent flicker but at the moment I’m putting that down to having a cheapo camera. It’s not too much of a problem at the moment anyhow as you can see in this demo below. The …

Well, I have finally purchased dedicated web-space for this website and have spent most of the week moving files. Like any move you find items that you’d completely forgotten about. Here is one example, a trailer I did from 2006, to the Star Trek theme. Reminds me of the projects that were hot at the …

A blog worthy of mention, Greyscale Gorilla This one covers all my favourite subjects on Post Production, namely After Effects, Cinema 4d, Photoshop and others. Some great video tutorials (video tutorials are always the best) and a competition called the 5 Second Project which is very entertaining, check out the superb entries, inspiring stuff. All …

Well, the Twilight script has now completed it’s first draft and is being re-written and tweaked as we speak. Am now exploring the feasibility of various things I would like to achieve in the film and that may take several months. I feel it is vital to tackle however – it will determine not only …

This year I hope to be able to incorporate mattes into my videos, especially with the Twilight project. For this I realise I will need to swot up on Photoshop and what it can do. There are plenty of good sites such as psdtut+ which I’ve mentioned before on this blog. Here is another. Nothing …

An impulse find led me to purchasing the domain www.actormusician.co.uk Not really got any use for it at the moment other than I thought it was a bargain for £6. Just got it pointing to the music part of this website for the time being. My dream URL of course would be www.tranquilitybase.com or tranquilitybase.co.uk …

There was a picture of me on the telly tonight. My girlfriend spotted the blink and you’ll miss it moment. It was on BBC2 doc celebrating 25 years of Les Miserable with Matt Lucas. There was a peripheral mention of “Oliver!” and up came this pic! It was odd as I’d never ever seen this …

Richard Leigh’s production of the live show wot I wrote “The Twilight Ballrooms” had a successful run at Jermyn Street last month and there is more to come in 2011. Michelle Roberts who plays what’s left of the “Roger McGuffin Holiday Dancers” took some great photos. These will be appearing on the Twilight Ballrooms website in …

Had a little learn and play with the Daylight System in 3ds-Max today. Made a little weathervane from scratch to render in it that I imagine would probably sit well aloft the Twilight Ballrooms main tower. Maybe we’ll see this shot again someday in such a context, though hopefully less plain looking (Come on, I …

Not only a great selection of post-production software and add-ons, the website also has a great selection of videos and tutorials on how to get the best out of these products. From Grading software with fabulous presets, to lens flares, text effects (including the ubiquitous Matrix generator), vintage effects, state of the art video noise …

Took a break from scriptwriting this afternoon and played with a picture I took (with just a camera-phone) last year whilst in the Big Apple. Would usually have just deleted an experiment like this but thought that now I’ve got a blog, I should post it. Principally Photoshop with a dash of After Effects to …

Give your movie poster a touch of class by using that font Hollywood uses on the base of all of its posters.Download it free from www.abstractfonts.comThe small credits “Directed By, Written By, Produced By” etc… are all achieved using one lowercase letter shortcuts. There are also extras like DVD and Caption logos and much more. …

Get visitors to your site to subscribe to your mailing list. This is a great and FREE site. Mailchimp is the answer to your mailing list needs. It can help you set up a variety of forms such as mailing lists or questionairres; it’ll help you customise these forms with your own design and provide the …

Did this spoof trailer to take a break from web designing and also to revise what I’ve learnt so far with post-production. And also for a bit of fun! Thanks to everyone who was game for getting involved!

Congratulations to Welsh actor David Garland Jones who was booed off the stage at Goldie Lookin Chain’s gig in Newport last Saturday. They chanted “Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?” If they had checked the poster or bought a  programme they would have known. He’s David Garland Jones.

And I mean everything. Had to dismantle all my equipment to deal with a burst radiator pipe in the wall. Dust and debris everywhere. And during the repair process, the face of Christ appeared in the wall, presumably in time for the Pope’s visit later this month. Shame its been plastered up. If I had …

Working very hard on a few things. Have been redesigning Richard Leigh’s False Impressions website and still, yes still, been working on the the new Twilight site. I’m very pleased with how its turned out and can’t wait to show it off, hopefully next month. And have purchased www.actorcv.com All in all a busy month. …

In working on the new Twilight website, the topography of the Twilight had to be devised. Here is an early blueprint of the front structure of the building.

If you’re wondering why this could be good news then you probably have no reason to be on this website. It’s fantastic news. Actually, it’s better than that.Yes, for nerds like myself we will spend the next few months playing with the various demos which are free to download off Adobe’s site – And if …

Christpoher Cazenove passed away last month. I was priviledged to have worked with him, albeit 25 years ago on the American TV miniseries “Kane & Abel”. I featured the clip in last Octobers blog (click here to see) This clip contains a small scene when the Abel family, en route to the church to baptise …

Richard Leigh has persuaded “Malcolm Marvelle – Master of Mystery and the lovely Rita” to return to Jermyn Street Theatre this November 2010. Ticket information will soon be available on their website.It’s a show not to be missed. But don’t just take my word for it. Click the video here to get a brief glimpse …

What this site hasn’t got for the serious movie maker isn’t worth knowing. It certainly has a comprehensive collection of external tutorials covering a wide array of categories, including many Adobe products, specific camera equipment and the main 3d modelling programs. And when you’re on a tea break have an explore of the rest of …

Have you ever wanted to create your own CGI graphics but thought it out of your price range and ability? Think again. Ever heard of Blender? What?! It’s been round for years, c’mon! Check out the website. Basically, its open source software which means its free to download and use. And like most open source …

Tutorials for photoshop, webdesign, after effects, vector graphics, cg, audio and much more. Regularly updated, the tutorials are either on video or on well illustrated instructions. They are also in plain English. So whether you’re an expert or a novice, you’ll pick up some handy tips and tricks on this site. Visit tutplus.com

In the mid-nineties, central Europe was gripped by the biggest thing in music since Michael Cretu’s “Enigma” stormed the charts in 1990. Swiss-born Robert Miles released “Children” – a style of music that would later become known as Dreamhouse/Trance. It was to be played in clubs and caverns all over Europe for the next 35 …

Have started learning the basics of 3ds Max and there’s still the new look Blender 2.5 Alpha version to learn. I’m in geek heaven. Production is currently underway also for another episode of Insomnia due in the Spring. I think its the best one yet and will be the first one in WideScreen. Widescreen is …

Without doubt the best website for anyone using After Effects

That time I was in an American mini-series in the mid-80’s

This clip shows my recent experiment with a Vocoder. It basically takes an input such a vocal wave and sends it through the modulator of a synthesiser. Then when you play a chord on the synth, the input can be heard mixed with the chord that your playing on the synth. On a monotone level …