Izabela Szczutkowiecky on Still Photography

The beautiful Izabela Szczutkowiecky took close to 100 photos on site during our dress rehearsal yesterday!  We are very fortunate to have this busy lady providing still shots of our film.  These will be unveiled with much excitement in January when Izabela returns to Cork from a Christmas visit to Poland.  Check out her gorgeous photographic work on her blog 'mondays'.

Live on Fundit.ie!

We are live on Fundit.ie!! 33 days to raise €850 production costs for our film! Some nice rewards(plus our eternal gratitude) in return for donations. Click through to read more . .

Me the Seagull and the Sky on Facebook!

If you, like 1 billion others have a Facebook profile - then please click 'Like' on our Facebook page and see snippets of our film project as it begins to unfold!! Thankyou :-)

Its all happening on YouTube!

Yet another YouTube link we'd recommend you watch!  This time its a wee promo outlining the inspirations and aims for Me the Seagull and the Sky.  No need to say anymore - its all in the video!! 

Rob O'Halloran on Camera

We are very lucky to have Rob O'Halloran joining Seamus Hegarty on camera for Me the Seagull and the Sky.  Rob is the founder of 'Insomniac Film Collaborative' a not-profit film collective based in Cork that provides, skills sharing, in-house training and promotes Irish independent film making.


His short films have been screened widely from Dublin Solas Film Festival to the Irish Short Film Festival in Chicago.   He has worked as camera assistant on a huge body of productins including on RTE's documentary series Meet The Neighbours and Resistance will Rise, an action packed sci-fi film shot in Co. Kerry.  Rob's hilariously charming short Ger O'Halloran's True Stories featured in the programme for Corona Cork FIlm Festival 2010 has been screened at Murphy's big night out.  Click here to watch the trailer for the film - its guaranteed to put a smile on your face!  

Ger O'Halloran's True Stories, Directed by Rob O'Halloran, Insomniac Productions 2010

 

Seamus Hegarty on Camera & Lighting

We are delighted to have Seamus Hegarty on board as director of photography for Me the Seagull and the Sky.  He is a busy man, with a portfolio of camera work extending across all genres including shorts, documentaries, animations, and music videos.  He worked on The Forgotten Maggies, a groundbreaking documentary about the Magdalene Laundries, that premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2009.  His recent short animation Dogmation featured in Corona Cork Film Festival 2011.  

One of Seamus' most successful film projects dates back to 2008, when he directed camera and lighting for 'He Dies At The End', a short horror film that ran at a wide array of film festivals including;  Film4 Frightfest London, Leeds International Film Festival, Shriekfest LA and Chicago Irish Film Festival where it was a festival winner.  Watch it through to appreciate why - everybody loves a good scare!!

 

Pledging My Love

Chris O’Neill (director and producer of Me the Seagull and the Sky) has written, edited and directed several short films in his day, including a film based on Cork’s abandoned Capitol Cineplex site, which opened the 2007 Cork Film Festival.  His film Saint Francis Didn’t Run Numbers, will be part of the Irish Film Institute's upcoming touring experimental cinema programme.  Pledging My Love is a film he shot during his time at New York Film Academy.  With strikingly enhanced black and white imagery and a soundtrack packed with 60's Pop songs, this film makes for 12 minutes worth spending on YouTube.  Click here to watch and read below for a summary of the film from Chris.

          Pledging My Love, Directed by Chris O'Neill, 2002

Chris O'Neill on Pledging My Love:  

"With no dialogue, this story of a lonely character trying to connect with another person is told through wordless imagery, pop music and sound effects.  It was filmed on black and white reversal 16mm.  The result is a high-contrast image which compliments both the brightly-lit location of the characters' home and the dark, shadowy location of her workplace.  With the tight framing and 95% of the story taking place indoors, all of these elements create an restricted, insular world - reflecting the lead character's emotion state. The use of music - mostly 60s American pop songs - offer an idealised romantic view of relationships, which is in striking contrast to what actually happens to her when she finally approaches a man."

    

 

The oldest church in Cork

Cork's Triskel Christchurch sits on a site that is steeped in history.   Located on South Main street, which was Cork's main street in medieval times, the site has served as a place of worship, a burial grounds for Cork's most prestigious citizens, in recent times it has housed Cork Archives Institute and it now stands as one of the city's focal cultural hubs.  Two churches stood on this site before the current Christchurch building was built in 1720–1726.  It is believed that the first of these churches was the very first church built in Cork. To read more click here

Christchurch Transformations

An 18th century neoclassical Georgian building, that has been through a €4.8 million refurbishment project makes for a wonderful location for a film shoot!  Renowned for its fantastic audio quality and rich furnishing, Cork's Triskel Christchurch most importantly serves as a stunning arts venue that plays host to a programme of live music, visual art and film.   This recently realized project is the highly commendable result of a partnership between Cork City Council and Triskel Arts Centre.

The Triskel have very kindly granted us permission to shoot our three minute film 'Me the Seagull and the Sky' on site.  This will be the first film to be shot in Christchurch since its refurbishment (completed in April 2011) and we feel it would stand as a wonderful piece of documentation of the newly transformed interior of the building.

Transformation is a theme that runs through the film itself,  as it explores a moment where a routine task suddenly becomes a sublime experience of oneness with the world . . .