He's back, and he's got a new trick....

Goodness me, how time flies eh?
Here is a loooong overdue update to the life and times of myself...

Last time I wrote on this, I was facing the depression of a summer with no plans in sight. And now I am at the end of that summer, but on reflection I do have at least some things to show for it.
I started instructing at the Glasgow Climbing Centre in June, and after 3 months I'm still enjoying it (a rare occurrence for me!) It's a great job, and it allows me to impart my climbing wisdoms on the next generation of beasts, as was done for me so long ago. The pay is helpful and the free climbing even more so.
Working in a climbing centre has other perks too. I'm constantly in a climbing environment, which allows me to focus on my own climbing goals and also to get as much time trying to achieve them as possible. And so it follows that a little over a month ago, I climbed my first 7c on my third attempt (never did get that tan....) and oh so sweet it was! However, I quickly set my eyes on bigger sights, 8a.
Been working it for a few weeks now, have come frustratingly close many times, but again it's just a matter of time before the imposing number falls and I can have written in my epitaph: "Euan Ryan - Once climbed 8a dontcha know?"

Film-making and such! Done quite a fair amount over the summer, be it small personal projects to slightly larger (paid!) work. As part of my connections with the Glasgow Climbing Centre, I made another short promo for them, focusing on climbing in schools and education. I was pretty pleased with the outcome and it was really nice to work closely with the client to produce exactly what they're looking for.
Another project was with James Wright of 5th Floor Cycling. Myself and Paul did a promotional video for him, as part of a new sponsorship deal for the company. A short piece showcasing James as a cyclist and as a fasion guru... (nice shades!)

Last month, Andrew, John and myself attempted the West Highland Way. Despite not making it to the end (blisters, heavy rucksacks, knackered knees and crohn's disease) we had a great few days out in the wild of Scotland which despite the physical toll, was really quite enjoyable. And as any good film-maker does, I took my camera along for the ride...


GCC Schools Promo
https://vimeo.com/48828108

James Wright: An Introduction
https://vimeo.com/45846444

The Way Ahead:
https://vimeo.com/47674476

The Great Depression

So I finished college last week, had the showcase on Thursday. Got a decent amount of my work shown which was cool, then drank copious amounts of cocktails bought for us by the lecturers. All in all not a bad end to the year!Alas, I am now left with the conundrum of what to do this summer. I've recently left my job at Tiso and soon will be starting a job instructing at the Glasgow Climbing Centre. This is a major bonus. This also means I'll be spending a lot of the summer climbing, which could not be better!
And yet, I'm a bit fed up.
Apart from some small projects with Dualfan (https://www.facebook.com/DualFanProductions) and some even smaller personal projects, I have nothing big to look forward to. It's looking increasingly like I'll spend another summer in Scotland which means I won't have been abroad in 3 and a bit years. I was really hoping to get away this year, be it climbing or just chilling by the pool, however due to a few friends' finance situations and such, I'll have to wait another year...
And to cap it all off, I've now fallen a total of 7 times at the last move of my 7c project at GCC. Frustrating does not even begin to describe it...

Recently did a short promo for the GCC Youth team, check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ripVZhfrpGI

DIY Film Making

Long time no speak. Time flies when you're pre-occupied with college work and other such jobs.
So here is the long awaited (by who exactly?) update on my life and times.
I've been putting in the hard graft in college recently, mainly finishing off paper work and touching up bits and pieces of my edit. Colour correcting out my nut! Que massive renders and a lot of time spent messing around and drinking coffee waiting for it to finish.
The final graded unit bits to be handed in are coming up and after that I'll be sorting out a show-reel for the end of year showing at the GFT. Should be a laugh looking through all my work throughout the year and the (hopefully good) progression in the quality of my work...

I've been filming quite a lot of gigs recently, all un-paid despite the clear monies being made by the promoters. Also invested in 20 pairs of ear-plugs to prevent my ear-drums being pounded to an early grave.

Yesterday, in preparation for Tuesday's shoot, Paul and I took a trip in the clio-mobile to B&Q and set about testing the structural integrity of various poles and pipes for use in the construction of our jib. Spent a good few hours (manly hours) sawing, hammering and drilling and have come up with a pretty decent camera slider and most of a jib, which I hope to complete today after a trip to the builder's mecca that is Bill's Tool Store.

Stand-by for some aerial madness....

Lucus eat your heart out!

Yesterday's events in college took a turn for the geekier as we decided to set up a green screen and have a Star Wars duel. Unfortunately the green screen didn't work too well, the blankets aren't very good and the lights we have to hand are not brilliant for trying to get an even colour.
Despite all this, we persisted, and after about 4 hours of pain-staking editing (moving lightsabers and bullets frame by frame) we had 10 seconds of this heart-racing, jaw-dropping, adrenaline fuelled clash of titans! https://vimeo.com/40485413

Music Videos, Graded Unit and Bicycling

Well, here is a long over-due blog post. Tied up between Graded Unit work and various other projects recently, I've not had many oppertunities to sit and write.
So the filming for my music video went really well last Friday. Got all the shots I needed, brilliant weather yet again, and a healthy dose of directing power!
I've been editing the footage over the past week or so, watching it over endlessly and tweaking bits and pieces. Still not very good at colour correction but I'm learning gradually, I think I'll need another masterclass from Paul. I've quite enjoyed editing the music video, fitting cuts to music beats etc has been quite challenging and interesting.

Had a few changes to the bike recently, most notibly a new set of wheels. 700c deep-rim Weinmann jobs improve the look of the bike, the weight and most impressivly, the speed! 23c slick tyres, just perfect for powering about town.

Been playing Polo quite a bit too, getting better day by day. However obtaining the nickname "Do a Crash" probably best describes my playing style.

Also went to Ratho with Jessica on Friday, her first visit to the mammoth climbing arena. A good day was had, Jess managing to complete a pretty big lead climb, easily her highest to date. I also had a few shots on the new comp wall, testing my stamina to the limit on the ever increasing over-hang...

^Photo belongs to James Watson

Sunshine

So the last week in Glasgow has been glorious sunshine and record-breaking temperatures. Had 2 shoots so far, one involving a picnic and one a tennis match, both perfectly suited to a warm sunny day! My shoot for my graded unit music video is tomorrow and the weather forecast looks like we'll be able to hold on to the sun which is brilliant news! I was afraid I'd have to postpone my shoot if it were raining as it wouldn't fit the feel and mood of my film at all. Currently have a UV filter glued to a coffee cup by my side ready for the in-mug shot, hoping it'll hold the liquid this time! Last time I tried it I ended up with a DrPepper soaked 550D....

S.H.I.T. (E) 3

So on Saturday I braved the early start and arrived in Newcastle at 8.11am. As the city cleaned up from the night before, I rolled around with Brian looking for somewhere to have breakfast, finally ending up in the most nasty greasy spoon you can imagine....set us up perfectly for a day of sport!
After meeting the other Glasgow folks later, and the Edinburgh crew too, we headed through the maze that is Newcastle town centre, and over to the polo court for the tournament.
My team played ok I suppose, but we seemed to lack the ability to score goals, a major issue in a tournament! Still, 3 excellent games of polo were played, and we spent the rest of the day lying in the sun watching the other games and drinking Sainsbury's finest Biere De Flandres.
Team Sensible took the victory at the end of the day, congratulations to them!
On my way back to the station on my own - I'd foolishly booked a fairly early train home - I managed to get lost again, only finding the station by pure luck. As I came through the ticket barrier the guard was getting ready to wave the train off, but I managed to jump aboard just in time for the long journey home.
Here's an edit I made of the day, Cheers to all the good folks of Newcastle for the time and effort they put into making it happen!


http://vimeo.com/38751698