Nils Crompton's Web Log

Destiny Has Arrived

2011-05-20T19:48:00.005+10:00

A couple of shots I snapped of Destiny, an Indigenous drag-queen, down on The Block in Redfern recently. The shoot was conceived by artist, Karla Dickens. I was working as her technical assistant. We had heaps of fun! The results will be show at Firstdraft Gallery in October later this year.

Creative Reel

2010-10-19T13:56:00.005+11:00

Just cut a creative reel together. Let me know what you think!

Music used with permission:

I'm In Love With A Ripper (YACHT) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Wendy vs. Helvetica

2010-09-17T20:19:00.009+10:00

A new film I've made together with Brooke Trezise, Wendy vs. Helvetica, is being exhibited at Object Gallery as a part of the exhibition StereoTyped. It also screened recently at Kino #39. The film will be online as soon as we've done the festival rounds. In the meantime you can catch it at Object till Sunday 26 September. And, here are some stills.

Solitary Electricity Substations

2010-06-24T14:47:00.004+10:00

This is a follow up to another short I made called Former Corner Stores. Both films are (intended to be) about the urban space re-inventing itself in a kind of out-of-control evolution - like all evolution really. 'Former Corner Stores' mimic animal camouflage and warning patterns; 'Solitary Electricity Substations' sing out to potential mates at dusk.

Brooke Trezise created the sound design for this one. I shot and animated it in After Effects with some help from Mocha.

An earlier version - sans sound and titles - played at Locksmith Project Space as a part of the SafARI 2010 exhibition.

SafARI 2010

2010-05-26T20:56:00.019+10:00

I was very lucky to be the 'unknown kid' taken a chance on by the wonderful SafARI team this year. SafARI is an unofficial fringe event to the Biennale of Sydney, happening across several 'ARI's sprinkled around the inner-city.

My contributions were two film loops at Locksmith Project Space and a 12m x 3m vinyl cut design on the facade of FBi radio.

The films are about the urban space re-inventing itself in a kind of out-of-control evolution - like all evolution really. 'Former Corner Stores' mimic animal camouflage and warning patterns; 'Solitary Electricity Substations' sing out to potential mates at dusk.

The FBi design is, for me, about the way community radio and ARIs create points of discursive (re)orientation. They allow their audience to literally: think the city differently.

To expand, I tried to make the design about the site itself. I asked myself what radio is, its function today’s media geography, and in particular, what is essential to community radio stations like FBi? I think it acts as a centre amid fragmentation.

As a medium, radio is becoming more and more the purest expression of a sense of community and simultaneity - primarily because it is predominantly live (counter to the trend in TV). As we hear a voice or a song on the radio, what we feel, even more than the songs or voices themselves, is every oscillation and reverberation being listened to by the diasporic audience.

So, in terms of the design, the lines of force lead not outward like the beams and waves of classic push-media representations, but inward as trajectories of audience attention – like a maypole in our everyday dance. The title of the work is ‘Future Maypole’.

Go to: more photos on Flickr, the SafARI website, my interview on FBi, my interview on Throwshapes.

Happy Accident #2

2010-04-18T13:24:00.005+10:00

Continuing a theme of happy accidents, I was pre-visualising a vinyl design in photoshop and the masks got all messed up and voila!

Good Ol' Fashioned Textual Play

2010-03-26T22:07:00.005+11:00

This is my submission to the SafARI zine - a collection of some of the concepts I hope to engage with in the work I am making for the exhibition.

Ender Film Shoot

2009-11-05T22:38:00.011+11:00

Just recently I've spent two weekends working as a lighting assistant on Sean Hinds' spectacular short horror film, 'Ender'. I took a few snaps while I was there too. For the rest of them go here.

Former Corner Stores

2009-09-09T19:43:00.003+10:00

Finally finished my submission for Kino Sydney's Corners Project! I wanted to try out planar tracking in Mocha and After Effects. It kinda worked too well in a way. I had to introduce the transitions to draw attention to the fact the buildings weren't actually painted that way to begin with. But now I can't imagine the piece without them.

I can now whole heartedly recommend NOT using a D90 or any camera with a rolling shutter for this technique - makes for very unsteady footage. I think I would also use prime lenses next time for less distortion. I want to do a series on electricity substations next, maybe try out some 3D tracking.

Happy Accident #1

2009-08-31T18:22:00.008+10:00

The best thing for me in any creative pursuit is the happy accident. I was doing some tracking and compositing in After Effects and the corner pin data got all messed up and voila!

Jessica vs Hitchock

2009-07-05T18:47:00.004+10:00

I just participated in the Hitchcock themed session of Kino Kabaret 2009 which was incredible fun. Our newly met party of five had just 30hrs to create a no-budget masterpiece from blank page to screenable film.

Marianne Alla took the helm as director, actress Audrey O'Connor of 'Yolk' fame played the lead, I wrangled the camera and managed the 5hr post-production window! I've never worked so fast in my life.

Bonza Babymaker

2009-03-17T09:13:00.002+11:00

My flatmate Debbie and I whipped up this mock TVC for the short film event Kino.

The Pizza

2009-02-21T00:04:00.013+11:00

I've just finished editing The Pizza, a 15min drama directed by Johnny Tran and funded by the FTO (New South Wales Film and Television Office).
The lead actor is Firass Dirani. You may know him from such films as The Combination, The Black Balloon or even Power Rangers Mystic Force.
It was a long haul, but it is now in the safe hands of Frame Set & Match for grading and mastering. Pheeew. Next stop Cannes...

Political Editing

2009-02-20T23:51:00.004+11:00

This is a TVC I edited at Hackett Films for Avaaz.org - the international version of GetUp. I guess it's a pretty minor part of the process in this case, but it's nice to work on something with a bit of political integrity!

Rima Stills

2008-11-13T17:57:00.002+11:00

I've recently been focus pulling and doing stills photography on Zayaan Jappie's short film 'Rima'. It is all about a young woman determined be a car detailer.
These are some of the stills I took:

New York Kid - Music Video

2008-09-04T22:05:00.000+10:00

This is a music video I directed for Bright Red's single, New York Kid (Rish Records, 2007). The budget was less than a grand + a bit of elbow grease. My approach was to tell a cautionary tale, which is essentially what the song was doing. And there is no better cautionary tale than the film noir.

The Magic Dice - Short Film

2007-07-06T02:00:00.000+10:00

This is a short film I made for Kino, a monthly film event held in Sydney. It was the first in a set of multiple choice films where each section was made by a different filmmaker, and the path was chosen by the cinema audience. On the night it screened the audience chose option 'C'.

Visit Kino for further details.

Snap Shots

2005-10-26T05:00:00.000+10:00

Just a few snap shots of my friends Marita, Lachlan and Laura Bullock.

Upskirt Stills

2005-01-02T07:00:00.000+11:00

I worked as the stills photographer and lighting assistant to DOP Steve Macdonald on the short film 'Upskirt'.

These were two of the stills I took:

Visit the Upskirt website for more details.

Doris - Short Film

2005-01-02T04:00:00.000+11:00

This was my first short film, made while studying at University of Technology, Sydney, in 2004. It was inspired by a visit to Rose Seidler House, a rare example of modernist residential architecture in Australia, built by Harry Seidler when he first moved here.

Every shot was pre-framed in a set of photographs before filming began.

Vera's Bathroom

2004-06-02T05:00:00.000+10:00

This bathroom was built by my Grandfather in the early 1960s in their brand new 'bungalow' house. My Grandmother was very proud of it and I suppose I was too. I took these photographs on my last visit to their house, after her funeral.

Stereoviews Exhibition

2001-12-14T07:00:00.000+11:00

Selected works from my final exhibition of my honours degree in photomedia. Each image is a reconstruction of a bathroom from houses myself and my family have lived in.

The pieces were created in Lightwave and Photoshop. If viewed through lorgnette glasses the images become three dimensional. Get yours here, or email me your postal address and I'll send you some.

Dance Photography

1998-01-02T07:00:00.000+11:00

When I was studying at the Tasmanian School of art in Hobart I worked as a freelance photographer for dance and theatre companies. These are a few images I took of dancer and choreographer Wendy McPhee.