More than 1 year on...

Since Completing my degree in Audio Visual Production, and graduating with a 1st class honours.

I have earned the permission to publish the full Rory Gallagher documentary onto youtube, where it will be the first of its kind!

I have started a career at localfoodadvisor, where I now work in the role of Media Director. An example of one of our visits can be found below

More of my videos can be found on the site http://www.localfoodadvisor.com/, or at the sister youtube site of www.youtube.com/user/localfoodadvisor

Multimedia Exhibition

The Rory Gallagher Documentary Short was recently showed at the Nottingham Trent University Exhibition of Art and Design, where it recieved positive feedback from members of the public, as well as University Students and lecturers.

Documentary Completed!

Since conducting the interviews, the Rory Gallagher Documentary Short has been edited and submitted to the admissions office. Copies have also been posted to a scope of individuals to receive feedback.

The DVD Main Menu Screen

The film was authored onto a DVD with a straightforward menu system, placing the emphasis on the film itself

The DVD Case Cover

Feedback


Larry Miller – Blues Guitarist, Reading

Very professionally conceived, produced and directed.The Rory documentary is one of the most informative insights into this man's life and career, touching upon his own personable style.Well done Matt
Larry


Jim Alcorn – Voiceover Artist, London

Look and Feel

The intro created an instant atmosphere of anticipation. By the end, I wanted to watch it again – It was so full, in spite of it being only 15 minutes

Visual

Excellent camera work. No moving around to create false movement – not required! The concert footage managed to capture the essence of the man. I listened to the Irish Tour CD and you picked the right parts for the doco.

Script

Right length. It was enough to be informative and link the rest of the film without being long winded. If you have a weakness, it is the script writing itself. I know you were not satisfied with the first version and though I was very glad to help with that, I suspect that you feel it is an area you need to work on.

Interviews

All the interviewees seemed relaxed in your company and spoke very naturally but with obvious passion. The best part was when Larry Miller was describing the beginning of a Rory concert and you cut in with the concert footage – great segway! I think his contribution was key to feeling the emotion of a real fan.

General comments

Matt, I believe you did a first class job. It’s a very professional piece of work and would not look out of place on the TV. To have condensed the doco to 15mins is no mean achievement, and rather than leaving huge gaps it made me want to see more. I can’t wait for the full length version!

Ps you should put it on youtube!

Cheers
Jim


Barry Barnes – Musician, Derby

Hi Matt - Excellent! I really like it, well done.

Although did you really have to give that hairy git Miller more time than me? He'll never let me forget it!

Cheers

Barry

Dino McGartland – Official Editor of Rory Gallagher Magazine, Belfast

Hi Matt,
Thanks for the DVD, which I have watched with great interest. Being a Rory Gallagher fan since 1971-72 I’ve collected everything there is available on Rory from records, tapes, CD and DVD and video, I have amassed quite a lot of memorabilia. I've lost count of the amount of times I’ve seen him live. After his death in 1995 I became the editor of the official Rory Gallagher fanzine STAGESTRUCK which I produced for some years after. In that time I’ve also been invited to Cork and Ballyshannon to give lectures and talks about Rory and have become friends with band members, crew and family.

So it's always exciting to hear of anyone who is getting involved in putting together documentaries of Rory and your short documentary is worthy of anything that has preceded you. In the time allocated you managed to bring across how much Rory was loved both as a musician and human being by the people you interviewed, his brother Donal, lifelong fan and musician Larry Miller and Cork based radio producer Marcus Connaughton. Each of these people brought over perfectly in their own words what Rory meant to them and you can see quite clearly the warmth, affection and passion each of them had for Rory and how he touched thousands of fans worldwide with his blistering blues guitar playing......an unsung hero. Your documentary left one "wanting to see and hear more" of this great Irish musician, maybe one day you could do a full length programme on the man they call "the musicians musician".

Warmest regards
Dino McGartland


John Ganjamie – Webmaster of ‘RoryOn.com’, Pennsylvania

“It was especially well done considering you were covering so many years within a 15 minute period. You did a nice job of mixing the narrative and the commentary from Donal, Marcus and Larry with some great live video of Rory in action, I guess the only thing that came to mind in the way of a critique is that I think the narrative lacked a little energy, especially in contrast with the excitement, energy & enthusiasm that Marcus and Larry Miller brought to the video. That isn't to say it wasn't well done, but it was missing the same juice that the videos and comments brought Well done!! and thanks for sending me a copy. I'm looking forward to the full length feature.

Keep in touch

John Ganjamie”

A recurring theme in the responses from key individuals being asked to ‘critique’ on the film is an interest in a full length version of the documentary. As discussed on page 8 of the proposal document in a section titled ‘The Audience’, a full length feature has entered post production stages. The response from these key individuals would suggest that the documentary has rekindled interest in the subject, which was part of the intention and ‘niche’ of the film.

Marcus Connaughton – Senior Producer for RTÉ

A short clip of the documentary will soon be available on the Nottingham Trent University website 'The Hub'. The full length version will be shown at the Milk '07 Multimedia Exhibition in the School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University.

Interview Phase Complete.

After returning from Cork, I interviewed Larry Miller in Reading. I have now successfully conducted all my interviews for the documentary:

Marcus Connaughton



Marcus is a radio producer for the Irish Broadcaster RTÉ; he was also a producer for Polydor Ireland when Irish bands such as Thin Lizzy were signed to that label. He therefore had an insight into the effect that Rory had on the Irish Rock music scene.
Marcus is also a big fan of Rory and has produced a four-part radio show on Rory Gallagher, which aired in July 2005. Once a year, he also gives tours around the city of Cork and cites areas of the City relevant to Rory. Marcus is currently writing a biography on Rory.

Mick Crowley




Mick Crowley owns the music store in Cork City where Rory purchased his first guitar. Mick knew Rory and his family very well, and Rory purchased musical equipment from Crowley’s Music Store during his career. Interviewing Mick Crowley will provide an exclusive perspective on Rory: Mick knew Rory from childhood, yet his point of view on that era differs from that of Rory’s younger brother Dónal.


Dónal Gallagher




As Dónal Gallagher is Rory’s younger brother, he has a unique perspective on Rory; he recalls Rory, at the age of 9, learning to play the guitar, and witnessed his progression throughout his career.

For a time, Dónal was also Rory’s Manager and now continues as the Executive Producer for the majority of Rory’s material.

Blues Guitarist Larry Miller






Larry Miller is a Blues Rock Guitarist, who is known for his technical ability, and his high standard of live performances. Larry has been playing the guitar since the age of 7, and also studied at the County School of Music in Surrey, where he learned the violin.
Guitar players including Gary Moore, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter and Rory Gallagher have inspired Larry, all of whom which he holds in high regard.

Larry also acknowledges that Rory inspired him as far as his own performances are concerned.

This marks a milestone in the production of the film, and draws the project closer to completion.

Another task currently being conducted is finding a Narrator, who is suitable, and also has an interest in the documentary.

Client Meeting

I met my tutor on January 29th to discuss progress with my project. As this was the first of this type of assignment I needed to familiarise myself with the format and style of the documentary.

Directing the Documentary by Michael Rabiger and An Introduction to Documentary Production by Searle Kochberg were two of the books that were discussed in earlier entries and although they were not used as definitive sources they were a main point of reference.

Aesthetic decisions: Form and Function

Within the documentary, the archival footage of Rory playing the guitar will be shown in a 4:3 frame, while all footage personally shot will be at full 16:9 ratio. This is being done to present a contrast between past and present, and also to highlight the fact that this footage has been obtained from another source, and is to be seen this way.

This decision has not been based on any academic writings in visual grammar or any such other area, and is simply a personal choice - I think at times it is important to make decisions which are purely personal opinion and do not follow any particular 'language' or 'code' already used. Of course this must not be done too frequently, or in the wrong aspect of production or a piece of work may appear too abstract!

Still Photographer

When attending the Annual Tribute Concert in September, I met with Joe Cunningham - A photographer who took many original pictures of Rory. As editing will begin soon, I contacted Joe regarding the use of his photos. Joe has allowed me to use many of his photographs within the documentary and I am waiting for an official response regarding this.

Re: Finding the right fan

As discussed on a previous Journal entry, I discussed with the webmaster of RoryOn ,the possibilities of finding a fan to appear in the documentary. John Harrington is a fan who is based in Cork. I have emailed John to discuss aspects of the project, including the possibility of performing the voiceover for the documentary. It would be best if I am able travel to Cork on a second occasion once the film has been edited, so the voiceover is guaranteed to be synchronised.