SummerIsle Studios is an award winning video and film production company situated in Ipswich, Suffolk. We offer a service that covers a range of filmmaking such as promotional videos, DVD authoring, editing, short films, documentaries, music videos wedding videos, parties, celebrations, video to DVD transfers and more.
Over the last few weeks, SummerIsle Studios for the first time has worked with the four legged kind. They say never work with animals, so we prepared ourselves when we were asked to film a promotional video for the Finjaro kennel. However, the cute puppies turned out to be rather fun and were much easier to film than we first thought. Here is a quick sample of some of the footage.
We travelled down to Worthing on Sunday 26th April to support our documentary which had been nominated for best film in its category at the End of the Pier International film festival.
We had a great time at the festival and even though we didn’t win, we were very pleased with the nomination and would like to thank everyone who liked our film and also to those who organized the festival.
Over the last few weeks Web Designer and illustrator Keith Atkinson from his company ‘Kreative’ has been working on a brand new website for our wedding videos.
Keith has done a fantastic job and we are very grateful for the time and effort he has put in to make our website look brilliant.
Kreative commenced operation in 1997. It was started by Keith Atkinson, a budding windsurfer from Kent, UK. With the demand of vinyl lettering/numbering for Sail Identification in the sports of Sailing and Windsurfing, Keith saw an opportunity to provide a service and start the business of Kreative. This was built upon an idea to produce letter/number characters by hand, which proved to be a non-productive method due to the time it took to produce, However with increasing demand and with markets yet to be reached, Keith saw huge potential for Kreative.
In 2002, the investment was made in professional sign writing equipment, and CAD technology to produce vinyl signs. This proved to be by far the most cost-effective (for both manufacturer and customer), and produces consistent professional results ensuring long-term durability.
Having attended further education studying ‘Art and Design’, and ‘Media and Photography’ courses, Keith pursued his interest in these fields by starting a sign writing company which later developed into a company that now offers a wider variety of services including Illustration, Website Design and Sign Writing.
“We pride ourselves on providing a high quality, friendly and fast service. We hope you enjoy the end product as much as we enjoyed producing it”.
A wise man once said ‘… a model/actor/dancer is a person whose profession is posing for artists or photographers.’ I feel this directly relates to me and my personality and what I do.
There are a number of life experiences that have helped me develop as a person and changed me as a person. At the age of eight I was sent to Tanzania, Africa, to study, there I experienced life in a different form, I saw people suffer and work hard for everything they had rather than it being given to them on a plate.
I was then sent to a boarding school in India at the age of twelve until I turned fifteen and I feel this changed the way I thought about life, even at a very tender age, I learned how hard it can be to live in another country and from that I have become passionate about traveling and helping others. I have traveled everywhere from Africa to Australia. Every country in the world has a spectacular story behind it and an incredible history and I love nothing better then to visit these countries and study the history and culture.
I graduated from Sheffield University after studying Computer Network Engineering and since then I have excelled in a number of aspects. I worked as an IT Administrator in Info Media Services for a number of months and within a few months received a promotion. I then started to feel that I was not being pushed to my full potential and wished for more. I moved to a new company and drove myself into doing new things, I was done with the days of sitting around and giving demands I was ready for receiving them. From then on I have not stopped, every opportunity I have advanced myself knowing there will always be light at the end of the tunnel.
My Family is my idol, they have struggled and come from nothing and supported me through to where I am now. Watching and growing up with them as a child inspired me to take every opportunity thrown my way, as life is about taking opportunities.
At university I modeled for a few minor model shoots for local magazines as well as for some local fashion shows and at the stage I am now at I feel I am ready to go back into modeling, something I am passionate about. Also my acting and dancing have been walking through my life every step of the way which I enjoy and will always carry on no matter what the future holds for me.
Niks is available for any kind of acting and modeling that is on offer, he lives in Northampton and is committed to travel anywhere in the UK as well as across the world.
Niks will be working with SummerIsle Studios sometime this year alongside other determined actors like himself, so keep posted to see him in some productions later in the year.
If you would be interested in using Niks for acting and modeling he can be contacted on the contact details below:
Me and Harri had a fantastic day at the Copdock Wedding Fayre hosted at the Hotel Elizabeth and organised by East Anglia Weddings. www.eastangliaweddings.co.uk
Thanks to Sue and Joe for organising a lovely event and we hope to attend more of their wedding fayres later on in the year.
We enjoyed meeting everybody who came to visit our stand and we hope we can be of service to you in the future.
Over the last few months, SummerIsle Studios has been working on an ambitious short film project with local acting talent and film enthusiasts.
Inspired by ‘Cora’ a short story by the writer Charlie Fish, the film captures the realism of youth in today’s society, reflecting on issues with drinking, partying and the struggle to get into the world of work.
Directed by Tom Newman, the film stars Christopher Keep, Eleanor Edgar and Matthew Wyard, all local amateur actors and actress whom have dedicated their time to produce a fantastic short film.
The film follows the troubled character Alex (Christopher Keep) who seems to be struggling to follow his lifetime ambition of becoming a successful writer. After an alcohol fuelled night out, Alex returns to a friends house to stay the night. Overcome by alcohol and exhaustion, Alex attempts to sleep, but is interrupted by a mysterious vision of a girl who goes by the name of ‘Cora’ (Eleanor Edgar). Cora starts to ask Alex questions about his life making him really consider his possible future. He fights to stay awake but eventually falls asleep.
Over the course of the next year, the film will be sent to film festivals across the country, the majority being in London. These festivals will hopefully provide the best opportunity to have the film seen by industry professionals and other film critiques.
Tom hopes the film has success, he says, “It would be nice for everyone involved to have something to celebrate, they have all worked hard and produced something they should be proud of. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone involved, and also thanks to Charlie Fish for letting us play with his story and also to Adam for his continued help through production and editing, and also to James for all his help as well. .
Over the next few years, SummerIsle Studios hopes to support and encourage local performing talent through the making of short films and documentaries. Ideas for next year are underway and anyone interested in acting is more than welcome to join in. If you would like to take part you can email tom@summerislestudios.com or call 07796363557.
Below is a quick sample of the Documentary about Cora, this will also be released with the final product in the next few weeks.
Last year SummerIsle Studios designed and built a homemade tripod tracking dolly, ideal for low budget filmmakers.
There are many designs on the internet for tracking dollies, so we studied other ideas and developed what we think is a stronger and more effective homemade tripod tracking dolly.
Without spending too much we designed a very strong and plausible dolly, which can take the weight of a tripod, camera and person all at the same time. The dolly is pulled along by rope and runs on either metal or plastic piping. The dolly has also been designed for maneuvering around bends and corners.
Below is a video of our invention and we hope many filmmakers on a budget warm to this design, its very cost effective and works just as well as a professional dolly. Any questions or queries are welcome.
Over the past few weeks SummerIsle Studios has been filming the Nativity Crib Festival 2008 which took place on the 28th-30th November in Grundisburgh Church Nr Woodbridge, Suffolk.
The festival was beautifully laid out and had over 200 donated cribs on display.
We are very grateful for being asked to film such a wonderful event, it has been a pleasure working on such a festive project, with so many passionate people.
The Nativity Crib DVD is now on sale at just £5, and includes a whole variety of cribs from different cultures.
Next year SummerIsle Studios will be working on a Nativity Crib making DVD for local primary schools involved in the ‘Year of the Child 2009′.
The SummerIsle Studios Lawn Mower Racing Documentary was declared runner up in the documentary section at the BBC Blast Film Festival this year. We are very proud of our achievement and would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who to took part in helping the documentary have success.
Originally we were going to send our new film ‘Cora’ to the Blast festival,however, due to a few delays we didn’t manage to finish the film in time for the festival deadline. So we decided to send the Lawn Mower Racing Documentary instead.
The panel of industry specialists for the documentary film-making genre included 1Xtra’s Jenna G, film critic James King (Radio 1) and Sarah Waldon, who thought very highly of the documentary. This is what they had to say:
“Great title for a documentary! it covered a lot of bases, with good use of shot sizes, good pacing and use of music. Next time it would be good to hear more from the racers themselves even with all the background noise”
We are greatful for their comments and will enter again next year and see what happens.
For a limited time only, SummerIsle Studios is offering you the chance to have free additional extras added onto your wedding package at no extra charge. These extras are as follows:
Interviews with guests – normally worth £50
Raw footage on a separate DVD – Normally charged at £100
Two cameras with two videographers for the ceremony only – Normally worth £200
Video Photomontage (up to 50 photos) – Normally worth £70
All of the above are completely free, but remember, this offer only lasts until March, so book now to avoid disappointment.