About Me

Welcome to a blog about a film-maker, one who could be described as a story teller with an experimental approach to technology.

Hello, my name is James Tomkinson and this is my microscopic slice of the world wide web which should give an idea of what I do.

I think we can agree that people make films in a number of different genres. Mine is drama, a human story of either fact or fiction recreated in a gripping performance. Although that isn’t a dictionary definition it is what I write and capture either ‘in camera’ or on-stage.

An interest in building things has stayed with me throughout my younger years. I have to admit my DIY skills could use a little polishing yet that didn’t stop me from designing and refining the designs for my stereoscopic 3D rig since 2010 the results of which are on my YouTube channel.

Feel free to have a look around.

Tuesday 24 July 2012

The Winter’s Tale



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My first venture onto the stage, discounting primary school nativity plays, came in the form of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale as the role of Cleomines, a servant to the king of Sicilia. Now as a dyslexic with no stage experience you’d be right in thinking that I was nervous about this undertaking. However this was the play that taught me some of the basics of acting on stage. Such as; “plant your feet” Shuffling is a something that we do without realising it when nervous; however as it has the potential to distract the audience it is best to get rid of this habit.

Secondly; how to project loud enough to be heard by all in the large open courtyard at Little Moreton Hall. It is easy to run out of air mid-sentence so planning where to pause and breath becomes a concern that normal conversation doesn’t require. Thankfully a Shakespearian text provides an abundance of commas, colons and semi colons that allow for an intake of breath.

And finally, as these lists seem to often present themselves in threes, I ignored the audience. Not to the extent that I’m blocking them but enough so that I wouldn’t be distracted by them. In fact concentrating on the other actors helped combat the inevitable stage butterflies that are only natural when over one-hundred people are staring at you.

However now that the final performance is over I feel somewhat empty. I’ve heard of after shoe blues now let’s see hope I cope with them.