Jon Ellison

 Greetings everybody, hope everybody's having a great summer so far, despite the weather conditions - depending on where you are. I just thought I'd make a quick announcement. As you may recall, I've got this website that demonstrates my previous work in the film industry, which is down below; You may have seen this in one of my previous posts ( Blog for April 2024 ) about a connection with this blog and my blog on the above website. What I thought would happen was that each time I posted something on here, the other blog would automatically show it on that site. Unfortunately, that only worked the first time around and since posting new posts, I have had to copy and paste it onto the other blog. So, starting from tomorrow, I'm going to permanently switch to the blog via jdefilms.com. I feel that it would be simpler to use just one blog and I also feel that it would be too much of a hassle to go through the copy/paste process each time. Plus, it appears that most people...

 Greetings everybody, I hope we all had a lovely day on Father's Day and the bright weather has provided a nice treat. I did; I had a pleasant experience with my family. This has especially been a welcoming and calming moment following a series of things to prepare for future events including applications and a music event I'm rehearsing for. This is especially why there are some subjects I wanted to mention this month, but time constraints have contributed to delays. However, I do have an announcement regarding an upcoming goal of mine. You may have seen my website which displays my videography; Well, I have a small videography business in plan. That one's separate from my filmography. Instead of narrative films and documentaries and stuff, the fully independent business I'm starting will consist of videos of gigs, public events, weddings and so forth. In previous years, I've filmed stage shows and I even produced two videos for Ht Music & Entertainment Limited...

Usually, when something new and interesting happens in my life, I write about it quickly. However, daily responsibilities often delay me. Now seems like the right time to share some updates. Recently, I've been working as a freelance sound recordist and assistant on various short films and features, mostly on location. Earlier this month, I assisted on a short film in Coventry, using the provided equipment, including a Mix-Pre-6. Though it was new to me, it was easy to use. Owning your own equipment can be very helpful, which brings me to my recent purchases. First up is the Zoom F8N. Previously, I used a pocket-sized Tascam, which I still have. The Zoom F8N allows for multiple microphones to be connected. I tested it with a new boom microphone, and the sound quality was excellent. It's great for both indoor and outdoor shoots. However, for outdoor use, always carry spare AA batteries because the device consumes a lot of battery power. One issue I encountered was that a couple ...

 Once a month, I would post something on this site and talk about something in particular. However, I had company in recent months - a friend I had not seen for a few years had visited me and occasions like this where I catch up with old friends and relatives do often come first. Speaking of which, that friend has had to head back to her home country for reasons relating to her family and work. With that being said, it was awesome to see her again.  One update I do want to share; I may not be an IT expert. But with some skill, I have managed to connect this blog to my website (jdefilms.com that is). So I want to allow this to test this out. You will see this blog on the web's main page somewhere under this introduction. So, let's test it out.

Happy International Women's Day everybody! It's that time of year again when we celebrate the rights deservedly gained some time ago by the female members of the public. And speaking of women's rights, I thought that on this occasion, I'd review a film I recently watched with a Chinese lady friend of mine. The film I refer to is RBG, a documentary movie about Ruth Bader Ginsburg who for those of you who don't know, was the first American female Jewish lawyer (2nd in general) who soon achieved her title as the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As a matter of fact, I had no idea about that at first, but there are still lots of things out there to research. It was great to see, despite the film being made just two years before Ruth's unfortunate death, how well she was keeping at the time - seeing shots of her in her local gymnasium and with her trainer. I also loved the way the film expressed her development, not only through her career ...

 Further to the project I announced last year in May, the same project is now live on Indiegogo. For those of you wondering, this project is a short documentary about the impact of lockdown, particularly on mental health. The documentary will feature personal stories, subtle humour, and interviews with medical experts. The plan is to raise the target for crew expenses, festival submissions, and travel costs to interview a family in Gloucestershire who lost a young man to suicide during lockdown. As stated, this project is up on Indiegogo . All donations given will be appreciated, but even if you can't contribute financially, spreading the word via social media, publicly and wherever else will be equally appreciated. Thank you for your support.

 Happy New Year readers! Entering 2024 brings a mix of reflections and hopes. The lows of the past year, marked by global challenges and personal loss, are acknowledged. The struggles of countries like Ukraine, conflicts, and the ever-present cost-of-living crisis are on the forefront.  Of course, we lost some famous faces in 2023. They include; Adan Rich Alan Arkin Algy Ward Annette McCarthy Arthur Schmidt Barbara Bosson Barbara Bryne Barrett Strong Bernadette Hunt aka Falcon from Gladiators Bill Butler Billy The Kid Bo Goldman Brian Tufano Bruce Bould Burny Mattinson Burt Bacharach Burt Young Charles E. Bastien Chas Newby Dale Meeks David Crosby David Elliott Dee Dee Wood Donald W. Ernst Doreen Mantle Droz Earl Bohen George Armstrong Gloria Dee Harry Belafonte Ian Bairnson Jean Boht Jerry Springer Jim Gordon Joe Fagin John Gosling John Nettleton John Waddington Keith Reid Lawrence Turman Lisa Marie Presley Mark Gilpin Mark Goddard Mark Margolis Mark Stewart Matthew Perry Mic...

 Once again, it's that time of year when Christmas draws near and the worldwide population commence their plans for celebration and shopping for gifts, ingredients for Christmas dinners and so forth. You might be thinking "what has that got to do with the main topic of this article and vice versa". With Christmas around the corner, it's worth noting that Disney films have been broadcast on terrestrial television during the holiday season for years. I even briefly mentioned this when I celebrated Disney's 100th Anniversary . So putting those things into consideration, and as I promised, I thought I'd give my thoughts and ideas on what films Disney could produce. I realised that the organisation has not experienced a brilliant year, financially. So consider this a little bit of help that I'd give to them. In no particular order, here are some ideas; Fantasia 3(000?) Since its release in 1940, Fantasia, which is probably the first film I ever watched (we did ...

 The Beatles, even after over five decades since their split, have long been regarded as one of the most influential and popular bands in music history. Lately, their most recently released single, Now & Then , has made the news. Inspired by the latest news and as somebody who grew up listening to the Beatles and being the son of parents who owned a few vinyls by them, I thought I'd analyse my personal favourite songs to have been recorded by George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. For each song, I shall be as brief with my reasons as possible.. So, here's my Top 11; Number 11; Octopus' Garden I start this list with one of the rarest songs sung and written by Ringo. I'd say that Ringo is the most underrated Beatle out of the others. To me, Octopus' Garden showcases his talent as a singer and songwriter.. But it also highlights how as imaginative he is as his colleagues. Number 10; Day Tripper As a family, we had Day Tripper on one of our ...

I watched  The Reckoning  on BBC iPlayer a month ago, following a shaky signal on BBC1. The drama, a biographical take on Jimmy Savile, delves into his career and the sexual offenses he got away with. Controversial, but intriguing.  Not all of us knew before Jimmy's death in 2011 that he was a sex offender. One reason was due to cover-ups by the BBC. My late mother found him a little bit snarky. I can't really blame her, nor can I defend Jimmy's actions. Further to our knowledge on what he did outside of showbiz, there were some people who were suspicious about him. One example is highlighted through a speech Johnny Rotten once made when he said that he wanted "to kill Jimmy Savile" and that he thought he was "a hypocrite". The show explores how he evaded punishment, featuring impactful music and cinematography. The portrayal by Steve Coogan is spot-on, navigating interviews and interactions convincingly. Heart-breaking snippets from real-life victims ad...

No, I don't refer to Walt Disney himself, but the organisation he founded back in 1923, which has since become one of the most famous movie organisations worldwide. Therefore, it gives me great pleasure to wish a very happy anniversary to Walt Disney Pictures. Many people around the world have grown up with Disney and I can honestly say that, I'm one of those people. I have great fond childhood memories of some of the many projects that Disney has brought us. I can remember when we, my family, taped Pinocchio , Dumbo , Mary Poppins , Robin Hood , Sleeping Beauty and The Sword In The Stone off the TV; most of them from ITV, except Robin Hood which was off BBC1.  Remember this? I also had some of the original VHS tapes, one of being Fantasia , which I believe may have been the first feature film I ever saw (my memory's rather bad). I can recall the time when we saw The Lion King in cinemas when I was 4, and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame two years later - I even had the fig...

 Usually, I tend to write blog posts earlier each month. Unfortunately, I had recently lost a close relative of ours. Therefore things have been going slow lately and we're in the process of making arrangements. However, I thought it'd be appropriate to introduce something to you. Previously, I had introduced a new website of mine. The trouble was that I had experienced technical difficulties with that website. I had used Wix on that occasion and the problems related to the width of each page and attempts at making adjustments.  So I have since switched to WordPress and here is the result; https://jdefilms.com/ You'll notice that I've used the same logo, but that the layout's obviously a little bit different. In my experience, should one create a website, one should pick an online source which is easy to navigate. Therefore, I've chosen WordPress, since I did create a blog website previously,  which I now call my alternative blog. This website's got an intro...

My fellow readers, I'd like to introduce my brand new website; This websites contains information about myself, my films and the collaborations I made. Credits mainly relate to writing and/or sound. I've separated the two into sections, same with films where I took on different roles i.e. camera-work and editing. Consider this my online portfolio. Have a look and see for yourself!

 Last weekend, I was in the Peak District. In a way, you could say that it was for both work and pleasure - I was assisting a film crew on the shooting of a pilot episode of a fantasy TV series. For me, it's always been a pleasure to be part of a film shoot. But this experience was also an adventure. Most film crews are likely to stay in hotels whilst shooting takes place far from their hometowns. On this occasion, we spent some nights on a campsite - for me, this was the first time I'd been camping since less than a decade ago when I worked at the annual Bloodstock festival. I shan't give too much away since the project is currently under the production process. But I do look forward to seeing how it looks. I hope you do too. For this experience, I was the runner and sound assistant. This involved working directly with the sound recordist and boom operator, ensuring the equipment was in good working order. Occasionally, I would also operate the boom mic. Being that I was a...

 Remember three decades ago, when a film that was apparently 65 million years in the making came out? Remember when we got one of the rarest chances to see live dinosaurs (well, CGI ones)? And back when blockbusters had awesome storytelling aspects? It gives me great pleasure to celebrate the thirty years since one of my favourite movies hit the screens. That movie is Jurassic Park . I have great fond memories of Jurassic Park . The film was released when I was three - this was an age which is too early for me to think back to that time. But I remember this one Christmas when I was six, Jurassic Park was shown on BBC1, and my parents recorded it onto a VHS tape. It's no wonder I still picture the continuity that was shown before. Since the viewing, my admiration has remained to this day. I also had the video game on Sega and have now seen all five of the film's sequels that followed. Now where to start with Jurassic Park ? Not only was it directed by one of my favourite film d...

 Throughout general history, some fans of certain bands have stated that "(insert band)'s not the same without (insert a certain band member)". For instance, personally, I prefer the Electric Light Orchestra when Roy Wood was a member during the first couple of years - not to say that I didn't enjoy any of their later material at all. My reasons relate to the artistry. However, I always felt that Roxy Music remained as awesome as when Brian Eno performed with them. In fact, I can say the same thing about Yes and the material they performed with and without Rick Wakeman. As some readers of my previous blogs may know, Rick Wakeman is one of my personal favourite musicians of all time . My Dad had purchased a few of his albums; The Six Wives Of Henry VIII , Journey To The Centre Of The Earth , The Myths & Legends Of King Arthur and the Knights Of The Round Table , No Earthly Connection and White Rock . Each one of them has blown me away ever since, thanks to Rick...