Hi ya Fresh On The Netters,hope the sunshine is spraying its golden glow upon your good selves.

I received a video in my inbox the other day that featured the wonderful The Paper Shades who have been friends of Fresh On The Net for a while now & featured on Prick and Ding 44

I was so taken with the video (& others made by the same team) which totally appealed to my own leftfield approach that I felt they were really worth writing about,I was that impressed we are even talking about doing some filming with Snippet.

They have a nifty concept at Bat on Ball Sessions which sit as a tidy alternative to music performance stalwarts such as Black Cab Sessions,La Blogotheque’s Take Away Shows & Songs from the Shed.

We are very proud to be the first to bring you the aforementioned video The Paper Shades -Wild & Free.

I really liked the song & performance which were great and what really made it stand out from the ordinary were the scenes going on around their performance,the venue,the people,the colours & overall – the beautiful film making – capturing the artist in a subtly different light from other video’s.

The men behind the video is Ruben Woodin-Dechamps alongside Orban Wallace.

Ruben is a performance and visual arts graduate from Brighton University. Now an aspiring DOP he has co founded a production company based in Brighton with the producer Orban Wallace called Bat on Ball Creations.

I loved his session with Cosmo Sheldrake (below) & the overall idea of blending great music with a captivating video – filmed with interesting artists in everyday (if a little madcap) places that you wouldn’t expect to see a performance in.

I thought it best to let Ruben tell you a little more about what Bat on Ball do….
Bat on Ball Sessions:
These sessions arose almost by accident with Cosmo Sheldrake needing a live film, I’d worked on sessions before and was sick to death of the pleasantly filmed band in room avec microphone situation. I said ok, so long as you can find a laundrette. Thus came the idea to celebrate the wierd and wonderful of the everyday through musical performance where location and style is king.

Currently these sessions are deffinetaly in their infancy with a long way to go, each time we shoot a new one it feels like we are honing in on the core of what they are. Endurance on the performance and filming side is becoming key, giving a genuine emotion (slightly worried look!)  to the performance, try shooting a sessions amongst three lary fisherman on the choppy seas with cuttlefish ink going left right and centre, it takes a certain caliber of artist to be up for and able to pull off a thing like that.

Bringing performance to these working spaces has also been central, music has such an eccentric skill and passion which I want to parallel with the hard working individuals we have met along the way, Tina from the diner in Brooklyn for example, she gets up at 4am everyday to peel potatoes and never has a day off, if there is ever a lady who needs a musical pat on the back its her.

From 30 taoist tai chi experts in Brooklyn to to a gay balkan cowboy these grassroot left of centre sessions have taken us through southern England, New York and Bulgaria but no doubt this will only grow and grow, we have endless ridiculous plans on the way, the more outrageous to film and perform the better!

Upcoming:
Currently in the edit room Bat on Ball have Cosmo Sheldrake on a horse and cart in Bulgaria. Emily Wells getting towed through Queens by a renegade towtruck driver and Vensaire amongst the taoist tai chi society in Brooklyn.

Sessions page | Bat on Ball Creations | Email-ruben@woodin-dechamps.co.uk