Above is the beautiful video by Pau García Laita. Summer Barcelona is produced using a tilt-shift photography effect. It took me a few scenes to realise I was watching the real thing and not just a model. It’s Barcelona in miniature!
Summer Barcelona by Pau García Laita
Filmed during the summer of 2012 this video has just been released on Vimeo. It uses a great track by Croquet Club called If You Really Care.
Pau is a 22 year-old freelance film-maker from Barcelona whose main interest is extreme sports filming. I asked him about the video and the techniques he used. Read the rest of this article…
The fascinating Wild & Wonderful in Barcelona series continues with a documentary on long-term Barcelona resident Tom Chant.
From the website…
Wild and Wonderful Episode 2: English experimental and free jazz musician Tom Chant.
A long-term resident in Barcelona Tom is currently active groups including the Cinematic Orchestra, the Eddie Prévost Trio, Sucette – a computer music duo with Ben Drew, Marseille Figs – a country, pop, free-jazz racket and the London Improvisers Orchestra and Barcelona based IED8 and Banda de Improvisadores de Barcelona (BIB). Tom bought his first soprano saxophone in 1995. His first recordings from this period were with the Sycophants, on the Ninja Tune and Lo Recordings record labels. In 1997 Tom began recording with Jason Swinscoe, founder of The Cinematic Orchestra.
Tom Chant: Wild & Wonderful in BCN Episode 2
Wild & Wonderful in BCN links
Festa al Cel 2012 – Let your imagination fly away
Did you think La Mercè was over? Think again. There are events running right up until the end of September. And the annual Barcelona air show, the Festa al Cel, is one of the final events of this year’s festival. Between 10am and 2pm on September 30th the beaches of Mar Bella and Nova Mar Bella are the place to be. The skies above the sea host a spectacular display of all types of flying machines.
The Spanish Air Force, the Spanish Navy, the Spanish Army, aerobatics champions, and international performers both civilian and military take to the skies in light aircraft, helicopters, sea planes, state-of-the-art jets and even a passenger plane for a colourful and sometimes ear-splitting show of flying technology both old and new. Read the rest of this article…
The Correfoc at La Mercè
After a summer of festivals for each barrio it is all brought to a close with La Mercè – Barcelona’s very own festa major. The festival is a celebration of the Roman Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy, (La Mare de Déu de la Mercè in Catalan) on September 24th. This first became an official holiday in 1871 but most of the present day events really began to take shape in 1902.
This year the festival runs from the 21st – 24th September 2012. Although there are many events either side of this.
La Mercè 2012 Programme
Gigantes-y Cabezudos
There are many hundreds of events this year. So do check out the festival programmes to make sure you get to see the things that interest you. Unfortunately they seem to have only produced it in Catalan this year.
Expect to see the Sardana, the popular Catalan dance, performed throughout Barcelona. The castellers produce their incredible human towers. And the papier maché giants parade around the city. Sounding strange enough yet?
32a Mostra de Vins i Caves de Catalunya
There is the Catalan wine and cava fair at Arc de Triomf that is well worth a visit. This is a change of location from previous years when it was down at Port Vell. The 32a Mostra de Vins i Caves de Catalunya is on Passeig de Lluís Companys, the bit between Arc de Trimof and the park, all weekend. Buy a glass and some tickets and take your pick from the many wines and cavas on offer from the region.
Read the rest of this article…
Wonderful people doing wild things, (or wild people doing wonderful things) in Barcelona
I’ve been keeping an eye on this video documentary project for a few weeks now. The first episode launches online at midnight tonight, so Saturday September 1st 2012.
From the website…
Wild and Wonderful is a series of short films celebrating the eccentricity of an eclectic mix of residents in Barcelona and all the wonderful things they do. The series will produce a monthly 5 minute short film about artistic and eccentric activities from an eclectic bunch of people all around Barcelona.
Sounds interesting right? Read the rest of this article…
