London Area, United Kingdom
A professional in several aspects of the film & video industries as an independent filmmaker and industry cinematographer, Jake Astbury’s career spans 30 years, working across digital film & video production, education and conservation at Tate Galleries, including 12 years as Head of Motion Picture in a London post-production facility. Jake is an acclaimed international expert in Super8 - his skills exploited in Hollywood productions, music videos and television drama. Jake also has an established reputation as a filmmaker, with work showing at festivals and galleries worldwide, as well as broadcast and artist commissions.
Jake has been a independent filmmaker since 1996, his work being exhibited nationally and internationally. Jake’s practice is most often engaged with the paradox between the truth and disbelief of Cinema; he continues to be deeply engaged with the Cinematic model; new modes of production and experimental narratives. Jake’s work is single-screen, and is intended for viewing in a cinema context, although galleries continue to screen his work. Jake works with analogue (with a specialism in Super-8) and digital formats, with a particular interest in the lo-fi tape-based digital phase of format history, such as Mini-DV, a format he often juxtaposes with cinemascope ratio in the pursuit of hybrid visual languages for his narratives.
Lecturing in Transmedia, Introduction to Cinematography, Advanced Cinematography, Digital Film Production and Post Production. - Delivering lectures on Pre-Production, Cinematography, Transmedia, Music Video Production and Short film Production. - Delivering workshops in Basic and Advanced Post Production workflows including Adobe Premiere Pro and Da Vinci Resolve. - Delivering and assessing classes on Steadicam operation (Bronze Level) - Major Project Supervision - Contributing to Module content including New Media narrative and distribution platforms. - Assessment and marking of undergraduate work.
Designing and delivering lectures at all levels for BA (Hons) Film Production. - Deliver lectures, seminars, practical/technical workshops with technical specialisms in Cinematography and Pre/Post-Production, designing teaching materials and resources in written and visual forms; - Modules taught include: Visual Narrative Film Project, Television Commercial Project, Music Video Project, Multi-Platform Cinema project*, *Developed by myself as part of Module Quality Update in academic year 2013-14. - Unit Leader for Introduction to Cinematography, Advanced Lighting Techniques, History of Music Video, Experimental Cinema, New Media Practice. - Supervision of undergraduate written dissertations and final practical projects; - Marking, assessment and related paperwork, including moderation;
Designing and delivering lectures at all levels for BA (Hons) Film Production - Deliver lectures, seminars, practical/technical workshops with technical specialisms in Cinematography and Pre/Post-Production, designing teaching materials and resources in written and visual forms; - Modules taught include: Visual Narrative Film Project, Television Commercial Project, Music Video Project, Multi-Platform Cinema project*, *Developed by myself as part of Module Quality Update in academic year 2013-14. - Unit Leader for Introduction to Cinematography, Advanced Lighting Techniques, History of Music Video, Experimental Cinema, New Media Practice. - Supervision of undergraduate written dissertations and final practical projects; - Marking, assessment and related paperwork, including moderation; - Participated in external re-validation, representing Film Department during this process.
Installation / Conservation of Time-based Media Art
My career in Film Production spans 20 years working as a freelance Cinematographer, with a parallel career of 12 years as head of department in Telecine and Digital Post Production, as a leading expert in professional digital and film-based production logistics for every major studio and production company from 1997 to 2008. My industry engagement covers a wide range of productions and mediums; from studio-made feature films such as 8mm (Columbia Pictures) and One Day in September (Paramount), to independent feature documentaries such as Victory (Bantam Films) and short film works including We Billion Cheered (Channel Four), 1000 Voices (Amnesty International) and television work; The Last Detective (Granada) and Christine Keeler 'Sex Bomb' (Yorkshire Television). I have shot commercial work for Nike and directed commercials for the USA cable television market (Murphy's Insurance). I have shot music videos for Tara Blaise (Stylorouge) David Viner (MTV), Zan Lyons (ICA) and The Corrs (Super-8 Director for live tour) as well as extensive work on Channel Four short documentaries. In addition to these commercial credits I have been invited to work on many Artist film and video works by world renowned artists Mirza / Butler, most recently for their Jarman Award nominated artist feature film 'Deep State' as Director of Photography.
- Deliver lectures, seminars, practical/technical workshops with technical specialisms in Cinematography and Pre/Post-Production, designing teaching materials and resources in written and visual forms; - Marking, assessment and related paperwork, including moderation; - Designated tutor (Academic and Personal), including mentoring and support on a formal and informal basis.