OnTheFly podcast with Jon Gill

[S4 Ep1] Character artist and sculptor, JASON FREENY

Welcome to another OnTheFly Podchat with Jon Gill, where we dissect the minds of creative geniuses, one conversation at a time! Today, we’re peeling back the layers—literally—with the incredible Jason Freeny. You’ve seen his work, where childhood nostalgia meets anatomical curiosity, but today we’re going deeper than resin and silicone. We’re diving into a hot topic that’s been making waves across the art world—AI replication. Jason’s iconic style has been emulated by algorithms, and we’re here to get his raw reaction. How does he feel about machines mimicking his creative process? Is it flattery, frustration, or something entirely unexpected? We’re about to find out. So, whether you’re here to learn, laugh, or just figure out what makes a toy tick, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive into the inner workings of Jason Freeny!

Welcome back to On The Fly with Jon Gill – this is a special episode with helicopter stunt pilot Fred North. Fred has so many amazing stunt credits to his name which include Bond movies, Mission Impossible, Fast and Furious and a slate of collaborations – and in the interview you here how collaborative they are – collaborations with Michael Bay including this months “Ambulance” with Jake Gyllenhaal.

There are only a handful of people world who can do what he does… and even then, it’s fair to say Fred is one of a kind and very much in demand.

If you don’t already I highly recommend connecting with him on Instagram (@fred_north) or LinkedIn to catch up on the behind the scenes clips he shares so regularly.

But it’s also very cool to hear how he got his start and how entrepreneurial he was in making his mark and so we talk about his experiences as a pilot, what turned him on to it in the first place and his regime for keeping mentally fit in a an industry where accidents are generally not due to mechanical, but human error.

The podcast is on a bit of a break for now while work is busy but I hope to capture a whole load of content at MoJoFest next month which is happening in London for the first time and is partnered with the Media Production and Technology show next month and subscribe and keep an eye out for new content very soon.

For now this is an OnTheFly season three special with stunt pilot Fred North – download the pod!

web: www.playfulcommunications.co.uk

Instagram : @playfulcommunications

Twitter: @OnTheSuperFly

Welcome back to On The Fly with Jon Gill – this episode sponsored by FiLMiCPro!

..which is very exciting because two years ago this month I had a film in competition at FiLMiCFest as did my guest for this episode SJ van Breda with her film Jane Digby which is stunning.

SJ is a filmmaker from Durban, South Africa who specialises in short films captured using mobile phones. In this episode we pick apart some of the techniques and themes in her most recent award winning mini-doc “Symphony of Spheres” – a poetic documentary that captures the process and the world of South African abstract sculptor Brendon Edwards.

I strongly recommend you give it a watch before you listen to this episode, it’s just 5 minutes and an amazing piece of filmmaking by any measure!

We talk about some of the challenges involved with the lockdown but mostly her filmmaking philosophy and practice of piecing together her style of people-portraits through film, sound, music and visual effects… there’s lots to learn here.

WIN!

Win yourself a FiLMic App bundle and further your filmmaking journey… all you need is a phone (or tablet). 

Competition open to folks worldwide!

About our sponsor:

I’ve been using FiLMiC apps for over three years now and without any exaggeration it’s my go to app for shooting video on my phone. Built with the mobile creator in mind, the FiLMiC family of photo and video apps will help you make the best-looking content of your life! 

Simply put, FiLMiC puts you in full manual control of the camera on your phone. Colour balance, focus, exposure – not to mention a full range of filmic simulations that offer extremely accessible  cinematic quality to your work.

For the cinematographers out there FiLMiC Pro now offers full support for 10-bit SDR on iPhone 12 series and select Android mobile devices and ProRes capture on the new iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max. 

So there’s never been a better time to give these apps a go as FiLMiC are offering bundles of their filmmaking apps to three lucky winner – just share this this episode on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn (remember to tag @OntheSuperFly, @FiLMiCPro and most importantly, #OnTheFlyPodcast otherwise I may not see your entry!). Winner will be announced on 30th October 2021.

Learn more about the FiLMiC family of apps at filmicpro.com

Next month I’ll be chatting to legendary helicopter stunt pilot Fred North – he’s responsible for some of the impossible aerial shots in franchises such as Fast and Furious, Mission Impossible and Bond, not to mention his ongoing collaboration with Michael Bay… say what you like about Michael Bay films but he loves an impossible helicopter shot!

COMMENT • LIKE • SUBSCRIBE!!!

Welcome back to On The Fly with Jon Gill – the first ever sponsored edition no less.

Polaris Publishing have sponsored this episode – they are the publisher of this episode’s guest Jonathan Melville who has a new book out, A Kind of Magic [“an engrossing read” – Total Film], a behind the scenes look at the ’85 sci-fi classic Highlander.

I first met Jonathan 10 years ago – and the great thing about him is that he simply writes about things he loves… he’s a full on genuine fan who has managed to turn his hobby into a job.

Based in Edinburgh, has written for the Guardian, The Scotsman, SFX magazine and Radio Scotland. He’s currently working on another Polaris book, a behind the scene look at another 80s classic, Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero.

In this pod we talk about the book and writing in general – the challenges of getting interviews with the likes of Clancy Brown and Chris Lambert – not to mention what it took to get Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen who worked on the soundtrack.

We also touch on his previous book Seeking Perfection an unofficial guide to the 80’s comedy monster movie Tremors – as well as Jim Henson and the Muppets and other properties Jonathan has in mind to cover in the future.

Find Jonathan on Twitter

Giveaway!

Polaris Publishing are developing a fantastic line of movie-related books from Jonathan's A Kind of Magic to Nige Tassell's And It's a Beautiful Day a companion to the Coen Brothers Fargo – John Rain's hilarious look at Bond in Thunderbook and 80s action movies in Explodobook.

Coming in 2022 is AJ Black's A Cinematic Connery; a revised and updated edition of Brian J Robb's Screams and Nightmares and Jonathan Melville's new book on the making of Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero.

You can these an a whole raft of other titles at www.polarispublishing.com

However, if you have an aversion to paying for books – 1. Please get that looked at, but 2. Indulge yourself with the first OnTheFly giveaway courtesy of Polaris Publishing:

To win a limited, signed, hardback copy of A Kind of Magic, all you need to do is share a link to this podcast on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.

One lucky winner will be picked from each platform.

Thanks to Pete at Polaris for making this happen and sponsoring this episode – follow Pete on Twitter

Karen is no ordinary music teacher from the South of England – she’s done a very simple but very clever thing. She lined up twenty creative, innovative, entrepreneurial people.. interviewed them about their winning formulas for success.. and put it all together in a book.

Oh.. and they all just happen to be dyslexic!

Thank you for downloading this podcast.. I’m Jon Gill.. this is On The Fly, and this episode is with Karen Cousins – Music and Dyslexia Educator.. and now author.

In this episode Karen talks about the journey she’s been on as a first time author.. who took on a one year project that turned into seven…

She also has invaluable advice for anyone dealing with dyslexia as well as families, parents and teachers.

Her book is "Dyslexia and Success: The Winning Formulas"

..which shares the personal experience of a variety of people (Jody Kidd, Sir Tom Jones, Sir Richard Branson) who have not allowed themselves to be defined or disadvantaged by dyslexia.

You can find Karen online here:

Dyslexia and Success website

GoFundMe page (help put the book in every school in the UK)

Buy the book on Amazon (black and white edition)

Buy the book on Amazon (Full colour edition)

**Pay particular attention to the GoFundMe page where Karen is raising money to get the book into every school in the UK!**

There’s lots in here for everyone and I hope it’s worth your time.

Please subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode!

And better still, leave a review..!

Remember – the best recommendation is a personal one so if you enjoy the episode please share online and in person with anyone you think might benefit from hearing it.

You can find me on:

Twitter

Instagram

LinkedIn

And most importantly the website – www.PlayfulCommunications.co.uk

Home to #MadeOnAMobile – Where you can the mobile revolution and learn to shoot edit and share – a smartphone or tablet is all you need.

Look out for another pod very soon – Like, Comment, Subscribe!

Thanks again for listening, dial-up the pod!

Hal is an Animation Supervisor at Hollywood visual effects study Industrial Light and Magic and in part one you hear about his journey to ILM via Cal Arts, Will Vinton’s Studio and Pixar!

Thank you so much for downloading this podcast, I’m Jon Gill and this is On The Fly, this episode is the second and final part of my chat with Hal Hickle.

I’m very grateful to Hal for his time and a lot of time at that… we chatted for just over 2 and a half hours…

And in this episode we get into the role of the Animation Supervisor as well as how the shot design in The Mandalorian was based on shots from the original Star Wars Trilogy and more…

However we start with Yoda and the evolution of the 80s puppet to the digital bouncing frog of the prequals…

Please subscribe to OnTheFly to make sure you never miss an episode!

I hope this podcast if worth your time… if it is, remember and share with people – the best recommendation is a personal one!

So thanks again for listening, this is OnTheFly with Jon Gill & Hal Hickle – dial-up the pod!

Here's the Youtube video I mentioned that explains some of the process of using model shots for the Mandalorian's "Razor Quest".

Hal is an Animation Supervisor at Industrial Light and Magic, the visual effects company founded in 1975 by George Lucas to accommodate that doomed space opera called Star Wars that never went anywhere…

Hal has a refreshing philosophy of the movie business – positive, pragmatic and down to earth.

This is the first of two episodes where Hal talks about his influences (Ray Harryhausen, Universal’s monster movies, Star Wars...), how he got started in animation (a brush with Cal Arts) and his humble beginnings at Pixar where they had already started on an experimental feature called "Toy Story"!

To open the podcast Hal talks about how Star Wars (the series he's now heavily associated with through "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and "The Madalorian") made an impression on him...

Hal also worked on the kinds of rare films that I will watch over and over, including:

Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean,

Marvel’s IronMan,

and Rango,

and most recently on Disney Plus’s The Mandalorian, which we’ll get into in part two!

Hal also shares a tonne of invaluable advice for anyone wanting to get into visual effects… from what should be on your showreel to sticking to your values and how you should approach the job.

You can find Hal on Twitter: @HalHickle

You’ll also find him on a tonne of DVD extras for the movies he’s worked on. I particularly recommend Disney Galleries on Disney plus which is a behind the scenes look at the making of the first two seasons on The Mandalorian.

Please subscribe to make sure you keep up to date and never miss an episode!

And better still, leave a review..!

I hope this podcast if worth your time… if it is, remember and share with people – the best recommendation is a personal one!

You can find me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OnTheSuperFly

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onthesuperfly/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeonamobile/

And most importantly the website – www.PlayfulCommunications.co.uk

Home to #MadeOnAMobile – Where you can the mobile revolution and learn to shoot edit and share – a smartphone or tablet is all you need.

Look out for another pod very soon – Like, Comment, Subscribe!

This is OnTheFly with Jon Gill & Hal Hickle – Dial-up the pod!

Eleanor Mannion is a journalist, writing, shooting and editing stories and reports for the web, social media and broadcast TV & radio. Based in Dublin, Ireland Eleanor works for RTE, Ireland’s national TV and Radio broadcaster. Oh, and the film work, the editing… all done on a smartphone.

In fact, in 2016 she made the first TV broadcast documentary in Europe to be shot on a smartphone.

Eleanor is part of a small team of journalists at RTE fronted by Philip Bromwell – the team’s entire workflow is mobile oriented.

In this episode we talk about Eleanors process, how she plans and executes her shoot and tips for budding smartphone storytellers.

We talk about the process of making one film in particular which I recommend you watch first – Lockdown Diaries:

This story "Lockdown Diaries" can be found in it's landscape form here on the RTE website:

https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/0901/1162535-kildare-lockdown-diaries/

And here in it's vertical mobile form on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/eleanormmannion/status/1301053136933720064?s=20

In fact early on we get mildly technical about landscape (horizontal) Vs portrait (vertical) – if that’s not your thing just skip a few minutes to the … mark.

You can find Eleanor here:

On Twitter: @https://twitter.com/eleanormmannion

At RTE: https://www.rte.ie/author/952656-eleanor-mannion/

Eleanor mentioned: 

Philip Bromwell (Twitter: @philipbromwell)

Glen Mulcahy (Twitter @GlenBMulcahy)

I hope this podcast if worth your time… remember and share with others if it is!

This is OnTheFly with Jon Gill & Eleanor Mannion – dial-up the pod:

I hope you enjoy and that it was worth your time.

Remember and share the life out of it.

You can find me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OnTheSuperFly

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onthesuperfly/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeonamobile/

And most importantly the website – www.PlayfulCommunications.co.uk

Home to #MadeOnAMobile – Where you can the mobile revolution and learn to shoot edit and share – a smartphone or tablet is all you need.

Look out for another pod very soon – but for now, Like, Comment, Subscribe!

Nicki Fitz-Gerald from the UK is an artist and genuine pioneer iPhone videographer/photographer. She literally wrote the book (or at least co-wrote the book) on iPhone photography: The Art of iPhone Photography.

Currently she shares her knowledge through extremely popular online courses (the Long Exposure Course mention in the chat is due later this year) as well as writing for her website and Mobiography Magazine including 3 articles (Parts 1-3) on Long Exposure covering everything from the basics, shooting car light trails, waterfalls, light painting to creative long exposure portraits and blending long exposure images together to create digital art.

You can get a free copy of the magazine here: https://www.mobiography.net

And yet Nicki somehow still found time to speak to me…

I met Nicki in 2019 at MoJofest (where she has been a guest speaker many times) on one of her evening photo walks.

You can find her online:

Twitter: @iphoneographyC

Website: https://iphoneographycentral.com

I hope you enjoy and that it was worth your time.

Remember and share the life out of it.

You can find me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OnTheSuperFly

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onthesuperfly/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeonamobile/

And most importantly the website – www.PlayfulCommunications.co.uk

Home to #MadeOnAMobile – Where you can the mobile revolution and learn to shoot edit and share – a smartphone or tablet is all you need.

Look out for another pod very soon – but for now, Like, Comment, Subscribe!

Thank you for downloading the pod! 

This is On The Fly, I’m Jon Gill and this is part 2 of my chat with my Episode 3 guest Christian Payne aka Documentally.

If you haven’t heard part one then please do – it doesn’t matter what order – just know that we start this episode with number 4 and 5 of his favourite things… (1, 2, and 3 being on part one) – No.4 is “documenting” and news on an amazing online storage platform called Permanent.Org

We talk about Christian's love of amateur radio, ethical working, podcasting and his weekly curated Dispatches email newsletter… a really interesting approach to sharing content, building a community and generating an income.

We also mention #AudioMo which I failed to fully explain – #AudioMo is an annual audio challenge in June (founded by @ernmander on Twitter) where you share an audio clip (anything from a few seconds to a few minutes) every day for a month. I’d taken part in the video equivalent #VloMo (each November) but it was participating in #AudioMo 2019 that convinced me that I should try a longer form podcast. And here we are!

You can find links to Christian’s Dispatches here: http://Documentally.net

And don’t forget to catch up with him on Twitter (and Instagram): @Documentally

Remember you can connect with me at MadeOnAMobile.co.uk – and if you’re interested in getting a podcast off the ground and you’d like some help by all means get in touch – quote #OnTheFlyDiscount for a cheeky 10% off podcast training through August and September.

#MakeSomething

Thanks again for downloading this pod!

Please subscribe, comment, and share and I hope you come back for episode 8 with iPhone artist Nicki Fitz-Gerald.

Quick shout out – the music you hear at the end of the pod is "Tidal Turn" by Robbie Cumming – I spoke to Robbie in Episode 6. He lives on a canal boat in the UK and has been documenting his canal journeys and life in general, living on a canal boat, for several years via his Youtube channel. So his story was picked up last year by the BBC for a TV series in the UK – series two is due out at the end of this year. So go have a listen to the chat I had with him... (once you've listened to Christian of course!)