On May 2, 2010 student volunteers organized by the Harvard Office of Sustainability undertook the challenge of weatherizing the Phillips Brooks House in Harvard Yard.  About 50 students along with professionals volunteering their time worked multiple projects throughout the building to prevent air leaks, reduce electricity and water consumption and to encourage recycling and conservation.  Jim Merchant of Pirates Lane Video was there to produce a short documentary video of the project for the Office of Sustainability.  More information about the project and other sustainability projects at Harvard can be found on their website at green.harvard.edu.

Back in the fall of '09 Pirates Lane Video shot footage of HalloweenFest, a concert event put on by RedBlue Records.  One of the best bands we filmed that day was Kids of Survival from New York.  Several videos from their set will be put online over the next couple of weeks.  The first titled "The 'You' in 'Us' is Silent" is up now on Vimeo and on our Event Gallery page.  Check them out and visit their myspace page at myspace.com/kidsofsurvival and check back soon for more videos!

Gloucester's 25th Annual Schooner Festival took place this past fall and Pirates Lane Video was there.  The 31min. film includes footage of the annual parade of lights in which people decorate their boats with Christmas lights (and the occasional flame thrower) and parade around the inner harbor, followed by a fireworks display over the harbor.  The rest of the film is footage of the schooners in the parade of sail and racing in the Mayor's Cup Race the next day.

The schooners in the film include the famous Bluenose II, Unicorn, Spirit of Burmuda, Pride of Baltimore and Summertime.  My personal favorites were the Thomas E. Lannon, Fame and Lewis H. Story all three of which were built by local boatbuilding legend Harold Burnham of Essex.  Harold himself was skippering the schooner Maine.

The film is set to music by Allison Crowe, Amelie, Arctic, Lonah, Raindog, Fluydo, Misery and Silence is Sexy.  All of the songs are used under a creative commons license.  The film itself is also under a creative commons license so anyone who would like a copy of it can download it from Vimeo.

View or download here: Gloucester Schooner Festival 2009

On Saturday January 23, 2010  videographer Jim Merchant of Pirates Lane Video filmed a live music video for the eclectic folk-rock group Big Trees at the Gulu Gulu Cafe in Salem, MA.  The footage has been edited into individual songs and can be found on the bands Youtube channel at the link below.

YouTube.com/ThereIsOnlyNOW

Gulu-Gulu.com

myspace.com/BigTreesBand