I recently produced a video for futurist Glen Hiemstra that explains the keynote speaking and consulting services that he provides. Glen happens to be my step father, so it was a fun shoot. I included a lot of footage of his keynote speeches while layering in some footage that I did of him explaining what he does and what futurism is all about. Have a look at the video below or visit his site to learn more.
I had to the opportunity to hear documentary filmmaker Sandy Cioffi speak last night in my graduate school class at UW Bothell and it was a great experience. We were hearing someone so passionate, smart and politically inclined – and it was a breath of fresh air to hear that someone like this has decided to run for Seattle City Council. We watched her film, Sweet Crude, and then had an hour to ask questions. Cioffi deserves your vote and your volunteer time on her campaign.
Most photographers and documentary filmmakers believe that the best way to effect change is via the camera, but Cioffi has decided to make an interesting new path through local politics and I’m very interested to see how she does.
I’ve embedded the trailer for the film below. The DVD comes out soon.
No, I haven’t finished a feature film just yet, but a short film/30-second ad I produced for UW Bothell is showing in theaters from now through July 28 in the Seattle area and greater Puget Sound region. If you show up early to your movie, then you can see my work and be tempted to attend UW Bothell. Below is a list of theaters and below that you can also watch the video in case you just can’t make it out to the theater in time.
Alderwood 16 – will run through 7/28
Everett Mall Stadium 16 – will run through 7/28
Woodinville 12- will run through 7/28
Alderwood 7 Theatres- will run through 6/2
Marysville Cinema 14 – will run through 6/2
Oak Tree 6 – will run through 6/2
Pacific Place 11- will run through 6/2
Southcenter 16 – will run through 6/2
Thornton Place – will run through 6/2
This was some work I did for the Amgen Scholars program a while back, which I just had a chance to see in print for the first time in a meeting this morning. My picture is the one on the right, with the two guys. The Amgen Scholars program is pretty cool; it gives undergraduates an opportunity to work with outstanding faculty in the sciences during a summer program at one of several prestigious universities, including the University of Washington.
This is just a short time lapse I made for fun while having dinner with a view of the street and our bikes in the International District in Seattle recently. I can’t say enough good things about the iPhone’s Timelapse app. If you’re searching for it on the App Store, it’s the only one with the simple title “Timelapse.” Just that word, nothing else.
It’s super easy to use and allows you to create time lapse videos wherever you go. To create an instant video from the pictures it takes, choose “encode video.” For higher quality videos, don’t choose “encode video,” as this will allow you to simply have a large amount of images that you will use to create a video on your computer using Final Cut Pro or other editing software. You can set the app to take pictures for a set amount of time or to end at a certain time, and it can take pictures every second, every few seconds, every minute, etc. I like every two seconds for longer time lapses, which span over several hours.
Apple just announced Final Cut Pro X will be available in June. It comes with a new look and features that will make editing a lot faster. I personally will upgrade because of two things: It will be able to render in the background while I edit and it supports native editing. What does that mean? Lots of time saved.
Rendering can take forever because you have to wait for Final Cut to process the changes that you have made to a video project. To preview the changes you have made, you have to render, but with the new version of Final Cut the you will be able to see your changes instantaneously. This will make me more efficient and allow me to pass the savings on to my clients.
What is native editing? This means you don’t have to transcode (convert) video files to an editing format like Apple’s Prores 422 anymore. My workhorse camera body, the Canon 5D mark II, shoots in H.264, which takes forever to edit in Final Cut and so I edit in Prores 422. Rendering that H.264 footage is such a time waster that no one does it and Prores is a kind of an industry standard. But again, this takes time and now we won’t have to wait the sometimes hours it takes for transcoding. Adobe Premiere allowed native editing of H.264 last year, and Apple finally caught up with this new version of Final Cut Pro X. I know some people (Philip Bloom is one) who switched to Premiere solely because of the native H.264 editing option, so you can see that this is a valuable feature.
The new look of Final Cut Pro X seems a bit lame to me personally, but I don’t care what it looks like as long as it performs well. I am definitely looking forward to the new $300 price tag, which was nice to hear since Final Cut only came in the Studio package in the past, bundled with several other programs with a depressingly high price tag.
A short film produced for the UW Bothell’s African American Student Union.
Multimedia project that highlights diversity recruitment and outreach programs at the University of Washington Bothell.
La Voz de E.L.L.A. is a student organization at the UW Bothell that pairs university students with young high school aged women in the area for mentoring and college help.
Promotional film for UW Bothell’s student housing facilities and social programs. See the video here on the UW Bothell website.