Tag Archives: video

Challenging the Limits

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It’s a new year. 2013 is here already.

A new year brings a youthful hope of accomplishing dreams and leaving behind bad habits.

Just as the film makers in the video below challenged the limits of the camera, I dare you to challenge the limits of whatever is holding you back: lack of mental toughness, lack of faith, your boss, a few pounds gained, a family member lost, frustation with the world… leave it in the dust and make this the best year yet.

Don’t make a resolution, make a life change. Use your past to make you better, not bitter.

I am going to test the limits of my career and my education. I will stop blaming others and challenge myself this year to train in various areas to become more valuable in my project management role, and dominate my video production classes to create films that will make a difference in the world.

Change is powerful. Inspire others to do the same.

Overcommitting vs. Reaching Your Goals

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Stress.  It is not foreign to any of us.  The giant knot in your stomach or tension in your throat that just won’t go away.  Stress is a reaction to an immeasurable amount of causes, but for me it is from overcommitting.

It wasn’t until I laid down my commitments on paper until I realized why my brain couldn’t shut off even when I tried to sleep at night…

1) My daytime job as a Government Contractor.  We all know by now that this is not my dream career because even though the pay is good, I feel more unsatisfied with my role as the days go on…which is why I could not be happier they approved me to work 80% part-time, down from a full time position (which really isn’t all that different).

2) My part-time night job as a Videographer and Social Media Marketer for a cycling studio.  This evolved from a need to use my inner creativity and find somewhere to build my film portfolio.  Creating and directing videos for the studio to place on YouTube, and finding materials for Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr takes up more time than one would initially think!

3) School.  This is the initial reason why I went part-time at my Contracting firm.  A little thing called class and filming projects takes more than a couple hours of my day as I pursue a Video Production degree.

4) Coaching.  I am obsessed with being a soccer coach to little kids, but I am somewhat relieved there is a break during the winter holidays so I don’t have to constantly rush to the fields right after work.

5) Playing soccer.  I. Will. Never. Give. This. Up.  Until my knees and back finally give out.

6) Volunteering.  In my free time (ha) I am putting together a large fundraiser for a nonprofit dedicated to helping young adults in foster care find adoptive families.  This doesn’t feel like work at all, but involves meeting with the founders, vendors, food/drink donators, and writing a million emails to coordinate the bands, 5 artists, and 2 former NFL players to attract a large crowd and raise a significant amount of money.

7) Attending studio filmings/building my portfolio…blogging…my social life…boyfriend.

I am sure there are a few things I left out…but I have now realized I do not know how to simply say “No” to people.  You have heard of a little saying called Quantity vs. Quality.  I am too proud to say that my quality isn’t affected in all of these activities, but I could probably score another goal or two in my games if I got an extra hour of sleep…

I am in the middle of switching careers so I feel the pressure to say yes to everything.  A small opportunity could lead to something big.  At least that’s what they say, right?  I have found that networking is invaluable.  Yes, I have heard it a thousand times, but honestly one conversation has opened multiple doors for me.  It is all about just making one phone call – reaching out to a peer when it may be slightly uncomfortable.  Comfort never got me anywhere, except in trouble with an entire bag of Famous Amos.

How much is too much?  A multitude of new opportunities…does it lead to stomach ulcers or finally landing that dream job?  Hard to tell. 

I have promised myself I would not take on another activity until I have crossed off a few from my list.  I need to find some time to sit down, drink a cup of tea, listen to some amazing 80s music (or terrible 90s music), and watch some football and futbol.  Luckily I haven’t committed to taking my crazy amount of activities and piecing them together into some sort of life direction – I can leave that up to the Big Guy.

Dragon Baby

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I hope everyone has seen this masterpiece already.  If not, be prepared to witness an extremely talented Montreal filmmaker, Patrick Boivin, turn his son into a dragon-slaying baby.  The short film is a parody of both Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” series and “Enter the Dragon” with his son starring as Bruce Lee.  I hope one day I am fortunate enough to collaborate with him on a short film or commercial because his animation is first class.

 

And for those of you that didn’t know there was a prequel video featuring his daughter (Dragon Baby’s older sister) as Iron Baby….you. are. welcome.  Another parody, this video is based on the movie “Iron Man”, one of my favorite imaginative films.

 

Coca Cola’s Energy Blast Leaks into the Film Industry

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There are many different ways to add energy/excitement/craziness into film.

1) Jump cuts (two sequential shots of the same subject that vary ever so slightly) can give an effect of skipping through time because the subjects aren’t shown moving from Point A to Point B but somehow appear in a different position/location like a ninja.

2) Quick camera movements.  These allow the audience to feel like they are literally running around in the scenes.  It could be a fast pan of the landscape to give a wide horizontal view, or a fleeting zoom in or out to show many different objects.  With either or these it gives the audience a sense of urgency to pay close attention because they may miss something of grande importance with one blink of an eye!

3) Fast-forwarding.  Simple as that – there are so many important items to cover that the audience isn’t even given the liberty of experiencing it in real time.

4) And the opposite – slow motion.  It builds up the audience’s anticipation for an explosion of awesomeness.

5) Crazy, excitable audio.  Whether there is a song with drums playing an insane beat, a voice-over in a high pitched voice, or an actor who talks quickly like a New Yorker…any little audio detail can keep the audience’s eyes glued to their screen.  Screaming, yelling, clapping, cheering also work here.

6) Many separate flashes of different shots.  The camera isn’t just sitting on one object for a long time like a boring soap opera – it is flying around filming many different subject on the set like a bunch of pop rocks that have just been submerged in soda.

The Coca Cola video shown above has both fantastic camera and editing work behind the scenes.  It is similar to the wedding video in one of my earlier posts as they both require watching more than one time to fully capture all the details and magic.  Energetic productions are my favorite type of filming (ehhh well it is a close tie with the very teary-eyed sentimental videos).

You can’t tell me your heart rate didn’t rise while watching that video due to all the hype created from the camera movement and the speedy talent…or maybe from the Coke you are now drinking.  (If it didn’t then I will just blame it on drinking an afternoon coffee which, for me, is very out of character.)

Autumn Love

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You can feel the mood shift in the air.  The leaves are changing beautiful colors, the stifling heat finally eases up and is replaced by a cool breeze, and everyone is excited about fall festivals, cider drinks, hoodies, and ghostly decorations.

Every year I would pick out and carve a pumpkin and my mom would salt and bake the pumpkin seeds, but I always hated the taste of pumpkin.  I didn’t want anything to do with the pumpkin pies, lattes, or muffins.  It was very similar to my relationship with Indian Food or flossing.  I hated it at first, but then I finally came to the realization that the rest of the world isn’t crazy!  (well on this topic at least)

As I have matured I promised myself I would never rule anything out for good.  So I stepped up to the plate and forced myself to try more pumpkin foods and VOILA!  Now don’t get me wrong, there are still some terribly flavored pumpkin goods just like there is an occasional bad batch of chocolate cookies…but how that happens is beyond me.

About two weeks ago I decided to start using pumpkin to the best of its ability.  I baked up some Pull-Apart Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread found on another blog, finished painting my pumpkin, my roommate decorated the house, and together we created fall magic.  I plan on continuing to take over the whole neighborhood with the smells of pumpkin muffins, pancakes, and cookies.

But to be honest, my favorite thing about fall is apple picking.  If you have never done it before you should look up the closest orchard and make a day out of it.  There is everything from fresh apple cider to donuts to corn mazes and beyond.  My favorite trip by far was when I was allowed to drive a four-wheeler through the orchard and grab the apples on the fly.  This may or may not have resulted in a vicious game of apple tag.

If you want it to feel like fall all you have to do is step foot on an orchard.  Now that I am in film school, I will mention that the following video could use more audio editing and some camera work, but it captures the exact feeling I have when I am walking through the trees.

 

The Good in Pain

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Nine-Eleven.  The two words that will forever be associated with fear, anger, loss, destruction, and sadness.  It has been eleven years and somehow the blinding pain still hits just as strongly as it did in 2001. 

I was watching a documentary last night that discussed the timeline of the attacks.  While firefighters were getting to the scene, brave souls who worked in the building were also climbing up the stairwells to help those that were trapped above them.  I have always said that one’s character truly shines in times of adversity.  The men and women who saw everyone else running down the thousands of stairs to safety but walked up instead – those are the people who give us hope in the face of terrorism.

It wasn’t just the security mentality or the airplane anxiety that changed that day.  The documentary stated how Americans changed their attitude and welcomed the hand of a stranger.  Personal space was no longer the issue – people helped to carry elderly or injured down the stairs, workers pulled others out of the rubble…lives were sacrificed, heroes were discovered.

This video helps to ease the pain for a moment.  It shows the 9-11 memorial and how calm and peaceful the grounds are today in remembrance of those we have lost.

The silver lining to this devastating catastrophe is that our country became one unit.  Every citizen was proud to be an American.  We bled red, white, and blue for years.  There were endless acts of charity, and people going above and beyond to assist anyone in their vicinity.  Lets keep that alive today.  In the heat of the current Presidential battle we can still remain one country.

What small task can you perform that will put a smile on someone else’s face?  Perhaps carry a heavy bag for a stranger or say thank you.  To this day, my father solutes every soldier he sees on the street.  

A simple “I Love You” goes a long way.

DC Shorts Film Festival

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DC Shorts Film Festival and Screenplay Competition begins this Thursday, September 6th and lasts until the 16th!  I am very, very excited to see what the writers and directors have created!

There are 140 short films that will be shown from 27 countries around the world.  Inexpensive tickets can be purchased to view just one group of short films that lasts approximately 90 minutes, a bundle of 90 min showings, an all-access or VIP ticket, etc.  The length of each individual film is anywhere from 2 to 25 minutes.

This is more than just your average film festival at multiple venues throughout the DC metro area.  It has an annual screenplay competition and other favorite awards for cash prizes and products, free bring-your-own lunch shows to view during the work week, filmmaking workshops, parties at various locations around the city, and most impressively, chef and film pairings where complimentary snacks are matched to the film by local chefs!

This festival has perfect timing - it happens to fall during my birthday, and it has generated even more excitement for my new career as I continue to learn filmmaking and production in school.  For more information visit their website. 

I wish I could post a preview for everyone, but that would take all the fun and suspense out of it.  Who wants to go with me?!

 

Lunch Beat

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So there is a new craze that has been developing over in Europe that I am very excited about…Lunch Beat.

Originally started in Stockholm, Sweden in June 2010 by Molly Range, a 28-yr old entrepreneur, Lunch Beat is now becoming a world-wide trend.  The concept is to allow the stressed-out employees stuck in cubicles all day long to have an hour during lunch to let loose and dance.  With a small ticket price, water and a light lunch is provided (usually vegetarian), and workers dance to a talented DJ from 12-1 pm returning to work energized.  It can be in a basement, on a rootop, or in a gym…a DJ, some food, and people who want to have a good time is all you need.

Before I discovered Lunch Beat I had ideas to create a playground-like area for adults during the lunch hour.  Anything like this would make a killing.  So many employees I have known (including myself) have frustrations and anxiety built up over work and need some sort of daily release.  Exercising before or after work can only help so much, but an hour to break up all of the mundane meetings is proven to be very effective. 

Lunch Beat is genius.  Straight from the Lunch Beat website…”By promoting 1 hour of day time dancing we make it possible to fully embody the buzzwords of playfulness, participation & community. A physical knowledge that will make you create magic during the rest of your day too, and so will make Lunch Beat your week’s most important business lunch.”

I am contemplating making this a reality in DC.  Let me know if you want in…

There is only one rule…you have to dance.

Tomboys

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“I’m a fashion model who can dunk.”

This Nike video perfectly captures the feeling inside all of us female athletes who can run circles around most men in our respective sport.  What is the secret?  It is all about gaining respect.  If the other team doesn’t respect you - score one more time and see if they mark you a little tighter.  If your teammates don’t pass to you - make enough boys look stupid on the other team that they are left with no choice.

A special shout out to my teammate who continues to dominate boys on the field – a big thank you for passing along this video. 

(Nike should just hire me already.)

It Is All About Perspective

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I was recently talking with a friend about how quickly life was passing us by.  Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was ecstatic for my first day of college?  After thoroughly bumming ourselves out that we were no longer in our glory days, I read a quote that completely changed my perspective: 

“Do not regret getting older, it is a privilege denied to many.” – Anonymous

Quotes always seem to have impeccable timing.  They are oftentimes so insightful that I regret how I reacted to my previous situation.  Perspective is key in life.  The glass half empty versus glass half full argument – it determines whether you remain parched or finally quench your thirst. 

The other night my roommate laid out all the paint sample cards she had leftover from Home Depot to create a collage for the living room wall.  “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”  Again: perspective.  Artists not only paint different perspectives on canvas, but they also look at the world in a unique way.  They have the ingenuity to ask a local newspaper for extra scrap paper/cardboard so they can continue to create amazing works of art.

My father was gifted with the brilliant ability to see life from this unique angle.  In witnessing my determination to pursue video production, he asked me if I realized what a film truly was.  He then went on to enlighten me that a video is just a play/musical/opera from a different perspective.  Instead of moving the actors around on stage, you have the ability to move the camera audience.  Video has the unique ability to see life from any perspective whether it is a view from the helmet of a skydiver, an underwater angle, or a normal street shot.  The video below shows life from the perspective of a hula hoop.  Very inventive filming, but a quick warning…you may get dizzy.