As I archived old projects to make room on my hard drives, I came across some video I shot this summer during a family trip to Alaska to celebrate my folks' 50th wedding anniversary. This short piece was an experiment in color grading using MB Looks and then exporting into a QT Prores 422 Proxy format in 720p before uploading to Vimeo. I normally export directly to H264, but I wanted to see if the quality held up better exporting to Prores before the upload. I think the difference is minor, but I'll be doing this on future projects to see how it works in 720p and 1080p.
I don't claim to be a photographer of any caliber at all (it would be a discredit to all the skilled photographers out there if I did), but I do enjoy tinkering around in Photoshop trying to make average photos look their best. Here's one from a recent dance performance and another of the local mountains.
For this promotional video I was faced with the dilemma of not having a lot of video footage and a limited amount of photos to work with to make the video. I did have the interviews I'd shot, but the limited amount of video led me to create a more kinematic graphic flow for the video. The interviews were edited in Premiere Pro, but the bulk of the project was completed in After Effects using a virtual camera and many null objects to move all the frames around the screen.
I just completed the first of two videos for the Utah Special Olympics. I'm especially happy with the combination of beautiful music, compelling imagery of the amazing athletes, and the voice over by a teenager. I wanted to create an emotional, subjective piece that aimed for a visceral reaction from the viewer. The CEO and her staff at the Utah Special Olympics were emotionally moved by the video, which was my intent -- I hope we can do the same with the next video.
We're excited to be creating product videos for RAMP Sports skis. RAMP is based out of Park City, Utah and uses eco-friendly techniques and cutting edge technologies to create performance oriented skis/snowboards. This video is one of thirteen we've created for this year's line up.
A luthier (// loo-ti-ər) is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. John Young is a local luthier who specializes in making violins for clients around the world. Our short documentary featuring John will be completed in the next couple of months.
Here's another performance by the Kairos Dance Company out of Los Angeles, CA. Choreography by Hazel Clarke. I shot this on a 1080p Panasonic HD camera.
It's been a while since we posted anything, and we're currently in the middle of a lot of different projects, so...in the mean time here's a video to show we're still alive.
We shot the footage over a year ago, but it looks like we'll soon be finishing up six training videos for the Intermountain Division of the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA-I). I love skiing, so it's great to work with such high level instructors, and I enjoyed the chance to learn more about the fundamental movements of skiing. The videos will hopefully aid ski instructors become better skiers and instructors for their clients. Here's one of the six videos.
I just finished a video for the G-Force Bobsled and Skeleton program in Park City, Utah. The short video features olympic medalists Shauna Rohbock and Valerie Fleming speaking about the program that's designed to train the next generation of Olympic hopefuls. Check out this and other programs offered at the Utah Olympic Park.
Getting kids out into the mountains and onto skis? Sounds like a good cause to me. That's what the (S)heJumps into the Canyon program is all about. Over four weekends in March, volunteers teach kids from local Boys and Girls clubs how to ski on the slopes of Alta Ski area. Here's a video we put together to highlight the program and hopefully get other folks to get similar programs started across the country, the continent, and the world. SheJumps is a non-profit started by Claire Smallwood (skiing evangelist / sous chef), Vanessa Pierce (RAMP Sports Communications director), and Lynsey Dyer (big mtn pro skier).
Okay, I must admit my wife talked me into this one, but how can I say "no" to such a pretty smile. Her fellow ski instructors were looking to make an instructional video, so before I knew it I was volunteered, scheduled, and shooting a quick video about...hold on for this...loading and unloading a chair lift with students. Not earth shattering content, but still fun all the same. I can never complain about spending a blue bird day on the snow with my wife and the wonderful people at Snowbasin.
Recently, I was able to video some amazing dancers at the Rocky Mountain Choreography Festival. Everyone's performances were outstanding, and Carrie Lee Miles' Delirium took the Audience Choice Award while Hazel Clarke's Calvary took the Overall Winner Award for the Festival. Congratulations to them both, as well as all the skilled choreographers and dancers.
Believe it or not, but a majority of kids who live in the shadow of the Wasatch Range don't get into the mountains to ski or snowboard. Ogden City, Wolf Mountain Resort, and the Ogden Valley Winter Sports Foundation are looking to change that by starting a program that allows kids to come up and ski or snowboard a day for free. Sponsored by local businesses and non-profits, this program hopes to foster the enthusiasm for a new generation of people who love snow sports.
On a recent trip to Nevada, I spent a couple hours wandering and exploring along the Virgin River in the NW corner of Arizona. I put the footage together into this video featuring the wonderful voice of Tom O'Bedlam reading Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem "Solitude." It seemed to me to be a fitting compliment to the imagery of the desert.
Two great photographers, Adam Steidinger and Doug Ahmann, take amazing ski race photos which we then sell on SmugMug to raise money for the Ogden Valley Ski Team. Besides managing the logistics, I also get the opportunity to design some posters to market the photos. It's really win/win/win, since it's fun, I get to learn more aspects of Photoshop, and we're supporting a great cause. http://ovwsf.smugmug.com/
Not only did we change the look of our website, but we also added a new Vimeo Channel which has all our fun videos of skiing. Most aren't professional, but all of them are fun, so we needed a single place to keep them for easy viewing, so....we created the Fun Skiing Channel. Good lines, fresh tracks, fun times...etc.
In December we created a thirty second commercial for the Utah Film Commission. We're still working on the final music score, and when it's done the commercial will be used online to promote film making here in the great state of Utah. We had various concepts for the ad, but in the end we chose to make the ad solely with motion graphics.
I didn't win, but I still had fun entering a competition about how my eye surgery helped me in my life. It was good to learn some new After Effects skills...and it's always fun to have an excuse to edit another ski video featuring my awesome family.
I had a lot of fun creating a 17 minute "mockumentary" for the farewell banquet of a great guy, Keith Knudson, who gave up the command of the 419th Fighter Wing this month. Using a lot of creative license, the video told the story of a man who always dreamed of being a "Dew Tour sponsored, professional free skier" and the video is hilarious mainly due to the great comedic skills of Mat Miller. That guy should've been a stand up comedian.
