The Daily Online VIdeo Fix: Zeitgiest, Federal Reserve

I thought the last post may have been a little too flip about the economic disaster facing our country at the moment, so I wanted to post a more sobering online video that may shed some light on one of the most mysterious institutions - The Federal Reserve. I think this clip from the film Zeitgeist does a great job of giving us a background on hot the reserve was formed and how it operates. Even though this film is labeled a conspiracy film, I think it holds a lot of valuable information. The word conspiracy is sometimes used to marginalize the truth and make people think that this type of content is fiction. Sometimes, I wish it was so... As Americans, this is a very rough time and I hope this video can help give us a little understanding of the forces that shape and drive this nation.

The Daily Online Video Fix: Hallmark Across America

Here's the pilot I produced and directed for the original online series HALLMARK ACROSS AMERICA.   This premiere episode focuses on MURDER MYSTERY WEEKEND.   Stun Creative hired me for this great gig.  It's been a long time since I had this much fun on a project.  We were in the beautiful town of Langley, Washington.  The town is about an hour north of Seattle on Whidbey Island.   The people were really nice and everyone was very cool with us shooting there.   

I had no idea what to expect going into this...  It's always harder to try and find the story as it unfolds rather that just covering a simple event or competition.  What I mean is that there were multiple narratives to this event - the story being amateur sleuths trying to figure out "who did it".   There are a ton of stories happening all at the same time because  there were thousands of people in town, all trying to figure out who the murderer was over two days...   We needed to find interesting characters to follow within a few hours of shooting or we had no story.  Other festivals, such as Alaska's ice sculpture competition, doesn't really have an unpredictable narrative.   You know it is going to be teams of people carving ice all in a confined area.  All you need to do was document a few teams carving ice and you were good to go. 

It was important to Hallmark not only cover the event, but reveal the personalities of the people participating.   I agreed totally with this.    Getting into personalities is always more fun.  Luckily there were a ton of great characters who came to Langley and we got a ton of video gold.   We were all over the town, running from team to team, trying to follow their stories...  I think this series can be a real winner.   Please check it out by clicking the link below and let me know your thoughts!

HALLMARK ACROSS AMERICA - MURDER MYSTERY WEEKEND  

Getting Hooked On New Media, Pt 2

...Before the deal was done with Eveo, I made sure they would pay for as many videos as I could possibly crank out.  There was no minimum or maximum number.   Each video could be just one piece or broken into several parts.   This was key.    I had total freedom.   The one thing that was important to them is that the video was in focus (most of the time) and that there was audio.   Period.   I was unsure if they trusted my abilities or were completely out of their minds...  Oh, and I got to keep the copyright and they would license the content.   Not  bad. 

Once I got the go ahead, I called everyone I knew who was involved with the NYC art world or had a band that didn't suck.   Part of the reason for pitching these series were because I went to a high-school of visual and performing arts in Miami called New World.  I was still close with a bunch of people who were now breaking into the art or music world and thought this would be a great chance to highlight their work.  Within an few days I had set up over a dozen shoots.  It was the middle of winter and it was brutally cold in NY.  I packed up my Sony TRV-900, ME66 shotgun mic, Arri light-kit and Russian fur hat and headed to NYC.

Most segments took two days to shoot.  The first day was usually shooting b-roll of the artist or musician working...   I was able to get familiar with their style and process.   This allowed me to formulate questions for our interview which would usually happen on the second day.   Most of the time, I realized that there was enough content to support two segments for each artist.    

Once I started, I was soon being introduced to other artists, musicians, A&R execs, gallery owners, curators who all wanted to participate as well.  It seemed each segment opened the door to two additional people to document.   

The greatest discovery however was realizing how much people opened up if they didn't feel like there was pressure on them to deliver.   Just being one guy with a camera, I think allowed people to let their guard down and just be themselves. There was an intimacy that I had never gotten before when working with a larger crew.  Sure, when you have a team of people, the level of production value goes up (some of the time).  I found the trade off was completely worth it. Getting great content from your subjects always trumps production value.   Obviously, I tried my best to light things properly, get good audio and shoot with a steady hand and pick interesting angles, but nothing was more important than making sure the people I were taping were dynamic and fun to watch.   

I also think my subjects saw that I was having a good time.  And if I am having fun, there is no reason for them not to relax and have fun as well.  When I would go on other shoots with larger crews, everything was always very professional and serious.   Now, it was important to just relax, have fun and get the magic of the creative process.   

The other major lesson I learned was that, being the shooter/producer as well as the editor, allowed me to shoot just enough so I could get a great segment.   I didn't have to overshoot everything.  Once I was in the editing room, the pieces came together fast.    I knew where the best shots were.  I could sometimes cut together two or three segments in a day.  

To this day, I look back on those three weeks of shooting and realize that was the most fun I had creating a series.   The initial fear I had that it was going to be crap because it wouldn't feel professional was crazy.  Eveo wanted it to feel like an amateur made it.  They wanted it grungy and homemade...  Luckily, that's exactly what they got.

Within six weeks I delivered 33 segments - 20 on emerging artists, 13 on breaking bands.   Eveo, I think was a bit shocked that I was able to crank out so many segments that quickly.     They were very happy with the pieces, but more importantly, most of my subjects were also thrilled about their segments as well.   That was a great payoff.   Not to mention, I made ten grand.  I think I was one of the first people hired to create original video content specifically for the Internet.

However, once the videos were up, it was clear that the technology was not yet ready for prime time.  Most people still didn't have broadband and most computers took forever to stream a single piece of video.   It wasn't long before the Internet bubble burst and many companies folded or changed their business model.    It was a shame, because Eveo was really trying to make a great site that was about the democratization of video.   It would take another six years till YouTube came along and proved that user generated content was a powerful creative force.    

Here are a few segments for you to check out.  I will add the complete series shortly.  Hope you enjoy!

LOCKOUT:  JAMMIN WITH LINKIN PARK

LOCKOUT:  DJ JOE OF LINKIN PARK

STUDIO VISIT: RACHEL LEVINE

First! Getting Hooked On New Media...

I fell in love with original online video from the start.  It was 1999 and the first Internet wave was washing over the country.   I was finishing up co-writing, producing and directing PRESERVING THE LEGACY, a three-year environmental documentary series for PBS.   At 26, I had travelled the world and discovered the incredible ways we were quickly destroying the planet.  This was years before it was cool to be aware about global warming.  My friends hated hearing about nuclear waste, the population explosion, our carbon footprint, Superfund, air pollution and so on...  Working on this series was an incredible experience, but left me with a feeling like I needed to create something on the lighter side once it was over.    

At the time, broadband and video were the big buzz words and companies were sprouting up like weeds on the Internet to cash in on they hype.   Start-ups were being given huge amounts of cash.   They needed content and they needed it now.   To me, as a filmmaker, the future was here.   For the first time, advancements in digital-video cameras and online editing software made it possible to create stories that didn't have to cost a ton of money.   Anyone could do it and that what companies were banking on...

I was pitching two series ideas.  STUDIO VISIT followed the creative process of emerging visual artists and LOCKOUT revealed the process of breaking bands.    After three months of getting nowhere, Eveo came along.  

Eveo was a startup based out of San Francisco and they were YouTube before there was a YouTube.   They were betting that user-generated video content would be huge.   However, before they launched their site they needed videos (which they called eveos)  to be seeded on the site so they could show their potential audience what to make.    They loved my ideas for LOCKOUT and STUDIO VISIT. Kids would see the videos, be inspired to make their own videos and then post them on the site.   Great.  Perfect.  Let's make it happen!

The deal was fast and loose.  Since they wanted my videos to inspire others to make their own, my videos needed to have a home-made feel.   It was to be a one-man-band operation.    Me shooting, doing sound, lighting, everything...   They wanted me to make as many as I could as quickly as possible.   I was going to get paid $300 per video.   Each video was to be 2 - 4 minutes in length.    I could do whatever I wanted as long as it was about breaking bands or emerging artists.   I needed to be smart and plan ahead.   If I wasn't careful, this process could become very painful and expensive.   If done right, I would be able to tell some great stories and be able to make rent for a while.   What followed was the most intensive filmmaking experience I've ever had in my life.

To be continued...