Videography Goal-setting :: A Visit from F-Stop Seattle

SCCA was paid a visit this morning by Jake & James of F-Stop Seattle, a video production house with a wide-array of talents but primarily known for their staggering time-lapse photography. I didn't realize it when I first saw these two unassuming gentlemen, but I already knew their work from BuzzFeed... not only that, but I watched it wide-eyed with wonder and maybe a little dust in my eyes with love for my city.

https://vimeo.com/95766797

They showed off some new technology and emphasized the importance of maintaining a website or blog that highlights the work that you'd like to do more of, even if producing it has to be on your own dime.

*This post was brought to you by the latest release from Odesza, I don't want to spill any cats out of beanbags, but keep your eyes peeled for a collab between the gents at F-Stop & Odesza soonish.

Rough Cut :: 6x6 // 575

Tasked with creating a very short film: six shots, six seconds each, themed with a haiku... Rather than cleverly finding or writing a haiku, I began with random old iPhone footage hoping to cobble together something clever and abstract... I'm SO VERY CLEVER that all of my super-cool footage was shot vertically.

Not being one to worry too much about quality, I tried to crop/zoom my portrait-oriented footage in Premiere only to realize that doing so was not only out of my skill level, but was beneath even my very low standards.

I desperately wanted to avoid clichés (shots of anything in, near, or around, SCCA -- those overused stairwells! the panning view from the balcony!) alas, time required that I take some shots of the 5th Floor.

Due to a lack of talent (ahem, I mean ACTORS) and budget, I opted for a hand-held first-person aesthetic. I shot random footage in and around SCCA (because really, who goes anywhere else?) before developing a tiny narrative.

These shots were Franken-edited in Premiere, including an awkward bathroom shot (apparently the totally-rad stairwell footage I shot was filmed while the camera was in the 'OFF' position. GO FIG).

Why are we going in the bathroom? What happens in there?

NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW.

I had to YouTube the SAME educational video I used for Neil's class to sort out my audio fade-out, although I did learn SOMEthing from last quarter: I knew the proper terminology to type into Google this time --Constant Gain-- please enjoy this video of Country-Cousin Jason Hoppe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sWBfI-okQM

Then, in my uncompromising quest to sate my pure artistic vision, I spent no fewer than three hours figuring out how to use the rounded iris transition properly (proper placement & reversing)--it was really a matter of finding the proper effects panel, turning it on and ticking a box. Another three hours well spent.

Without further ado (and with sincerest apologies to Melody Hirsch and Hüsker Dü), I give you my 6x6 // 575

https://vimeo.com/151870408

BRB, off to kern a pygmy hippo.