oneshortyear blog

Everyday 0010 – AOL Media and Honda

oneshortyear — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:12:13 +0000

everyday funny 0010

Everyday Quote: People can have the Model T in any color–so long as it’s black.
– Henry Ford

Today’s everyday comes on the heels of a project I shot for “Translogic”, an automotive technology themed show produced by AOL Media. Luke Wahl, the producer, Cait Thompson, the host, and I, the camera-op, visited Honda’s “secret” (closed to the public) museum in Torrance, CA. There we interviewed Dave Marek, chief designer for Honda America R&D. Among other things, Dave demonstrated some mad drawing skills by drawing a new concept car on a whiteboard in under 5 minutes.

As we wrapped up the interview portion of the shoot, and I was “free” to roam around and shoot b-roll, I spotted my first car, the 1987 Honda Accord LXi hatchback. Not too far from it, there was the 1995 Honda Accord Ex, my third car, which I drove from the snowy midwest to the sunny California almost ten years ago to start a new life in Los Angeles. Anyone who’s ever spent a significant amount of time driving (or using any piece of equipment, for that matter) knows how easy it is to anthropomorphize our inanimate pets. I am no exception. I spent some time over the weekend and put together a little homage to my loyal friends, set to a near perfect song by Andy Cabic of Vetiver.

Everyday 0009 – The All-American Rejects JVC shoot

oneshortyear — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:54:48 +0000

Everyday (triple-dose of) Quotes: Maturity is only a short break in adolescence.
– Jules Feiffer
A conference is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done.
– Fred Allen
People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy.
– Bob Hope

Today’s everyday consists of a few pics from the shoot I partook in this weekend. We shot a JVC commercial featuring The All-American Rejects. The storyline folowed AAR getting recognized and then chased by fans while cruisin’ in their old-school van. They ran but couldn’t hide, so they pulled into an abandoned warehouse and started rocking out (because that’s what rock bands do, right?). All this, of course, was happening with the help of JVC’s GPS in-car navigation technology, JVC radios, speakers and the like.

The shoot was a lot of fun, I learned a lot, especially about using my 7D in insane settings with the help of right accessories (and duct tape). More importantly, I got to collaborate and hang out with like minds, folks equally in love with cinematography. Click to view slideshow.

Everyday 0008 – Corinne Bailey Rae, Sandra Bullock Trade, and Title Sequence

oneshortyear — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 06:33:36 +0000

everyday funny 0008 (courtesy of blog.brandspankin.com)

Everyday quote: The student of the game knows that the levels of revelation in any art, are inexhaustible.
– Steven Pressfield (from “War of Art”).

Today I will note a couple of events: listening to Corinne Bailey Rae new album “The Sea”, whose soulful voice, straightforward instrumentation and no-bells-and-whistles production I enjoy very much, especially the track #2 “I’ll Do It All Again.” Also, as our nation sobs for the broken heart of one Sandra Bullock (whom I’ve gotten to like and appreciate just recently, after many years of merely tolerating), David Brooks in his NY Times article writes, “Would you exchange a tremendous professional triumph for a severe personal blow?,” and further goes one saying, “… if you had to take more than three seconds to think about this question, you are absolutely crazy. Marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining personal well-being. If you have a successful marriage, it doesn’t matter how many professional setbacks you endure, you will be reasonably happy. If you have an unsuccessful marriage, it doesn’t matter how many career triumphs you record, you will remain significantly unfulfilled.” What do you think?

Today’s everyday is an After Effects’ title sequence test for a project I am currently involved with.

Everyday 0007 – Sonic Pool video

oneshortyear — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:06:06 +0000

everyday funny 0007 (courtesy of blog.brandspankin.com)

Everyday quote: I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.
– Augusten Burroughs

Today’s everyday, as announced in my previous posts, is a corporate video for Sonic Pool. The word “corporate” doesn’t really sound right when used in conjunction with this post-production powerhouse located in Hollywood. Check it out, and see if you get a sense of its personality and company culture. Let me know what you think?

Everyday 0006 – Another shoot day.

oneshortyear — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 06:42:28 +0000

everyday funny 0006

Everyday quote: The truth doesn’t change according to our ability to stomach it.
– Flannery O’Connor.

Today’s everyday is a timelapse shot while hanging out in Hollywood hills. Also included is a photo I took earlier this year. It reminds me a little of Vermeer’s “Girl With a Pearl Earring.”

jordan

Everyday 0005 – Line2

oneshortyear — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 06:26:14 +0000

Everyday funny 0005

Everyday Quote: Mankind have a great aversion to intellectual labor; but even supposing knowledge to be easily attainable, more people would be content to be ignorant than would take even a little trouble to acquire it.
– Samuel Johnson
In his today’s NYTimes column, David Pogue lent his legitimacy as one of the nation’s most trusted techies to a new app for the iPhone called Line2. As the name implies, it adds a second line to your iPhone, complete with a separate number, voicemail, and contact list. I’ve been looking for a second line solution, which would enable me to separate my business calls from private ones for some time now. The only thing is that, as of writing this article, the app is nowhere to be found in the App store. Besides, I can’t see how AT&T would be open to an idea that allows users to bypass its services. Read the article here and check out company’s website for additional info here. Let me know if you figure out where exactly in the App store it’s hiding.

Lastly, I’ll unveil my promo video in tomorrow’s post. The client was pleased, but there are tweaks I’d like to make first…

Everyday 0004 – Editing

oneshortyear — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 06:35:45 +0000

Everyday Funny 0004

Everyday Quote:
The development of an imagined piece into an actual piece is a progression of decreasing possibilities, as each step in execution reduces future options by converting one – and only one – possibility into a reality.
– David Bayles

I smirk as I type the above quote, having spent the whole day editing a short promotional video I shot yesterday. I have over 200 different shots, about 80 minutes of footage, and all I need is 90 seconds. For every shot I choose, four or five have to go. Sorry, my sweet little shots… it’s not you, it’s me…

Papa Frost mixing.

Bird mixing.

VO Booth shananigans.

Breakin' balls.

Everyday 0003 – Storytelling

oneshortyear — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:50:48 +0000

everyday funny 0003

Everyday quote: No person needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.
-Elbert Hubbard

In my humble opinion, if I could point out a single thing sorely lacking in most of the content speeding up and down broadband these days, it would be (the age old craft of) storytelling. I found this storytelling advice from “This American Life”‘s Ira Glass very useful. Hope you too will enjoy it.

Everyday 0002 – Photoshop Masks

oneshortyear — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:35:06 +0000

everyday funny

Everyday quote:
…Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.
– George Carlin

Alright, so I looked at Photoshop masks today. The (not so) secret tool of compositors and retouchers everywhere. When a mask is attached to a layer, it serves as a passageway to the layers beneath it. The way we allow the layer(s) beneath to show through is by hiding portions of or the entire top layer. When we paint a layer mask with a black brush, everything that is completely (100%) black hides 100% of painted pixels and reveals the layer underneath it. Dark grey (say 75% black) will reveal less, light grey less yet, and finally, a perfect (100%) white will take us right back to full opacity.
OK, so what do we do with masks? Well, for one, as I will demonstrate below, it comes really handy when working with photographs needing selective exposure adjustments, or, say, replacing a dull gray sky with a more interesting one. Cheating? Nah. Just saving the world from (my own) bad photography, one pic at a time.

Pic. 01 - Venice Beach Pier - dull sky, and underexposed foreground

Pic. 02 - sky found on google

Pic. 03 - old (dull) sky masked out so that the new sky underneath shows through

Pic. 04 - foreground brightness adjusted via a brightness adjustment layer with a gradient mask

Pic. 05 - Final composite - brightness adjusted for the time of day and direction of light.

Everyday 0001 – Glidetrack Video

oneshortyear — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 05:15:11 +0000

Today’s Everyday is a video of my courtyard. I used “Little Alice” track from Danny Elfman’s Alice in Wonderland soundtrack (purchased from lala.com) and would highly recommend it. I learned today that I will need to use sand-bags to weigh down my tripod when working with a glidetrack. The camera and tripod head are too heavy for the carbon fiber legs. Also, the glidetrack itself needs some polishing for a smoother glide. Technical details aside, I love filming places I take for granted. The slow dolly shots and Elfman’s music allow me to see all these places afresh. For once, I am not lost in future plans nor recollections of the past. One of the main reasons I love video and photography is that each discipline not only encourages, but requires attention to the present moment.