Man, I love this camera

I've been using my new video camera quite a bit in the last few weeks. As I become more familiar with it, I'm appreciating it even more. The above stills are from a project I worked on for Wilmington Renaissance Corporation (WRC) last week. The final product is a 2.5-minute video that mixes still photos and live action to promote development in the city. After some very late nights of editing, it was barely finished in time to play at a "State of Downtown" event on Wednesday in front of 250 people, including the mayor (who also makes an appearance in the video). I'll give you a heads up in a week or two when it's available to view on WRC's website.

Possibly more entertaining for you -- I have a fun, Cottage Cheese-esque short to show sometime soon. It was made quickly without much of a plan one night as a test of shooting/editing in widescreen at 24 frames per second. It also gave me a chance to play with some post-production techniques I've been meaning to try. If you liked the Bread Man videos, I think you'll get a kick out of these results.

Speaking of tests, the twilight shooting I did for the WRC video was a good test for a music video I'm planning to direct later this spring. The video is for a song by The National (although it's not endorsed by the band or their label, of course) and will be starring our friends S & Q. This is the project I'm the most excited about right now. I'm thinking of it as a sort of paean to Wilmington and a return to the atmospheric, late-night designs I've attempted to create in the past. Nobody is paying me to work on this one, and I'm glad. This one is for me again. Finally.

I am being paid, however, for the latest Bud Light video, which was shot last Thursday night. It has been waiting to be edited since. I'm curious to see what I picked up and how it comes together; I just couldn't bring myself to sit in front of the computer for much of the weekend after the PC-overkill that was the previous week and weekend. The video currently playing on BudLightFilmCrew.com was not done by me, by the way, but it's worth checking out. It covers the first of the two auditions for our new hosts. The winners will get to co-host the videos for the summer at $50 a pop. Okay, so there's not much money in it, but who wouldn't want the fame associated with being on Out & About's 3rd most visited web page?

The weekend was good. On Friday night we attended a surprise party held for our friend Cindy to celebrate her finishing chemo treatment. During the party, her husband, Gordon, screened a 60-second commercial he made that won 2nd place in a recent national contest. Dogfish Head, the beer company holding the contest, is flying him down to Austin, Texas at the beginning of April for a festival of the best entries. Way to go, Gordon! Actually, way to go, Cindy too!

On Saturday, R joined me for the ultimate frisbee game. She did great (she even made the news), despite having not played since college. Afterwards we went out with the team for an incredible buffalo chicken cheese steak. I spent the afternoon working on taxes, one my least favorite activities in the world. Luckily for us this year, my employer is paying to have our taxes done professionally, although it still took a while just to collect all the info and fill out some forms they needed. I shouldn't complain. That night we watched the polarizing No Country For Old Men. Wow. I can understand people's frustration with the ending, but now that it's sunk in, I can't imagine it wrapping up any other way. There's something note-perfect about the tone and the pacing of the film. It makes filmmaking look easy and challenges the viewer to accept its uncompromised vision. Talk about a punch in the gut.

We woke up on Sunday and went out to brunch at Kid Shelleen's. After that I attended a film club meeting. This is a group of local filmmakers interested in networking, discussing movies, and helping each other out on projects. They're talking about holding a festival for member-created shorts, which could be a great opportunity to share some stuff and see it play on a big screen, so I'm excited. Immediately following the meeting, R and I ran a 5K in Trolley Square. I do not recommend doing that two hours after consuming cinnamon rolls, a huge omelet, toast, potatoes, and a large glass of orange juice. After the race, my stomach was so upset I couldn't finish a beer. Our day was rounded out with some grocery shopping, cleaning the house, and doing some laundry. You could say it was an ambitious Sunday.

There's your update on things. Life is feeling really exciting right now; overwhelming at times too, but exciting nevertheless. Change is once again (possibly) on the horizon, as it so often is during the spring. Expect details over the next few months.