Drones, Red Bull, and string theorist Michio Kaku

Hey guys,

Some new things:

1. In this week's wow:
   
   Red Bull gives you parachute and skis.
   
   This is what drones should be doing. The Big Studios will be copying it soon. Hoping I can take a stab at something similar before it becomes overdone.
   

2. String theorist Michio Kaku thinks we could see contact with alien civilizations within a century, but isn't too excited about it.
   

3. I had to make a pre-taped Q&A for Alberto's Cinequest screening and wanted to have a little fun with it. Gives a sense of some of the creative elements that went into the project.
   
   Gregory Druker Day and The Portland Podcast have me as a featured guest. Starts 18 min in. On the same episode is a talk about Tina with Academy-award winning directors Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin.
   
   And Alberto is coming back to NYC!  Selected for NewFilmmakers NY, screening virtually on its Facebook Live -- the May 4th, 8:15PM EST feature presentation. (Not all NY theaters are open yet, but the hope is that Anthology -- where NewFilmmakers takes place -- will be open in the fall. They may give us a live screening then.)
   
   NewFilmmakers has a bit of sentimental value for me, as its the first place in NY I publicly screened one of my student short films. There were 25 to 30 people for a screening that included other shorts, but I still remember the 3 people that personally came to see mine. 
   

4. Case study time. I directed a pair of spots for Autism Speaks, but wasn't involved in the editing for the agency/client. In such cases, I usually edit director's cuts for my own portfolio. These ones specifically required new solutions.
   
   My plan was to film the spots in as few shots as possible and swoop the camera around in long takes. The agency was also going to use motion graphic overlays to communicate the connection made between the characters.
   
   Neither of those happened. We were working with real people on the autism spectrum, and our young girl could not be reigned in, even with her mom helping out. Then in post, the motion graphics idea was left on the sidelines.
   
   As a result, the final products -- here and here -- don't have a visual hook. The client was fine with that, so the agency was fine with that, so there wasn't an attempt to think up something more.
   
   For my own versions -- right here -- the first step was to give them a more specific tone. I went with different music, and in the case of the Playground spot, that music inspired me to manipulate the images more, giving them meaning again. Zooms. Tilts. Irises.
   
   To focus more on sound design and the music, I eliminated the voice over and relied on text overlays. This allows the scenes to feel more present and less like standard commercial fare.
   
   And I used a black&white-to-color transition to communicate what the motion graphics were originally supposed to.
   

5. My view the other day

   

Feel free to share any of this with anyone you know who'd like it -- you can send the links -- or forward the email so they have the chance to subscribe.

If you’re seeing my scrapbook for the first time, you can subscribe here to keep getting it.

Chris