"Letus" See More Videos!

Just thought I’d give everyone an update on Andrew’s wonderful life. Last weekend I went on a trip to New York City. I have to say, in my opinion, New York is THE MOST amazing city on the entire planet! It’s gigantic, full of life and packed with unique people, places and stores you won’t find anywhere else. Ever been to a restaurant with a menu consisting ENTIRELY of chocolate-related recipes including chocolate pizza? Or a camera equipment store the length of an entire city block; So big that it has a network of ceiling-mounted conveyor belts to bring your purchase to the front cash! What other city has a world famous add-saturated, anti-green intersection? Only in New York! I spent the better part of a day taking a stroll through Central Park. What a beautiful place! You almost forget that you’re in the middle of a city. I brought my XH-A1 down and took some shots there, too. I uploaded the video HERE. I can’t wait until my next visit!

While I was there, a good friend of mine was kind enough to help me purchase a Letus35, which allows me to attach professional lenses to a DV camcorder. This essentially transforms your run-of-the-mill consumer camcorder into a professional piece of film equipment, but without, you know, burning a planet-sized whole in your wallet. Check out this amazing video by Michael Fletcher to see how this simple piece of equipment can turn a ordinary DV image into a cinematic masterpiece! Expect some films from me in the near future that utilize this adapter.

Let There Be Light!

March is turning out to be a great month for me! I have two amazing projects coming up and an exciting holiday to look forward to!

One of these projects is my entry into this weekend’s “Weekend Project” on Vimeo.com. The project is to take footage with ordinary sounds (crashes, bangs, electronics, appliances) and edit them together to create something uniquely musical. I’m going to take that a step further, by writing my own pice of instrumental rock music (Yes, a real piece of music, not more of this abstract, experimental crazyness :P) and syncing that up with some rather... unique visuals.

My second project is related to this holiday I mentioned. Over the March break, I’m going on a 12 day trip to magnificent Spain! This is a school trip, with a very lucky group of 30 students attending. Of course, I’ll be bringing my trusty XH-A1 and a heap of tapes with me, taking as much footage as humanly possible. Upon my return, I will compose individual videos for each major city we visited, allowing you to experience an intimate look at the wonders of Spain from your own home. Get excited! I know I am! :D

UPDATE:
WOW! I won the contest with Light Guitar Rock! After only 12 days I’ve gotten over 14,000 views and a lot of positive feedback. I had so much fun with this project, I’m bound to do it again and I’m certainly going to write more of my own rock music. See the video at www.vimeo.com/3595353

School, School, and More School!

As generic as it sounds, school has been keeping me busy. Work, projects, tests, more work, more projects. I’m running out of “me” time. :( Classes have been keeping my busy with course-specific film projects, inluding a 9 minute documentary on the psylogical differences between teenagers and adults (I may upload this in the future), and a 2 HOUR recording of one of my school’s theater productions, The Princess Bride.

Some good has come out of this, though: Another experimental film project! One of my classes, “Non Traditional Art”, is an arts course that has a focus on art forms that are, well, not traditional. We’re currently in the experimental video unit, and amongst the projects I’ve completed for the unit are the rhythmically satisfying “Foot Jingle”, and the newly uploaded “Sand Coaster”. I’m sure the artistically inclined among you find them... interesting. ;)

For those of you who can’t stand the image-intensive, plot-lacking, artsy-fartsy videos like these, don’t worry, there are some more “normal” short films on the way. I assure you that they will entertain you and tickle your funny bones! :D