On a road trip to see Mount Rushmore you probably wouldn't expect to come across the Berlin Wall. In Rapid City, South Dakota however, you'll find two 12 foot slabs of the original wall that divided East and West Berlin on display in Memorial Park located downtown. Surrounded by two tank traps, we visited the site on a rainy afternoon during the final day of our road trip. The gray day only seemed to further emphasize the bleak history behind the landmark.
Always fluctuating between those weeks when I felt I had a lot to say and those days that I felt I just had to say something, it's kind of surprising to find yourself stumbling up to 1000 posts. I've shared a lot so far, and when I think about all of the projects, rants, photo sets, reviews, film festivals, contests, film school classes, and all of the general growing up that's happened here, I realize that I've learned a lot too.
Using my flipcard, I created a visual representation of all 999 posts that preceded this one. It looks like a lot, but also somehow like not nearly enough. Counting today, these 1000 posts have spanned 4 years, 9 months, and 7 days of my life. It makes me feel thankful, privileged, and genuinely happy to be able to share a bit of my story while trying to pay forward a bit of the inspiration that I get from pursuing the work that I love.
If for nothing else, Editing Luke is the proof that I made an effort for the sake of my ambitions and told my story in the process. I think in the grand scheme of things I'll look back at these first 1000 posts and think, "yeah, that was a good start".
It's not everyday that you get paid to work on something that you're genuinely excited about. Throw in what is quite possibly one of the nicest houses in the entire city for a shooting location, stunning HD footage captured on a DSLR, a small and enthusiastic crew, and me, as director, heading up the shoot for a concept that I played a large role in developing? Well, now we're on to something!
Ok, so I'm laying it on a bit thick, but the truth is that the project we shot over the weekend holds a lot of potential for the future videos that we might get a chance to create. It's also the opportunity to broaden the scope and style of our productions and give our client something that we'll both take a great deal of pride in. I believe they call that a win-win.
While I can't go into much detail at the moment, what I will say about the project is that it involves working with food producers in the region. And wouldn't you know it, just as many of our successful projects have begun, we prepped for our shoot over a meal at Local on Friday night.
The week up to this point had been a bit of a crap shoot. I was still nailing out a shot list up until the last minute, and wanting to switch from the HD video camera things were still up in the air about whether or not we'd have a new DSLR to work with in time. What panned out was actually a pretty exciting opportunity. After realizing that we wouldn't have the camera in time, Barb found someone who owned one and asked if I'd like to have him as a shooter so I could focus entirely on directing. This has happened zero times before.
You have to understand that working in a small production company it's a luxury when our roles aren't bleeding into one another. Having the chance to navigate a concept/shot list/script without my face being either glued to the viewfinder or to a monitor after joining the project in post production was a welcome upgrade. Creatively speaking, it was actually quite a challenge to wrap my mind around at first, but ultimately resulted in a more eclectic and thorough series of shots. To be involved in this one from creative brainstorming to completion has been awesome!
The sequence we were shooting took place in a kitchen, and through Stream's connections the resulting locale that we decided on could have earned the 'epic' portion of this posts title all on its own. The home was beautiful, gigantic, and featured stunning views of the river. The kitchen itself could give most cooking show's sets a run for their money. But on a necessary side note, my car looked right at home in the driveway.
As for the shoot, things went really well. With Barb as producer, Ross on camera, Julie acting, Lee Anne as production assistant, Jesse capturing what was going on behind the scenes, and myself as director, we had a good mix that made the day fly by. I've yet to preview all of the footage though, so there's not much more I can say at the moment other than that I`m looking forward to editing this one. Fingers crossed that it turns out as well as I imagine it to. A lot of cool things could happen if this campaign takes off.
