Says Chair

Sometimes bringing motion into a product video can be challenging, but in the case of the Sayl Chair by Herman Miller it was fun to let the chair spin and capture the natural movements. I wanted to showcase the details of the design and materials (by Fuseproject).

New Balance 990v2 Video

Version two of the New Balance 990. Unlike my previous New Balance video which is up and close and examines the details of the shoe, this one is a little more playful and pulled back.

New Balance 990 Video

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I’m a huge fan of New Balance. I was excited when a tan version of the 990 came out. Originally created in 1982 they have stood the test of time and are still made today. I’ve created an up-close video to pay homage to their exquisite design and unique characteristics.

Donut Joke

I love donuts and I love jokes, why not combine the two? It was as fun to make the set elements for this video as it was designing it.

And of course I had lots of donuts leftover. No wonder I love shooting donuts!

I created the initial design in Adobe Illustrator, then tile-printed it at 100% ( it was over 5 feet long!) with tabloid sheets of paper. I then used the large print as a template to cut the fabric and lay everything out in the right spot.

Bean-To-Bar Chocolate

I don’t normally think about how a chocolate bar is made, that is, until I met 9th & Larkin. They make their chocolate from single origin cacao beans, which is why their chocolate has distinctive flavors depending on the region the beans are grown (similar to single origin coffee).  I worked with them to create a video which gives an overview of all the steps involved in creating this artisanal (and delicious) chocolate.

DaVinci Resolve

I’m learning to use the video software DaVinci Resolve 17. I’ve used the software in the past, but now I want to broaden my skills. I needed some video footage to use in the program, so I captured scenes from North Beach and Chinatown here in San Francisco. I’m much more proficient with Final Cut Pro, so this video was more about getting up to speed on all the controls than doing anything fancy.

Sayl Chair

The Sayl chair by Herman Miller has simplified and advanced the desk chair in so many ways. I worked with the chair designers to photograph a new feature of the chair: a fabric back cover. This provides an added level of customization for the user. The goal of this project was to show how the fabric worked with the chair and showcase the color options.

The beauty of the design is that the fabric doesn’t hide the structure’s frameless suspension system. The loose weave of the fabric allows the chair’s back to show through. This quality was something we wanted to capture in the still photos. The stop motion piece allows the viewer to see the chair's shape from all sides as well as demonstrating how many colors combinations there are.

Millie Lottie

Millie Lottie has taken totes to the next level. Jan Hammock, the owner of Millie Lottie, wanted to show that these bags were more than just a stylish tote bag and that they had clever features to make transporting foods much easier.  

I worked with Jan to create simple sketches in a storyboard format showing the different camera angles I would use and what action would be taking place in each shot. I had to think about what the finished video would show and how it would piece together in editing. I needed to highlight the individual parts of the interior of the bag and how it simplifies bringing food to a pot luck or picnic. 

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Flower and Film

I had an idea for a stop motion piece bubbling around in my head for some time. It was very loose and incomplete but fate presented me with the exact things I needed to tie it all together, a box of old slides and prints. These were recently given to me by a family member and there's more nostalgia than in the images alone. Holding and viewing the chrome slides and seeing the old way we used to capture, view, and appreciate images was great fun. It made me reflect on how photography has changed. This stop motion piece uses the old media as props and to create a color palate. Much the way a latent image would become visible as it soaks in developer in a darkroom, this image comes to life before the viewer's eyes. To complete this effect we worked in reverse.

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Little piles a sawdust were placed for each frame of the stop motion.

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Slivers of the frame were cut off and small pieces of the flower print were ripped away after each shot. The final video shows the framed photo appear from nothing. This took a while to create but I'm very happy with the final piece. 

Plow Video

A morning at Plow in San Francisco, CA

Recently I created a time-lapse video for Plow, one of my favorite restaurants, on Potreo Hill in San Francisco. The concept was to show a day at the restaurant. Such a big part of that is not only the amazing food, but the community that gathers there.

The video starts with the owner baking before sunrise and ends with the staff toasting the completion of a day well done. I personally love the top view which shows half the kitchen area and half eating area. It’s cool seeing the food created and consumed in the same frame.

Time lapse often seems like a simple process, but you need to think about how often to capture in order to make the video smooth, plus exposure and color changes that will lead to camera flicker. I used a Canon 5D MKII to capture the outside and a GoPro 4 for the inside stuff. I used an ND filter on both the Canon and GoPro which kept the shutter speed low. This gave a small amount of motion blur which helps blend the images together making things look smoother. Image grading was done with Lightroom and LRTimelapse. Final video was created with Final Cut Pro.

You can see the video on the Plow website: http://www.eatatplow.com

It’s on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/130173317

Stop Motion Fun

I love donuts and I love stop motion so why not combine them? That’s what I’ve done with this playful video, it’s short but sweet—just like the donuts in it. The creation of the video took several days. It may look simple but it took lots of planing and strategizing. One issue is that donuts change their appearance over time. I had to plan each part to be completed within a day. If I wasn’t able to get the shot done, I had to wait until the next day to start again with fresh donuts. Another issue was that the donuts left a sugar/grease trail as they moved. Rather then clean the surface after each move (which I did in the beginning) I backed each donut with cardboard. This made it much more efficient to move the donuts around without the hassle and mess. Another big part of completing the video was finding some great music to set the tone. Thankfully Craig Bromley was on board for creating some custom music for the video. I am amazed he was able to develop such a range in the relatively short time span of the video.

Donut Fun

I love donuts and I love stop motion so why not combine them? That’s what I’ve done with this playful video, it’s short but sweet—just like the donuts in it. The creation of the video took several days. It may look simple but it took lots of planing and strategizing. One issue is that donuts change their appearance over time. I had to plan each part to be completed within a day. If I wasn’t able to get the shot done, I had to wait until the next day to start again with fresh donuts. Another issue was that the donuts left a sugar/grease trail as they moved. Rather then clean the surface after each move (which I did in the beginning) I backed each donut with cardboard. This made it much more efficient to move the donuts around without the hassle and mess.

Another big part of completing the video was finding some great music to set the tone. Thankfully Craig Bromley was on board for creating some custom music for the video. I am amazed he was able to develop such a range in the relatively short time span of the video.

View on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/109470568 View on Youtube: http://youtu.be/lKMNmyF1ErU

I was inspired by my son’s weekly soccer games for the theme of this stop motion video. I wanted to create something fun and simple. While I was attracted to the basic theme of the idea, I learned simple things are not always easy! In this case, making the pump hose move fluidly was tricky. I needed to be able to move the hose in small, precise steps. Rather then run a wire in the hose I used a metal rod to hold each position of the hose in place. Later the rod was digitally removed. Hopefully the result looks simple and fun. Music by: http://www.purple-planet.com

Pump It

I was inspired by my son’s weekly soccer games for the theme of this stop motion video. I wanted to create something fun and simple. While I was attracted to the basic theme of the idea, I learned simple things are not always easy! In this case, making the pump hose move fluidly was tricky. I needed to be able to move the hose in small, precise steps. Rather then run a wire in the hose I used a metal rod to hold each position of the hose in place. Later the rod was digitally removed. Hopefully the result looks simple and fun.

View on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/109470570 View on Youtube: http://youtu.be/EJw-hALtd_k

Macworld April 2013

This short animation was created to go with the digital version of the April issue of Macworld magazine. It was used to introduce the featured article called "100 More Things Every Mac User Should Know."

I've posted about making animations for editorial

before

. This is the latest short animation created to go with the digital version of the April issue of Macworld magazine. It was used to introduce the featured article called "100 More Things Every Mac User Should Know."

After photographing the main photo for the print magazine, the animation was created by taking the Post-it notes away one by one. When creating the animation with Apple's Motion, the photos were arranged in reverse so it looked like the Post-it's were being added rather than taken away.

I'm also testing out

Vimeo Pro

as a clean way to present my videos. Once I have enough videos I'll incorporate it into my site.