I'll Create the Perfect Video

Hannah Hix Photography (Dallas/Seattle) approached me about working with the video footage that came out of wedding she recently covered.

• It was a bit out of the ordinary, as they had done a session a couple months prior to the wedding that was filmed documentary-style in a cool old library. She had asked them intriguing questions that helped them tell their story and now was looking to take all of the footage from the interview and the wedding day and compile it into a cohesive story.

• They gave wonderful, and authentic answers. And I felt that they were so good, it was almost like they had a professional script-writer. His dry humored her animated story-telling got me over and over again, and I did my best to find tiny moments to accentuate them being themselves, as I layered in footage from the big day.

• Hannah came to me on a Wednesday in February, and I sent the final back to her by the next Tuesday. We worked well together - and the story-telling was so. much. fun.

I can't really show the video yet, as the couple hasn't even seen it, so here's a harmless screenshot of an internal title!

"…If you are looking for communication, timeliness, and a custom production this is your guy! I can’t tell you how relieved I am…and to have had it done by somebody who was so incredibly kind and energetic through the process..."
Hannah Hix - Hannah Hix Photography

Celebration of Life Video. Ruth passed after struggling with COPD for several years. This was a tough one, to have a client pass away while we were doing a project together, about her spouse.

• It took me to another level when it comes to "getting to know a client" and what my advice to them might be. Conversations ran deep with her husband as we took a break from his project, to let him focus on her and then we shifted focus to finding the best possible way to help her lifelong friends and family remember her.

• I believe we gave those closest to her a way to get in touch with the best years of her life and not let them be overshadowed by the frought moments at the bitter end.

• I went so deep with this one...to the point of imagining how she perceived her afterlife would begin and then creating that cinematic story at the tail end of her photo montage.

I don't know that I will link to this one...just yet.

Robert Dunham has lived one of those lives that we usually only see through the movies...from a rough upbringing, Vietnam, homeless for 13 years, beaten, legs broken, addicted, found God and then spent the rest of his life making a difference for others through a charity for the homeless, a church and a community.

• Bringing this project together from photos, a book and notes collected over decades was a challenging task.

• Many of his memories were put together out of layers of stock footage assembled and set to thematic scores.

• In total this came out to be a 27 minute epic story that we collaborated on for over a month.

I made a friend, stretched my skills and am happy with what we were able to accomplish together!

The daughter found me and was looking to do something that really captured the essence of a life lived richly. Her 96 year old father had passed and she wanted a video to play on a loop at the service so people could relive some of his more colorful moments.

• From a Guiness Book of Records submission for playing 3 rounds of golf on 3 continents in 24 hours, to Pro-Am tournaments, plane dedications and even kids and grandkids, we covered it all in a 13 minute video including 193 of his best moments put to music and blended thoughtfully from one end of the edit to the other.

• They did a lot of scanning off of photo albums and from hanging pictures to get the footage needed. We streamlined this end of it and found ways for them to scan and send from an app on their phone straight to me for processing and editing.

Shari was an absolute joy to work with. And I know she had at least a few choked up moments when previewing drafts along the way. Sometimes I think that may be the ultimate compliment to a well done job.

This one was a surprise. He spent a few days digging around for early photos, created a story arc that I could follow in the edit and we were able to put it all together to tell their challenging, yet beautiful story of their time since meeting, on through 9 challenging years of trying to have kids, and the family that they have since raised together.

• Included photos from 20+ years back covering their time together.
• Added, cut and slo-mo'd some special moment of video from phones caught with their kids over the years.
• Timed it all to meaningful music that fit the story and memories.

I hope all of our late night emails and draft views didn't cause her to think he was up to something. This was fun and unique. And is a good example of how I can be creating your vision, even when you are on vacation with your spouse!

A group of former students got together and with a GoFundMe campaign raised the money to have a video created.

Video to play at the UW Oshkosh Priebe Gallery of Art on a loop for 2 weeks in September.

• Compiled best of footage from 16 testimonial interviews.
• Cut and edited best of footage from Art Professor's interview looking back over 40+ years of teaching.
• Simple motion graphics on their logo for variety of scene transitions.
• Added music.
• Added 100+ photos from over the years.
• End credits.

View select moments of the 23 minute video HERE.

A Reggae band out of Oregon hired me to help them turn their latest album into music videos. This the the first of their releases.

• The challenge: matching 3 camera angles of video filmed during a live show (at 6 minutes long) - to a studio recording only 4 mins long.

Exhaustive stock footage research to find what the client envisioned.

• Version 1 of this music video was very light and upbeat - happy people, beaches, mountains, birds, couples freely running about.
• However, it was important to the band leader, that the footage emphasize some of the oppression-centered lyrics.
• After much back and forth, I was able to find what they were looking for. And they were quite happy with how it turned out.

In most of my work, (unless it's a longer term project) I tell clients up front, I don't take payment until you are happy!

View the final music video of "Set The People Free"

Fundraising video. Shown to a live audience gathered for the evening bidding on silent auction items.

Displayed on their website in an effort to boost volunteers, sponsors and participation.

• Filmed, narrated, produced and edited.
• Helped raise $30,000 in an evening.
• Helped to put the audience at ease.
• Lighthearted video that showed off their Capstone (imaginary town) facility.
• Entrepreneurship / finance / career programs for kids.
• Featured local companies: Community First Bank, Miller Electric, YMCA of the Fox Valley, Amcor, Boldt Construction, Kimberly Clark, Bergstrom Automotive, Miron Construction and more...

View the Junior Achievement Video used at the live fundraising event.

This client collected tons of footage from Jackson Hole, Vail, and Utah.

• Filmed on iPhones and Go Pros.
• Much of it (due to mountainside recording, ski gloves and great distances) had little to no audio.
• We cleaned it up, stabilized footage, made it pop, added sound effects for shushing and carving did some slo-mo and speed ramping.
• Gave them something that captured the epic moments.

Here's a few seconds of the 8 minute final.

A Small photography team had a ton of work and needed video editing assistance ASAP!

• 4 main sections of recordings. Wedding details, ceremony, dinner and the dance.

• Involved cutting out unnecessary portions of clips. Finding the best moments the couple would love.

• Coloring groups of clips to match the photographer's vision and to create a streamlined look across each moment of the day into evening.

• Stabilizing portions where shots were taken at a distance and small handheld movements produced tiny shakes in footage.

• Reducing intense DJ speaker volume so as to not blow away the couple upon receiving the final cut.

Here's a few seconds of the 12 minute final.