I literally grew up at weddings. My father has been a professional cinematographer for over 20 years, so I’ve seen hundreds if not thousands of wedding videos.
This was the best I’ve ever seen. (Sorry dad.)

[HT Rising Moon Wedding Cinematography]

Thanks to my good friends over at Creative Fuel Studios for letting me be a part of this great project. I grew up listening to Bryan Duncan, so it was cool to work alongside the team. This was even more meaningful for me as a fairly new dad myself- I love this song and know that it will be a part of my life for years to come.
~Nick

PWND!

Some thoughts after the jump…

So? I wonder who lost their job over this one! Designer? Layout editor? Copy editor?

And who had to get carpel tunnel putting all those blasted tiny stickers on?

This is something that I see more often than I should in today’s spell-check-as-you-go-world. I naturally look for these things; partly because my mom always had me proof-reading things for her restaurant and partly because I’m just wired like this.

But, even I’m not above the fray. I can’t tell you how many times here, or on these blogs I’ve missed my own basic mistakes. Granted- there aren’t potentially millions of dollars at stake here, but reputation is. From an editorial standpoint, if a writer has the reputation of having an “issue” with basic grammer or spelling then that makes me less likely to want to seriously consider their work in the future. (I KNOW that I’m not perfect in my grammer, sentence structure, spelling, et cetera so please holster your firesauce comment- for now.)

Since the majority (which is in itself a minority) of what I know is in blogging, I’ll just stick the topic at hand in that area of the writing world. Here are some things to consider the next time you go to hit that publish button.

An Extra Set of Eyes

Just having someone other than yourself read through your writing before you publish can save you from this type of malfeasance. I know this is true for myself because I tend to skim through my writing when I’m proofing it. Ask your spouse, a roommate, a friend, anyone really to read over something before you release it to the masses.

A Change of Scenery

In WordPress, as with most blogging platforms, you have the option to preview a post before you publish it.
DO THIS! It will not only give you an idea at how your spacing and sentence structure will look in the real world, but it will also give your own eyes a break from the back of the house screen you’ve just spent so much time on.

The Rule of Three

This is something that I use regularly. I don’t know if I can claim this, I haven’t Googled it, but here it is. Before I publish, I have to have done one of the following or a combination of all, totaling three:
• Read my potential post’s final draft three times. (I’m totally OCD about this. If I edit anything, I start over. To each his own level of OCD.)
• Have someone else read the potential post three times. (OCD rule doesn’t necessarily apply- it’s just not cool to ask your wife to read your nerdy-tech-blog-post three more times after you make an edit at 2 in the morning. True story.)
• Have three different people read the potential post. (This may not be practical, especially at 2 in the morning. But if you have peeps that will do it, take advantage!)
*Note- all of these are done IN PREVIEW!

When Good Enough Isn’t

The worst thing ever said in any area is “good enough”. And this is especially true in the land of the creatives- they’re the last words of a dying artist. I’ve seen way too many instances where projects that seriously have the potential to be awesomsauce end up stinking because it was “good enough”. Don’t let good enough syndrome effect you.

I came across a quote of something of that nature on twitter recently and it’s been floating around in my noggin ever since:

The moment you think that your work is good enough, it’s time to re-work it.

If you threw that out and are reading this- let me know! That’s just straight school knowledge!

**Total views in preview before the final publish of this post: 12 (Told ya I was OCD- that’s 36 read-throughs. My brain hurts.)

What about you? What are things you do to proof before you publish?

I want to know more from a production standpoint. Was this a single take or multiple?
It flows very well and appears seamless. I’ll have to watch it a few more times to see if there are any glitches.

Your take?

I agree with the observations of a few others on this- as far as it’s authenticity is concerned.

There are so many holes in this one, but I’m just going to stick with one: the wrecking ball.
• According to this site an average wrecking ball or block weighs 2400-3050 pounds. And they aren’t perfectly round (pictures are available in the link as well).
• The wrecking ball in the video is roughly the height of the mini-van (2001 Dodge Caravan Specs here and here). If the ball in the video is steel and not stone (which would disintegrate within a few smashes into anything besides your excuse for not having a prom date- it was soft, c’mon.), then it would weigh approximately 37,147 pounds (according to the site mentioned in point one).

Wrecking ball 1, mini-van 0.

• Yes- we already knew this, Nick. The mini-van in the video flips. Ahh, yes- but did you see what the wrecking ball does when it hits the van? It stops. Anyone see “Gone in 60 Seconds”(2000) where the Jeep gets annihilated by the wrecking ball?
Detective Drycoff (Timothy Olyphant): {to cop climbing out of owned Jeep} “You ok?” {cop nods} “Ya sure? Cause ya just went through a wall!”
Yeah- THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!
• Remember that 37 thousand pound wrecking ball that stopped after it hit a 5,700 pound mini-van? Were you paying attention to the end of the clip?
Notice how those guys are just holding it? Don’t believe me? Go back and watch for yourself. They “steady” the 37 thousand pound wrecking ball with little or no effort!

Well- I could ramble for a bit, but I think I’ve made my case.

So- is it real or a fake?
~NickShoe

So, I posed this question on Twitter and Facebook:

“Which would you prefer: ESPN-U blackout or @KTVB broadcasting the game?”

(To catch you up if you don’t know what I’m talking about: ESPN-U was broadcasting BSU’s game against their state rival, University of Idaho, when a few minutes into the 1st quarter the screen went black. Turns out a breaker had blown, effectively terminating ESPN’s ability to broadcast for the better part of the 1st quarter. Power was restored and the viewing of the UofI Vandals being trounced continued.)

My vote: I’ll take ESPN’s blackout versus KTVB broadcasting the game. EVERY TIME.

If you’ve watched the local coverage and an ESPN covered game, I invite you to weigh in on which is preferred.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the ESPN pick-up of the game came late and a lot of people, as many as half, in the greater Boise area don’t have ESPN-U. I’m one of them, so I went somewhere that did to watch the game today.

So, KTVB, this is yours to lose. Step it up. You’re the best. Now be it.

~NickShoe

This was seriously some of the most fun I’ve had doing the VA’s for The Pursuit! Thanks to an amazing site- InternetArchive.org I was able to get real and authentic period footage. Good times for sure!

~NjS

These were a blast to do! Brian Burkhardt and I had so much fun! Thanks BigBriPie!

~Nick

Jax chillin on our bed! Such an awesome kid!

This was a fun shoot- in spite of the very early morning! I got up at 4AM to get up the trail ahead of Josh and Dewey- only to get up to the cliffs and find out I was in the wrong spot! So we ended up getting to the actual spot about the same time. I shot some footy of them prepping their gear- but decided to wait for better light, so I took a nap while the guys climbed.

As with most of the VA’s- the actual or total footage is about 20 times longer than what gets used.

I packed the camera and tripod up in my pack, and decided to leave my gear in the car- really wish I would have brought it up to tackle a couple routes. Next time!

~NickShoe