ichi-go ichi-e: Skate Film

ichi-go ichi-e is a raw, visually striking experimental skate film following a young man as he's stalked by a strange creature while making his way through an increasingly surreal world.

This film is a personal project I've wanted to make for several years and finally decided to just do it this last Jan/Feb with the help of several friends.  

I wrote the script in three days, bought my buddy (Parker Garrett: skateboarder) a ticket to Seattle from Phoenix, AZ, and went to work scouting locations and building sets/props with some talented friends.  After three weeks of prep, nearly a 1,200 miles traveling around WA State over 4 days, and braving freezing temperatures we now have a skate film shot and in the can.  

Right now I'm editing, sound designing, and waiting for a couple nice days to finish shooting b-roll, time-lapse, and environments for the final cut.  With hope and a lot of luck this short film will be finished and ready Summer for 2014!    

Aerial Cinematography: foster island

This is a short, vivid near-earth aerial portrait of Foster Island in Seattle, WA. I wrote recorded the music in my living room this morning haha enjoy!

This is a short, vivid near-earth aerial portrait of Foster Island in Seattle, WA.  It was shot over a 2hr visit (with the used footage shot in first two flights).  Foster Island is near the Ramps to Nowhere on the north end of Capitol Hill next to the 520 Bridge.  This is part of a series of aerial location portraits I'm doing as a personal project to hone in my aerial cinematography skills, explore public spaces and parks in the city that I've never been to, and observe their relationships to the urban/built environments just around the corner.

I chose this location because I had read and heard of the Ramps to Nowhere that were built and never finished several decades ago (soon to be demolished in 2015) and wanted to film them from an interesting perspective.  I drove to the Location with my friend/spotter Shari but were unable to find the ramps (didn't realize they were in-between the two current existing ramps on the west side of the park).  

Unable to locate them, I decided to shoot a short piece on Foster Island.  I used my DJI Phantom V1 multi rotor UAS (small quadcopter), with a Zenmuse H3-2D 2-axis Gimbal that stabilizes a small GoPro Hero3: Black Edition camera.  This enables me to get fairly stable images without having to do anything in post-processing. I filmed at 1080p 60fps, 5500K white balance, at the Medium field-of-view setting, and used the ProTune setting to get a slightly wider dynamic range from the camera. Everything was shot near-earth (below 50').  We only flew twice (6 minutes each time) and on the second flight the sun started to head behind the clouds and the wind picked up a little bit.  After that we wandered all over the park just enjoying the beautiful sights, sounds, and such that it has to offer. 

We met several people while walking around, more often than not the first thing they ask about is whether my multi-rotor is a drone and if I'm out to spy on them haha The local/national news/Amazon.com has done a great job at perpetuating the term "drone" and it more often than not carries  extremely negative connotations and expectations.  I describe to people that I fly a RC multi rotors and/or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and let them have a detailed look at it.  When they ask about the rules/regulations/laws surrounding them (I've spent over 6 months studying this) I engage them in a friendly and thorough conversation on the topic.  When it comes to questions of spying I usually mention that I'm only spying on the ducks.  I fly only in sparsely or unoccupied public spaces/parks where there is no expectation of privacy and point out the GoPro camera on my quadcopter.  Usually there is someone else out with a large dslr camera and I joke that the paparazzi has followed them to the park. 

In the end, It was an extremely enjoyable afternoon in a beautiful public space that you should definitely check out if you're in the area!

"breathe deep" Surf Film: Westport, WA!

breathe deep is a short surf film of my friends Lucas and Brett during an impromptu road trip out to the juttys at Westport, WA December 26th, 2013. I had an awesome time hanging out, seeing what I could get shot wise, and trying to get across the stoke you feel when you're about to go out (no matter how cold the water is). Westport is a beautiful town and is the spot where I started surfing 10 years ago! I was planning on using my quadcopter for more footage but the wind picked up significantly right after we got there and was only able to get in one very short flight. Even with the challenges it was still a great day with awesome friends!

Hey all, here's a short surf film of my friends Lucas and Brett during an impromptu road trip out to the juttys at Westport, WA December 26th, 2013. I had an awesome time hanging out, seeing what I could get shot wise, and trying to get across the stoke you feel when you're about to go out (no matter how cold the water is). Westport is a beautiful town and is the spot where I started surfing 10 years ago!

I was planning on using my quadcopter for more footage but the wind picked up significantly right after we got there and was only able to get in one very short flight. Even with the challenges it was still a great day with awesome friends!

Camera Settings:

5DMKIII - Faithful Profile, 160 ISO, 1/50, 5500K

GoPro Hero3: Black Edition - ProTune, 1080 60fps, Medium FOV, 5500K 

Equipment used:

Canon 5D Mark III w/50mm f/1.2L lens and my mom's Canon 28-135 f/4-5.6 kit lens (was visiting the family for Christmas, only brought a few things, and hadn't planned on a surf trip).  I had the extra battery grip on the 5DMKIII for added weight and longer battery life.

SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB 95MB/s SDXC cards (love them!) for the 5DMKIII

SanDisk Extreme 32GB MicroSDHC for the GPH3BE

Tiffen 72mm 1.2 ND filter to cut down 4 stops 

DJI Phantom Quadcopter with Zenmuse H3-2D 2-axis Gimbal and a GoPro Hero3: Black Edition

Some Neoprene quick release strap for the 5DMKIII

All Shot Handheld haha

Aerial Photography: oh messy life

Here are some of the final images along with a short film from the aerial test shoot at Gasworks Park in Seattle, WA a few days ago.  They were taken with a GoPro Hero3: Black Edition mounted to a Zenmuse H3-2D 2-axis Gimbal on a DJI Phantom quadcopter.  This was a really fun little project and was stoked to have my friend Shari come out and help.  She carried my monitor, stand, and other gear around for 2 hours in the balmy 30 F Seattle weather.

A striking and vivid montage from an aerial test shoot at Gasworks Park in Seattle, WA in December 2013.

I just got back from working on a project in LA through most of November and have several spec ads, music videos, and other action sport shoots coming up early next year.  In order to get ready I've been searching Seattle for the some of the coolest known and unknown locations and shooting aerial/ground tests to see how they will match to upcoming projects. Over the next few weeks I'll be throwing up more still and aerial tests.

If you know of a cool location and/or are interested in helping out, definitely let me know.  Currently looking for people who participate in action and adventure sports, thanks!

- Tracy