My Top 10 Super Bowl XLV Ads

Excluding movie trailers, here are the top 10 ads I like from Super Bowl XLV. I chose them not because they are the best production or employ the best strategy, but simply because I like them best:

1. The Force - Volkswagen
2. The Best Part - Doritos
3. House Sitting - Doritos
4. Black Beetle - Volkswagen
5. Imported From Detroit - Chrysler
6. Test Baby - HomeAway.com
7. Love Hurts - Pepsi MAX
8. Pug Attack - Doritos
9. Product Placement - Bud Light
10. First Date - Pepsi MAX

Prairie Classroom - WSU Flint Hills Media Project

This is a video about the project I was a part of last summer. I will be completing my edit this month and my contributions will be part of another 30-minute video that will air on KPTS next year. This is an incredible event and a rare opportunity. I was fortunate enough to participate in interviews with Ed Bass, Lyle Lovett and several other amazing people.

How to Carve a Halloween Pumpkin

Here is a video I made for a class project. While visiting family for my sister's wedding, I enlisted my dad to carve a pumpkin for a training/how-to video assignment. I still don't have After Effects on my MacBook Pro, so I had to create graphics in Photoshop and animate them in Final Cut. I wish I could have spent more time on developing the graphics, but with my sister's wedding (rehearsal dinner, wedding, reception and travel), my deadline was quickly approaching and I had too much to do in a short time. That sexy voice you hear is mine. Please share this with anyone you know who may not know how to carve a pumpkin. It is a great tradition to share with your kids.
Music: Confugium Corvorum by Axis Mundi Actum courtesy of jamendo.com.

Symphony in the Flint Hills Preview

Today I presented a brief preview of the Symphony in the Flint Hills documentary that I've been working on with Corin Breña, Steven Ludlow and Fletcher Powell. The project is a collection of several self-contained shorter pieces, but I shot an interview with the Executive Director, Emily Hunter, on Thursday that will help bring these pieces cohesiveness. Take a look at this preview. Thanks again to Les Anderson and Amy DeVault for giving us this amazing opportunity.

Hemophilia PSA: Dillinger

Last weekend I had the pleasure of working with my son, Dillinger, to produce a Public Service Announcement about hemophilia. It was a last-minute visit, so we didn't plan the PSA. It rained on Saturday, but the weather looked good Sunday, so we went to the park across the street to shoot Dillinger's stand-up shots. The footage of him self-infusing I shot in July while on vacation. I also used a photo from a year ago when we had to take Dillinger to the hospital for a bleed in his leg. Dillinger learned his script less than half an hour. He was great. We faced an unusual obstacle in the way of an air show. The only sunny day was the day of a huge air show, so jets were flying by every few minutes and we'd have to wait because it was very loud. Even so, it took us only 12 minutes to shoot the PSA. I am very pleased considering it was unplanned and we were limited by the weather and air show. Dillinger did a great job.

Great Advice From Executive Producer Ridley Scott

Philip Bloom on Social Media

CPL Filter Test

I saw a Circular polarizer (CPL) filter at Best Buy and decided to test it out. I was in class late, but got home and put it on my T2i and stepped outside to shoot. It was already really dark in the shadows, so I will have to test it again in the noonday sun. Anyway, all the exposure settings are listed in the video.

Center of Hope Video

Here is the first cut of my latest project. Description is below the video.

Center of Hope from Mark Kenny on Vimeo.

A promotional video for the Center of Hope, a homeless prevention program in Wichita, Kansas. Anita Cochran is the reporter. I shot with a Panasonic DVX, but also used some footage Anita had, and edited this piece for a fundraiser event. I created the graphics and shot the interviews with Bill, Brenda and Amy, as well as some of the B-roll at the Center of Hope office downtown. The interview with George and most of the B-roll at the Center of Hope was provided to me and I simply edited it into this video.

Hollywood Video

Hollywood from Mark Kenny on Vimeo.

Went to Hollywood and Santa Monica in August 2009 for an Inhibitor Summit. Shot some home video on a Canon FS22. Hated that camera, but last night I decided to edit a little piece to remember the trip. This was very challenging since I didn't shoot it for a project, it was just random shots while we were out. I didn't want to miss the moment by trying to get "money" shots.

'Pachelbel Kanon' by Detroit Illharmonic Symphony. Courtesy of BeatPick.com.

Video Lighting on a Budget and Other Tutorials for Video Production

Here is one of the videos we looked at in class today.  There is a whole series of videos on lighting by this guy.  I like this, because he provides cheap solutions for independent producers.


Supplies for Video Production Light Kits -- powered by eHow.com

I also found another guy that has a great video series about making digital video, more than just lighting.  Here is a link to one of his videos.  You can access the whole series from this page.  I have bookmarked both series on my delicious.


Lighting Basics for Making a Digital Video -- powered by eHow.com

My Life With Hemophilia Video

I uploaded a video portrait of my 5-year-old son, Brandston.  He has severe hemophilia with inhibitors and receives infusions at least every other day.  This past week he received an infusion every six hours.  It was a rough week.  Besides the stress associated with my kid going through all this and not being able to play, I got real sick and didn't get to do something special with my valentine, Amber.  I had originally planned to tell a story from Amber's perspective as a caregiver, but when I reviewed my footage I didn't like the way the interview footage looked.  It was typical and boring, so I decided to let Brandston tell his story about getting infusions.


My Life With Hemophilia: Brandston (Enhanced Audio) from Mark Kenny on Vimeo.
This is a video portrait of my 5-year-old son, Brandston. He has severe hemophilia A with inhibitors and this is just a glimpse of what life is like for him.
The music featured is "Ceremony" by New Order, and is available for download from iTunes.
The audio has been enhanced for the comfort of your ears.
I was inspired by the videos I watched for our silent film projects.  I particularly wanted to use the Joelseph "interior POV" shot.  I liked the way he put the camera in the luggage (and trunk) in his first video.  I decided to do that in this video when Amber was pulling meds out of the drawer.  I also liked the way Jake mixed up his shots in his video, so I used that as inspiration when shooting this project and I ended up with some good options.  I couldn't resist the Rik Dubiel "over the coffee mug" shot that he showed the class in his coffee video, so I used it to look down over the drawer of meds.  As I mentioned, I shot an interview with Amber, but decided that I wanted to depart from the interview-style video and just show Brandston's infusion and let him narrate it.  It is a portrait of his life that gives a good overview of how having hemophilia impacts his life in his (every-other-) daily routine.

Tilt-Shift Video

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

©2009 COPYRIGHT - All Rights reserved

Project info @ http://vimeo.com/channels/keithloutitssydney

This is a personal project that would not have been possible without the support of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service. Thanks to the entire team for their generous access during training exercises and patrols this Summer. Since the Service began in 1973, it has carried out more than 21,000 missions ranging from urgent patient transfers to dangerous search and rescue missions.

The Service depends entirely on the generous support of sponsors and the community to stay flying. Donations can be made here:
http://www.lifesaver.org.au/funding_challenge/donate.html

This film is 100% 'real', but there are some new techniques for me here, such as using time lapse to create the illusion of forward movement for the helicopter ocean scenes. These flight sequences would not be possible without the skill and patience of Chief Pilot Peter Yates. Thanks also to Trevor Cracknell (for getting wet!) and Family.

Music:
“CLEMENTINE” (Megan Washington)
Performed by Washington
© 2008 J Albert & Son Pty Limited
Used with permission
www.myspace.com/meganwashington

Artist Info @ www.keithloutit.com
Project info @ http://vimeo.com/channels/keithloutitssydney

Thank you,
Keith.

Triste (The Final Cut)

I tried to add a white vignette and some filters to give my dream sequence a whimsical feel, but without success. I even created a white vignette as a graphic in photoshop, but even though I matched the pixel resolution, FCExpress cut the top and bottom of it (ruining the blur). The effects were freezing up during playback, so I ditched them. I finally gave up and used a black vignette over a desaturation filter during the dream sequence. I also grouped those shots and cut the guitar, so hopefully it communicates my concept better.
Here is the final cut:

Triste (Final Cut) from Mark Kenny on Vimeo.

A short, silent film (no dialogue) inspired by the lyrics:
My life is endless burning
on a thousand dead desires.
It is about how people dream of becoming many great things in life, but usually end up doing something quite different. I decided to tell it from the perspective of a tree. He wanted to be a bat, or a fence, or even a bench... but he was cut down and burned to ashes instead.
I grouped the dream shots and put a vignette over desaturated video to make this footage distinct from "reality." I also cut 14 seconds... including the beautiful guitar.
The music featured is titled "Love Theme" by Daniel Bautista, courtesy of jamendo.com.

Inspiration: Color and Class

I like this video. I just wish I had seen it before I shot my takes. I like how he caught the reflection of trees in the water. The color is amazing in his video.

Wood from John Hope on Vimeo.