Posts

Wedding Video is formulaic, and that's okay

Image
A good friend of mine has recently started his own production company and one thing he’s been doing a lot recently is weddings. He was even able to video my girlfriend’s brother’s wedding this year. As I was watching the video with the family yesterday, I realized just how formulaic these sorts of videos are. I’ve watched several made by my friend (as he’s wanted my input in the past) as well as other friend’s videos. They all start the same way, with light, soft romantic music covering the prep and anticipation of the wedding. The emotions come to a climax at the close of the ceremony and then the second half of the video documents the celebration and cathartic release of stress by everyone involved with the wedding. While it makes logical sense to divide the video into these two sections (it not only tells a good story, it follows the chronological progression of the event itself) it can sort of seem, cookie cutter approach to documenting this event. These videos are great and touch
Post a Comment
Read more

Technology’s Impact on Photography (and Videography)

(Another old writing piece from January 2017 but again I figured it was worth the share.)  Technology is important, it’s how the pictures and videos actually get recorded and preserved. And the old mantra “You get what you pay for” is no exception to the world of cameras. But I’d like to talk about the relationship between upgrading technology and improving photography (and videography). When I first started taking (digital) pictures I was using a Kodak point and shoot, I had fun but I was never really astounded by the quality but they still served to preserve memories, the chief function of amateur photography. As I got more interested in quality, and in video, I saved up and bought my first DSLR (I say as if I’ve owned more than 2), a Nikon D3100, this was a fantastic camera and though I loved taking pictures and video with it, it probably went scarcely unused. (I just never found the time or purposes to actually go out and use it, but that’s another issue) But I had no knowledg
Post a Comment
Read more

Denver Colorado - Reuben & Sarah's Wedding (6/30-7/4/18)

Image
A little video I threw together about our trip to Denver Colorado for Sarah & Reuben's wedding. I didn't take nearly enough video but still had just enough to make this.
Post a Comment
Read more

A Novice Photographer’s Expanding Understanding of Photography

(I wrote this in January 2017 but I still felt like it was worth of posting here as I had come across it while going through a google drive account ) In the past I had always associated “photography” as the person that stands behind the camera taking family portraits, that were boring, lifeless and generally annoying to wrangle that many people into a confined space. And that’s what stuck in my mind whenever I thought of photography. I disliked this type of picture taking that even when I had a “nice” DSLR I would leave it at home so that these photographs weren’t expected of me. It wasn’t until recently that I began to form a more robust view of photography. As a film student at a small college, I learned a lot about framing and composition, the importance of lighting and all of these other aspects of film, but it never made the leap to photography until this summer, when I got the chance to go take pictures and video in Nicaragua. I had always considered myself a videographer and
Post a Comment
Read more

Megacoperations - Their Scale and Future

Yet another discussion post that I wanted to keep writing about but not annoy my fellow students by getting wildly off topic. “One thing that I’ve thought about recently (this program exposes us to the global reach/scale of the companies that we’re already familiar with) is wondering just how big these mega corporations will get. We live in such an unprecedented time in global scale/business, each company is constantly looking for more improvements and gains, seamingly the only thing keeping them from gobbling up everything is government regulations. Your company choices reminded me of CVS’s attempt to buy Aetna for $69 billion. The only thing standing in their way is potential antitrust regulations. The chapters we read for this week have talked about how we have an interest in continuing OUR big companies, but don’t want other countries to get a foothold, but what if that stands to change? The sense of unity (think of the EU and their economic block) in our globally connected world
Post a Comment
Read more

"Copycats" versus Originality (Primitive Technology)

"There's nothing new under the sun," often understood as there's no new things, every story's already been told. Though that's another topic, the thing I wanted to talk about today is about iterative creators, sometimes referred to as "copycats." A Youtuber that I have long enjoyed watching, " Primitive Technology " documents one guy's hobby of living life with "primitive tech." He went out into some land he owned and just started making things, no outside tools and has gradually gotten more advanced, making clay tiles and all sorts of fantastic things. It's both entertaining and calming which is why I've always enjoyed his videos. He has a very distinct style, instead of bombarding you with words or talking, he stays silent, almost emotionless through the entire video, it's a distinct choice and really lends itself to what he's doing. He's the "original" to this genre of youtube channel. Ther
Post a Comment
Read more

PA Payday Loan Cap/How Bad are They Really?

(Background info. I'm in an MBA program and part of it is bi-weekly forum posts. This week was interesting enough/long enough to merit more attention than unread forum for 11 people. I'm not an expert but these were my thoughts while researching the topic of payday loans for a class.) I’m an avid listener to NPR and interestingly enough, yesterday there was a small bit on payday loans (as well as a couple weeks ago a more in-depth segment). They talked about how the problem with payday loans isn’t when they’re used once, but when they’re used repeatedly. Having to pay the fees for the first loan makes the second paycheck not go as far as it should, needing a second loan. It’s just a terrible cycle that adds up to a HUGE interest rate. The second more in-depth segment discussed a study of payday loans and found that when people were given more information about the exact details and ramifications of these loans they were less likely to take them out. It showed that a lot of peop
Post a Comment
Read more