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January 26, 2012 by Justin 7 Comments

I absolutely love making movies. I just wish they didn’t take so darn long to produce. The shooting alone takes a great deal of time. Then the editing, writing and recording the music, and finally piecing it all together. This movie was in the works for 6 months. I’m sure I could have finished it faster if I focused on it, but I still like to bring you some levity during the week.

Thankfully I don’t have any ‘high power studio execs’ financing my movies, no way would they have let me produce an experimental, lo-fi, super high contrast movie backed by a space-rodeo-symphony soundtrack. I love the freedom of only having to answer to my creative self. However, I wouldn’t mind the box office rewards that come along with blockbuster movies. Until I’m approached by Hollywood to direct the next Transformers, I’m going to maintain my ‘indie filmmaker’ status. We will cross the one billion dollar bridge when we come to it!

About the movie – I’m a bit like Edward Burns in the fact I make my movies on a shoestring budget. I probably differ from him in the fact that I have to…for me, there is no other budget. He made Newlyweds for $9000 in 12 days…yep, you read that right!

  • I shot it over the course of 9 days in San Francisco.
  • I used Lightroom to compile the time lapse sequences. I could have used TimeLapse Assembler for a small donation.
  • iMovie (Free w/ a MAC) to edit it.
  • I recorded the music on Garage Band (Free w/ a MAC)
  • I shot it with a used and rather inexpensive Nikon D5100 and Nikon 16-85 VR lens

Want proof that you can make a great movie for under $10k? Get Edward Burns’ ‘Newlyweds’ here.

Newlyweds

Filed Under: California, Moving Pictures, Nikon 16-85 VR II, Nikon 5100, San Francisco, Travel

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Adventures In Cinema

August 31, 2011 by Justin 3 Comments

You might or might not have watched my movies over the last couple years. We have quite a few new readers here so I thought I would catch everyone up today. Well, at least with the Cinematic side of LightAsMagic.com. I’m also still scrambling from a week on the road with the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.

Good News! I would like to thank everyone that donated to the Davis Phinney Foundation over the last week. We reached our goal! Yep, we raised over $20,000 to match the $20,000 that the UPCC donated as a challenge grant. Again, a sincere ‘Thank You’ to everyone who helped out. That is awesome!

If you are interested in the making of the movies, I usually publish short unedited clips over on Facebook or Google+ where you can watch them evolve. The world of movie making is still new to me, but it is a whole bunch of fun! I have recently started work on my next movie. It will be a bit of departure from my previous ones. You can find a preview of it Google+. Just look in the ‘Clips’ gallery.

Southwestern


About The Music: Sixteen Horsepower, the band featured in the Southwestern, is a band with its roots here in Colorado. Growing up they were more myth than reality. Before I was old enough to see them at a bar, I would sit outside the clubs hoping to catch a listen.They are a storied band, with a long history, and these songs will never do them justice. You will at least get a taste of the Denver music scene, but to truly understand the genius of Sixteen Horsepower, you need to see them live. I intended the playlist to be 16 songs long, however iTunes only accepted 9 of my suggestions.

Click Here to load the playlist into iTunes.

Tiempo

Chasing The Tour


Music

Song: Nobody ‘Cept You
Written By: Bob Dylan
Performed By: 16 Horsepower (the best band Denver ever produced)

Get it on iTunes here.

Secret South - 16 Horsepower

Approaching Denali


This movie is actually the end to the 5 part photo series Approaching Denali. You can find all the photos here.
Music By: Cary Brothers
Song: Ride
Album: Who You Are

Who Click the icon to get the album.

Cary Brothers is a great band (it is actually an individual singer song writer with a boatload of talent), and I can’t recommend him enough. If you liked ‘Ride’, I think you will like the rest of his work.

Filed Under: Moving Pictures

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  1. Southwestern
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Southwestern

July 5, 2011 by Justin 12 Comments

If you are an email subscriber, you might need to click here to view the movie.

It has been a long time in the making, but I finally finished the project I began working on in April. These movies aren’t easy to make. Not only do you have to be focused and patient on location, you have to keep the muse going when you get back home. That being said, it is totally worth it! I’m more than happy with how it turned out. I really hope you like it too. If you have any questions about it, feel free to leave a comment. You can also find several of the locations from the movie in my ‘Behind The Scenes’ gallery on facebook.

About The Music: Sixteen Horsepower, the band featured in the Southwestern, is a band with its roots here in Colorado. Growing up they were more myth than reality. Before I was old enough to see them at a bar, I would sit outside the clubs hoping to catch a listen.They are a storied band, with a long history, and these songs will never do them justice. You will at least get a taste of the Denver music scene, but to truly understand the genius of Sixteen Horsepower, you need to see them live. I intended the playlist to be 16 songs long, however iTunes only accepted 9 of my suggestions.

Click Here to load the playlist into iTunes.

Movie Stats:
1 – (AND LAST) Ascent of Angel’s Landing in Zion, NP. (These videos are not for the weak of heart)
1 – Camera: Nikon D5000
1 – Lens Nikon: 16-85 VR
100 – Seconds of time lapse footage
3,000 – Images used to produce the time lapse footage
3.3 – Hours of realtime shooting
5 – National Parks
7 – Days
1 – Once in a lifetime moonrise over the Grand Canyon (too bad my battery ran out)
1500 – Miles

Filed Under: Grand Canyon, Moving Pictures, Nikon D5000, Travel, Utah

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Movie Time!

April 10, 2011 by Justin 14 Comments

It was a long time in the making. Much longer than anticipated. I guess that comes with the territory of new creative endeavors. I shot this movie over the course of 11 days on the island of Cozumel in February 2011. Many of you have seen clips, and provided much needed feedback over on our Facebook page. I really appreciate the comments. It helped me forge this movie. Because the production timeline was longer than anticipated, I didn’t have time to put together a ‘how-to’. If anyone is interested in the making of the movie just let me know. If there is enough interest I will publish a tutorial.

Capture/Processing Notes: Most of the video and time lapse sequences were shot with a Nikon D5000, time lapse sequences were compiled into movies via. LightRoom 3, the music was recorded and mixed using Apple Garageband, and the final movie was edited together using Apple iMovie.

If you’re an email subscriber, you might have to visit the site to view the video. Just click here: www.ligthtasmagic.com

Credits: I would like to thank the Coral Princess hotel for hosting us while we made this movie. If anyone is looking for a great place to stay while visiting Cozumel, I can’t recommend them enough. Also, this is my first attempt at scoring my own soundtrack and I would like to thank my mom for sharing her years of musical ‘know-how’.

Filed Under: Cozumel, Mexico, Moving Pictures, Nikon D5000, Travel

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No Cigar

April 6, 2011 by Justin 1 Comment

Well, the battle continues. Close but no cigar. I had to post a clip just to keep my sanity. Also, maybe someone out there might be able to help me out. As it stands right now, I generate my time lapse sequences via LightRoom’s slide show module. What you saw in this clip is one example. It is a 720p .mp4 straight from LightRoom. Once I import it into iMove 11, edit, and add my sound track I am ready to share it. There in lies the problem. The exported movie quality is horrible and I have no idea why. I haven’t had problems with iMovie before, so I’m not sure what the problem is. If anyone has any insight, I would love to hear it. The movie it ready to roll, I just need to solve this glitch. Thanks!

Filed Under: Moving Pictures
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