Video Artist & Filmmaker

creative process examples

10 Second Clip of Single Gull Becomes 3 Minute Music Visual with Multiple “Lovers”

China Creek is a beloved location on the Oregon Coast for artist, J GRGRY. His song of the same name is about finally finding true love for himself and his partner. As I listened to it, I envisioned this love represented by two seagulls affectionately interacting with one another on a continuous journey through life together. Given this would be tricky to film (limited budget and timeline), I began a search for stock footage. I found this 10 second clip that I felt could be fairly easily manipulated. Check out the visuals for J GRGRY’s “China Creek”! This was also turned into a lyric video.

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creative process examples

Playing Around with a GoPro Camera

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GoPro cameras are great for experimentation. So far, I’ve filmed by car, canoe, and look forward to doing more with these tiny cameras in the future.

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The original footage for the videos, “Open Roads” by J GRGRY and "Nightshade" by He Whose Ox is Gored, were captured by attaching a GoPro camera to the hood of a car.  The flow of “Open Roads” begged for just that- long endless roads continuing throughout the song. Fortunately, it was easy to access endless openness just a few hours drive outside of Seattle, WA.

When listening to “Nightshade”, I couldn't help but imagine it being something you'd hear in an action film or video game.  I was inspired to show imagery resembling a high speed chase or video game racing.   The streets are mostly downtown Seattle, with some footage from Capitol Hill, Belltown, and South Lake Union neighborhoods.

The third and fourth videos are visuals for J GRGRY’s "Floodlands" and "Erase the Shore". They were products of footage recorded by attaching a GoPro camera to the side of a canoe. The first video contains the view looking up from the water. The second was the view when the camera would periodically dip below the water's surface.

Visuals created for J GRGRY’s Open Roads

Visuals created for He Whose Ox is Gored's "Nightshade".

Visuals created for J GRGRY's "Erase the Shore".

Visuals created for J GRGRY’s “Floodlands”

 
 
 

creative process examples

Dandelion Experiment

One summer night, I positioned a small spotlight on dandelions outside of my home and filmed the seeds gradually being blown away in slow-motion. This was surprisingly difficult because the seeds weren't ready to release. It took many attempts and a lot of air pressure. I wasn’t able to capture the seeds gracefully flying away, but the back and forth movement went well with music. This became the visuals for J GRGRY's "Ships". If you watch the entire video, you'll see the seeds gradually disappear as the song progresses until there are only bare stems at the end.

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See full video for “Ships” here.

Sample that evolved into the video art created for J GRGRY's "Ships".

 
 
 

creative process examples

Animating a still image, Repurposing Art

When brainstorming ideas for He Whose Ox is Gored's "Magazina", I knew I wanted footage with a lot of urban textures. As I walked around the city with my camera, I recalled how I had already taken a bunch of urban texture photos for an art project a couple years back. The images were for a massive collage as part of an installation for the 2013 Lo-Fi Arts Festival (on a retired farm north of Seattle). The piece was an intertwining of two local invasive species, human urban sprawl and the Himalayan blackberry growing everywhere in the area.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find the original photos for the collage, but I did have one detail shot taken of the piece once it was hung. Animating this one image became the main input for the visual, plus footage of my camera following lines of graffiti.

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Visuals for He Whose Ox is Gored's "Magazina".

 
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creative process examples

Merry-go-round visuals

Decided to set up my camera in the middle of a merry-go-round found in a neighborhood playground to film the rotating trees and streetlights in slow motion. This became the visual for J GRGRY's "Rolodex".

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J GRGRY's performing "Rolodex" at The Crocodile in Seattle, WA

 
 
 

creative process examples

Corner Palm Becomes visual

During a walk, I stumbled upon a small palm at the corner of a busy intersection being blown around by the wind. This created some interesting shadows throughout its fronds. I was really attracted to the interplay of the light and movement. This erratic energy seemed perfect for He Whose Ox Is Gored's "Paralyzer". You never know when creative inspiration will strike.

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Visuals created for He Whose Ox is Gored's "Paralyzer"