Live @ Sundance – Ten Days of Different

The cinematic rebellion has only just begun. Let’s look back at ten days of different. Every festival, the Live @ Sundance team produces a “week in review” video. This year, after doing a paper edit of memorable quotes, we dove into the days of footage from this year’s festival. After locking down a quote based skeleton, we overlaid b-roll from films, events, and locations around Park City. Each one of the four editors had a pass on the edit. We all feel like the finished product is a solid piece of content.

Production Company: Sundance Institute
Client: Sundance Film Festival
Role: One of four Camera Operators, Editor, and Colorist.

Live @ Sundance – Brotherly Love

Director of Programming Trevor Groth speaks with the Butcher (The Violent Kind) and Safdie (Daddy Long Legs) brothers about collaboration.

Production Company: Sundance Institute
Client: Sundance Film Festival
Role: Camera Operator, Editor, and Colorist.

Live @ Sundance – Bill Gates on Art & Technology

Bill Gates visited the Sundance 2010 Filmmaker’s Brunch and took a moment to speak with the Live @ Sundance team. We asked him about the role of technology in art – specifically filmmaking. Bill also gives us insight into Waiting for Superman a feature documentary at the festival. Bing – Microsoft’s re-branded search engine is a sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival. 

Production Company: Sundance Institute
Client: Sundance Film Festival
Role: Cinematographer, Editor, and Colorist.

Live @ Sundance – Artist at the Table

Robert Redford believes there should be an artist at every table and for the opening celebration of the 2010 Festival there was. Catch a glimpse of this special celebration with patrons of the nonprofit Sundance Institute and the artists it supports.

Production Company: Sundance Institute
Client: Sundance Film Festival
Role: Editor, and Colorist.

Spike Jonze’s latest work is in the short’s program #1. Entitled “I’m Here” it is a robot love-story. Excited to see it, if I get some free time, during the Sundance Film Festival.

Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop will premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. So the piece on Park Ave indicates that the artist himself is in Park City for the premiere. The full length film is due out in Spring 2010.

Less than 24 hours from the first official day of the Sundance Film Festival and the snow is still coming down. This is my third year working at the festival. Which makes me feel more relaxed and comfortable with the event. Plus that I have more great Sundance friends than the previous years. The light at the end of the Sundance tunnel is two days of snowboarding in Utah powder.

I’m stoked. Here are some images from around Park City and day 0 of the festival.

Our offices are in the same place as last year – which is the silver star lift base of the Park City Mountain Resort. Silver star used to be a silver mine.

Look familiar?

Because the sky is blue… because I LOVE clouds.

Banksy is in town. Dropping some new pieces.

Fire hydrant knuckle deep in the pow pow gnar gnar.

Joe producing and locking down a location for a future shoot.

Stay posted for Day #1

Ever leave your camera out in the open. Only to find a bunch of random photos on it the next day? 

Sure, we all have. Here are random photos taken by other people on my camera during the Sundance film festival. 

Danny got a hold of the camera and snapped a few of these. Late nights of editing will make you crazy.

Mike looks like he accidently mixed Maker’s Mark and Coffee. Dave jams on some compression probably while listening to some good tunes.

Sundance, Park City crew member Alex showed up in the photos. Nice portrait. 

The last of Boulevard wheat ale on chill- in the best way possible. Thanks for grabbing a still of it Danny. 

Butchers Mohan is also a fan of the Onitsuka Tigers. Grabbed this random one from the condo. Nice kicks. 

New snow. New snow. I’m excited. 

This image reminds me of the movie posters for Captivity. Really I just have surfaced capillaries and get bloody noses sometimes. They don’t bother me and taking photos of them freaks people out.

Here is the Live @ Sundance 2009 Week in Review video. I did not edit this, but did shoot some of the clips used and did a few quick color grades. Now its time to kick back in the condo hot tub, watch a couple of films, and get ready to ride in the 6 inches of fresh pow that have blanketed Park City. 

The Boneyard, Live @ Sundance Crew posed for a few quick snaps by Elisha Christian- here are a few of my personal favorites. Click the link below and check out the larger images. 

Director of Photography, Elisha Christian. (and the photographer of the follow shots)

Shooter/Editor, Christopher Joseph.

Mike Mohan, Producer and really good guy.

Danny Roew, Shooter/Editor. 

Some dude named Will Roegge, Shooter/Editor/Robot

Dave Drusky, Volunteer Video Pro.

Mark Harrison, HP Panel Crew.

Andy DeYoung, HP Crew. 

Great guys! Sweet Photos.

Here is a quick edit I did on foreign filmmakers at the Sundance Film Festival 2009. 

Look into my eyes and tell me what it is you see.

Unless I’ve just consumed a Rockstar energy drink- you’ll probably see a blank gaze.

Its my tenth day at Sundance. The end is in sight. Snow on the horizon. Snowboarding next week. I’m working on finishing up a piece on international filmmakers at the festival. Sounds similar to one I did on short filmmakers- just change the accent up a little. 

Some jumbo soggy snowflakes came down early in the day. It made me think of my trip to Chicago and the last snow fall. 

It was in the upper thirties and the snow was melting fast!

Check out this stream flowing with ice cold snow melt water.

Funny. A construction worker saw me jump off this snow pile and was really confused.

“Why are you taking photos of the snow pile?” he asked. I just smiled and laughed.

This is some kind of radio transmission unit. If you get close enough, there is some kind of speaker inside, and you can hear people talking. Really random. I think I’ve found my way into a James Bond movie.

Sunset was gorgeous again. 

A steady stream of dripping water from above creates ice stalagmites. 

The source of the drips.

Sunset in the building across the street.

Amazed. Sundance beard coming in nicely. Do you think I’ve broken my nose before? Surfaced capillaries?

Until the award ceremony tomorrow. Boneyard.

Clouds. Finally. Hopefully, some snow is on the way. Sunny and in the 40s during the day does not make for good “dry Utah powder”. Check out the rest of my day at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. 

There is another old mine by the office. 

Gas meters. 

Wolf sculpture by the Live @ Sundance office. 

The 40k bear sculpture. Not joking, seriously, forty thousand dollars- well spent.

Macro. What ya know.

Such a tease.

Then it was down to the Kimball Center for the NHK Awards Reception. 

Some cool photographs from previous films at the festival. 

Dave watches as Elisha sets up lighting for an interview.

Yum. A nice spread of food with a waterfall in the middle. 

Please, bring some snow. A lil pow pow to round out the week.

Short filmmakers are awesome. They are forced to tell compelling stories with limited resources and within a short time frame. 

The 2009 Sundance Film Festival had an incredible short film program. 

This is my latest Sundance video. Shot by Elisha, Produced by Mike Mohan and Joe Beyer.

Edited and Color grading by me. 

Andrew DeYoung directs and Mark Harrison stars in Will Balance. Forget white balance, there is a new light temperature that is sweeping the filmmaking scene- Will Balance.

Andy and Mark cut this together with some white balance footage they had from their HP Panels videos. It was just the goofy thing that all of us needed yesterday- to make the day easier. I’m not sure if I should be honored or scared that they picked my credential photo to superimpose on the white balance card- thanks guys! haha. 

Here is one of the rental Nissan Xterra’s we have been getting around in for the past week +. Its hard to miss, being bright yellow. But works well, when you are trying to pick someone up in traffic. Day Eight of Sundance 2009. Yesterday was the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. It was interesting to be in Park City, during the film festival for the occasion. After the jump, there are a few snaps from the gathering in downtown Park City for the Inauguration.

The crowd watches tv monitors showing the Inauguration. There were very few dry eyes.

Kids play in the snow in front of the monitors. Pretty good sized crowd for 9am. 

Very patriotic.

I stole this idea from Elisha. Who was shooting macro shots of the snow texture earlier in the week. This is from a snow mound outside of the office. After melting, freezing, and then melting again. 

More of the yellow Xterra and in the driver side window’s reflection- a preview of what caught my eye next. 

The texture of this historic mining building caught my attention. Plus the long vertical windows really reflected the light nicely!

Vertical. 

Close Up. 

Really enjoying Lightroom 2 for processing RAW files from my Panasonic DMC-LX2. Now all I need is some new snow.

This year, the Presidential Inauguration and Sundance happened on the same weekend. Here is a piece that I edited and shot a good portion of for the 2009 Presidential Inauguration from the streets of Park City, Utah during the film festival. There are some great quotes from Robert Redford, Geoff Gilmore, Chris Rock, and the former Chairman of the NEA- Bill Ivey.

Game face. Its day Seven, for you non-spanish speaking numeral understanders. So scope these photos. 

Unseasonably warm, check out some of the snow melt around the ponds in this park across from our office. 

This statue better not be to scale. If so, I’m very frightened of bears. 

This lift is right by the office and at the top of the stairs by the office. What a tease. 

Banners in tow.

I really dig this wooden framed elevator. 

Trees, vertically. 

Day before the inauguration. Feeling patriotic- saw this outside of the Park City lift. 

Self portrait, dead serious. 

Presidential Inauguration video coming soon- response from the crowds in Park City and talking with filmmakers about art, politics, and the economy.

At the filmmaker’s brunch, Todd Sklar (director Box Elder) and I got to interview John Krasinski about his film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. John’s film is in the dramatic competition at Sundance this year. He was a pro and gave us this great sound bite and concisley explained the film. As an editor and shooter, you cannot ask for more! It makes it simple to edit and provides the audience with an effective and quick informative piece. Then again, this skill just re-enforces the talent that I’ve grown to admire from him on the Office. Can’t wait to see the film, based on a David Foster Wallace novel. 

Corey Brill asks, “What’s your favorite Sundance film?” Shot by Elisha Christian and edited by me. We definitely got some great answers and had some interesting people follow us down Main street in Park City. 

What’s your favorite Sundance film?