Until I have new material to share, you can take a look at this extended footage from “Enhance It!”

There were a couple things I left out because they were either very obvious or not super important.

First, I spray painted the wood black to make it look nicer. Not necessary, but I thought it was a nice touch.

Second, the screw that goes up through the bottom of the wood will make it wobble a little bit, so I used some of the plastic caps that you put on the bottom of wooden chair legs on all four corners. Now it sits still.

Check back soon for the making of the stunt dummy!

Here’s a blooper from the first take of the first shot of my latest Batman-themed project:

And here’s a really awesome time-lapse of the entire shoot, compliments of Adam and his GoPro:

For “Fatallity Guaranteed,” a dark comedy that is also planned to be a web-series, I have been working on an original score, pre-production for a trailer, and busting up a typewriter for a prop!

For a short comedy about elections, I had the talented Janet Patterson working on a voice-over for a slanderous campaign ad.

For “Pandora’s Fridge,” a horror movie, I’m getting back on the prop-making horse to get these tentacles done, and also working on some designs for the title card!

So that’s a small slice of what I have going on lately. Follow me on twitter for fun updates! @hughmsullivan

I had also been looking for some more practice with the 5D on the Glidecam 2000 Pro, so I brought that along as well.

I knew I wanted to use the suction cup mount for the GoPro to do a low-angle shot of feet running, filmed from the back of his car. Other than that, we didn’t have a plan. He said, “Why would I be running?” So we thought about it, and figured it would be creepy to have me, a bearded weirdo in a hat and a batman shirt, chasing him and trying to sell him drugs. So we went with that.

So here’s us messing around in an empty parking garage until 1:30 in the morning, yelling “Ya’ll want some drugs?!,” and not getting arrested. Cheers!

Bonus points: Can you find the 3 shadows that don’t belong?

At first glance it looks like a torture device, because it’s a little metal chair with a screw sticking up from the seating area.

But that’s just to hold up the corn.

I’ve had a tripod set up in front of the window a week  now, and even cleaned both  sides of the window, just waiting to be home when the squirrels got at the corn. They were finally in action this week, so I grabbed some photos and video.

So if you’re as weird as me and can stare at a squirrel chewing for a minute or so, take a look!

And how about some more photos?

Favorite things about the Weatherford wedding:

• I already knew the groom, who ran for city council recently. Great guy, and I hope he runs again sometime.
• I went to college with the best man, and it was nice to catch up with him.
• The father of the bride busted out some crazy, unexpected dance moves.
• The nice guy at the church records mp3s of the ceremony and does noise reduction, so I had less work to do.

Favorite things about the Huckstep wedding:

• A bunch of guests and members of the wedding party were friends from college.
• The music selection for the ceremony included a piano version of “Somebody to Love,” by Jefferson Airplane.
• The cake topper was two skeletons making out.
• They had a fun wedding party that liked being goofy and having their photos taken.

Aside from making movies, another long-time dream of mine has been to do something involving pranks and hidden cameras – especially if it involves scaring people.

Here are some of my favorite pranks. Be warned: language and content is questionable.

Scare Tactics – Repo Service: It’s the first 1:30 of the video, and the best prank ever. 
Scare Tactics – Rat Monster
Roy Wood Jr. – Auto Repair
Roy Wood Jr. – Marraige License

I have been known to make some prank phone calls, but I always stop myself short of the really confrontational stuff, which is the most funny. The reason Roy Wood Jr. and the Scare Tactics folks can get people so upset and not (always) get sued, is two-fold. First, they have the legitimate name to drop at the end:  ”Hey, sorry I got you so upset, you’re on the Buckwild Morning show!”, or “Hey, you’re going to be on TV, thanks for being a good sport!” And second, they have a friend to put the blame on: “Your cousin put me up to calling you,” or “Your boyfriend told me you hated snakes, so we filled your car with them.”

Which brings me to my latest business endeavor with R.V. Evans.

Alida did a lovely redesign of their logo to reflect their 75th year in business. While she was working with them, they mentioned wanting to do a funny video to play at their end-of-the-year meeting. So I met with them, and they told me what they wanted.

The idea was for me to interview employees, but switch out the questions, making their answers ridiculously out of context. Since we were filming less than a week before the big meeting, they didn’t want people to get suspicious, so they told a wonderful lie.

They sent out a company-wide email saying that a major magazine in the packaging industry was coming to do a big feature on the business being family owned for 3 generations. With that back story they made me a lovely press badge from the magazine and a nifty welcome sign in the lobby. (I’m leaving out the name of the magazine, just in case they don’t approve of me using them as a cover…)

When Canon released the 5D MarkII, he took it for a test drive, resulting in the short film, Reverie. He’s been doing video ever since, and after Canon released the C300, he was there again to show what it could do with his short film, Mobius. In November, he spoke about his experience at an Apple Store in Chicago.

Speaking at the Apple Store

Not only is he talented, but he is constantly sharing insight into his process. On his blog, he talks about why he makes certain choices creatively, and then talks in depth about how he executed those shots. He has hours and hours of videos on his website detailing his workflow. I shoot on the 5D and edit in Premiere CS5.5 64bit. So does he, and he posted an hour-long video of the settings he uses when he edits. It’s pretty cool to be able to get that kind of detail from a successful professional. He also just posted a video showing the Adobe workflow used to do some effects editing for Mobius.

When I listened to him speak to the crowd at the Apple Store in Chicago, one great piece of advice he had for the crowd was to not try following the footsteps of your idols, because those paths are already obsolete. Working for a the New York Times and then being chosen to demonstrate breakthrough camera technology worked for him, but that’s not going to happen to anybody else. He says to keep doing what your doing and make your own path, and that was really refreshing. I spend so much time looking at what other people have done, it’s hard to realize that they weren’t concerning themselves with the work and success of their peers. They were just concentrating on doing good work, and the success followed.

Listening to him talk about his days at the Times also rejuvenated my enthusiasm for my job. I already love what I do, but hearing him describe his process made me think about different ways I can approach my own work. It was also nice to see that he enjoys taking pictures of himself in cool places. Now I don’t feel as narcissitic.

Laforet on the Empire State Building. Click to read his blog!

Suddenly I don't feel so brave for climbing up this water tower...

But the main thing is that he’s a genuinely nice guy. When I saw him in Chicago, he wasn’t pompous or pretentious. He was a talented artist happy to share his experiences with fellow artists. No question was stupid during the Q&A, and he gave everybody equal time and respect.

Afterward I was able to introduce myself and get a picture taken with him.

And no, I didn't copy his hair and beard on purpose...

Before I left, I couldn’t help asking him to sign my clapboard. I felt like a huge nerd until a few fellow filmmakers started to regret not bringing theirs.

And to update my situation, I’m knee deep in EVERYTHING right now, which is very exciting! I have wedding videos, band videos, and a secret project to edit. On top of that, I just finished casting a short comedy centered around election season. So check back for more on that stuff!

The entire night was a blast, but one thing really stood out: fog machines. As soon as I saw the DJ’s booth start spurting smoke I thought the building might be on fire. (There were a TON of candles.) Once I realized it was a fog machine, I thought it was a really odd addition to a classy wedding reception. As soon as I saw the beams of light shining through the smoke, that notion went away pretty fast. See for yourself:

So now that we’re into 2012, I’d like to say that I’m making a resolution to blog more. But it’s going to be hard. This Christmas I was showered with video games, books, and new video-production toys. Regardless, I’ll make sure to take time to share what’s new and interesting. So have a happy New Year, and check back soon!

Until then, here’s my latest wedding montage video: