Doug,

Greenscreen? That's much too sophisticated for me. More like blue bed sheet hanging from the ceiling in my basement "studio" with a bright light behind "the actors" (me, me and me with a wig). I couldn't get a full shot of myself due to the height restrictions, that's why I'm either kneeling or hunched over... kinda gives it that "I worked all day, my back is killing me" feel... funny how our limitations often serve as forcing functions to creative splender. I recall a movie made by this director from Mexico (I think). He couldn't afford the audio equipment for proper sync so he ending up cutting away from the actors for their dialog... it became the style of the film for which he won some award at Sundance... now he's a famous director...can't remember who that was or the exact situation. But it's a familiar story that I've run into many times.

My personal favorite segment is when the bugs? sand? form to make the word "Ethics" but are still animated. I also really enjoyed the singing horse and dancing cacti.
Thanks for the inspiration!
What's this for? I know you mentioned a competition, but I've never heard of an "ethics" film competition.

Hey Jim,

I really enjoyed and was very amazed by it. Being a beginner, i obviously wont be able to offer any constructive criticism. But yes, the video was awesome. I do have a beginner question however. In the VERY beginning of the video -- the countdown thingie? Where did you get that? Is it in Vegas already?

Thanks in advance,

You liked the salt segment? Mmm, I was gonna cut that and replace it with a wise owl on a branch. May reconsider. The company I work for started this Ethics Film Festival four years ago to promote ethics - we're a very large aerospace corporation and need to be careful about shakey dealings.

The film roll at the beginning was a stock clip that came with Video Factory I believe... the stock footage is the only thing I use from that program.

Interesting. I've been asked to do a magazine story on ethics in the video industry, I'm gonna see if I can fit your project into the story somehow. As the video industry grows at a rapid pace, fueled by the lower cost of entry to making high-grade video, there have been a lot of ethical issues raised in various areas of the biz. Some have been in this forum. I don't think there is enough information out there, and on the other side of the coin, there is no real mechanism for dealing with unethical behavior. Your video suggests jailtime is the punitive, but in reality, that rarely happens.
Back to the video...I love the salt that flies up like that. if you did that in Vegas, I'm curious how? I can think of a number of ways in other apps, but that one doesn't immediately reveal itself.

I thought it was very cool, but I am not a pro or an amateur. Did you do all this in Vegas alone?

Doug, Maybe I'm confused over which scene you're talking about. But flattered that the simple effect is not obvious to someone with your background.

The salt scene is the one where the word ethics is spelled out in a text balloon of sorts. The other scene you may be talking about is the one with the guitar player with the dark background with organic matter flowing about in the sky and ultimately forming the word ethics as the sky turns white.

The former is done with a pile of salt that I scratched the word eithics into with a artist brush then blew it away with canned air. Played backwards, that's what you get. I should have used a straw as the canned air blew it away too fast. This is the scene I'm thinking about replacing.

The latter, with the guitar player and sky was done with a frypan packed with snow and the word ethics spelled in coffee grounds. I filmed the pan as the water came to a boil and played that backwards inverted with a bit of edge detection and mirror.

All editing was done in vegas. Music in ACID. Bit maps edited in Photopaint.

KUDOS - Very fun stuff - I bet it was A) lots of fun, or B) just glad to have it done.

but by the looks of it - I would bet on "A"

Dave

Jim,

Great work. Captivating.

And Spot, in healthcare now (my area), ethics lapse can easily result in jailtime. Also, more publicly, Enron-type lapses in corporate ethics is huge in the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Very current corporate topic, and well executed.

Dave

Really enjoyed the video....

But even more interesting have been your methods. Truly some creative thoughts rolling around due to your work here!!

Man! Now that was cool. Where's the guy who was asking about inspiration the other day? This is really good stuff Jim.

Jim, that looks really sweet - but I had to stop watching it. I mean, Ethics is a very topical, well topic, but the piece seems way to heavy handed for my likes. When I see a person sing the word "Ethics" and I see the text "ethics" appear - I tend to turn away and cringe. Too obvious - you know? Please take that only as a critique and not a personal attack. You are very skilled in this craft and the piece works great. I hope you win the contest.

With that said, I love the how you mixed animation and live action. I like how the character and background would shift focus - it really made it 3D. The background with silhouetted cowboy looked great. Very inspiring piece.

Good luck.

Jeff

Great stuff! Totally entertaining and engaging! I loved it.
As to your thought about the wise ol' owl, I'd go for it. While I thought the effect of the salt was INCREDIBLE, it didn't fit with your Western Theme (to me, it almost looked like bugs from The Mummy). The effect was really neet to look at, but for this Western, I like your owl idea.
Thanks for sharing that work!
Now I'm singing, "Right is Never Wrong..."
HAHaHA!
Good show!

I've got that hook in my head too. Very catchy tune on top of great vid.
I showed this to one of our State of Utah clients today, and she wants to show it at her office meeting. They're part of the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, and they deal with all sorts of people in that lineup. I'll drop you a note privately if she's really serious.

But dang, that hook is a good un'.

Very nice!

Fun approach. Thanks for sharing it.

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Sorry, file has been updated. New link is:
http://www.wakelydam.com/Video/ethics06.wmv
Let me know if there's still a problem.

Jim that is Excellent.

The idea, the attention to detail, the presentation and the sound track. All brilliant!

And the dancing silhouettes had me in stitches. Keep up the great work.

Alan

Personally, I like the salt, but the message is a little obscure. (Ethics blows away in the wind, and challenges, and you must rely on that voice inside.) The owl is more obvious. How about two. An angel owl, and a devil owl, on the shoulders?
Excellent production. The tune is too catchy. I'm working on my own tune, but not today. Yours is stuck in my head! Good job. Thanks, John.

Loved it. Great ideas.

Bo

Simply grand,

The birds....how did you do the birds?