All Of The Lights

Finally I got some Northern Lights footage. I was up in the Yukon this time last year, but was stymied on several occasions. My attempts would usually end with me sitting in the cold for a few hours while beavers and coyotes roamed around and tried their best to spook me. In any case, last night the Lights were out and they actually stuck around long enough for me to set up a few time lapses. For some reason Kanye West's "All of The Lights" was stuck in my head the whole time.

Haines Spot

Here's a few shots taken a few days ago in Haines, AK - one of the most beautiful places on earth. I've started doing some tests with AE 3D Camera tracking and Rotoscoping. You'll notice the bear goes in front of the text and at one point seems to even read it. 

https://vimeo.com/49563267

https://vimeo.com/49564000

The Queen of Rockabilly

Wanda Jackson is a legend. She is known for being one of the first female rockabily singers and therefore a pioneer of the genre in the 50s and 60s. Accolades like that are not acquired over night and while the Britneys and Spice Girls of the world come and go, Wanda watches on and keeps honing her craft. In recent years she has released albums with both Jack White and Justin Townes Earle to much acclaim and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. She was in Vancouver the other night to play with her band the Dusty 45s and I got a last minute call from Regret Me Not Productions to document the show as part of a larger project. Having known very little about the genre and nothing at all about the artists, I'm now a big fan! Oh, did I mention that Wanda is 75 years old!?

Here are a few screen grabs from the night.

Enjoy!

Peel Screen Grabs

Well, I'm happy to report that I survived the Peel Trip and other than a few bug bites (probably in the hundreds) and losing a few pounds, I did manage to keep all my fingers and toes. To sum up the trip in one word, I would say it was "epic"! The journey started with a roller coaster ride of a flight into McClusky Lake from Mayo and although roller coasters usually end up with me changing my pants, the pilot's cool-as-a-cucumber demeanour was somewhat reassuring. I was happy to have finally landed and have the adventure begin! I won't bore you with too many details but we managed to see a wide variety of wildlife (from wolves, to moose, caribou, sheep, and bears) while being surrounded by some of the world's most beautiful scenery, and flipping the canoe only once.

Now the editing begins...

Here are only a few unedited screen grabs (there were too many to choose from) for the upcoming doc.

Enjoy!

Project The Peel

A few months back a Yukon photographer, Pete Mather (http://www.petermather.com/), asked me to  to join him and a number of Yukon artists for a two week canoe trip down the Wind River (http://www.nahanni.com/content/windriverintro/). Pete proposed that I create a documentary about their adventure in the context of the Protect The Peel movement (http://www.protectpeel.ca/). The idea is that the artists will create works inspired by the trip which they will later sell and use to garner attention and help raise funds for the movement. In recent years the Peel Watershed has become a hot political topic that has environmentalists & First Nations against mining & exploration companies who want access to the currently protected area.

So, of course I agreed to do the project and on July 15th I'm off on a two week canoe trip in the heart of the Yukon! Here's a poster I put together using some of Pete's photos. Look for an IdieGoGo campaign to come soon....