thestoryofjory.com

Jeremy Davis, Morgan Woolard, Jory Burson

A few weeks ago, I was asked to help produce a demo video for Morgan Woolard, Miss Oklahoma and OSU Sports Media student.  Morgan came in second at the Miss America pageant earlier this summer and has been non-stop busy ever since.  She’s auditioning for different hosting and television jobs, and definitely has the support of the entire school!

I’m glad I was able to help produce this for her by arranging interviews, coaching her performance and writing some of the script. Jeremy Davis was the videographer and editor for this piece. Many thanks also go to Dr. John McGuire, for introducing all of us!

Several weeks ago, Stan announced that he would be recording a new song he wrote for Eskimo Joe’s 35th anniversary.  The song is called “All Roads Lead to Joe’s” and it’s actually quite catchy.  You can listen and download it for free at www.eskimojoes.com/music.

Now, everyone I’ve mentioned this to gives me a puzzled look, but let me assure you that Stan can actually sing.  We actually karaoke’d together a few weeks ago, and  years ago he had a rhythm & blues band that even released an album.  In 1986, Stan and his band recorded a music video for newly minted MTV, right there at Eskimo Joe’s.  So, this is not a new thing for Stan, although he (and by proxy, Joe’s) hasn’t done in a while.

Today, for the first time in 24 years, we’re shooting part one of a music video for Stan’s new song.  As the director/producer of this operation, I’m more than a little psyched about this shoot.  Today’s objective is to film the live performance aspect of the video at Eskimo Joe’s – something that is challenging enough on its own – but they’ve only given me an hour to get it done!  The production schedule is brutally tight all day, actually.  We’re only shooting for the “All Roads”video from 7-8 p.m., but we’re also shooting the Bart Crow Band concert this evening as well.  And we’re doing all this with a crew of three.

Although I know there’s no way to control the schedule, I’m very confident that we’re going to get some great footage.  Gideon Thompson and Melinda Spurlin, the other two members of the crew, are very talented and capable camera persons.  We’ll have use of a jib as well, thanks to Marc Krein.  With these resources, I have no doubt that we’ll put out a finished product with very high production values.

Next week, I’ll post a recap of how it all went.  In the meantime, if you’re in Stillwater today and want to be in a music video, come see me at Eskimo Joe’s!

Actually, I should say that I love my jobs since I seem to wear so many hats lately.  I just finished up the IgniteOKC 2 videos this weekend and they’re finally uploaded to the IgniteOKC  YouTube channel (Tanner said we’ve uploaded 14 GB this weekend alone!!! Holy crap, HD Video!!). Below is my favorite talk from IgniteOKC – and it’s not just because I’m biased (Watch it in HD if you like):

As you can see, I kept things much, much simpler this time around by using just two static camera angles.  I think this helped put the focus back on the speaker and the content, and less on the event itself.  It certainly made the videos easier to edit and color correct.  I also went with tighter shots on both cameras, which I think helped immensely.

Then today, I filmed the EJPPG Client Day showcase at the OSU Alumni Center.  EJPPG wanted to shoot some client testimonials as well as some of the action at the client day.  I ended up shooting over two hours of client testimonial – it was non-stop! But, I think I got some great stuff from the clients and I can’t wait to log and rough cut that footage tomorrow.

Since I’m back in charge of the Road Crew, I had to set up one of our sound systems for today’s event as well. It was a little rough trying to handle two things in different areas, but SCC’s new public relations intern, Shea, was a big help.  Shea learned how to control the audio equipment really quickly, and he was a great ambassador for the Road Crew.  My job is cool, and so are my co-workers!

Days like today are typical of what I want out of my life and career.  I love to be challenged and stressed and multi-tasking on several different projects.  I’m also so excited to be working on several video projects at once, even if it is a little overwhelming.  There are some days that I’m just not sure what I want to do.  And then there’s today – when I realize I’m kind of already doing it.