2012 Webby and Vimeo Award Winner

Yup. Blake Faucette and myself are Webby and Vimeo Award winners for our web series Often Awesome. Please watch the trailer…

As happy as I am to win these awards I would give them up in a second to have Tim back on this earth. I am so grateful to Tim, his wife Kaylan and the entire Often Awesome Army for allowing us to do 34 episodes on their battle with ALS. It sucked watching a person suffer with ALS. It sucked even more when that person is your friend.

We documented this series from his diagnosis to his passing. That took two years. In two years we saw his body give way to this horrible disease. The most frustrating thing was to watch this disease progress and there is nothing you can do about it. Not only watch it…but edit it. Over and over. There is a portion of your brain that shuts down and allows you to work and get things done. But it wears on you and does damage.

After Tim passed, I kept getting sick over and over for two months straight. I had fatigue like never before, I was worn down and depressed. I know it was Tim’s time to go but my body was constantly in this go go go mode and would do anything for that man. I wanted him to keep fighting. But that is the stubborn and selfish side of me. When he told me he wanted to see his memorial video before the next episode my heart sank and I knew he was ready to go. The amount of pain he was facing was beyond intense, it was cruel.

I remember getting the call from his friends that he was unconscious and they didn’t know if he was ever to awake again. I came by the house on a Friday, to see my friend for the last time. It was hard, even though you try to prepare yourself and know that this is the best for him. I looked around the house and his friends were hanging out, talking, drinking and playing his favorite music. If you didn’t know Tim you would think it was disrespectful…it was a beautiful moment. Tim asked us not to shoot this moment and I’m so glad he said that and I’m not sure if he said that for us, him or his friends. Whatever his reason I’m glad he did, cause if he asked us to shoot it…I would’ve.

I came by the house on Saturday to see Tim one more time. He was conscious for a brief moments throughout the day. I was fortunate that I was there during one of those moments. I walked over to him, held his head in my hands and told him how proud I was of him, he did an amazing job and that I loved him. I looked into his eyes and I could tell he heard me. I’m so grateful that was able to tell him that. Tuesday, Tim finally left his body.

I’m a mess right now reliving that. These tears are from missing a friend. From watching him go through all the pain and suffering. From knowing that research for this disease is terribly underfunded. From knowing there has been no significant treatment to slow down the disease. For the families that have to watch their loved ones go through this. For the future people that will be diagnosed breaks my heart.

Winning these awards is absolutely amazing. The Vimeo Award is extra special. Their community is full of amazing films and filmmakers from around the world. To bring home an award for this series is the highlight of my professional career. This web series is for the world to know this disease and not turn away, but to look at one another and say how can we cure this fucking disease.

Vimeo Award Nominated for Best Web Series

What an exciting week for us at All Aces Media. Often Awesome the series got nominated for a Webby for Best Documentary Series and now for the Vimeo Awards for Best Web Series. Please help us bring home the award and vote for us daily at The Vimeo Awards and at The Webby Awards.

Thank you so much

I am 2012 Webby Award Nominee and I Need Your Help

I am so proud to say that Often Awesome the series has been officially nominated as the Best Documentary Series on the web by The Webby Awards. Blake and I have worked endlessly on this series when Tim was first diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). The first year we dedicated to put out an episode every other week. After the first year we had 26 episodes. That nearly killed us. We worked full time jobs and shot and produced the entire series on our own free time. Year two we dedicated ourselves to produce an episode each month. We now have 34 episodes in the can and are working on the final episode. During that time we were so grateful to witness the amazing story that Timothy LaFollette left to share with the world. He courageous battle with the disease was inspiring. Kaylan, his wife, never wavered from his bedside and his friends showed the world what community and friendship truly meant.

Working with Tim changed my life in a very positive way and at the same time it was the most difficult thing to do. I witnessed this disease take his movement from his limbs, breath from his lungs and food from his mouth. His mind was still active, creative, strong sense of humor and sense of purpose too. His battle will always be my source for inspiration and to never give up. I am so grateful to Tim and I will share his message to anyone that wants to know what it is like to live. This web series isn’t about someone waiting to die…it is about someone living to his last day. It’s about people coming together selflessly and giving to make Tim’s quality of life more comfortable. It is a lesson in humanity and I was in the front row.

I am thrilled to announce that Often Awesome the series is a finalist for Best Documentary Series in The Webby Awards! Often Awesome the series is a web series that follows Timothy LaFollette who was diagnosed at 29 with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in 2009. We created 34, 10-minute episodes from diagnosis to his passing. Often Awesome the series chronicles a beautiful tale about love, hope, community, friendship and courage, in the face of daunting challenges and deep loss.

Tim wanted to participate in this series to raise awareness about ALS and to show the horror of the world’s best kept secret disease. He did his job well! It is now up to us to get his story out to as many people as possible and the best way to do that is to vote daily for Often Awesome the series for The People’s Voice Award of The Webby’s. This award is the Oscars for the web and can bring light to such a dark subject.

Often Awesome the series is nominated along with programs produced by PBS, the Sundance Channel, and the Independent Film Channel, all of whom have professional marketing teams at their disposal. That’s why Often Awesome the series needs your help.

Blake Faucette (co-creator) and I urgently ask you to vote for Often Awesome the series and to share this opportunity with your friends, family, co-workers, Facebook, Twitter, linkedin, Google+, reedit, message boards, blog it and anywhere else that you have a voice.

Not only do we want to educate people about the horror of ALS, we want to introduce the world to Tim. He was a one-of-a-kind talent freak with a heart open for the world. This story will not only bring you to tears, it will make you smile about the beauty of humanity.

You can vote DAILY here: http://pv.webbyawards.com/ballot/104

Facebook Page for the series: http://www.facebook.com/OftenAwesomeTheSeries

Facebook Page for the group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/oftenawesome/

The web series: http://www.allacesmedia.com/oftenawesome/

Official Web Site of Often Awesome the non-profit: http://oftenawesome.org/

Copy and Past for twitter:
Often Awesome, our #ALS Doc Series is nominated for a #Webby help us get the vote out for People’s Award http://bit.ly/IqAc85

Short Film Friday: Jade

This is a story about a coworker’s dog named Jade. I first came across her story when I found a flyer in the company’s break room. It immediately touched me and I wanted to share her story with the world.

Light Sweep Plug-in for Final Cut Pro and Motion

FxPack that contains five plug-ins (Fake 3D, Light Sweep, Drop Shadow, Numbers and Grow Bounds) mainly for Apple Motion. You can find more information and download it from my blog.

I am so happy to find this Light Sweep plug-in by Tapio Haaja. This free plug-in was created in FxFactory and only works in FxFactory Pro. So if you already have FxFactory Pro in your plugin library go ahead and download the plugin and enjoy it. I know this effect is overused everywhere on TV but why not jump on the bandwagon? Props Tapio!

THE WORLD’S FIRST DIGITAL RECORDER VIDEO MICROPHONE

Rode Microphones has made an announcement that sounds very interesting especially if you are an all in one producer. I’ve been using Rode mics with great success for the past 6 years and recommend their products to any independent producer. Check out the specs and tell me what you think.

Five Essential Apps and Tools for Freelancers

LOCKERGNOME has 5 essential apps for any freelancer. No complaints from me. Any other suggestions?

Music Video: Tom Maxwell and The Minor Drag “Jacob Marley”

Download the single from iTunes

This was a lot of fun to shoot and edit. I’ve never shot a music video like this before which was a great learning experience. We actually recorded the music live at the venue while we were shooting the video. The mix sounds beautiful. The concept behind it was to document/shoot a music video. We had 3 cameras all Canon 60Ds and spread out across the floor. We covered Tom really well. The hardest part of the shoot was covering the piano and vibraphone players. Each take was different solo, so unless we were recording them during that take it was impossible to show them playing. The vibes were easier to cover but he chose to use different color mallets (or whatever you call those things) and sometimes with 2 or 4.

It was a challenge but something that I’m glad I had a chance to do. It has been a long time since I’ve worked on or shot a music video that I wanted to do. I love this song and so glad I could work with the former lead of Squirrel Nuts Zippers lead Tom Maxwell. He is a very cool and fun guy to work with. I’m also very fortunate to work and be friends with a couple of North Carolina’s best filmmakers, Blake Faucette and Nic Beery. Enjoy this poignant Christmas music!

Recorded live on November 26, 2011 at The Murphey School, Durham NC

Tom Maxwell – vocals, guitar
James Wallace – piano
Mark Simonsen – vibraphone
FJ Ventre – string bass
Evans Nicholson – drums

Engineered and mixed by Thom Canova
Filmed by Andy Coon, Blake Faucette and Nic Beery
Edited by Andy Coon

GenArts SapphireEdge Review for Final Cut Pro 7

GenArts knocks it out of the park with Sapphire Edge plugin for Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, Apple Motion and Sony Vegas Pro. If you want a sweet look for your video regardless of your line of work or status as a professional or amateur this is a no-brainer. Sapphire Edge makes it easy to turn your normal video into something special in a few clicks. If you shoot or edit music videos this is a must have set of effects and looks. I can think of 10 looks right off the bat to use in wedding videos. It can give your corporate video that look that takes it up a notch from, “do I have to watch this s^$t?” That is how good these effects are.

I love the preset browser where you can apply the preset to the footage and preview what it looks like before you load it. The tags are a HUGE bonus for the editor. The tags simplify things so it is streamlined for the editor. You can always tweak the preset once it is loaded on your footage and save it as a favorite, then rename it.

Receive a one-year subscription to FX Central with your purchase of Sapphire Edge. FX Central is the place to browse looks and view tutorials. Now, you can access the GenArts visual effects gallery presented as pre-built looks, regularly updated, easy to apply, and always of the highest quality. Stay ahead of the curve with fresh new collections and get the best look every time.

Features

• 350+ unique, pre-built looks generated from 18 effects and transitions
• 64-bit quality
• Powered by the Sapphire engine
• Streamlined and intuitive user interface
• GPU-accelerated for Nvidia CUDA cards
• Multiprocessor support
• Ever-expanding library of professionally built preset looks
• Visual browsing of presets applied to user media
• Includes one-year subscription to FX Central, GenArts’ cutting-edge preset browser, which allows editors instantaneous preview-and-apply capabilities
• Stylize and color-correct your footage with effects such as FilmStyle, FilmDamage, and TVDamage
• Numerous transitions utilizing natural looking lighting effects such as DissolveLensFlare, DissolveGlow and DissolveGlint

Price
$299 for over 350 effects and transitions plus a one-year subscription to FX Central ($99 value) is a great addition to your effects library. The great thing about these looks are they inspire you to create and think outside of your normal looking video. These will be implemented right away on my next project.

ALS Sucks

Working on Often Awesome the series the past two years has changed me into an advocate and agent of awareness to pass the message about this horrible disease. Please help us spread awareness and help the world understand that we need to research and find a cure.