A Woman Full Of Trouble (07:11)
Evil. As her footfalls draw near so does your fate. What happens when Candy stops for a cup of joe will haunt you for decades.
Melissa O’Donnell and Aimee Theresa star in this noir inspired short, Written and directed by myself. Original Music by Adam Schwartz, sound design by Bob Dungay. Cover poster by Rob Reilly. (07:11)
Official Selection of the 7th Annual Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
Elana (06:32)
I was privileged and honored to help tell Elana's story for the American Association for Cancer Research. As the editor of this project, I was responsible for whittling down the interviews, creating the graphics, picking the music and the color correction.
Oh, I just received word this video won a 2014 Telly Award. (140613)
I’ll Meet You There (02:23)
A short film for you to watch before bed.
Starring the lovely maryTHEwretched. Additional voice work by Monica Brown.
This piece would not be half of what it is if not for The Red Coat's amazing original music and sound design. Thank you Adam! Check out more of his work here: iamtheredcoat.bandcamp.com/
Shot on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera in ProRes.
Poplar One Evening (01:46)
January 2, 2014 The winter storm "Hercules" is steadily blanketing Philadelphia and the East Coast of North America with snow, so naturally I venture out to play with my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. The results are pretty good. Again I need a stabilizer or tripod and a more powerful computer to operate resolve more effectively, but I am happy with the results.
This piece would not be half of what it is if not for The Red Coat's amazing track. Thank you Adam! Check out more of his work here: http://iamtheredcoat.bandcamp.com/
The Victories: Transhuman
I once again had the pleasure of working with legendary comic creator Michael Avon Oeming on another trailer for his creator owned series The Victories. This project took a totally different pace than the previous teaser and I think they both work together amazingly.
Please read the Victories from Dark Horse Comics tinyurl.com/k5gd8yl
and also available on comixology.com tinyurl.com/mu87et6
And check out the original trailer-
Snowman (01:38)
My first short film with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera.
Music by She Wants Revenge, please check out their awesome music. I can't describe the sound accurately but they are currently my favorite band. http://valleyheart.tumblr.com/
This is one of the first projects I've totally shot and edited in many many years. This was shot CinemaDNG RAW, and the source footage is amazing to look at, please remember this file is compressed. Although I do have problems grading the footage properly since my 13" MacBook Pro is technically not qualified to run Davinchi Resolve but I was able to finesse a few settings and get the software to run. Just tried to make the shots look as natural as possible.
I'm using old Ricoh Rikenon lenses from the late 80's mounted with an MFT to K-mount adapter. Some of the shots are but shakier than I'd like. I chalk that up to being totally handheld and having no muscle memory for camera work; for 20 years as an editor my skill at sitting in a chair perfectly still for 12 hours straight is impeccable, but holding a camera steady for ten seconds is not quite so. It is really satisfying to just see, shoot, and edit exactly what I wanted. Very pleased with this piece.
Are you ready for a wedding?!
This past Saturday I had the honor and privilege of being the head Referend at my dear Friends Mike and Loretta McCracken's wedding ceremony. Please take a look at the hockey/geek wedding ceremony I came up with.
Friends, family, Countrymen… lend me your ears; (Corn toss).
Four score and some odd years ago;
Ask not what this marriage can do for you;
Marriage, the final frontier;
Are you ready for a wedding!!!
We are gathered here today to witness and encourage the marriage of Mike and Loretta.
Marriage is perhaps the greatest and most challenging adventure of human relationships. No ceremony or law can create a marriage; they can only recognize one. Marriage is a bond that Mike and Loretta create together; through mindfulness and patience; through constant dedication; through helping and believing in each other; through talking and listening; and very simply through their mutual love for one another.
They will be tested like all great couples in history; Sid and Nancy; The Doctor and Leela; Han and Chewie-- I mean Leia! (Boos) Come on, I think we all know Loretta is Han Solo no matter what simile I use. (Cheers)
What I do know is that sometimes even they will get boarded, sometimes a hard shot will rattle off their pads, sometimes life will just stuff one right down their five hole.
This union, this marriage; is not about how many shots they take on goal; it’s not about how many times they save the earth from a time trotting alien invasion; it’s about teamwork; it’s about leaving notes for each other. It’s about finishing each other’s... (page-turn)
…Sandwiches. Pause. This union is about shared passions and loves, and frankly it’s about how these two play together, and I think we all know that Mike and Loretta play very, very, very-VERY, very well together.
From their first meeting it was obvious this couple was destined to wear the same jersey. It was in a local dive bar when Loretta noticed something peculiar about Mike, it was a very small detail overlooked by most, and in this case led to something spectacular.
Loretta asked him, (LORRETTA READS →) “Is that a 2000ish Phoenix Coyotes CCM jersey you're wearing?”In that calm reassuring voice of his, I think we can all hear Mike’s reply, (MIKE READS →) “Why yes, yes it is.”
Their conversation at this time may have been brief, just some twenty year old obscure Hockey banter. But then as quickly and as casually as it started, Mike, the man of mystery that he is, disappeared into the crowd to go do “something”.
A few moments later, he appeared on stage with his band, drumming out a trippy, hard-rocking version of the classic Dr. Who theme. Seriously? (Look at Mike and Loretta) Seriously?
Have you ever heard a more perfect first meeting? It’s as if these two were forged by lightning in a mad scientist’s lab. They are literally made for each other.
Anyway from that moment this couple stole each other’s hearts despite Mike being a fan of a team other than the Flyers. (Go Flyers!) And that my friends, is an incredible, incredible feat indeed.
The rest as they say is history; a first date; hanging out together for no specific reason; dinners that linger long after the meal is over; staying up late talking about everything and anything. I’m sure a few other things happened as well; and then here we are today; the big day.
This is it, the night of nights. No more rehearsing and nursing apart. Overture. Curtain Lights. This is it. They’ll hit the heights. And oh what heights they’ll hit. On with the show this is it.
Trailer– Black & White and Dead all over
This fall I worked with (and still am working with) Producer Lenny Feinberg and Director Chris Foster on their documentary Black & White and Dead All Over. The film is about the loss of the Newspaper publishing industry in America and specifically on the battle for the control of Philadelphia's twin papers The Philadelphia Enquirer and The Daily News. Recently I edited this trailer at Center City Film & Video to promote the film.
TRAILER: Black & White and Dead All Over from Lenny Feinberg on Vimeo.
For more information on the film please visit blackandwhiteanddeadallover.net
Charity 2012
This video is about my sister's project for her art instillation class and Tyler School of the arts at temple. It took a few weeks to shoot her process of creation, and an evening to shoot the total destruction. "The Four of us are Dying" is by Nine Inch Nails, off their free album "The Slip" used under creative commons license as indicated on nin.com Editing facilities provided by Center City Film & Video ccfv.com
To see more of Charity's art check out facebook.com/charity.thackston
BOOM! Everyone was Break’n
This summer I was privileged to work on a series of Breakdance videos featuring some amazingly talented dancers. The dancers work speak for themselves.
From an editing perspective these vids each presented their own individual challenges. Each dancer performed freestyle dances, so while each take was recorded on multiple cameras, every take was completely different in many cases. Integrating each dance into a cohesive routine was a unique experience but ultimately gratifying.
There were eleven videos in all, please visit the Silverback Gorilla Films to view them all. All music created by DJ Fleg. Produced by Graham Partners and Center City Film & Video.
Each video is it's own unique edit-baby. I literally have each cut seared into my brain. As a result it's really hard to pick which to show you but here are a few popular selections.
Toyz
Domkey
Hannibal
Knuckles
Highlight Trailer
