Remember a few months ago when I was trekking around Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, recording story about a wonderful dog named Bandit?
Well, if you don't, you can read about that here. If you do, keep reading. I have great news.
A few weeks ago, I finally finished editing together the video about Bandit, and it turned out awesome -- like, one-of-my-favorite-videos-ever kind of awesome. It has everything in it you could ever ask for a in a non-profit video: cute dogs, touching family stories, amazing people.
What can I say? Sometimes my job is really, really easy when I'm asked to tell such inspiring stories.
While I don't want to give too much away about the story (and take away too much traffic from the USO!), I will at least give you an embed of the video to enjoy. If you want to read more about Bandit and hear more about his work with the USO, click here.
You know, I complain sometimes about having to lug around heavy gear and not being able to wear cute things to shoots... but other times I can't stop raving about the awesome things I do for the USO.
Like interviewing Stevie Nicks, Peyton Manning and other celebrities last Tuesday at the USO Metro Awards Dinner.
My job definitely has its perks.
Long story short, four stars -- Peyton Manning, Stevie Nicks, Sebastian Junger and Seema Reza, along with nearly 30 Medal of Honor recipients -- were
honored for their contributions to the military community and I got to speak to them about the evening's festivities.
Pretty cool, huh?
As for shooting, press backdrops are never ideal, but because I was able to use two Icelights, plus a LED light panel on a Gorilla pod, I was able to make this otherwise drab shooting space look more than halfway decent.
If you can remember, way back in September I took a whirlwind trip to NYC to film a number of projects for the USO, including a profile story about USO Show Troupe performer Larissa Klinger.
While I posted the photos I snapped while spending the day with Larissa earlier in 2014, I finally got a chance to put the long-feature video together at the beginning of 2015, and guys, I'm super proud of this one.
To bring this story to life, I basically spent the entire day with Larissa, carrying my 40lbs of gear around NYC on my back, documenting her day-to-day experience.
Layering all of the day-to-day footage I captured with the steller
interview she gave me really helped formulate a very special, unique
profile piece that the USO really hasn't produced much of in the past.
I'm not going to tell you Larissa's story, because that would give the
story away.
So really, you should just watch.
Side note, I didn't know Larissa well at all until I showed up on her doorstep at 6 a.m. Luckily, her and her husband were super kind and welcoming. What could have been an awkward day of stalker-ish shooting turned out to be a day full of fun.
Although a 14-hour shooting day sounds daunting, in reality, the biggest challenge in this project was the editing.
See, I'm a one-man-band.
In projects like this, its' only me doing all the work. Meaning only me is wafting through hours of footage trying to splice together a cohesive narrative that makes people feel. Don't get me wrong, I love doing it. It's my job. My passion. But man, the pile of footage I had to go through for this project was a little intimidating at first.
I think the only bigger volume of footage I've had to wade through was for the Romanian orphans peice I worked on with Brad Horn when I was producing at the Washington Post. That was a doozie.
Anyway. Take a look. Let me know in the comments what you think!
At the tail end of December, literally days before I headed off for my family's epic vacation to Hawaii (I'll get to that later) I headed off to Chicago for a last minute USO trip.
See, at USO Great Lakes, which is located at the naval base right outside of Chicago, they host monthly (actually, sorta weekly-ish) "No Dough Dinners" for troops and their families.
The idea behind these dinners is to provide a free meal to troops and their loved ones right before payday when the cash might not be flowing. Pretty cool, huh?
The particular No Dough Dinner I was in town for was a pancake dinner -- how fun! Let me tell you, conducting interviews, shooting b-roll and doing my job with the smell of bacon wafting through the error was a slow form of wonderful torture -- who can focus with bacon in the air? (Don't worry, I got some bacon at the end of the shoot.)
Here's a look at my photos from the event:
I think before I went on this shoot and talked to the wonderful staff, volunteers and patron troops USO Great Lakes, I didn't understand just how important these dinners were for everyone involved. For the troops, its a change to mix and mingle and get a quality meal in that takes different from the mess hall's grub. For volunteers and staff members, its a change to bond with troops and show the outside community the importance and impact of the USO on the surrounding community.
I just love being able to capture and share the importance of such a simple, yet important program, to the outside world.
Without further adieu, here's my video from my trip:
Well, now that my video is done, I thought I'd share the final project with you and tell you a bit more about their story.
Introducing the Ruud family! Meet mom, Vicky, daughter, Brooke, father, Jeremy, and a slew of four other siblings whose names, honestly, I forget!
The Ruuds were gracious enough to let me follow them around all day long on Sunday and film thier OTMD experience, as well as share their story with me.
See, the Ruud family is no stranger to military life. Jeremy has been an active duty service member for over 18 years in the Navy, and currently, is deployed overseas. Him and Vicky have five kids, and have seen it all over the years -- paycheck to paycheck living, holiday deployments, you name it. Luckily, the USO has been there for them in all lives ups and downs.
In fact, the USO, along with a few other sponsors, gave Vicky and Brooke an extra-special suprise last week that made thier OTMD experience that much better!
In my blog post earlier this week I dished about my fantastic trip to Phoenix, Arizona last week for the USO and chatted about my first experience at a NASCAR event.
Now, a few days later (hey, better late than never, right?) I give you my video wrap of the event.
Normally when I produce videos, I don't have too many techincal issues or logistical problems and am able to turn them around a lot quicker, but when it came to this peice, well, things didn't go so smoothly.
See, I wasn't allowed to bring a tripod into the NASCAR stadium (arena? track? area?) on the day of the race. While my interview with Trevor Bayne is beautiful and a steady shot, it was taken the day before the race when I had extra time to set up the shot and use a tripod.
The other interviews, well, aren't as pretty. Shaky footage = a headache in the editing room.
Novice video editors, if you're reading this, take some advince. Always, always use a tripod for your interviews unless you can't because of venue rules. Shaky b-roll is acceptable. Shaky interviews are not.
My solution to the shaky mess I created? The magical warp stabilizing tool that is part of Premier Pro CC. Although it bumps up the file size a bunch, and requires some fine tuning, this magic tool turned my unacceptable footage and made it average and acceptable.
Still, my advice. Always go for the tripod. It'll save you the headache.
Note: I posted a previous version of this blog post featuring photos that I had to take down for legal reasons. Thank you for understanding and please watch the video I produced from the event & read the new-and-improved post! :)
There's something about shooting a concert that makes me tingle with excitement, without a doubt, each and every time.
Maybe it's the huge crowd of excited people. Maybe it's the music blaring in the air. Or maybe, it's the colorful stage lights that twinkle in the audience's eyes.
Whatever reason, I always look forward to covering concerts for the USO -- almost as much as I look forward to doing feature stories with military families, those are still my favorite things to shoot.
While I was busy running (literally running) around shooting video from the day's events and didn't get a
chance to chat with any of the military families at the concert, I did get to chat with the USO photographer who was also
covering the event, Fred Greaves. He was super nice and I had quite a
fun time geeking out with him over photography. It's always nice to meet new people at these events -- even if those new people are working for the same company as me!
Bearing all this in mind, it should come at no surprise to hear that I had a blast while covering my latest assignment for the USO -- a free concert in Ft. Hood featuring Trace Adkins and Casey James.
Not only did I get the chance to head back to the 'Great Place' and my home state, but I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with both Trace and Casey and ask them about their respective histories of performing for troops around the world.
Both men have traveled overseas (Trace many, many times with the USO) to entertain deployed service men and women over the years and spoke very sincerely about their admiration for the work and sacrifices troops make by serving the country.
I think that's one common theme that runs through all of the celebrity performer interviews I do for the USO -- they all seem so appreciative to be able to sing, dance, do whatever, for men and women in uniform. Often times, they feel like the troops are doing more of a service for them then they are for the troops. It's really moving to see such popular performers speak so humbly about their time spent with troops. I wish everyone could hear them speak so candily and from the heart.
That, at least, is a constant reminder to me that my job to capture these unique sentiments is just that much more important.
When I was down in Ft. Benning a few weeks ago shooting a few stories for the USO, I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down and chat with the October Sesame Street/USO Moment Maker of the Month, Elizabeth Gasper.
In my line of work with the USO, I get to talk to a lot of amazing people: Troops who have been injured; Stay at home moms who hold down the fort at home while daddy protects America overseas; Even 60-year-old grandmas who spend their days volunteering for free at their local USO center; And yes, people like Elizabeth Gasper, who are just trying to do the little everyday things to make a difference in their local community.
While Elizabeth has not won any wars or ever worn a uniform herself, she's played a key role in the web of support for those that do chose to put their lives on the line for our country. Elizabeth works for the Ft. Benning MWR, or, for us laypeople, the Ft. Benning Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation -- aka the people who help make sure troops and their families are happy and healthy participants their community. While this might sound like any old desk job, the more I thought about the importance of Elizabeth Gasper's job to troops across Ft. Benning. Without people like Elizabeth, who would help plan fun family activities during the holidays? Who would ensure military families, and not just the troops, also receive the adequate care and entertainment they so desperately need during difficult times, like deployments? It's for all these reasons that Elizabeth Gasper was awarded October's Sesame Street/USO Moment Maker of the Month Award, and the reason why I was able to do a video feature about her and her wonderful work with the Ft. Benning community.
Those that know me well have probably heard my opinions about New York City. While the big apple is glamorous, bustling and full of life, I would never ever want to live there -- at least not for foreseeable future, that is.
I will, however, gladly visit and hop on the train for a work gig.
This past Tuesday -- after many Amtrak delays -- I headed up to NYC to film two different stories for the USO. While I just don't have the time and the energy to talk about one of the projects tonight, I will share the other project I did, which is already completed!
Ladies and gents, I give you my video about the USO center opening at JFK:
It's crazy to think that for over ten years there wasn't a USO presence at any NYC or New Jersey airport. Maybe its because I'm an employee, or just an observant person, but I've gotten quite accostumed to hearing the "The USO lounge..." announcements in most major airports.
