Well, my current output may not be as high as it used to be, but I do manage to get involved in some interesting projects occasionally. The latest is a series of ads for Representative Rebecca McClanahan, who is up for re-election to the Missouri House. Here’s the first Ad we did:

Roots
Reminiscent of the “it’s morning in America” ads of the Reagan era.

Brenda Higgins ad
This is a direct response to some literature slung by the opposing candidate that Rebecca “celebrates abortion,” which is rather absurd, as a testimonial from her coworker and friend.

Pull the Plug
After some even nastier television, radio ads and brochures from her opponent, Rebecca decided again to restate her commitment to a positive campaign and her record of getting things done.

For what it’s worth, I’m very impressed that she decided to keep it clean. She could’ve easily slung dirt right back at her opponent, but she rose above that to continue to campaign on her own merits. That’s why I’ll be voting for Rebecca McClanahan next week.

Interesting article on IndieWire on the current status of independent film in the U.S. It’s both depressing and inspirational. Check it out.

No big projects planned for the immediate future. The one project we did have going - a series of historical podcasts on odd, unusual and overlooked bits of Northeast Missouri legends and lore - went on hold a couple months ago while I work on a new venture.

Oh, and I got elected to the Kirksville City Council, which has been refocusing my energies for the time being.

However, it looks like my good buddy Matt Eppright (”Matthew James” for those who pay attention to the credits) just wrapped on another short, Finals Week. I’m looking forward to seeing this one as I do all his stuff.

I finished my second video for the Alpha Family Development Center organization. This was my first foray into green screen territory, which I used to add more interesting animated backgrounds to the board member interviews. Even after preliminary tests, I was a little nervous that it could be pulled off successfully in DV, without compression artifacts affecting the edges. However, all it took was a few filters and a LOT of tweaking and they turned out pretty well, I thought. Check out a high-quality version for yourself:

Alpha promo video 2 (8:00) - mpg

I also shot the last scene for the second Adair County Drug Coalition PSA, and should finish with that by the end of the week.