Timothy Communications Inc.
Public Relations & Video Marketing Established 1985 Chicago/Palos Hills, Illinois 708-974-3152
Video Experiments
'Tooning' in Video
Any number of different elements are assembled
to take viewers on a visual journey. In this case,
the process of animating the railroad cars shot
mid-winter adds color and depth, while the sound
of trains on track with blowing whistles accentuates
power and speed.
The joy of editing is never knowing
Despite extraordinary innovation in film and video production, one thing remains virtually unchanged since Thomas Edison began fanning still pictures to create the illusion of movement on film in the late 19th Century: it's all about the editing. So said the remarkable Alfred Hitchcock 60
years ago, and it's as true today as it ever was.
The thrill for video editors lies in the fact that we really never know where each new project is going to take us. Something as subtle as a key change in a song can trigger a synchronized edit to a video clip that can turn a 2-minute interview into a one-hour documentary. Curiosity, that which makes for fertile minds, tends to keep video editors working through the night searching either for the perfect piece of the jigsaw puzzle or, even more intriguing, a new puzzle piece, or at least a variation on an old one.
One of my favorite all-time feature films is "Pleasantville," a 1998 comedy-drama about 1950s America written, produced and directed by Gary Ross. Ross filmed the entire movie in color and then selectively desaturated some scenes to black-and-white to distinguish unenlightened characters from those who became enlightened (and thusly were colorized) during the telling of the story. It was brilliant use of a simple digital device (converting color to black-and-white and vice versa), yet Ross used it to visually illustrate bigotry in 1950s America.
And it's not like Ross invented the B&W to color conversion in feature films. We all grew up watching the same device used in "The Wizard of Oz," which was made in 1939. Ross just found an extraordinarily clever new way to use it.
Video experiments that will come up on this page from time to time are "works in progress," sometimes for one of TimComm's clients, though you probably won't know which ones. We may never develop an idea as clever as those populating "Pleasantville" or "The Wizard of Oz," but we'll keep trying. That's the most satisfying thing about video editing...you just never know.
--John LeGear, President, Timothy Communications Inc.
E-mail: JohnLeGear@Comcast Phone: 708-974-3153
