The time has come again! After last years very successful and highly anticipated road trip to Indio, California my friend Dave and I have finalized our plans for a return trip this September. This time we're spending more time down there and taking an alternate route home - something there simply wasn't time for last year.
From Salt Lake to Vegas to Indio, LA, Hollywood, Long Beach, Palm Springs, the Salton Sea, and ending with a trip up the coastal highway for a stay in San Francisco, this is going to be one epic journey. If my edits for Indio Outio were any indication, this second excursion will prove to be even more dynamic and diverse. I'm also excited that we'll be revisiting places that are now completely different from how we saw them just a year ago. The North Shore Yacht Club at Salton Sea will be the biggest change. Renovations over the last year have been completed and the abandoned site we explored is now a restored museum and community centre - see the post I did about that here. Also, we've planned to check out the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway again, but this time earlier in the day so we can see more of the landscape. Riding the tramway at sunset we caught a glimpse of the city lights through the valley on our last visit - the video I edited captures the euphoria quite well.
I'm anxious to get away again and am just as inspired by the potential edits I have in mind to create. While last years trip fueled some upbeat travel clips, I want to make more of a statement this time around by creating poetic vignettes of the experiences. Likely all to be narrated, I'm going to push myself to create bolder, more weighted, interpersonal presentations. A reworked mashup of last years footage from Indio is also in the works and should be a gauge of what I hope to accomplish.
Once again it seems a road trip has presented itself as the ideal escape. Dave and I both seem to have quite defining memories of the random locales seen last year - with the extra money and time already put forward, I think we're going to be amazed again at how much we see and do.
What else can I say? Our California trip has been jokingly referred to as our skewed version of Sideways. We shall see.
I have no shortage of photos! In recounting some of my past projects I had the idea that it would be fun to create small photo collages to highlight the unique look of some of my older work. For the most part a lot of these photos have sat on CD or in a folder where they're just not seen. Once again, the blog seems to be the perfect venue for quick reference and a bit of nostalgia. Expect to see more of these as I work my way through my archives.
Check out the complete Educated Detours project by clicking here, and have a look at the short trailer below.
I've made it clear with my edits in the past that travel inspires me. The fresh perspective on an unfamiliar locale can bring out the best in my shooting, and ultimately fuel my most creative editing projects.
Stumbling around Vimeo I was introduced to Dear Japan by Matthew Brown. His beautiful and shockingly detailed edit of random attractions, faces, and textures literally paints a video portrait of a dynamic and vibrant cultural experience. It's a brilliant piece of editing, both to see and hear. Credit also goes to Nathan Miller for shooting this with the Canon 7D - amazing footage!
I love how something like this seemingly just falls into my lap and suddenly has me thinking about what I can do to push my own work further. My hours of Indio footage from last year immediately came to mind after my first viewing of Dear Japan, and now I'm considering doing a mashup of the hours of footage I shot on the open road.
Dear Japan is exactly what a good edit should be - captivating, lyrical, and emotionally focused. Matthew Brown, I don't know you, but well done!
