I've taken a break from my more conceptual and surreal short films (see posts below about "The Conversation" series) and have been shooting out on location near where I live for the last few weeks. My inspiration was the "One Day on Earth" project. I love that my new skills as a HDSLR enthusiast has enabled me to highlight the hidden beauty and dynamics of where I live in the Texas Panhandle. I compare it to my own various series in my past fine art work. Throughout graduate school at UCSB in Santa Barbara, CA I concentrated on a surreal and symbolic body of work. At one point, I just needed to take a break from it. So after returning to Texas from Santa Barbara, I decided to do several landscape series at Buffalo Lake and Palo Duro Canyon near Canyon, Texas. Those landscape series seemed like a huge jump for me, but later when I resumed creating my surreal imagery...the skills I gained in working with with color, light and form of the land strengthened my surrealistic pastels.
Shooting on location also makes me "think on my feet" - practice managing my camera, lenses, and gear together and discover my strengths and weaknesses...experience what tools I'm missing and what I need to improve. I love working at home in my studio with miniature props (and will definitely continue to do so), but going out on location literally widens my horizons. As one of my Twitter friends @PolvoPolvo (Glen Ryan from Sydney, Australia) said, "...yeah it's all about learning stuff everytime you shoot."
So here are two of my latest short films - hope you enjoy. My Vimeo channel is http://vimeo.com/vtg .
Sunset at Cadillac Ranch by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.
Video and editing - Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com
Music - The Art of Non-Life-Threatening Mistakes by Williamson
Music license purchased from Jamendo.com
Late evening shots - all at and after sunset - at the Cadillac Ranch (world famous outdoor art installation) near Amarillo, Texas.
Information on Cadillac Ranch - http://www.texasoutside.com/amarilloframes/cadillacranchframes.htm
I'm finding that shooting more out on location is improving my skills, so this is another learning exercise...lots of great subject matter here locally. Don't worry...I intend to continue my conceptual art films! I just have to think faster out on location, and it's good practice for me. Now time to get some good on-board video lights for night shots...another lesson learned!
Shot with a Canon 7D and a Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens, and my essential Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x. All of this is handheld or supported the camera with a monopod. I used a Singh-Ray Vari ND filter on some of the earlier shots. I pushed it a bit far - some shots had almost no light. Post in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.
"Above the Canyon" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park, near Canyon, Texas. This is the first pure landscape short film I have done - used my wonderful Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly. I've lived near Palo Duro Canyon for most of my 50 years...and it never ceases to be a constant source of nourishment and inspiration. It is the second largest canyon in the US - and quite a surprise as it sits in the middle of the High Plains.
I set out to do this video for One Day on Earth (10-10-10), but my shoot was cut short (battery in my car died) and I didn't have much time to do footage in the way One Day on Earth requires. These shots were hasty, and only at the top of the canyon, but seems like I'm all about making something out of practically nothing - lots of post manipulation helped : ) Anyway, this video reflects part of my life for that day.
Video and Editing - Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com
Music - Angels of Hope by Roger Subirana Mata
Purchased music license from Jamendo.com
Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens, and a Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens. Edited and color grading in post in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. Also used my Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x - saves me every time.

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