AN ART JOURNAL CONTACT VIDEO/FLASH PASTEL PROCESS PASTEL GALLERY ARCHIVES AN ART JOURNAL/BLOG VICTORIA TAYLOR-GORE

Before and After - "The Legacy of the Jung Cook" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Link to "The Legacy of the Jung Cook" by Victoria Taylor-Gore: http://vimeo.com/19439126

When I was an undergraduate art major in the late 1970's, a visiting artist once told us that "if Leonardo da Vinci was alive today, he would be a filmmaker". I believe that - especially now that I have been working as an artist that creates video for the past year. There are so many aspects to tackle...design, movement, sound, storytelling, mastering your gear, learning the technical aspects, and learning to edit. Filmmaking is in the "Renaissance man" tradition of having knowledge and skill in many areas and utilizing this broad expertise in order to make one's art. And another aspect of Leonardo "being a filmmaker if he was alive today" is the way a project can take a long time to complete and can undergo many revisions (as many of Leonardo's paintings did).

In my rush to learn and produce as much as I can, I sometimes move on to another idea before one is realized to its fullest potential. "The Legacy of the Jung Cook" was one of my projects that needed improvement. I had received some excellent suggestions from professional filmmakers that I respect, and I knew that their ideas would enhance this project, but I just got tired of it and went on to the next idea.

Recently I took the time to go back and rework "The Legacy of the Jung Cook". I needed to work on some distracting audio overlays of cooking sounds that I had added over the main character's dialogue, and most importantly, improve the color correction and some design aspects of the video.

I used a great free color correction tool - Magic Bullet Colorista Free 1.0 (http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/products/free/) - in Premiere Pro CS5 to totally redo the color correction in the video. I've included a Flickr slideshow of before and after stills from the video to show the improvements.

Flickr Slideshow: Stills from "Legacy of the Jung Cook" - Before and After

For a larger view, see the slideshow on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com//photos/28987755@N08/sets/72157626761011987/show/

My original footage was too dark (it was an spontaneous interview and I didn't have much gear with me). I did the best I could in post to make the footage work in the first version of the video with standard tools in Premiere Pro (levels, luma curve, and three-way color corrections). In the final version of the video, I went back in and deleted all those original adjustments in Premiere and then corrected the color and values with MB Colorista Free alone. The final version is much more rich and bright, and the details in the darks are now preserved. I also made the tints in the title shots and archival footage match the new warmer color theme. Here is a screen shot of my original color correction using Premiere Pro CS5 tools only:

Link for a larger view: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28987755@N08/5798468560/

Here is a screen shot of the final color correction using Magic Bullet Colorista Free 1.0 only:

Link for a larger view: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28987755@N08/5797916923/

So, like a painting that isn't quite finished...it is worthwhile to go back into a project to bring out the very best in it. This project has been a work in progress, and the suggestions from Rick Macomber (to brighten up the shots and add some more B roll) and the suggestions from Richard Harrington (to get rid of distracting audio overlays and rework the color theme of the title sequences) helped make this a much better piece. I have learned that even when a story unfolds under less than ideal circumstances, there is still many things that can be achieved in post to make the story come through. And like a final glaze on a painting, subtle changes can bring a story to life.

Thanks to Rick Macomber (@boston_camera on Twitter) and Richard Harrington (@rhedpixel on Twitter) for their excellent suggestions and generous feedback on this video.

- Victoria Taylor-Gore

"The Nativity" by Victoria Taylor-Gore (for Philip Bloom Weekend Challenge 4)

Check my previous blog post for more background information on this new video ("The Nativity") when it was in the planning stage - Prep Stills for New Christmas Video Project by Victoria Taylor-Gore .  A few things changed...I did a different darker, more twilight background and decided to enter my Christmas video in the Philip Bloom Holiday/Weekend Challenge #4 - see Philip Bloom's blog post The biggest and best "weekend/holiday challenge" so far...Prizes too! .  The Vimeo Group for Philip Bloom's Holiday/Weekend Challenge #4 is - http://www.vimeo.com/groups/challenge4 ...entries due on December 31.

 

"The Nativity" by Victoria Taylor-Gore (for Philip Bloom Weekend Challenge 4) from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

My Christmas video and entry for the Philip Bloom Holiday/Weekend Challenge 4 - http://www.vimeo.com/groups/challenge4. The theme of the Challenge is to reflect what this year has meant to you and express what the Christmas Holiday means...how we celebrate it. Funny, I usually spend the holidays making art, so this video is an expression of my artwork and filmmaking....both things that have come to life over the past year.

Video, Artwork, and Editing - Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Silent Night" by Emorej
Purchased music license from Jamendo.com

I had been planning to do a Christmas video this year...especially after hearing the song I used for the video - "Silent Night" by Emorej. When Philip Bloom announced his Holiday/Weekend Challenge recently, I decided that I would combine my Christmas video and his Challenge. I want to thank Mr. Bloom for all the knowledge, inspiration, and motivation he shares with others...after all, it's his fault I bought my Canon 7D in the first place :)

I have been collecting props for this Christmas video from Ebay (vintage hand painted figurines from Italy) for a few weeks, and when they arrived a few days ago, I was so excited about how lovely they looked with my own pastel backgrounds.

I shot this with my Canon 7D, Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 and 100mm f2.8 macro lenses, Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly, Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x, and the Focus35.com Track and Skater Dolly. This is the first time I've edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 - love the fast rendering and exporting time, and great quality.

Time for a Showreel...and a "Thank You"

The past weekend I decided to get a showreel done...not for job applications or professional purposes, but to collect what I thought were my successes in my first year creating short videos.  Hopefully by doing so, I can take account of what I've learned and think about how to improve.

In every short I've done so far, there have been mistakes and things I should have done better.  The fun of a showreel is getting to cut out the best shots out of each short and put them together.  But the challenge is to narrow the selections to no more than four minutes (and from my showreel, you can see I failed at that limitation).  Getting diverse clips and experiments that I've done to somehow hold together and flow and make some kind of sense wasn't easy either.  The saving grace was to find a song that loosely tied them all together with the theme of "life is a dream."

Another thing that goes along with this reel is an acknowledgement of how I was able to learn so much in a year (of course, there is still a ton more to learn).  So this is also a "thank you" to the amazing community of filmmakers and photographers that help and support each other along the path of HDSLR filmmaking through the Internet, conferences, workshops, meet-ups, etc.  I'd list all the people that have helped me so much by sharing information, inspiration, and their generous support and encouragement...but there are too many to list, and you know who you are anyway : )  Thanks, my friends.

2010 SHOWREEL BY VICTORIA TAYLOR-GORE from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

2010 SHOWREEL BY VICTORIA TAYLOR-GORE

MUSIC - "LIFE IS A DREAM" BY EMOREJ
License purchased from http://www.jamendo.com/en/

All clips can be found on my Vimeo Channel for further information - http://vimeo.com/vtg.

Dream House by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Dream House by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video and editing - Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com/

Music - On Edge by Alexander Khaskin
License purchased from http://www.shockwave-sound.com/

This video belongs in my "The Conversation" series (http://vimeo.com/14891218, http://vimeo.com/15119881, and http://vimeo.com/15499048) - but I wanted to freshen up the title.  "Dream House" seemed more descriptive of the video since more of the Marx vintage doll house is featured in this short. This series of short films deals with a surreal conversation between miniature Marx vintage figures with sets that are Marx tin litho dollhouses. The story is implied - symbolic figures and juxtapositions allow the viewer to come to their own conclusions. Certainly the film noir influence is apparent and so inspiring for me.

Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens, Tokina 100mm macro f2.8 lens, Focus35 skater dolly, and always use my Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x! Edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

Also, so happy with my new Alzo 790L video light - worked wonders - no noise reduction necessary! The small light inside the bedroom window is actually my iPhone with a LED light flashlight app turned on - worked great and easy to get in small places. It even has a "strobe" effect that I used for the flashing light in the bedroom.

Note - added some of my own drawing elements - in a few pf the opening shots there is a tree in the foreground - that is actually a tree I drew and layered over the other video.

The Nerve to Shoot

Man staring at me while I was shooting video.

 

The Nerve to Shoot

video in public, I mean : )  I don't know if this is a problem for others embarking on the world of hybrid DSLRs or not, but it's taking time for me to feel comfortable shooting video in public places.  Even with the small footprint of HDSLRs, I'm finding that people watch me, stop in front of me, and worst of all...run away when I point a camera at them.  Not at all natural looking!  I have a tendency to move the camera away or point it down when I start getting attention, and that can ruin the perfect shot.

It's more compounded because I come from a fine art background (and I'm an introvert), and don't have the experience that seasoned photographers bring to the "human" element of getting good "people" shots.  There's much more to getting great video footage than using the right lenses, good camera stabilization, and proper audio...there is direct  human interaction.

Part of my fear isn't just how people react - I worry about security in some places.  Will I be stopped and harassed?  I was once, at an amusement park, and they wouldn't stop until I accepted a "press pass" (even though I told them several times I wasn't with the press).

Día de los Muertos by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

One lucky situation was at a performance of traditional Mexican dances by El Ballet Folklorico Nuestra Herencia at the Underwood Center’s Ice House during the Dia de los Muertos Procession in Lubbock, Texas.  I was approached by the dreaded security guard, and he asked me what I was doing there.  I told him I was a teacher sponsoring a student trip to see the procession events (which was true), and he actually took me through the crowd closer to the dancers to get a better view.  Nice.  So I'm thinking that directly approaching security first and explaining what I'm up to is a good idea.  I'm finding that my Canon 7D with a big Tokina lens and a monopod isn't helping me blend into the crowd.  Adding more gear to a rig would make me even more visible.  I think more people are catching on.

I know the only solution I've come up with is to brave the real world and shoot as much video as I can.  Hopefully practice in public will improve my people skills.  I've been fortunate to get great video footage a few times...when people just forgot I was there.  But I'd like to hear how some of you professionals deal with shooting on location in public places.   How do you make people comfortable and get natural shots when you are just out and about with your camera (and you don't have a telephoto lens)?

- Victoria Taylor-Gore

Practice Makes Perfect (or almost perfect)

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.

"The Conversation Part III" (Final Version) by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"The Conversation Part III" (Final Version) by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video and Editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Music - "Silent Tears" by Roger Subirana Mata
Purchased music license from Jamendo.com

This is the third video in a series called "The Conversation":
The first part of this series is here:
"The Conversation" http://vimeo.com/14891218
The second part of this series is here:
"The Conversation Part II" http://vimeo.com/15119881

This short surreal film continues the juxtaposition of miniature toy Marx plastic figures - and a Marx vintage 1950's dollhouse. For added lighting, I used a small portable light table. These are dream sequences, and I used multiple characters to suggest a psychological interplay between the figures. As in the other two videos in the series (to date) there is no literal story, only an implied one. To me the magic is taking something ordinary and transform it with the use of light, design, optics, and strange placement...make these characters into more that plastic toys. What they suggest is subject to interpretation - an active process between the image and the viewer.

At this point, I think there will be a few more videos in the series...not sure if I'll combine these videos into one longer film or not.

Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens, Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly, edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, used Digieffects Aged Film effects for old black and white movie texture effect (plus some post manipulation of value in Premiere Pro). And last but not least, my Zacuto Z-Finder Pro-3x which I find essential with macro shots. I also used Neat Video to remove unwanted artifacts in the dark shots, and then added back more uniform film grain effects with Digieffects "Aged Film."

"Men at the Table" - photos by Victoria Taylor-Gore

These are more photographs that I've taken to prepare for another scene in my video "The Conversation Part III" (http://vimeo.com/15499048).  I placed the Marx plastic miniature figures on a small portable light table...and got the idea for the "men at the table" from an old black and white WWII movie.

I love my Canon 7D for it's ability to make both stills and video...I like to take photographs first to plan out shots for my videos...get interesting angles, test light, which lens to use - works well.

"The Conversation Part II" (black & white version) by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"The Conversation Part II" (black & white version) by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

This video is Part 2 in a series - this is the black and white version.
The first part of this series is here:
"The Conversation" http://vimeo.com/14891218
The color version of "The Conversation Part II" is here:
http://vimeo.com/15150029

Video and Editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Music - "Queen of the Wind" by Roger Subirana Mata
Purchased music license from Jamendo.com

This is my second video in a series using vintage 1940's - 1950's Marx toy figures and dollhouses. My approach is based on a combination of Surrealist film and Film Noir (as far as lighting and 1940's - 1950's imagery). Like most surreal works, my goal is to imply a story...not to provide a literal narrative. New meanings and interpretations are provided by the viewer - strange juxtapositions of images evoke different stories...

This black and white version is consistent with the first in the series - with a Film Noir look and the symbolism of dark vs light...pushed the blacks to create a more tense emotional effect. I did the color version of this video just because the footage had such rich color, and it's fun to compare the different atmosphere of black and white vs. color.

Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens, Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly, edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, used Digieffects Aged Film effects for old black and white movie effect (plus some post manipulation of value in Premiere Pro). And last but not least, my Zacuto Z-Finder Pro-3x which I find essential with macro shots.

This video had lots of dark shots that were too "noisy" so I used Neat Video - http://www.neatvideo.com/ - to clean up the unwanted noise and artifacts, and then I used Digieffects Aged Film to add back an overall aged film grain (the way I wanted it!).

"The Conversation" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"The Conversation" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

This is my new project using vintage 1940's - 1950's Marx toy figures and dollhouses. I'm not sure if this short film is finished...I have more scenes in mind, but may just do some more short films in a series. It just seemed to be enough, and the music has been a great inspiration...Roger Subirana Mata is a wonderful composer, and I love the way the track "The Dark Symphony" changes from optimism to suspense to mystery. My approach is based on a combination of Surrealist film and Film Noir (as far as lighting and 1940's - 1950's imagery). Like most surreal works, my goal is to imply a story...not to provide a literal narrative. New meanings and interpretations are provided by the viewer - strange juxtapositions of images evoke different stories...

Video and editing - Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Dark Symphony" by Roger Subirana Mata
Purchased music license from Jamendo.com
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/332856

Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens, Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly, edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, used Digieffects Aged Film effects for old black and white movie effect (plus some post maniuplation of value in Premiere Pro). And last but not least, my Zacuto Z-Finder Pro-3x which I find essential with macro shots.

"Doll I Series" - Photographs by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Doll I Series" - Photographs by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28987755@N08/sets/72157624769705707/show/

Twitter never fails to be a great source of inspiration.  I found out about the Plastic Bullet contest (http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/social/plastic-bullet-ipad/) last week from Philip Bloom's tweets (@PhilipBloom on Twitter) and decided to give it a try - grand prize is an iPad.  I've had the Plastic Bullet application on my iPhone for awhile, and it's a great photo application - gives your photos a wonderful old  "toy camera" look. 

So I got serious this weekend, and shot several hundred photos of some vintage 1950's Marx "Campus Cuties" plastic dolls that I had for another ongoing project with miniature toys and dollhouses.  I set up the shots of the dolls with minimal backgrounds...some have a Marx miniature 1950's pinball toy game in them.  All of the photos were taken with my Canon 7D, Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens, and then were imported into my iPhone to apply Plastic Bullet effects.  I played with some simple directional and reflected light, and Plastic Bullets created interesting and unique lighting changes in each one.  It's amazing that I only used two of the dolls that I have, but varying the light seemed to  change the dolls into different looking characters.

The monochromatic shots seemed to be more evocative.  Some exposures work better with Plastic Bullet than others, so I experimented with different settings to enhance the images.  As a typically surrealist artist, I really like the element of chance by not being able to control what Plastic Bullet will do to an image - you have to grab an image as you see it because you can't save, manipulate, or reproduce that effect again.  See more explanation of Plastic Bullet here - http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/products/all/plastic-bullet/

The Plastic Bullet contest suddenly became less important and the project itself became my priority (the competition for the Plastic Bullet contest is pretty stiff anyway, and I can't decide which one to submit...but who wouldn't like to win an iPad?).  What was important was the inspiration I get from things occurring all over the world through Twitter, Facebook, and now Flickr - connecting with other professionals in video, art, and photography - learning from them and finding out about events, new technology, new ways to express myself as an artist.  I never would have done this series if I hadn't checked out Twitter the other day - pretty cool.

As far as theme goes, these are part of a larger project using vintage toy miniatures in surreal environments and using composition, placement, and light (and color in other images) to create an implied dialogue.  The "Doll Series I" has a fifties film noir look due to the monochromatic and aged frame look created by Plastic Bullet.  The only challenge will be to print them...my iPhone 3G output for Plastic Bullet isn't very large, so don't know how I'll handle that other than printing them on a small scale, but larger prints would be more dramatic.  If anyone has any suggestions for that, let me know.

As a fine artist working primarily in pastels, my beloved Canon 7D is taking me into unknown territory - video and photography.  I try to apply what I know about composition, lighting, color and texture to photography and video.  But I'm still playing catch up with the technology of photography and video...it's an incredible learning experience for me.

Links:

Red Giant Plastic Bullet - http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/products/all/plastic-bullet/

Plastic Bullet Contest - http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/social/plastic-bullet-ipad/

Another related project of mine: "The Conversation" Photographs by Victoria Taylor-Gore - http://www.anartjournal.com/art_journal/2010/09/the-conversation-by-victoria-taylor-gore.html

Links on Twitter:

Red Giant Software - @RedGiantNews  -  http://twitter.com/RedGiantNews

Victoria Taylor-Gore - @vtg60  -  http://twitter.com/vtg60

Philip Bloom - @Philip Bloom  -  http://twitter.com/PhilipBloom

 

"The Conversation" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"The Conversation: New Ongoing Series of Photographs by Victoria Taylor-Gore"

I bought my Canon 7D to make videos.  But something is happening.  With this magic image maker in my hands...I am falling in love with photography too.

When I watched Vincent Laforet's wonderful three day CreativeLive workshop a few months ago, I realized the importance of planning...storyboarding...how to get a story across.  His ideas really impressed me - so much that I created my own template for storyboard sheets.  But this pre-planning can be a problem for a surrealist like me - you see, often surrealists only imply a story - provide clues that have to be solved and interpreted by the viewer, and the conclusions are never the same.  So I have decided to make surrealist thumbnails - hints of a story with photographs - not necessarily in any logical order, and no apparent end in sight...just the workings of the imagination linked together in a sequence of possibly related images.

Don't ask me what these images mean - I'm not sure.  They are intuitive juxtapositions of objects (true surrealist form).  Yes, they are characters - plastic toy miniatures, but I'm placing them together with a visual impulse, not a logical one.  So the story evolves as I go, and I see things later that I didn't plan.

My own interpretations will differ from yours, and I hope my thoughts don't color your impression.  But I see strong commanding male forces contrasting the gentle beauty of the female form.  The reclining woman for me is a symbol of the feminine, the earth, the intuitive, mother nature.  The strong male characters (WWII generals and presidents Truman and Eisenhower) symbolize the power of the masculine, discipline, order.   I try to make symbols of ordinary objects - get beyond the personal and make something small and plastic like a toy evoke greater principles and suggest implied relationships.

Tech notes: Most of these photographs are right out of my Canon 7D (but of course I optimized them for the web).  A few photographs have some levels manipulation and cropping, but I tried to create the color and atmosphere with set lighting and camera settings alone.  I used a Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens...all shots are handheld.  The background images are created from a 1950's Marx tin litho dollhouse and images from a flat screen TV (set on the Turner Classic Movies Channel). 

This project is not complete - more to explore and I'll be posting additional photographs in this series.  As we speak, I am starting a video with these characters and this theme, so check back for the video of "The Conversation." 

Thanks, Victoria Taylor-Gore

Links:

HDDSLR Cinema Workshop with Vincent Laforet on creativeLIVE - http://creativelive.com/courses/vince_laforet/

Videos by Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo - http://vimeo.com/vtg

“The Drive” – pastels, video, and a toy car – Art by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Planet5D (the best Canon HDSLR information on the planet) published an article on my new video "The Drive" which was a project involving my series of New Summer Pastels.  I also did a behind the scenes video for "The Drive" that is posted below.  Please read the article here - http://blog.planet5d.com/2010/08/the-drive-pastels-video-and-a-toy-car-art-by-victoria-taylor-gore/ - for my inspiration and techniques involved in making "The Drive."  I have also posted "The Drive" again below the behind the scenes video.  Thanks to Mitch Aunger and Planet5D for all the generous support!  Vicky

Moving the Toy Car in "The Drive" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Behind the scenes look at "The Drive" - http://vimeo.com/13315406 - video by Victoria Taylor-Gore. Please read the Planet5D blog for more behind the scenes information on "The Drive" here - http://blog.planet5d.com/2010/08/the-drive-pastels-video-and-a-toy-car-art-by-victoria-taylor-gore/

This is all raw footage that I shot for "The Drive" - you can see how much cropping, scaling, and color correction I did for "The Drive."

Video and Editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - The Hands of Time by Elliot Simons
Music license purchased from http://www.shockwave-sound.com/

Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens, Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens, edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. I also used my wonderful Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly in a very unconventional way - see the for more info. on that :) My Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x was an absolute must for close up focusing.

"The Drive" by Victoria Taylor-Gore (Complete Video) from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Thanks so much to @PlanetMitch (Mitch Aunger) for the article about this video on the Planet5D blog here - http://blog.planet5d.com/2010/08/the-drive-pastels-video-and-a-toy-car-art-by-victoria-taylor-gore/

And make sure and see the behind the scenes video here - http://vimeo.com/13781262

Video, Art, and Editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com
http://www.anartjournal.com (blog)

Music - Midnight Manhattan by Jeremy Sherman
Music license purchased from http://www.shockwave-Sound.com

I worked on this project through the summer - both the pastel backgrounds (that I'll show in my gallery in Santa Fe) and the video. I'm using my own pastels for the backgrounds for the video and mixing in real objects (like the antique toy car) into the scenes.

The video includes themes that I have often painted before, but making the scenes work for the video gave me new ideas for my work. The style of the paintings are my style...not a style I invented for this project. The best part though is that by using my pastels as part of the film, it has enriched my composition and challenged me to come up with more creative points of view. I love combining both my passions - pastel and video.

Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens, Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens, and Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens. Editing done in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. I also used a Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x...a piece of gear that I find essential, especially with the precise focusing needed with close up shots like this. I also used my wonderful Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly in a very unconventional way - see the BTS video - http://vimeo.com/13781262 - for more info. on that :)

"The Drive" by Victoria Taylor-Gore (Complete Video)

"The Drive" by Victoria Taylor-Gore (Complete Video) from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video, Art, and Editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com
http://www.anartjournal.com (blog)

Music - Midnight Manhattan by Jeremy Sherman
Music license purchased from http://www.shockwave-Sound.com

I worked on this project through the summer - both the pastel backgrounds (that I'll show in my gallery in Santa Fe) and the video. I'm using my own pastels for the backgrounds for the video and mixing in real objects (like the antique toy car) into the scenes.

The video includes themes that I have often painted before, but making the scenes work for the video gave me new ideas for my work. The style of the paintings are my style...not a style I invented for this project. The best part though is that by using my pastels as part of the film, it has enriched my composition and challenged me to come up with more creative points of view. I love combining both my passions - pastel and video.

Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens, Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens, and Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens. Editing done in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. I also used a Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x...a piece of gear that I find essential, especially with the precise focusing needed with close up shots like this.

"Carnival" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Carnival" by Victoria Taylor-Gore (featuring song "Balloon Girl" by Hungry Lucy from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video and editing - Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Balloon Girl" by Hungry Lucy
Purchased music license from http://www.jamendo.com/en/

Cast - Meredith Dunn

This is a video I did during a photography shoot of Meredith Dunn at a local amusement park. A still from this video was included in the "15 & One: Fifteen Photographers and One Model" group photography show at Artgecko Gallery in Amarillo, Texas in July, 2010. Artgecko Gallery - http://www.artgecko.com/. I'm not a professional photographer (I'm a fine artist with a passion for video), so I appreciate being included in the show...it was a great learning experience for me!

Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens. Edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, with "Aged Film" effects from Digieffects (for the grainy texture), and filters from Photoshop Extended CS4 (added the surface blur and watercolor filters) to give the video a soft, textural, and dreamy/aged film effect. I also used my Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x, and it really helped me keep clear focus on the model.

This was my first video shoot with a model, and thanks to model Meredith Dunn for her professional and expressive performance and cooperation :)

"The Drive" by Victoria Taylor-Gore (Preview)

"The Drive" by Victoria Taylor-Gore (Preview) from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video, Art, and Editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com
http://www.anartjournal.com (blog)

Music "Day After Day" by Pawel Blaszczak
Music license purchased from http://www.shockwave-Sound.com

This is a preview for a long project I am doing this summer. I'm using my own pastels for the backgrounds for the video, and mixing in real objects (like the antique toy car) into the scenes. Check back in a few weeks for the final video.

"The Wandering Stars" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"The Wandering Stars" by Victoria Taylor-Gore (Tribute to Georges Méliès) from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

"The Wandering Stars" - is my own remix of "L'éclipse du soleil en pleine lune" by Georges Méliès. Méliès added magic to filmmaking, so this is my tribute to his surreal imagery. He is regarded as "The Father of Special Effects," and Charlie Chaplin said he was "the alchemist of light."

...more about Méliès here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0617588/bio

Video and Editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Extracts from "L'éclipse du soleil en pleine lune" by Georges Méliès (1907) - from the Prelinger Archive (public domain): http://www.archive.org/details/L_Eclipse_Du_Soleil_En_Pleine_Lune

Music - "Hippy Trippy" by Gavin Courtie & Liz Radford
Music license purchased from http://www.shockwave-sound.com/

Background image: Hubble Telescope image: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_142.html

I edited footage of "L'éclipse du soleil en pleine lune" by Georges Méliès (1907) in Adobe After Effects CS4 and Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

"Colored Dust" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Colored Dust" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video, editing and artwork by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com
Gallery representation: Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe
http://alexandrastevens.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=13018&page=artistworks&subkeyvalue=13362

Music - "Point of No Return" by Roger Subirana Mata
Music license purchased from Jamendo.com
http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/24858

This is a video about how I do a pastel - a pastel filmed from start to finish. I've always called pastels "magic colored dust," and they proved to be a colorful subject. Recently I read a quote by the late Louise Bourgeois (rest in peace) that inspired my approach to this film, "I am not what I am, I am what I do with my hands..."

Filmed with a Canon 7D, Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens, and a Tokina 100mm macro f2.8 lens - love these lenses. Edited (with no color correction, only some adjustment to the levels) in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

Three Minutes of a Sketch by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Three Minutes of a Sketch by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video, editing, and artwork by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Victoria Taylor-Gore gallery representation:
Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe
http://alexandrastevens.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=13018&page=artistworks&subkeyvalue=13362

Music - Ethereal Awakening by Project Divinity
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/18229?mailhash=c49e097408a4349ef42f4628ea8d7c56

Just a short experimental piece about the sketches I do that Just a short experimental piece about the sketches I do that usually serve as thumbnails for larger pastels...but there is something special about the small sketch in its own right. I plan to do more videos about my own artwork, and this was a test to see how I can manage it on my own. It's a challenge to be both in front and behind the camera without it coming off a bit boring :) Next will be a video of my pastel process...but I'm not eager to have my camera around all that pastel dust!

Filmed with a Canon 7D, Tokina 100mm f2.8 lens, edited and color graded in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

"Dark Wonderland" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Dark Wonderland" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video and editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Marosirion" by Jon Cooper
Music license purchased from:
http://www.shockwave-sound.com/

This is footage from an amusement park in Amarillo, Texas called Wonderland Park. I was experimenting with low light and slow motion on my Canon 7D...shot at 60p and converted to 30p in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. The lens I used was a Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 - quickly becoming my favorite lens. I also was getting used to my new D|Focus from jag35.com (http://jag35.com/new/tag/dfocus).

I chose a somber, rhythmic soundtrack to enhance the slow motion and play off the title "Dark Wonderland."

"A Little Bit of Wonder" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Video of Wonderland Amusement Park in Amarillo, Texas. Shot on a Canon 7D with a Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens and a Singh-Ray 77mm Vari-ND filter.

I've been going to Wonderland Park since I was a child...very fond memories. Wonderland sparked my interest in photography years ago, and now has inspired me to make this video. I plan to do more videos of Wonderland.

Video and editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Our Moon" by Roger Subirana Mata - music license purchased from http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/Roger_Subirana

Wonderland Park website - http://www.wonderlandpark.com/about.php

"STOP. CRAWL. WALK. RUN." by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"STOP. CRAWL. WALK. RUN." by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video and editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore. Shot with a Canon 7D, Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens, edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. Just a monopod with a shoulder brace for camera stabilization (gee...Santa needs to send me a good Zacuto or Red Rock rig soon).

Thanks to Mark, Kathy, Mike, and Sandra for including me in this show...and to all the others that worked so hard putting this exciting event together. I had a blast : )

These are random shots of the show (and not the entire show)...not really an organized, well planned video, but great practice getting used to shooting live events with my Canon 7D. Wish I had gotten some interviews...

PROGRAM FROM STOP. CRAWL. WALK. RUN.
Denver Artists Create Cultured Chaos
Stop. Crawl. Walk. Run. Will set you Free!
Join local artists in an evening filled with stimulating creation where audience and art become one (like Voltron!). Ponder the walls that contain us and the freedom that breaks through as truth (like Kool-aid). Stay home plugged into your digital box or join a vision that sets you free (like the Matrix!). This performance will be unlike any other attempted – think “flash mob” meets Joseph Cornell…

Stop. Crawl. Walk. Run.
Friday, May 7th & Saturday, May 8th 2010
7pm – 11pm
@ The Packing House Center for the Arts
835 E. 50th Avenue – DENVER

Looking for chaos? Join us for Denver’s premier of culture chaos – this multi artist festival challenges to explore the overload of your mind… an interactive multi-media event with an explosion of visual art, digital media, dance, fashion, live music and artists joining in a vision to explore the political, social and personal observations of our constantly evolving world.

Don’t miss this evolutionary expansion of modern art in all mediums, presented by projectMedia and The Packing House Center for the Arts, Denver’s best venue for dance and avant garde art. (2010 Westword Magazine Best Of)

The ART

Kathy Plache
Visual Artist – 3D ephemera pop art boxes & shrines
Director, projectmedia

Mark Medina
Performance Musician & Digital Music
Featured Film:
http://thebodypolitek.com/new11.mov
Producer, projectmedia

Mike Ballard
www.turningpointsresearch.org (click on the right “Turning Points RADIO”)
Co-producer, projectmedia
Performing Musician, Digital Music

Patrick Mueller
Art Center Director, Packing House Center for the Arts – co-production projectmedia
& Control Group Productions - www.controlgroupproductions.org
The Packing House Center for the Arts is Denver’s experimental art and performance laboratory. It hosts performances, gallery shows, collaborative art events, artistic processes, professional development and community classes, workshops and festivals. It develops the local professional arts scene through residencies, curations, exploration laboratories, and other programs. PHCA is directed by Patrick Mueller.

Buffalo Exchange
FASHION SHOW – Spring 2010
http://buffaloexchangecolorado.blogspot.com/
www.facebook.com/buffaloexchangecolorado/

Victoria Taylor Gore
“Flames” http://www.youtube.com/vtg60#p/u/13/lcK8dkyDHAU
“Airplane http://www.youtube.com/vtg60#p/u/16/LfY5G87mX0c
"Following" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuO79pMCbCc
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com/

Sandra Skrabanek
Photography – Featured Artist
http://slsdesignproductions.com/portfolio/ssdemo.swf
Featured Film: “The Ultimate Bondage Factory is the Mind”

Katie Key
Feature Film: http://www.myspace.com/keydance
Angela Beloian & Adam Walker – Fashion Photography Projections
See more of Angela Beloian and her fine art & mobiles at http://www.walkerfineart.com/

Jorg Bivendorf
Exclusive sportswear photography

Adam Walker - model

Amelia Charter & Keli Sequoia
Performance art and sculpture
http://ameliacharter.blogspot.com/

Jacintha Clark
Fine Arts Painter
http://sites.google.com/site/jacinthaclarkart/Home
http://www.facebook.com/jacintha.clark?ref=profile

Videos by Victoria Taylor-Gore Featured in Denver:

Stop. Crawl. Walk. Run

Type:

Music/Arts - Performance Video

Start Time:	Friday, May 7, 2010 at 7:00pm
End Time:	Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 11:00pm
Location:	Packing House Center for the Arts
Street:	835 East 50th Avenue
City/Town:	Denver, CO
	View Map

Description

Stop. Crawl. Walk. Run.
A cultured chaos, interactive, multi-media event including visual arts, digital media, dance, fashion, music and artists of all types who come together in a vision to stir political, social, and personal observations about our constantly evolving world. Join these artists in an evening filled with stimulating creation where audience and art become one (like Voltron!). Ponder the walls that contain us and the freedom that breaks through as truth (like Kool-aid). Stay home plugged into your digital box or join a vision that sets you free (like the Matrix!). This performance will be unlike any other attempted – think “flash mob” meets Joseph Cornell…

projectmedia is an ongoing collective of artists dedicated to the support and exposition of multimedia art. Support of PHCA& their resident artists are central goals of projectmedia. www.controlgroupproductions.org
ADMISSION:
$12 Door $10 pre-sale at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/105851

"The Big Game - Final Cut" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"The Big Game - Final Cut" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

"The Big Game - Final Cut" by Victoria Taylor-Gore - make sure you watch it in HD.

Video and editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Drifting Away" by Elliot Simons
Purchased music license from http://www.shockwave-sound.com/

Video Comments: OK - I worked really hard for this revision of "The Big Game" - literally over 50 revisions - yes, I'm persistent.

Points to consider:
1. shooting 24 (23.976) fps on a Canon 7D.
2. shooting most of it on a Tokina 100mm macro with no image stabilization (pans are really shaky).
3. finding out after I fell in love with 24p that 24p is really crappy on long horizontal pans (skips on playback over the web).
4. H.264 footage in 24p (23.976) is hard to export in Premiere Pro CS4 (on a PC) and even harder to find the correct export setting for it to export to sites like Vimeo or YouTube (tried the standard Vimeo and YouTube settings, and that still produced rough playback).

So I'm going to share what I have learned to get this video to run decently on the web (which looked great on my hard drive from the beginning):
1. reshot some of the horizontal pans on the Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly in 60p and converted it to 24p (slow motion) in Premiere Pro CS4 - that seemed to help make pans in the web version smoother.
2. experimented with different Vimeo settings and adjusted them for 24p - and this is the best result for me (exporting in Premiere Pro CS4 to Vimeo) - a picture is worth a thousand words: http://www.victoriataylorgore.com/images/vimeosetting24p_optimized.jpg

Note: this is not foolproof - There are random artifacts on most of my video exports to Vimeo, but finally this setting worked OK - not perfect, but OK...pans are still a little choppy, but not as bad as before. And a there are some random artifacts left in the video when the HD setting is off, so please watch the video in HD. If anyone has any suggestions on improving these settings, please let me know.

All in all, the video is better because I was forced to edit it down to its essence.

This fairly decent video would not be possible without the rock steady quality of the Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly and the K-Pod tripod with the Hercules 2.0 Fluid Head. http://www.kesslercrane.com/

The original "The Big Game" video problems (http://vimeo.com/11114742 ) were due to a comedy of errors - no macro lens stabilization, 24p video is horrible on pans, and Premiere Pro CS4 has its problems with H.264.

I'm a fine artist by profession (now possessed by Canon HD-DSLRS), ignorant of many limitations in cameras, film rates, editing software, lenses, compression settings...and determined to overcome them :) Video with HD-DSLRs is a very fragile, unpredictable art to me...but I also work with pastels, so I can handle this.

Enough - back to the video description:

This is a video of an old child's pin ball game that I purchased in an antique store on 6th St. in Amarillo, Texas years ago. I fell in love with its beautiful imagery and graphics...the" coolness" of it, but never imagined that this game would be the subject of one of my videos over ten years later (or that I would ever be shooting videos!).

Now I see that the title of this game has a double meaning; alluding to a game, and "big game" - animals in the wilderness that become our targets...predators and prey alike. Here the "big game" are hunted with the eye of a camera lens. I chose the music "Drifting Away" because of its nostalgic quality, and it follows the imagery like a lullaby.

Shot with a Canon 7d with a Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens, and the majority of shots with a Tokina 100mm 2.8 lens. For stabilization, I used the Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly and the Kessler Crane K-Pod Tripod with a Hercules 2.0 head. Post color grading and value levels were done in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

I can't say enough about the exceptionally high quality of the Kessler Crane and K-Pod Tripod system with the Hercules 2.0 head. The macro lens I used (Tokina 100mm Macro f2.8 lens) has NO image stabilization, and I was able to get very smooth motion and focus with no follow focus - http://www.kesslercrane.com/

"Birdwatchers" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Birdwatchers" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video and Editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Lost City" by Adam Skorupa
Purchased music license from http://www.shockwave-sound.com/track_search.php

I shot the footage of the bird with a Canon 7D (no image stabilization, handheld), a Tokina 100mm f2.8 lens, and editing done in Adobe After Effects CS4 and Premiere Pro CS4.

Other images were collaged over the bird footage to create a mysterious atmosphere...lots of experimentation with color and other effects in AE and Premiere.

The story of the beautiful bird in the video (think it was a Cedar Waxwing) -
One sunny and windy afternoon I found it on the ground in my backyard and tried to "rescue" it - although I'm not quite sure what I would have done - take it to a vet or something. But it was wild, and that probably wouldn't have worked. At any rate, I had to try to move it since my dogs would have gotten it. When I approached the bird, it had the energy to fly to a nearby tree and it sat there on a branch for a few hours, so I was able to get some footage of it. In the early evening I went back thinking that if it was still there, the light would be perfect to get some more shots of it. By then the bird was gone, and I was relieved that hopefully it had taken off and was OK. But I found it a couple of days later, lifeless in the front yard...so the bird was in its final day/days when I took the footage of it. I buried the bird, and somehow making this video of it made me feel a close connection to it. This little bird had become a living part of my work...makes the video quite bittersweet for me - just emphasizes the fragility of life.

"The Big Game" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"The Big Game" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video and editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Drifting Away" by Elliot Simons
Purchased music license from http://www.shockwave-sound.com/

This is a video of an old child's pin ball game that I purchased in an antique store on 6th St. in Amarillo, Texas years ago. I fell in love with its beautiful imagery and graphics...the" coolness" of it, but never imagined that this game would be the subject of one of my videos over ten years later (or that I would ever be shooting videos!). Now I see that the title of this game has a double meaning; alluding to a game, and "big game" - animals in the wilderness that become our targets...predators and prey alike. Here the "big game" are hunted with the eye of a camera lens. I chose the music "Drifting Away" because of its nostalgic quality, and it follows the imagery like a lullaby.

Shot with a Canon 7d with a Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens, a Tokina 100mm 2.8 lens, and I used the Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly, and the Kessler Crane K-Pod Tripod with a Hercules 2.0 head. Post color grading and value levels were done in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

This video was shot with the 24p setting on the Canon 7D, and the original video plays much smoother on my computer. I am new to this game, and I used the recommended compression settings for Vimeo, but I am disappointed at the choppy playback of the video on the web (both on Vimeo and YouTube). I suspect my settings could be improved - any suggestions for better settings would be greatly appreciated! I think from now on when I do slow pans, I'll shoot at 30p!

I can't say enough about the exceptionally high quality of the Kessler Crane and K-Pod Tripod system. The lens I used has NO image stabilization, and I was able to get very smooth motion and focus with no follow focus (smooth motion in my original video...not so smooth on the web).

http://www.kesslercrane.com/

"Diego Huerta - Photography Workshop" by VTG

"Diego Huerta - Photography Workshop" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Short clip of Diego Huerta's photography workshop for students at Amarillo College in Amarillo, Texas on April 16, 2010. Everyone loved Diego and his wife Daniela...both of them shared information with us about lighting, making a living as a photographer and how to set up professional shoots. What a great experience for the students (and me too). Thanks to Brent Cavanaugh at AC for organizing this workshop.

See Diego Huerta's beautiful photo of the workshop participants here: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1p8icjdINsU/S8nm2kU54XI/AAAAAAAAAKc/_Ozyv6-7lO4/s1600/AC.jpg

And Diego Huerta's blog post about this workshop:
http://diegohuerta.blogspot.com/2010/04/workshop-feel-firstthen-shoot-amarillo.html

To see Diego's brilliant photographs and learn more about him, go to:
http://diegohuerta.blogspot.com/
http://diegohuerta.com/
http://twitter.com/diegohuerta

The video was shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 16 - 50mm f2.8 lens, and a Sigma 30mm f1.2 lens. Editing done in Premiere Pro CS4. I used color grading and adjusted levels...still waiting for my Fader ND lens to arrive. Only one clip required image stabilization (I am proud to say). As far as my Canon 7D...is it OK to fall in love with a camera, or is that a bit weird?

Video and editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "At Eleven O'clock" by Jack Francis
Purchased license from http://www.shockwave-sound.com/

"Diffractions" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Diffractions" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Short night test of the Canon 7D and the Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens. The title was added later...inspired by the soundtrack that I chose.

The recently restored Paramount sign in downtown Amarillo was originally part of a great old theater that I often went to with my grandparents when I was a child...so besides its beauty, it holds great sentimental value for me.

I shot and edited all the footage in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. The only thing done to the original footage is some image stabilization due to the annoying gusts of wind that night. There is no color grading or level manipulation - pretty raw, but I wanted to see what my 7D could do with this scene late at night with very little available light.

Video and editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Diffractions" by Eric Bode
music license purchased from http://www.musicloops.com

"Telephone" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Telephone" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

This is just a short test (with an old phone that I had for years) to play with my Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens and the Canon 7D using Photoshop CS4 filters. Filters were applied frame by frame in Photoshop CS4 (the "watercolor" filter) and then I exported a high quality AVI to use in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. There was only a little tweaking done in Premiere (such as some levels adjustments and flickering effects, but no color grading). I used the tungsten white balance setting on my Canon 7D and shot in pretty low light. I didn't use any audio from the original footage...not sure how one would handle that.

I'm just learning all of this myself so here is a tutorial on using Photoshop for video from Adobe TV: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/short-and-suite/using-video-in-photoshop-cs4 .

I'll warn you that this process of adding frame by frame Photoshop filters to a video in Photoshop is very time consuming and takes a lot of processing power. I was unable to directly import the Photoshop file with the video into Premiere directly because it was a huge file and it would freeze up Premiere. I finally had to export the video out of Photoshop as an AVI file (Cinepak, best quality, original video frame rate, unchecked and left blank "key frame every" and "limit data to") to get the video out of Photoshop to behave in Premiere and keep high quality. It was worth it - I love the almost film noir 1940's - 1950's look the watercolor Photoshop filter created and the soft yet somewhat gritty texture. There is a lot of potential for creating more unique custom effects using Photoshop CS4 filters added to video.

Video and editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Secret Stealth Mission" by Dominik Hauser
Purchased license from http://www.shockwave-sound.com
http://www.shockwave-sound.com/composer/151.html

"Flames" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Flames" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

This is the first video I have taken with the Canon 7D...and a Tokina AT-X 100mm f/2.8 PRO D Macro Lens. I'm new at using a 7D, so I was trying different settings...afraid the video got a little "noisy" in places, but I liked the effects at any rate. Lots more to learn!

As far as the theme...I wanted to play with light, movement, and composition. In my artwork, I focus in on objects - like to bring inanimate objects to life...rarely feature people in my work, and I doubt that will change much as I start to make videos. I love the effect of one object disappearing as another one comes into focus - very magical.

Video and editing (in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4) by Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Koloss" by Bjorn Lynne
Purchased license from http://www.shockwave-sound.com

"Through the Window" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

This is a shorter version of a previous video that I did...short and sweet ; )

"Through the Window" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Just a short video I created from one of my pastels...I animated and edited this video in Adobe After Effects CS4 and Premiere Pro CS4. The pastel used is from my Route 66 series of imaginary motels from the 1940's - 1960's, and many works from that series are inspired from classic film noir.

Images, editing, and animation by Victoria Taylor-Gore

My website: http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Tide King" by Pierre Gerwig Langer
http://www.shockwave-sound.com/composer_list.php?cid=146.html&page=7
Purchased music license from http://www.shockwave-sound.com

"Following" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Following" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

There is a lot of detail in this video, so it is best viewed full screen.

This is a video that I remixed and edited in Adobe After Effects CS4 and Premiere Pro CS4. These remixed videos are like moving collages to me, and I am interested in isolating certain parts of the original footage and repeating them to create a visual rhythm...then making more drama with color, movement, and texture effects. Being an artist makes me look for more of a visual dialogue than a literal story.

Editied by Victoria Taylor-Gore
My website: http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music: "Sound Melangeria" by Stobierski Thomas from http://www.shockwave-sound.com
http://www.shockwave-sound.com/composer_list.php?cid=77.html&page=4

Original footage: [Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire, A] (1905)
(public domain) from the Prelinger Archives
http://www.archive.org/details/TripDown1905

"Landscapes" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Landscapes" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

This video consists of sections of several pastels that I have done in the past. Using Photoshop, I have isolated different areas of a few pastels and then imported the flat 2D "sets" into After Effects CS4 and put them on 3D layers so that the viewer can visually travel through the drawings. Final editing was in Premiere Pro CS4.

My pastels are usually simplified landscapes and architectural spaces with exaggerated perspective, and the 3D layer manipulation of my work in After Effects (with its inherent warping and distortion of form) plays well into my artistic style.

Design, images, animation, and editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore
My website - http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - "Only Hope" by Yuri Sazonoff
Purchased license from www.musicloops.com
http://www.musicloops.com/music_download/only-hope-7331/

"Airplane" by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"Airplane" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video edited by Victoria Taylor-Gore with Adobe After Effects CS4 and Premiere Pro CS4.
Website: http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music
"Truth" by composer: Julio Kladniew
Purchased license for this song from www.musicloops.com
http://www.musicloops.com/music_dow nload/truth-1039/

Original video footage (public domain)
"The City (Part II) (1939)"
from the Prelinger Archives
http://www.archive.org/details/CityTheP1939_2

The inspiration for this video was derived from a purely visual attraction to work with imagery from "The City (Part II) (1939)" and how I could "paint" and overlay sections of the video to hint at a poetic meaning...not a literal story. After the fact, I realized that "Airplane" had in it elements of my most favorite poem - draw whatever conclusions you want.

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea."
- from Little Gidding (No. 4 of 'Four Quartets') by T. S.Eliot

Birds by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Joseph Cornell by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Edward Hopper by Victoria Taylor-Gore

See a great interactive online presentation of Hopper and his work at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston - http://www.mfa.org/hopper/index.html.

Phil Epp and VictoriaTaylor-Gore Show in Santa Fe

Ancient Egyptian Art by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Ancient Near Eastern Art by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Amedeo Modigliani by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Michelangelo's Pieta by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Francis Bacon by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Mark Rothko by Victoria Taylor-Gore (HQ)

Ad Reinhardt by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Why Study Art? by Victoria Taylor-Gore

The Route 66 Series with new music...

Music:  Once in a Blue Moon by Lovespirals...

This series of pastels by Victoria Taylor-Gore (http://victoriataylorgore.com) represents an imaginative journey down the Route 66 of the 1940's through the 1960's.

Art History Videos by Victoria Taylor-Gore

JW FLV PLAYER BY JEROEN WIJERING