This past two months has been nonstop for me. Adam and I moved into our new house in Duncan, Reggie spent almost 3 months with us. He left 2 days ago. Miss that guy already.
It feels so lame to work on free projects like Meg Guess' promo work until the day I went to Todd Ballje's photographer meetup and have him introduce me as the guy who made this video. People there were like, "Oh, you're Smith Pixels? I didn't know that." Note to self, put up more personal headshots on the website.
We also did an animation for Dennis Johnson, our representative. We worked on it for 4 full days, Reggie and I. We worked with cutouts of celebrities, which is as close as we've ever been to working with real celebrities. Crazy times. Check out the Vimeo page on our website to see it. www.smithpixels.com
I'm pleased with the amount of work we're putting out, and I do see us growing leaps and bounds in the quality of our work since last year. It seems like just now I'm starting to be proud of our work, whereas before I was almost embarrassed to show it to anyone not friends or family. I hope to see even more improvement when we start shooting with Abby's new 5D Mark II, or the Scarlet, when it comes out. Here's hoping.
I finally decided that I need to get my butt in gear and update this blog.
If you haven't already, watch this video:
Josh McCullock 2009Promo from Andrew PC Smith on Vimeo.
One of these days I'm going to take people through the process of getting amazing color. Then you'll see, you'll see!
It would be ideal if this blog updated itself once a week, but it would likely be cluttered with junk and frankly, a lot of words from it's sponsor that nobody really cares about. Like about how in the last couple weeks I finished a dance video and a turkey banquet and a promo video and this week is looking a little grim. But nay, that would be tiresome to read about. Much less write about. ;)
Much love. K, thx bai.
-Andrew
"I feel like I've been on vacation, but I don't know where and it wasn't any fun..." - My grandma, after spending a week in the hospital upon the first day of being back home.
It's been a long month. It feels like I've been on vacation and it was a lot of fun, my brother, sister and I went to WPPI in Vegas. WPPI is a worldwide wedding and portrait photographer's conference and it was really fun to meet and share ideas with other creative minds there. Along with seeing so much talent and people putting themselves to good use. We stayed in the Motel 6 across from the MGM Grand with a friend Jacob Preedin.
At the end of last month my brother and I shot a highlight video for a robotics competition in OKC for FIRST, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Acrostics seem on par with puns, both are often of the Dark Side. Anyway, it was fun, there were some awkward interviews, as my friend said, "It seems like those are the first words they've spoken in months." It's true, if you have the gift of gab and gizmo brainology then more power to ya. It reminds me of a illustration Dane Sanders used in his workshop at WPPI:
Portrait of Albert Einstein with Other Noted Scientists
Dane asked the audience, "Who do you recognize in this picture?" of course the answer was, "Einstein!"
Then he explained that Einstein was a leader in his field and the other guys, though also very smart were just "Props" in the picture. He was saying that if you aren't going to be a innovator in your career then you should keep it as a hobby so you can be happier and more fulfilled. (Oh, and wild, crazy hair is a sure way to establish your personal branding.)
That's all folks! If you want to see some of the work we've been putting it up on vimeo.com/smithpixels and be sure to leave some comment love either here or there. =)
God bless us, everyone!
-Andrew... and some other guy.
Ever work on something for so long you doubt if you'll ever get finished with it?
Well I've felt like that on this new logo my brother Adam and I designed. It's so ready to be out. We travailed over it for months and you start to wonder why it doesn't just 'click' for you like you think it does for other professionals. It'd be so much easier to make the 50th design first, wouldn't it? Sometimes I get caught up in the Magic of other people's work, but in reality, they might have just had a little more perseverance than I do.
Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity. — Lou Holtz
Every person has the battle of speed over quality and I'm thankful that this was a personal project so we were able to spend a little more time on it. But sometimes it's the personal marketing that you must be a warrior to deal with. It's easy to try and justify inner-compromise because, "Well, it's just for me, so it's not that important." Au contraire, my friends, this crux will help divulge deep, personal thoughts about your work, whether it has turned into drudgery or if it's still your passion. This is the resumé of your soul.
Proverbs 13:12
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
It brings me great joy to have this logo done, and to have confidence that I'm doing what I love. =)