Andrew Smith

Wow. It's hard to believe it's the end of January already. I started off the year working with an editor friend, Chris Cole on a motion graphics project at his house for about 4 days. We did some really neat sci-fi screen animations and sliding glass doors and stuff that was a lot of greenscreen compositing work. I ended by showing him the video I filmed for SOZO, with Jamie and Matt Moore. He said it would have been good for a sociology video if it weren't for the religious content at the end. Eh. But he called today and has another job for me.

I recently downloaded a couple dozen ebooks and have been glancing through them. Two of my favorites so far are How To Be A Rockstar Freelancer, and How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to be Persuaded. The first is obviously about being in your own service business, and the second is a story of a master entertainer/storyteller/magician that is sharing his crowd-winning secrets with the world.

Also, I recently finished my demo reel. I've been meaning to get that done since late december. Other things on the agenda are starting a podcast, and having our logo printed on some t-shirts. The latter might be a closer option than I previously thought, as Tree and Leaf Clothing recently contacted me about doing some videos for them.

The Trail Dance film festival was a huge success. Anthony contacted me about doing some motion graphics intros about 2 weeks before the event. It took me about 3 days to make a 15 second intro from a template. At the event I got to see a lot of film that Adam and I were severely underwhelmed by. Our aesthetic is better than 90% of the films that showed, and it was very encouraging, but a little depressing that we didn't end up entering anything. Anyway, we ended up meeting a lot of other filmmakers and gave them cards and showed them our demo reels. It was quite impressive how well people responded to our work, one guy even sent us his idea for a pilot tv episode that was a comedy about alien fashion. We also got a couple requests to do music videos within a week of posting. My friend Ryan Dunlap ended up winning an award for his short film Leave Me, which I accepted on his behalf.

A couple nights ago I found out Caleb Vetter is going to be shooting his second feature on the RED this summer, it seems a feature he worked on last summer got him in good terms with a few of the right people. It's hard to believe it's been two years since his first feature, and my *amazing* motion graphics I did for the titles. Heh.
Paul Rogers invited me to come up to edit on his documentary for Not For Sale. We'll see. It'll be a couple weeks worth of work, but we haven't got to hang out since his wedding last August.

In other, more pressing news, our family is stuck inside during this bad icestorm. No electricity to speak of but Amos and most of the rest of the family is watching a Chuck Norris movie. While Adam and I are both working on our laptops until our batteries run dry...

Good night, and good luck.
-Andrew

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. =)

It's been a fast & furious couple of months, I've been all the way from LA to Orlando, and many places in between.

The highlights of things made the "New & Exciting List."

6-month-old adopted brother!
Dad got another bus!
Trapcode!
EX 1!
I drove a stick shift from Inverness to Duncan after not having driven one in 9 years. Then made a detour to Atlanta meet a director I admire from Whitestone Motion Pictures. I've been swing dancing, spelunking, got addicted to iced lattés from Dunkin' Donuts at Happy Hour and have already been through caffeine withdrawal, this month has really been a trip. So glad to close out this year with a bang and I'm already excited to see where God will take me next year.

My brother just started work as the field rep for the local republican party, our family helped with the grand opening in which we held a free car wash sign. I remember a time when I was trying to help a friend, Justin Parker in Florida, raise money for a missions trip by doing a car wash. All fine gentlemen we were. Across the street were some not-so-finely dressed young women having a car wash. They stayed busy all day. Our group washed 3 cars the whole day in the hot, hot sun.
So consider yourself in the inner circle of People that Know the Essentials for a Successful Car Wash. It must be either be free or have at least a few fine young ladies. Hopefully modestly clothed. =)

My Logitech noise cancelling headphones broke last weekend, as I was taking them off. Flimsy plastic. Pssh. They were a nice pair, Logitech is not making them anymore, but they said since I purchased them this year they would refund the full cost. Here's a funny story about their warranty policy.

Last night I spoke at a Final Cut Pro users group in OKC, about my Canon HV-20 camera. Even though I covered my topic well, I fumbled for eloquence a couple times but also made everyone laugh a couple times too. It was a good experience. Next month Canon is coming out with several hard drive based cameras that will blow mine to obsoletision.

Lastly and bestly of all, I finished a video that is so funky-fresh you won't know what hit you! Woohoo! But DON'T you dare watch it here. GO here to watch in HD. After that you can pass go and collect 200 dollars or whatever it is you were doing before you started wasting time on the internet. haha.


Shyla's Photoshoot from Andrew PC Smith on Vimeo.

I love this satire, it's brilliant, if you've seen the show Man Vs. Wild at least once.

1.

Sometimes I feel like I don't have any. Yet I know it's one of those essential small business owner traits. It reminds me of an old movie where Jimmy Stewart's character says, Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be," - she always called me Elwood - "In this world, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.

SO I DID.

Q. What's the most expensive ingredient in a bottle of bottled water?

A. The water, which was collected by rare lemmings by a special extraction process from a Japanese mountain mushroom.
B. The water, which was gathered by an army of killer bees from dewy flowers guarded by endangered fairies.
C. The water, because it came from the same well where Jack used to fill his watering can to nurture the Magic Beanstalk.
D. The plastic bottle and the label with the obligatory surrealistic mountain scene.
F. (create your own answer)

To all my photographer friends. Just remember, the Vikings of old remembered to pillage before they burned up villages, so should you remember to preform the Trash The Dress shoot only after the actual wedding ceremony.. Cause one time... well, nevermind..

"I'm out of the loop so why are you coming to ca soon

Okay, so let me break it down in plain english... me familia... owns el booko business... me harmono, yo quero denero and hasta friendalo in California. C?

so what you're saying is...
you're hungry for burritos

Yes! and that my family sells homeschool curriculum and it does not include Spanish!"


That was a, (slightly edited for readability) chat with a new online friendAnna Joy about my trip to California in a couple weeks. Which is going be really awesome, we're going to go see Paul, hang out and try and stop the ladies from scopin' us out while we catch some rays, (that's Paul on the left.. lol) and maybe having a shindig with Josh. Sounds pretty good to me. =D

So to change the nagging needle on the E and fill up my good 'ol car... I slid my card, picked my grade and pumped away. As usual, I sat there staring blankly at my reflection in the back seat window wondering if I look more like Hugh Jackman or Steve Buscemi when I heard the "click" letting me know that the car was full. I took the nozzle out, plugged the car back up and looked at the price.

My heart sank. Like the Titanic. Almost $60. yup. $60 for a tank of gas. I quickly looked at my car wondering if I had filled an SUV on accident - nope, it was my teensy weensy polka dotted Toyota Camry.

$60!! $60 will get you 50 large slurpees. $60 will get you enough hamsters to pull the car. $60 would get me 6 fresh pairs of boxers (aka 6 extra days of no laundry.) Remember that scene from "I Am Legend" where Will Smith's character is pumping gas - I remember the loudest gasps during that scene when they saw the gas prices being over $6. Now, we're not that far off!

GAS PRICES ARE INSANE! You know it's almost to the point where I think if Jesus came down today, his first miracle would be to turn water into...gas. and I'll admit - even with gas prices rising, the weaker dollar, it's getting harder and harder to be a good steward in regards to money. We should all move to Venenzuela -gas is still $.12 per gallon over there. Yup you heard right, cents. I would almost swim there to get it.

Has gas put a strain on your finances lately?

Everywhere I look I see amazing art. I see crummy art. I see mediocre "canned" art. Nearly everyone is an artist in some way. It is artist overload!

With the rise of the internet, artists can distribute art like never before. Now we have sites like youtube giving us art like no other. Then there's the wannabes that see something on youtube and copy the life out of it.
It's sort of like having free reign at a candy store. You eat one sweet and sugary treat after another and another and another. Before you know it, you are sickened by the very thing you love most. Nauseated, you feel the urge to vomit. Several days or weeks later you feel ready to try candy again but something is wrong... you have an ulcerated stomach lining and can't seem to hold anything down. Now, no matter how delectable the treat, how fine the chocolate, how creamy the confectionery, every piece of it disgusts you.

The other day, I was talking with my friend Paul and we decided, (still going with the candy metaphor) no matter how bad the candy is, no matter if the last three you tried left you ready to hurl... (Remember China? LOL.) You keep trying them, like some kind of zombie, until you get one that makes life click again. The same thing goes for music, movies, and pretty much the whole gamut of creative work. Our God-given drive to create is strong and the drive to see the created beauty is just as strong, if not more so.
There is a load of carp (I said carp) to dig through out there, the purpose of art is dynamic, but it should always point us to the truth.

Moses made a snake that pointed to the savior of mankind, Jesus.
Numbers 21:9
So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

Then some time later, it's use was corrupted.
2 Kings 18:4
He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan. )


Paul used the secular to point to the truth.
Acts 17:28
'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'


Can you rise above the mediocre? Can you make something inspiring? You won't if you don't try. You probably will be making a lot of carp till you get to making the killer art that inspired to create in the first place. I hate to admit it, but at times I do make bad art. But hey, if you're not prepared to be wrong, you will never be original. The momentum is paramount.
I'll leave you with a few quotes.

"The faster you fail, the sooner you'll get to success."
"The design is finished not when there's nothing more to add... It's finished when there's nothing more you can take away."
"Predictability = Boring"


Any thoughts?

Many people believe that the best way to learn how to make a movie is to just start making one. And to a degree, I am one of those people. The things you learn are only as good as the extent you put them to use.

Since going to film school is neither convenient nor practical for me, as well as countless others, I am piecing together my knowledge of filmmaking through the internet, books, instructional videos (scouring the web) But what's more fun than the trial & error, monkey-business with camera and lights? Not much.

Of course, the hands-on with the equipment never quite matches up with the theory as easily as one would like it to. With that said, what you learn from a visceral, hands on approach is far more valuable than sitting through a lecture or reading a book. It's much like learning to ride a bicycle... You can read ten books on how to mount the bike, peddle the bike, apply the breaks, use hand signals, repair a flat tire and so on... but the first time you get on the bike, you WILL indubitably fall over. Eventually you learn. Besides, who wants to pay 60,000 dollars to some film school, paying for their equipment, go to classes they want you to go to, and never make a feature film.

Time to hop on that proverbial bicycle and ride it where I like.

We just finished United Way auditions today, and only 14 people total showed up. So we are going to end up using all of them. I thought we'd get at least 30 but that just shows how off I was. There's got to be a better way to audition people than what we thought of. Having them state their name and two interesting facts about themselves might be a good start, but fails to convey any acting ability. The interesting problem is, none of them have any lines.

Friends, family, and all the rest of you people. =)