Nothing like a little After Effects to help you (not) sleep

I came up with this idea out of the blue and got so excited about it I started working on it right away. After I got about 1/4 done, I decided I might as well finish it while I'm on a roll. Well now here it is, and here I am, at 5:42am - tired.

Enjoy!

The World of Light from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.

The Maori Creation Myth of Rangi, the Sky Father, and Papa, the Earth Mother, being separated by their son Tane, God of the Forest. The Maori look to the greak Kauri trees found on the North Island as Tane's pillars, still holding Rangi apart from Papa.



Photos of Aoraki/Mt. Cook were taken by me during Sunrise across Lake Punakaiki.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Long Time followers probably think I am bi-polar (or, more likely, quad-polar) with all the changes on this blog.

Well the truth of the matter is that I'm still a young photographer trying to find my place in this turbulent world. As such I've rebranded myself a few times. I liken it to a bit of Maori creation myth I picked up while I was in New Zealand. While there are several versions of the myth two of my favorite versions are the creation from darkness and the creation from emerging light.

Te Po-urirui - The Intense Darkness
Te Po-te-kitea - The Darkness in which Nothing can be seen
Te Ata - The Dawn
Te Ao Marama - The World of Light

I think I've finally struck a chord with myself on where I want to be with the look and feel of my website and blog (although some of the nitty-gritty back-end stuff still has yet to be polished). Through the next week or so, I'll be making a few minor adjustments here and there to really nail some stuff down.

Thats it for now, I'm gonna try and go out tomorrow and shoot something new (I've been sick and at home for the last week :'( but at least its given me time to get this sorta thing done!)

Oh, and thanks David for the post title.

oops!

okay, So i've been neglecting the blog the last few weeks... my bad.

for those who are interested, the last few weeks of my trip to New Zealand went great. I spent more time shooting video than stills (as is reflected by the content of this post.

Since I've been back I've been to Chicago, Ft. Wayne, Lafayette, Bloomington, Columbus (IN), and Raleigh (NC). So I do have a little bit of an excuse for not updating religiously...

I've got a new website for my portfolio and prints now - www.mcarneyphoto.com - you can always click the link in the top left corner of the blog to go there.
(if you use the coupon code 'tweet' you'll get 20% off your order to boot!)


Went to the zoo the other day - not my best photographically, but not terrible either - check 'em out.













(oh, and here is the video from the last few weeks in NZ).

Aotearoa - New Zealand from Michael Carney on Vimeo.

still on the road, 8 days till i'm back

well, i've only got 8 days left in New Zealand. I'm sad that I have to leave and leave my new friends behind (I know, they hate it here too ;) ). However I am excited to be home (and warm).

As of the writing of this post, i'm in Rotorua. I saw the most gorgeous sky i've seen the entire trip this evening, but I was now where near anywhere to take a picture - very disappointing. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as spectacular.

I dont have any pictures ready right now (been using the mac to watch summer heights high and big bang theory mostly)

I probably won't write another post until I get home, so until then

e noho rā from Te ika a Maui, Aotearoa!

All Blacks v Italy

I forced myself to put down the camera for the second half so I know that I could enjoy the game 100% - so here's some shots from the first half (and the kid that got Mils Muliaina's sock after the game) Thank goodness for D300's high ISO performance. Its still crap at 2000 but way better than my D50 @ 800...

It seems lately

that i've been posting more about video and less about photo...

Here is the Director's cut of the UC Climbing Club's trip to Castle and Flock Hills. I say director's cut because Soon I will be working on another cut myself.


Major Edit: It seems that I have forgotten that I posted this video already, my apologies. To make up for it, here is a New Zealand classic.

48Hours - IT's Here!!!!!!

The moment you've all been waiting for.

Team: League of Gents
Genre: Conspiracy
Character: Alex Puddle - an exaggerator
Prop: A Rock
Line: "It doesn't fit"

All writing, story-boarding, prop production, filming, and editing had to be done in 48 hours (7pm Friday to 7pm Sunday).

and here it is in full HD glory (go ahead, make it full screen, you'll enjoy it)


(if your browser is having trouble displaying the video due to its extreme awesomeness, here is the link to the youtube page)


We made it into the city finals (12 films out of 85) where we won:

Audience Favorite
"Spirit of the Competition" and
"Best Special Effects - Christchurch"

Sadly though, we did not become the Overall Winner of the Christchurch section so we did not move on to the national finals.



Please show your support by Digging it!

UC Climbing: Small Game

enjoy.

Small Game - UC Climbing Club from Michael Carney on Vimeo.

Southern Scenic Route

Pictures from the Southern Scenic Route (along with a few others that I haven't posted yet)



Wes - I dedicate the song to you. lol

for those of you who prefer to see the pictures individually - you can find them on my flickr page here.

48Hours Update

We have officially made it into the Christchurch City Finals. The Finals are on the 28th of May (two days!) at the Reading Cinema. The screening is open to the general public and tickets are $20 (you get to see all 12 city finalists).

I Know its a Bit late, but...

My Holiday travels ended up totalling 2774km plus driving around in towns. Add to that my drive to Kaikoura the week before for my Marine Biology class and I clocked around 3000km around the south island (a bit over 1800 miles for the metrically challenged).

click Here to see a map

NOT 48hours! lol

went shooting at night again... learned a few lessons, got myself a few mental projects, should be good to keep me busy for a while - oh and for those of you thinking of visiting CHCH - The locals always want you to take their picture and won't leave you alone until you do no matter how long you've been setting up your shot...

48hours Heat Results (Audience Favorites)

drumroll please...

HEAT FOUR
Winner - League of Gents - Conspiracy - "Taken For Granite" (that's us!!!)

Runner-Ups:
Lemon Tree - Nature Run Amok - "The Walls Have Ears"
Knawtra Studios - Real Time - "HHH"




Here is what one reviewer had to say about our film:

Team: League of Gents
Title: Taken for Granite
Genre: Nature Run Amok

Eligible: Yes

One of my fav's of the evening. Loved the art direction - the use of low-fi props and set dressings ala-Michel Gondry. Great little adventure, loved the characters and nice work with the paper beating rock. Looked like a lot of work and it paid off!

My Rating: 4/5... no wait... i reconsider.... I'm giving out another 5/5 BOOM!


(He has only given out 2 [including ours] 5/5's for over 40 films thus far)

I will post a link to the film as soon as I can (but seeing as I don't have a copy yet, I'll have to wait for our producer)

48hours pics

here are some stills from the weekend. and yes, that is a 300mm f/2.8 mounted on a Panasonic HVX200 with the Red Rock Micro 35mm system adaptor and being supported by two different tripods (not that any of my readers know what most of that stuff is - but trust me, its awesome)

48HOURS Re-cap

so for those of you not following me on twitter, here is a quick re-cap of 48HOURS. Pictures to come when i get my camera back from Raleigh...


furious film-making meets furious film-makers. #48hours prepare to get rocked. http://tiny.cc/IqSru
8:40 AM May 8th from web

after a pleasant (yet short) 3 hour nap - On To the Lights!!! #48hours
1:14 PM May 8th from web

#48hours: 30 hours in and I've been hit in the cujones twice and burned a half dozen times - this film is lookin' GOO-OOD!
8:35 AM May 9th from web

#48hours I realized how long id been up when i woke up from a nap in my van and the girl i had been dreaming about turned out to be a 9 iron
9:39 AM May 9th from web

#48hours can bring out the best in a person. For instance - I just made a road of wee babies. :D
1:21 PM May 9th from web

#48hours just bought $22.76 in sausage rolls,pies, and iced coffee. no time or energy to explain to confused looking clerk.
3:42 PM May 9th from web

#48hours with every blink of my eyes I hallucinate just that much more - making the search for the perfect song that much more difficult
6:13 PM May 9th from web

@russkinz - I guess we dont all have guts of steel! Now if I could just the the lead out of my limbs, and eyes, and... #48hours
6:40 PM May 9th from web

I think I just had an out-of body experience... oh, nope. JK - I'm just so tired my limbs feel like they belong to someone else. #48hours
11:28 PM May 9th from web

#48hours some say the nuke was a miracle of modern tech, others say its a crime against humanity, I think what we did is kinda like that.
12:24 AM May 10th from web

Thank you #48hours (even though my sleep schedule is now F*d for the rest of the week - but who needs classes, right?... right...?
10:05 AM May 10th from web

A bit of Exhausted Math for You All

I woke up Friday Morning around 8am. Since then I have slept (and I use this term lightly) for 3 hours. The time is now 4:30pm - Sunday. roughly 57 of the last 60 hours, my eyes have been open.

Not to mention that Raleigh, The Producer/Director and Wes, the Co-Producer/DP of our project have also been awake the same hours.

In total the three of us have been awake 171 hours and slept 9 in in the last three days.

Right now I feel like I'm on a boat - I should probably go to sleep, but alas, deadline is in 2 hours 27 minutes and 42 seconds, 41, 40, 39...

and we aren't quite done with our Final cut.

But its lookin' good!

Let the Madness Begin!

The 48Hours Film Festival has BEGUN!

-------------

Our assignment:

Create, write, film, edit and produce a video between 7pm Friday and 7pm Sunday.

-------------

The difficulty:

No previous preparation allowed!
Core information kept secret until the competition begins.

-------------

Requirements:
final cut between 1 and 7 minutes including credits
genre: conspiracy
prop: a rock
character: Alex Puddle - an Exaggerator
line: "It doesn't fit."

Filming starts in 4.5 hours. Time for a nap.

This or That pt 2

Okay, so I know I don't have much of an audience, but I would like your opinion. I'm going to post the same set of images in two different ways. Leave a comment in the post that you prefer. thanks!

This or That

Okay, so I know I don't have much of an audience, but I would like your opinion. I'm going to post the same set of images in two different ways. Leave a comment in the post that you prefer. thanks!

Christchurch at Night