Update from Ypsi HQs

Pedal * Blog

I’m sitting by the open window right now, enjoying the smell that comes after a mid-west thunder storm, and an iTunes playlist from Jon. It’s almost been 10 days since my last post, so I thought I’d better check in and give everyone an update on what I’ve been busy with.

FToM: First on the list, the film. I’ve still been very busy going through clip by clip and dropping what I like in the timeline. I’m probably 1/3rd of the way through the 2nd TB of footage.

screengrab FToM 01 59 03 20090625 180338 Update from Ypsi HQs
Two days ago I sent a FCP project file to Amanda, she has the back-up drives in LA, and I’ve been waiting for feedback on what she thinks so far. The way it’s cut now, it’s not much to look at, but when looked at side-by-side with our notes on the arc of film, I can see a pattern emerging, and places where certain moods and points can be made. I’m anxious to be sitting back in-front of the typewriter again.

Stockpile 420x134 v2 20090625 180044 Update from Ypsi HQs
Stockpile: I’ve been pushing hard promoting Stockpile on Vimeo, ACA, and popular bicycling forums (like Crazy Guy on a Bike). We’re already getting some great feedback and interest so far. And today a few more clips were shared in our group.

One reader replied, “I have a good feeling about the project. It looks like the personal essence of the moments will come through. Teaser number two shows, to me anyways, how profound it is to be insignificant. Good luck on the project.

Our main goal with Stockpile is to be able to visually show just how connected we are by the places we’ve been – how our experiences are intertwined in ways that are easily overlooked. We have a long way to go before we reach the number of videos needed to do that, but with steady pressure and outreach, by the time the film needs it, I believe we’ll be prepared.

kickstarter successful 20090622 235152 Update from Ypsi HQs
Kickstarter: Our Kickstarter campaign finished a few days ago and we were able to overshoot our goal by $105! I’ve adjusted the funding progress by by $1,105, which felt great to do. I can’t thank everyone enough who donated, twittered, and help spread the word in anyway. It’s by far the biggest jump in donations we’ve received since coming home from production two years ago.

It turned out to be a really impressive and supportive community of people. of all the sites we’ve joined that had fundraising support, it’s been by far the most successful.

Also, of course, a huge thank you to those of you who have recently donated via our new funding site. I know we had a few people do so during the Kickstarter campaign and I didn’t want to sound like I was leaving them out.

I’m excited about the next round of funding – and have been thinking of ways to incorporate a breakdown of upcoming expenses that we can split into individual campaigns.

Pedal t.minus closed 06 09 20090625 184028 Update from Ypsi HQs
t.minus: I’ve also been putting together the next t.minus project. If any of you have dropped by the site recently, you’d have seen our ‘currently closed’ splash page – hopefully after this weekend I’ll have it swapped out with all the new info.

I can’t say too much about it at the moment, but I can tell you it’s a collaboration project that anyone can be a part of! And, if I can make up my mind on a design, there could be t-shirts involved too.

  • T-shirts! Sweeeeeeet!
  • *fingers crossed*
  • Hi Mike. Managed to view the latest teaser and as always it found me wanting to see the final film more. For me the clip showed Larry testing/unsure of his new 'friends' and as the camera zooms into him and the other cyclists I believe it shows him opening up to them more and becoming more relaxed. I think the decision of muffling the conversation just forces the viewer to make their own interpretation of the situation, by making you think more about the clip, which is good thing!!

    I've noticed more and more recently that the teaser and Post production videos on the iTunes feed are not viewable on my iPhone. Do you have plans to create an iPhone friendly feed, it could be useful in spreading the word, if followers of the project have some of the teaser clips on their iPhone it would be a great tool to help explain the project to others?
  • Hey Brent :) Thanks - I'm glad you liked it, and I'm glad you thought the muffling of the audio was a good thing. Of course, I wouldn't do that to the audience for every conversation - but sometimes, especially in these meeting new people situations, it works better to leave it up the viewer.

    Oh! And thank you for bringing that up - I used to a pro Blip.tv account and I had to cancel it a while back when money was *really* tight. Blip used to auto export different versions of the HD upload. I forgot that I wasn't sharing iPhone friendly videos anymore. I will fix that very soon!
  • Mike it's great to see things moving forward with the film. I'm looking forward to seeing the latest teaser which is sat waiting for me in iTunes. For me the last teaser posted, 014 represented both loneliness and independence. Keep up the good work.
  • Hey Brent :) I'm trying! Hope you like the new teaser - it's been interesting to hear some of the feedback because the conversation is muffled (intentionally) and plays almost on the same db level as the music.

    I wanted people to hear the tone of conversation but not necessarily each word. I intend to have several conversations in the film play out that way... so :P We'll see.

    Thanks for telling me what you thought 014 represented - I actually wish more people would do that. I love hearing about what each clip seems to mean to one person vs another. Thanks for the support!
blog comments powered by Disqus