Kristen & Joe 10-16-10

Currently editing the video for Kristen and Joe. I had a chance to meet up with them a few weeks before the wedding and I was very excited once I found out how relaxed and chill they were. Kendra was there with me to help out and made working weddings a lot less stressful for me.

As a one man operation, I'm running around back and fourth so much that by the end of the wedding/event, I'm dripping in sweat. Gross. Not this time though, Kendra stayed in the back and helped me by snagging a few of the wide angle shots and pans.

Here are a few unedited screen captures of what was happening at the wedding. Can't wait to deliver this one to the newlyweds.

AT&T Wireless = Hot Salty Garbage

I've absolutely had it with AT&T. I'm a mac user and love my iPhone but I find it a damn shame that Apple decided to go with a company that can't even come close to being able to support the iPhone to it's fullest potential.

For the non-iPhone users out there, imagine this... being able to send pictures from your cellular device via MMS or text message. Sound incredible? Well it's not, it's everyday common practice with all wireless providers and devices. The joke of a wireless provider AT&T, was unable to handle the data load with the iPhone and iPhone users couldn't send MMS/text pictures when the phone first came out. Keep in mind that any other phone on the market with any other wireless provider was able to do the same thing for YEARS!

On a regular basis, I receive and make about 5-10 calls a day. Granted there are those days that no one calls me and I don't even look at my phone but on the average, about 5-10 a day. Out of those 5-10 calls a day, roughly 3-7 of them are dropped and cut short due to poor reception. You can imagine how incredibly frustrating this can be.

The worst part about all this is that I pay $166.00 a month (Family plan with 2 separate iPhones) and can't hold a call in my own house without stepping outside to my front yard. I could go on and on about all the crap I've had to go through to make a call or reconnect a call but I'm completely over it. I love my iPhone but my contract with AT&T is over in October and if I don't get a normal English speaking human being on other end of the line when I call AT&T to bitch and complain about how big of balls they suck... I'm going to get a prepaid phone and wait for another carrier to take on the iPhone.

So on that note I would like to leave you with my final words for AT&T Wireless.



Dear AT&T Wireless,

• Your service is one of the worst I've ever experienced and I would rather have the body odor that smells like the the inside of an old wooden leg than sign another contract with you.

• I have more dropped calls than completed calls which makes me want to head butt your eyes shut.

• You claim that you have the largest 3G network. But it seems that along the Interstate 5 corridor that passes through the biggest and most populated city in Oregon (Portland) I still manage to be stuck on your archaic and slow "Edge Network" and proceed to have even more trouble keeping calls connected. And for that, if I ever find out where your headquarters are, I'll be sure to either urinate on your front door or mail you a box of feces.

Thanks for wasting my time, frustrating the hell out me, and over all, providing terrible service.

Suck my ass you laughable excuse for a company,

Jesse E Tobler

Bikes!

I just got my old road bike up and running and it reminded me of a previous post. A little while ago, I mentioned a cinematographer named Russell Brownley (Russ's website) who did a small piece on a bike company in Zambia called ZAMBIKES. I found out that Russell put out a longer version of the video in more of a documentary style that's actually about the economic and social impact of this company and how it is improving the lives of the people in Zambia.

Amazing work and the bamboo bike frames are pretty amazing. I really want one... alas, damned priorities. Check out the video and don't forget to check out Russ's website too. He does some awesome work.

Zambikes Promotional from Russell Brownley on Vimeo.

Packing It Up

It's finally all coming together. Kendra and I moved to our very own place. Ever since we moved back to Eugene/Springfield we have been living separately at our parents houses. Not something that is easy to do after being out on your own. But at the same time, extremely lucky and thankful for us to have parents that love us unconditionally and allow us to live under their roofs while we try and get our feet back under ourselves.

We've both been working hard and it's all finally starting to look like a house. Painting, ripping up the carpet and discovering beautiful wood floors (why anyone ever covers up wood floors is beyond me), organizing and the like.

I'll have pictures and/or a video up after we are a little bit more organized.

Do Want!!!

Kendra has a huge crush on this videographer/cinematographer named Russell Brownley (Russ's Vimeo Page & Russ's Website) and I have to admit, the man knows his stuff. He produces very professional videos and loves the "Super 8" effect (complete with film burns) almost as much as I do.

Anyway, point being we saw that he did a documentary on a bike manufacture in Zambia called "Zambikes". Zambikes has recently started production on hand building bike frames out of local bamboo. I can't express how much these bikes impress me and how much I want one. I love biking and I love most anything that is handcrafted.... except for wicker anything. I mean c'mon people, find a hobby.

I suggest you watch this video that Mr. Brownley made and check out his website and/or Vimeo page.

Zambikes Preview from Russell Brownley on Vimeo.

*tear* A Dream Come True

Thanks to my friend Curt (curtnova.com) I have been given the opportunity to help a company he works for called Push Play Productions. They were in need of another camera operator and Curt gave me a call. I was thinking that I was going to be using one of their cameras, which is always a joy to use a nice camera but I knew that they didn't own anything extraordinary or anything that I haven't had the opportunity to work with before.

So when I got to the location and saw what cameras we got to work with I nearly wet myself. I had my hands on a Panasonic AG-HPX 500 all day and it was really hard to not smile the whole time. Never really been a part of a real production and it was so much fun. Below I included a picture of the camera I used and YES, I purposefully left the price tag visible.



Best part about this situation is, that I get to go back for three more days of playing with this camera.

Running On Fumes

Lately I've been so busy and stressed that I have done all of the following in the past week:

• Stayed up for more than 48 hours continuously while editing and burning projects to DVD's.
• Found out that my DVD burner and or DVD program is on the fritz.
• Nearly pulled out all my hair trying to figure out where all the memory on my MacBook Pro keeps going. It's only 150GB hard drive but I'm very organized and it seems that it's constantly full and I'm not sure why.
• Had my time and effort volunteered to help out with editing a video project I didn't shoot that nearly ended in disaster due to the aforementioned computer problems.

And all of this while working a 45 hour week at my regular job and being constantly attacked by a bombardment of seasonal allergies.

Aside from being stressed and running on fumes, this last weekend I went with Kendra and two of my good friends Mike and Fletcher to Blair Lake and camped overnight. Needless to say, a case of assorted micro brews and a midnight trip to a nearby natural hot spring is exactly what I needed to recharge for the rest of the week I have ahead of me.

Blair Lake at dawn.

Fletcher pumping Mike full of Giardia.

A peek over the edge of Hell Hole. 200ft straight down.

Our hike out from Hell Hole, we stumbled upon a scene from Lord of the Rings.

Mike decorating the forest.

Busy

What a past month I've had! I have been working a ton and trying pretty hard to focus on getting more video jobs going.

Just a few weeks ago I filmed a Orthodox Jewish wedding and finally was able to finish the editing. Now it's just a matter of getting the DVD menu finished and sent off to the client. The wedding itself was unreal and nothing like your traditional Christian wedding. It was a non-stop party and I was running around from shot to shot. Needless to say I've never been so tired and worn out at a wedding. The bride and groom are a super nice couple and I hope they like what I did and maybe recommend me to a few of their friends. (Shameless self plug)

All this time sitting at my computer editing is starting to actually pay off though. I'm becoming more efficient with my editing and learning new things. I really would like to talk to a few pros to try and figure out some new things or maybe even find a class to help broaden my repertoire.

You can check out the wedding video just below or if your feeling adventurous, just go to my new website HERE. (Huge thanks to the lovely Kendra Handke for whipping up a lovely website for me.)

Eric & Lynne from Jesse Tobler on Vimeo.

I Wish All My Dreams Were Like This Music Video

I am a fan of most music and I am also a very visual person. So when I see a very well done music video, usually regardless of the musical genre, I almost instantly fall in love with that band.

Well this is no exception. My brother introduced me to this band only a few hours ago and I can't stop watching this exceptional music video. I am currently in the process of finding out more about this band named, Romona Falls, but I think they're great.

Watch the video and tell me what you think. (I recommend clicking the link HERE to watch. Apparently YouTube and Blogger don't know how to cooperate very well as you can tell by the poor sizing of the video.)

Weekends and Wallets

For those that don't know, I am a cabinet maker by day and do film/video by night and/or weekends. My point being that currently I am working for a really great guy named Robin.

Robin and I share a love for climbing and he took me to a "top secret" spot in Oregon and it was a blast. While he was climbing and 110% of my attention should have been on him and making sure I didn't drop him while he was 25-30 feet in the air, I decided to take this picture. Much to his dismay. I had a blast until it was my turn to climb and the rain started and didn't let up until we got all the way back in town. Still a fun trip.

Did I mention it was a "top secret" spot? Cause it might be the coolest place I have ever climbed in my entire life and I can't wait to go back.

On a completely different note, I recently found out that an extraordinarily handsome, funny, and talented friend of mine started a blog pertaining to his extraordinarily handsome and fashionable wallet and accessory company by the name of Rouge Empire.

Rogue Empire Blog HERE
Rouge Empire Etsy Account HERE

Below are some of the great items he has handcrafted and are for sale.

Necktie Billfolds

Necktie Key Fob

Topcoat or Necktie Flask

All images courtesy of Rouge Empire.

Jewish Weddings...? Yeah, I Do Those Too.

Just got off the phone with a client and I have the wonderful privilege to film a traditional orthodox Jewish wedding in about a week. The client is emailing me a sort of schedule/program that, supposedly, will have all the information I should need. Yet, she still warns me that it'll be like nothing I've ever seen before. I've been doing a little research via YouTube and Google to hopefully catch a glimpse as to what to expect and looks like quite the party. Needless to say, I'm excited.

The client made it a point to tell me that there will be an open bar as well... let's just say that I just might stick around and keep the camera rolling just for kicks.

Of course none of this would be possible without the recommendation from my good friend and amazingly talented photographer, Joshua Rainey. Please check him out if you have any photography, web design, or hosting needs. The man is simply amazing.

I Dream In Pixels

I was just shown this video on Vimeo and it instantly became one of my absolute favorites. Sometimes I feel like I play way too many video games and at some point I'm convinced that I'm going to start dreaming like this video portrays.

PIXELS: Retro Gamers from addwork on Vimeo.

I can't seem to find any real info about who made it on their Vimeo page but all I can say is WOW!

Ode To GryllsStroudMears

When you think manly, courageous, brave, and fearless, your first thought should probably be Jason Statham, but in a close second should be Bear Grylls, Les Stroud, and maybe even Ray Mears (in no particular order). Being greatly influenced by the shear ruggedness and masculinity of these outstanding examples of men, my good friend Ken and I decided to venture forth into the great northwest and prove to Mother Nature that we can survive anything she can throw at us with nothing more than a knife and the clothes on our back.

• The weather was terrible when we thought of this idea in the comfort of our own homes.

• The weather was terrible when we left town.

• The weather was terrible when we built our lean-to out of nothing more than what the earth provided.

• The weather was terrible when we cooked our hot dogs on the fire we successfully lit in the rain.

• The weather was even worse when we decided after 4 1/2 hours of proving our manliness to head back to civilization.

Basically it comes down to two grown men, going out into the woods and building a fort and starting fires while it was near monsoon conditions. We decided to head back home and not rough out the whole night after it started to snow on us. All in all, a wonderful way to spend your Friday afternoon.

New Video Work

I'll get right into it.

I've been working on building a portfolio and exploring new programs for editing and this is kind of what I've come up with. More to come soon. Keep an eye on my Vimeo page.

www.vimeo.com/jessetobler

After Effects Test 1 from Jesse Tobler on Vimeo.

Sin City Blood VFX Test from Jesse Tobler on Vimeo.

Cocktail Birthday Party from Jesse Tobler on Vimeo.

Mom Dad & Dogs from Jesse Tobler on Vimeo.