Lightning Bear Productions

Nice to be around fellow filmmakers...
For awhile now I have found a number of freelance jobs just by checking posts on Craigslist for production work and experience in the Dallas, Fort Worth area. It hasn't made me rich but it's helped pay a few bills. The experience I've gotten has definitely paid off. I recently attended a business seminar that they had for RTVF students at the University of North Texas for advice on updating my resume and my real. After a few seminars I became aquainted with Michael Brown of Lightning Bear studios (which is based out of Denton, TX). Him and I spoke briefly and he asked me to help him shoot a pilot for a TV program he was trying to develop. The following weekend I was put to work, swinging a boom and adjusting audio levels. Despite the rain and small crew, we were able to put together a decent pilot episode. Our DP, Kevin Keller had an awesome steadicam that we put to good use during this production. Later this summer I scored a job being the Assistant Director on a short film that will be shot in the DFW area and Kevin is slated to be our DP as well. Small world I guess. Here's some photo's from the ReInvented TV pilot shoot...

Following this production I was asked to help on a few other productions that Lightning Bear studio's would be working on in the next few months. Namely they are working on shooting a series of shows that are going to be made at the Pour House in Denton titled Beer, Babes and Movies. This show revolves around a group of guys giving their ten cents on films that are out in theaters right now. It will be a live show and will air on all of the screens that blanket the walls of the Pour House. It should be pretty cool. Also, over the past few weeks I've been in and out of their studio helping a graduate student edit her film for one of her classes. With a really short dealine I've had to pull all nighter's with the graduate student to finish her project on time. Her original edit of the film was terrible and had to be completely scraped. I had to start over from square one and attempt to create a story out of nothing. I still can't believe how well it came out in the end and how grueling an editing project this was. All together I was able to finish this film in a little under 20 hours, starting from scratch and working with out breaks for 3 nights all together. The graduate student took final credit for the edit and the film, although I did alot of the grunt work along with Micheal. All and all I'm proud of the way it turned out, hope you enjoy it.

The Robinhood of Texas: The Making of Sam Bass from patrick flaherty on Vimeo.

Lunar Disc Golf

Ch-ch-check it out...
I threw this together real quick at my UNT job. Gosh I love Motion! Turned a 3 or 4 hour project in to like 20 minutes. Using Motion's motion tracking feature I selected the LED on the light up disc and hit enter. In a matter of minutes Motion had mapped out the path the disc had taken through the air. All I did was add a particle emitter, some glow features and a vignette. It turned out really cool, but I know this is only going to get easier and a heck of a lot cooler. I'm really just warming up to the capabilites of this program (Motion) and I know I can make some really intense video light paintings. This is just the beginning...

Lunar Disc Golf from patrick flaherty on Vimeo.

Denton ROCKS promo

It has begun...
So I finally cut it. After years and years of procrastination and laziness I finally bit the bullet and cut together a promo video. In the video there are primarily clips from NX35 and Fry St. Fair. In reality there is lots and lots of stuff I'm leaving out. I've shot over 100 hours worth of footage in the past few years, in this promo you are really only seeing about 5 hours worth of it. That doesn't mean that in the future you can expect not to see it, cause you will. There is just alot of finessing that needs to happen before then. I've got so much good video, sound bites and interviews that I'm just now figuring out what I can do with. I'm beginning to lay out a story in my head and soon I'll put it to paper. There is alot of developing and observation I have to go through before then. Check this out...

Denton ROCKS promo from patrick flaherty on Vimeo.

In the next few months I plan to conduct interviews like nobodies business and shoot alot more material. Namely I intend on making a few trips to Deep Ellum, capture some Jazz concerts at UNT, and create a number of advertisement commercials for local Denton venues. I've become acquainted with My Denton Music organization and will be working with them hand in hand in the next few months. You can expect to see some of my photo's, video's and reviews on their web-site very soon. Make sure you check their web-site out: http://www.mydentonmusic.com/