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My night just got booked. #notashamed

Screenshot from our upcoming short film. #stillhere

Little Balloon – Before and After

We've had a few friends ask about the process of Jenny & Tyler's "Little Balloon" music video. The concept we dreamed up with J&T meant a lot to all four of us, I think: It's the idea of feeling alone and isolated, and sort of finding your place and God's plan for you.

We realized early on that we wanted the balloon to be by itself throughout the entirety of the video – right up until the end. It was a fun idea, but the execution was ... interesting. You wouldn't believe how many funny looks a grown man gets when he's carrying a balloon on a stick down Broadway. It was really fun when the camera was a couple hundred yards away and out of plain sight, and we were just some guy taking his balloon out for a walk.

We dreamed up a bigger final scene than we were going to be able to perform naturally, so we had to turn to some fairly heavy After Effects work to create the crowd of balloon and lanterns. Anyway, if you're interested in the process, check out the before/after shots below, and the GIF of one of the final shots.

YYC slowing down (but in the best of ways)

Dave and I aren't what you'd typically call, "morning people." It usually takes David about 6 cups of coffee to wake up and I can't walk or see straight for the 2 hours in the AM. I have many stubbed toes and bumps on my head to prove it. However, in the past week we have had to wake up well before the sunrise in order to film it for a music video. Here is a pic from today's shoot up in the Renaissance Hotel from David's sisters amazing office.

#Jenny & Tyler #Little Balloon #Music Video #Yeah Yeah Creative

5:30 and still plenty of daylight left. Thank you daylight savings! (Taken with instagram)

Taken with instagram

10 days of YYC's favorite videos: Day 9

What's more fun than kids shooting zombies? Kids teaching zombies to dance then shooting them with cardboard guns to a catchy little pop song.

10 days of YYC's favorite videos: Day 8

This short film is decidedly more macabre than any of the others on this list, but I've come back to it several times this year. It hooks me on multiple levels: the score is eerily gorgeous (or maybe gorgeously haunting), the animation is fantastic, and in the span of a few minutes, it makes me care about these creatures and their creator.

It also hooks me as a tribute to Jim Henson, whose Muppets have kindled countless creative fires long after Henson's tragic death. I like the thought that our creations have life even after we are gone.

I like short films that take a simple idea (in this case, a puppeteer and his puppets) and turn the idea on its ear. I also love short films that, like Tyler's earlier entry, can tell a story without using words.

10 Days of YYC's favorite videos: Day 7

So we got a little caught up in the holidays and failed to post the past 2 days. Shopping, eating, family... can you blame us?

I imagine if you are reading this, you are taking a quick breather from all of the excitement of the holidays so I'll make sure to keep this brief and allow you to get back to the festivities.

10 Days of YYC's favorite videos: Day 6

I've always been obsessed with manipulating straightforward filming techniques to create something unique. Stop-motion, slow-motion, animation, CG ... as much as I love really good, solid, linear storytelling, there's something special about people creating things that didn't exist outside their mind. (Or, in this case, creating a new way to see things that have always existed.)

Time-lapse photography fascinates me. The best time-lapse films are created from a combination of technical knowledge, foresight, an artistic eye, and lots of patience. If Mr. Miyagi were a cinematographer, he would have been a time-lapse specialist.

This is the best time-lapse film I've ever seen. If I could fall asleep to any video every night, this would be the one. I'd love to say it's given me wonderful insight into the art of filmmaking, but the truth of the matter is that it just makes my heart feel full.

I like that, and I think that's enough.

Enjoy? Let us know…

www.facebook.com/yeahyeahcreative or [email protected]

- david

10 Days of YYC's favorite videos: Day 5

Ahhhhhh! There are so many really amazing videos that I want to share. We should have called these on going write-ups, "1,000 Days of YYC's favorite videos." However, we chose 10, so David and I will have to choose carefully. This one is definitely a favorite for us both...

#Contrast Productions #Anna Sun #Walk the Moon

10 Days of YYC's favorite videos: Day 4

Here's why this video stood out to Tyler and I: It's a big idea, a difficult concept to pull off, and yet they created a willing suspension of disbelief. You watch it, and tell me you don't think "How the heck did they do that?!?"

"Puppets" was an eye-opener for me. If Tyler had pitched this idea to me 9 months ago, I would have winced. "Great idea, but we can't pull that off on a budget." But as Tyler and I watched and rewatched "Puppets" – as we did what all filmmakers do and mentally reverse-engineered the video shot-by-shot – I realized we had the same physical tools Daniels were operating with. I don't mean to minimize the film. In fact, I'm saying they didn't create something this fun because of some silver spoon. They earned this through cleverness, good writing, great editing, and a rare ability to turn a whacky dream into filmic reality.

An old friend of ours, Austin Church, recently blogged about the importance of optimism and the importance of curiosity. Both are great reads, and they are lessons I need to continually relearn for the rest of my life. Great ideas – and great videos – aren't born of timidity and cynicism.

Long post, but I can't quit this thought without adding this clip. This thought from Conan O'Brien has stuck with me for a year and a half. It gets super-inspiring around 3:15 or so.

10 Days of YYC's favorite videos: Day 3

I am also a big fan of short films that don't require any dialogue. I've tried this and it is a very tricky thing. You need just the right actors, just the right music, just the right pacing, and just the right kind of story. That's a whole lot of "just the rights" which doesn't leave much room for error. This one, however, has all of the right pieces in place to keep you interested, if not fully invested, for the full 11 minutes.

So I hope you took the time to watch this one all the way through. The reward at the end is definitely worth while and is sure to put a big smile on your face.

Enjoy? Let us know...

www.facebook.com/yeahyeahcreative or [email protected]

-t

10 Days of YYC's favorite videos: Day 2

Yesterday, Tyler mentioned we would be sharing some videos that have influenced us over the past year. He led off with a really sweet stop-motion video. If you missed that post, check it out.

Here's my submission for Day 2 (forgive the ad ... I wish that could be bypassed):

10 Days of YYC's favorite videos

For the next 10 days leading up to Christmas, we are going to share with you guys some of our favorite videos that have done at least one, if not all, of the following:

Inspired us to create

Forced ourselves to learn a new technical skill

Made us laugh

Gave us chills

Motivated us to push our creative limits

Caused us to argue about "How in the world they did that?!?!"

Did I mention inspire us?

Thank you

Yeah Yeah Creative's first anniversary came and went a month or so ago, and we considered sending out thank-you notes to all the folks who we've had the pleasure to work with in the past year. Then we thought, "Hey, we have truly terrible handwriting. Let's make a thank-you video instead."

As were putting together ideas for the video, the thank-you brainstorming train derailed into a fight scene. This video is the mashup between the two ideas.

We hope it makes you laugh, but we're serious about being thankful for you guys. For those of you who have supported, encouraged, and cheered us on this journey, we owe you a huge debt of gratitude. For years, Yeah Yeah Creative was just a pipe dream inside our heads. It's up, running, and growing now because you guys told us we could do it.

We love what we do, and we plan on doing it for a long time. Thank you for that gift.

Help us make Sam Means proud

Last winter, when Yeah Yeah Creative was transitioning from a mere twinkle in our eyes to an actual creative firm, our good friend and collaborator, Mark Locke, turned us on to a tune we really liked. It's a catchy ditty, and it has the words "Yeah Yeah" in the song over and over again. Instant YYC classic.

Being the indie music gomer that I am, I thought, "I don't know who this Sam Means guy is, but I'm going to shoot him an email. Maybe he'll let us use the song for a YYC promo."

I dug up an email address and fired it his way. I was pretty surprised when, a couple of days later, we got an email back. This Sam guy had said we could use it, no strings attached.

Then Tyler told me Sam Means had been one the two main dudes from The Format, and that "Yeah Yeah" was in several commercials. Sam has probably made quite a bit of money licensing that song, and here he is, giving us permission to use it for free.

What a swell guy. He sure creates catchy tunes.

Hang tight. We're almost to the part where we need your help.

So here we are, nearly a year later, and we still haven't had time to create that promo. We want to produce an atypical demo reel. We've watched plenty of demo reels, and no matter how great the content is, they always lose our attention. I think it has something to do with story: Great videos tell a story. No matter how compact or camouflaged, there's a narrative and pacing that makes you want to keep watching to the end.

Most demo reels have no arc, no pacing. They're like Transformers 3. We're going to throw a ton of cool shots on the screen. Hold onto your butts and enjoy the ride.

Ugh. We want to treat Sam's song well. We've got a few ideas brewing, but none of them have excited into action over the last 9 months. So we need you. Start throwing ideas against our various walls: Facebook, Twitter, our website form, or at ideas(at)yeahyeahcreative.com.

Give us your helicopter shots. Give us your dancing gorillas. Send us your underwater flash mobs. If you think it fits the song and fits us, we're going to love it.

We're serious.

You never know what's going to jar that fantastic idea loose, so let 'em fly. Don't hold back. We might even use it.

Let's make Sam Means proud. He seems like a swell guy.

#Sam Means #yeah yeah creative #Demo reel ideas

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