Where is Klaus?

Catching up with Maxi World Championship 2010 thanks to iMovie 11

Plenty of photographs and iPhone 4 movie clips from the 2010 edition of the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship have been sitting around on my hard-disk since last September to be processed. Finally, the update of iMovie provided the "excuse" to use this material to test the "professional-quality movie trailer" provided in iMovie 11.

You will have to be the judge wether the result meets professional criteria. But I can assure you that the production process is fairly simple and straight forward. The movie-trailer templates provide an efficient starting point to assemble a video clip quickly. Since the template is fairly rigid and in my experience doesn't let you have too much room for change, I transformed the "movie trailer template" into a "project" which then allows you to make all the changes you wish. You can "copy-paste" any element of the various templates (using the option key) provided by the software.

iMovie 11 has gained significantly in options to adjust your still and video footage, add a wide variety of titles, addition of professional audio tracks (some specially recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra) and, last but not least, the reinstatement of the single row view, i.e. the traditional timeline we are used to from Final Cut Pro. Once you have familiarized yourself with the various keyboard shortcuts and the program's options, iMovie 11 allows you to process your video clips quickly and efficiently. A perfect companion for the multimedia photographer!

Maxi Rolex Cup 2010 Race 6 from Klaus Huber on Vimeo.

 

Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2010 from Klaus Huber on Vimeo.

 

The Chase - reporting from railway heartland

Saturday, August 21 2010 was the big day for the STOP RISK film crew involving a hair raising chase of a couple of helicopters sneaking up from behind on a freight train for a dare devil jump of Hollywood stuntman Oliver Keller. It all worked out to perfection, as you can see from the attached Vimeo clip, in spite of 35C+ sweltering temperatures testing the actor's and crew's staying power.

At the end of the day, another hollywoodesque action scene was in the can making for a teeth clenching intro for the Swiss Railways safety promoting movie. You will find an innocent bystander's take on the day's actions by clicking on the video clip below

The Chase from Klaus Huber on Vimeo.

It's all about a Tarp - reporting from railway heartland

Last Friday, August 20, 2010 the STOP RISK film crew assembled again to start shooting on location the third sequel of the Swiss Railway's award winning campaign. The "usual suspects" gathered somewhere in the midst of the Swiss railway heartland again under the leadership of Michel Girardin of Creative Consulting, the producer Stefan Christen of Addictive Films and Michael Huber, the director from Boutiq, the Swiss animation and motion design firms.

It was a great opportunity to watch this experienced crew, which included again Oliver Keller and his Hollywood based K-Stunts team, in vigorous action. Click on the link below to see my first day's impressions.

It's all about a tarp from Klaus Huber on Vimeo.

"Heldin der Lüfte" - world premiere of the new Swiss movie you have to see

Melanie Winiger, the lead actress in the new Swiss movie "Heldin der Lüfte" gives to protocol how much she enjoyed working with director Mike Huber during the physically most challenging shoot on the glaciers of the mile-high Engadin valley in southeastern Switzerland at subzero temperatures. On December 2 2008, the world premiere was hosted by Swiss Television at the REGA Center (the Swiss air rescue organization, a national icon) at Kloten airport. The movie will be aired on channel SF1 of Swiss TV on December 14, 2008 at 2005 hours. Don't miss it.

It's the story of a young woman helicopter pilot whose first assignment with the air rescue organization REGA is at the Samaden air base, her home village she left years ago after the tragic death of her boyfriend and where her personal history catches up with her with a vengeance. Melanie Winiger plays the part of the strong-willed yet very sensitive young woman heli pilot. An astounding and very mature performance indeed.

Here, the director, Mike Huber surrounded by the film's cast, explains to Madeleine Hirsiger , head of SF TV's movie department, and the invited guests the challenges he and the crew faced to get the hair-raising helicopter rescue scenes in the can. It is definitively not for the faint-hearted. The film strikes a perfect balance between the personal drama and emotions of the young women and her professional role as a fearless heli pilot in a world still dominated by tough men. You got to see this movie.

Taking pictures with the iPhone in the dark of the night has it's obvious limitations (a flash and more pixels would be greatly appreciated, Steve Jobs!). Hence I am adding a couple of pictures shot by tillate.com nightlife radio.

Stunts on RED

I posted 3 new video blogs on my website summarizing my impressions from a two-day shoot at the Glatt shopping mall near Zürich, Switzerland where Mike Huber directed Oliver Keller, a.k.a. the EXPERT, and his team in a series of stunts for a new movie for the Swiss Railway’s successful STOP RISK campaign. The sound of screeching tires, high pitched car engines and the staccato of rifle shots made for a thrilling ambiente for the surprised monday morning shoppers following a "quiet" sunday with a spectacular car jump from the 12-story roof of the mall. For the first time ever in a shoot by Mike, the camera team used a couple of the new RED (4K pixels) cameras, yet another reasons for the film aficionados to experience live the future in cinematography. Amazing, what 18K USD buys these days.

You will also find the video blogs on Youtube as follows:

- Take One - Jumping from the top

- Take Two - The chase

- Take Three - Encounter on top

Il Backgammon

xmas preparations

It's been quite a while since my last post as I used my other website for my video podcasts. High time to show off a short youtube clip  I put together with Final Cut Pro following a recent visit by our young friends putting together their nativity set for christmas.

Favorite podcast: Reel reviews

My favorite film podcast by far is Michael Geoghegan's "Reel Reviews - Films Worth Watching". He normally does one episode per week, either as a regular 10 minutes show bringing listeners up to speed on which films to check out from the video store or as a "Cinephile Series", a 30+ minutes in-depth analysis of his favorite movies. The best way to convince yourself that "Reel Reviews" is worth your time is to listen to one of his recent shows.

I particularly like the episode on "Scarface", Brian de Palma's update of the classic 1932 crime drama by Howard Hawks, starring Al Pacino. This podcast includes an interview with Pepe Serna who offers his personal insights into de Palma's way of work and his experience in working side by side with Al Pacino. Check out the "Scarface" episode.