2009: A Look Back at Our Year

This is a look back at 2009 through films Cristina Valdivieso and I made together. She deserves a ton of recognition and credit for all of her hard work and also the inspiration she has given me over the last year.

WEVA! from Cristina Valdivieso + Jon Connor on Vimeo.

We had a lot of fun at WEVA and then entered this contest.

Jon Connor's Re:Frame Contest Entry from Re:Frame Collective on Vimeo.

This video wasn't winning so my good friend Philip Bloom really proved what a true friend he was and did this to try to help.

Brokeback RE:Frame from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.

Somehow we still lost that contest. I was very sad. We did win this though.

TR Best of 2009 from T R on Vimeo.

And we managed to make it to San Francisco anyway and made these.

Re:Frame San Francisco - The Beginning from Cristina Valdivieso + Jon Connor on Vimeo.

Re:Frame San Francisco - The Middle from Cristina Valdivieso + Jon Connor on Vimeo.

Re:Frame San Francisco : The Ending from Cristina Valdivieso + Jon Connor on Vimeo.

Went to New York with Cristina and this was the result.

New York from Cristina Valdivieso + Jon Connor on Vimeo.

Then it was nearly Christmas time.

Christmas Tree from Cristina Valdivieso + Jon Connor on Vimeo.

Talk about a white Christmas. Philadelphia gets hit with 24" of snow, days before the holiday!!

Abominable Snowman from Cristina Valdivieso + Jon Connor on Vimeo.

All in all it was a wonderful year! I have a beautiful and amazing partner in Cristina and we share our passion for filmmaking. I made a ton of amazing friends and am trying to help give back with this site. We have some big plans for 2010 and we hope you will all come along for the ride!!

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Reel Inspiration: Take 5 with Ron Dawson

Ron Dawson is an accomplished screenwriter, director, award-winning video producer, speaker and author. He is the founder and president of Dare Dreamer Media, a boutique new media marketing agency and production company specializing in online marketing and viral videos. For the second consecutive year, he was named to the EventDV 25, one of the top 25 event videographers in the industry as voted by his peers.

Ron is also host and producer of the weekly photographers podcast, F-Stop Beyond (both the video and audio versions). Billed as the “Fresh Air” of photographers, beyond business and branding, Ron gets into the heart and soul of the guest. Ron gets personal with some of the nation’s leading photographers from all fields.

As a producer of original online entertainment, Ron has produced or co-produced a number of other programming including Me2WeTV, Real Women Scrap TV, F-Stop Beyond: In Living Color, and a handful of Dane Sanders‘ Photo Minute series. Most recently, Ron was the creator and executive producer of the first  online reality TV show for and about professional photographers, “The Longest Day.”

In July 2009, he and his wife released ReFocus: Cutting Edge Strategies to Evolve Your Video Business, published by PeachPit Press.

"I've been passionate about filmmaking since 1992. I started my business ten years later in 2002. I left a high paying marketing job to pursue my passion. Since then I've been blessed to be named to the Event DV 25 the last two years. However, I've built a reputation in the video biz and among my peers as primarily a marketing guy. I left a marketing job to be a filmmaker, and now my filmmaking job has turned into a marketing job. What happened?


I'm on a personal quest to return to my roots as a filmmaker. To focus on doing work that I'm passionate about as an artist. Canon's 5D and 7D HD DSLRs have made filmmaking fun again for me. As much as possible we're using those cameras on most of our jobs now. We just finished a short film series for our long standing client, Pictage. It explores the themes of Dream, Create, and Inspire. It's my favorite work to date. I also recently completed my first 100% 5D photographer promo video for a photographer in Calgary, AB Canada. I also hope to start making personal films. One of the best ways to stay fresh, inspired, and creative, and to avoid burn out, is to invest time in personal work. There are a bunch of stories I want to tell. Now is the time to start telling them." - Ron Dawson


FAVORITE MOVIES
I don't have a "favorite" movie. That's an impossible question for me to answer. But, the five films which have most influenced my style of storytelling are (in order of release):
The Graduate
Do the Right Thing
When Harry Met Sally
Strictly Ballroom
Swingers
All of these films are ones in which character, dialog, and story play an integral part of the films' successes. That's where I feel I'm the strongest as a filmmaker: in my storytelling abilities. Weaving audio and visuals in a way to convey an emotionally powerful message. I'm also a huge fan of documentaries and love the work of Errol Morris and Janette Burstein. (I can do without Michael Moore though. However, he is a great storyteller.) And because of the 5D, I've lately taken great interest in movies characterized by stunning cinematography. Two films which I've recently seen whose cinematography I really admired are "Revolutionary Road" (Sam Medez director) and "Defiance" (Ed Zwick director).


INSPIRATION FROM THE STARS
Lastly, I have to give a shout out to SyFy's Battlestar Galactica. I've been watching the show for the first time on DVD and it is by far the BEST sci-fi drama EVER. (This coming from a huge Star Trek:TNG fan). Ironically though, the thing about BSG is that it's not even really at heart science fiction. Space is just a backdrop for what in essence is a well written soap opera and character drama. The themes, character development, and story arcs in that series are absolutely enthralling. Every episode ends with a cliffhanger (borrowing from the age-old days of "Flash Gordon" serials). The "bad" guys are not 100% bad. The "good" guys are not really all "good." Everyone is flawed, broken, and no one is above judgment. Even the most despicable character, the traitor Baltar, is a complex character who at times makes you actually root and care for him. That, my friends, is excellent storytelling. Whether or not you consider yourself a sci-fi fan, if you're at all interested in excellent storytelling and character development, rent—no, BUY, the BSG DVD series.


THE FUTURE
I'm excited about what's in store for our future. In many ways I feel like I'm starting all over again. And that's a fun feeling.


HOW DOES THE CREATIVE PROCESS LOOK TO YOU?
Below is the "Create" film we produced for our client Pictage. The password to view it is ppc09nola. Entirely shot with the 5D MarkII with Magic Bullet color grading in post.


Links:
Website: daredreamer.net
Blog: bladeronner.com
Book: ReFocus: Cutting Edge Strategies to Evolve Your Video Business (Peachpit Press): peachpit.com/refocus

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