Dying Cameras, Dashing Pics

05 Jun Dying Cameras, Dashing Pics

Hello there fellow intertubians!

Some of you may be wondering why I’ve released a Christmas themed “The Real Luke” season at the beginning of summer. Well, I don’t have a very good reason other than that
1.) It was done.
2.) I didn’t want to wait.
3.) It just wouldn’t be right to deprive you, my loyal audience, of The Real Luke for any longer. It’d be like keeping a lollipop away from a child, or a string away from a kitteh, or a bottle of Canadian Mist away from a hobo…

But I digress, let me tell you a little about this project.

Last December, I was home in Washington State at the same time when a series of major winter storms aka SNOWPOCALYPSE hit the Puget Sound area. It was the biggest snow fall since 1997. Back then I was just a senior in high school…but I had a 4×4 truck. It was pretty awesome. I rallied all around town. Nothing could stop me.

This time there was no 4×4 in the household, so we were basically stuck at home. Some might even say we were “snow bound”…literally. But that gave us (by “us” I mean my sister Teal and myself) more time to cook, eat, and think up these episodes….

er I mean, for me to…to go and do what I do naturally, in the woods. Yeah….that’s it.

It was a lot of fun getting to work with Teal on the writing and shooting. She’s been a big part of The Real Luke since the beginning and this time she took a bigger role in the creation of the story. Plus since we’ve made a few of these, she knows more of what to look for behind the camera both in terms of framing and my performance.

Everything went pretty smoothly, except for my camera deciding it was going to eat about 10 minutes of footage. There’s definitely a moment of panic in the editing room when you are playing back a tape and it DOESN’T PLAY BACK. But I just left it rolling and eventually it started to play the footage correctly. Luckily we shot some intro & b-roll first. The meat of the story was later on the tape and thankfully, that part was undamaged. Since there was enough to cut all 3 episodes that meant I shot about 10 minutes too much footage.

The camera I’m using I’ve had since 1999. The amount of use I’ve got from it is really astounding. I’ve probably shot over 100 days with it. I’ve used it to edit 50+ projects. It’s been dropped a countless numbers of times. It’s been to more ski areas than most snowboarders. And it’s helped inspire a love of all things Canon.

Sadly though, I’m thinking it’s about time to put it out to pasture… Though the “old” video look has become part of The Real Luke aesthetic, I think the next season just might be…in…HD.

You heard it here first folks.

Anyhoo, I had lots of other help on this season also. My Mom and Teal performed the song on the Holiday Special.
Ben Ceccarelli did the VFX. Nic Routzen took the photos. They both do amazing work and I can’t recommend them highly enough. Steve Romero did a bang up job on the sound design as well.

And as a special treat for my blog readers & twitter followers, here are some exclusive photos from the fashion shoot…enjoy.

Oh, I’m also interested in collaborating with anyone who has an idea for The Real Luke…part of the fun of having an established character is seeing other people’s take on it.

Got somewhere you want him to go?

A mythical creature for him to best in a test of cunning and strength?

Something hallucinatory for him to eat?

Let’s make it happen!

-Luke