Julia Moulden’s RIPE book trailer
“Over 50 and Feeling Ripe for Change? You’re Not Alone.”
At the beginning of this month a good friend approached me and asked if I would be interested in producing a short promo video for Julia Moulden’s new book RIPE and immediately I agreed. I’ve been shooting with Julia before for the “A Toast to Social Entrepreneurship” video that I did for YSEC last year and have heard about her book that helps people over 50 to find new passion in their lives.
Through Julia’s contacts we were able to shoot at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, although at first I wasn’t that happy about the location. First of all the day we were filming there was a lot of floor cleaning and loud construction scheduled and then we couldn’t use the big space in front of Koerner Hall with the nice big windows. But these are the critical moments where you have to stay cool and find the best solution to work with. We looked at a few nice spots in the old part of the building, but there was just not enough space to get a good wide shot or the main light would come from the back, so in the end I decided to just use the grey wall on the third floor. I think Julia was happy with that as well, because it is very simplistic and clean. And with the soft light coming through the huge windows it looked very beautiful.
We were actually lucky that during the interview the construction crew didn’t make too much noise and the lav mic also didn’t record too much of the noise from the cafeteria, which was just below us. The interview itself went great! Julia prepared a lot of what she wanted to say, but I also wanted her to tell me everything in a natural way, so it doesn’t look like she’s just repeating what she wrote down. Later in the editing I was quite happy to have done this because it is much more authentic.
Although having an author in an interview also has other advantages. Julia was very careful with which words she used and was able to give me a lot of very good, short sound bites that integrated perfectly in the final video. It was also great that she was open to some exciting B-Roll shots. The book cover shows a pear, so I told Julia: “Let’s work with that!” Although my attempts of teaching her how to juggle with three pears weren’t very successful, it made for some great and fun footage. Julia really wanted to show her optimism, passion and energy in the video and if you see her running up the stairs several times, you know that it’s not just for the video.
On April 16th Julia had her virtual book launch and RIPE is now available at several online book store. If you are interested to find out more, visit her website at http://www.juliamoulden.com. And make sure to check out her weekly column of Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-moulden.
Julia and me actually ended up bartering our services, so I did the video for her book launch and she is doing some copy for my website right now. As you might have noticed in the last few weeks I have been slowly redesigning my website, so check back in a couple of days for some new content.
Equipment used:
- Canon T2i with Magic Lantern
- Canon 50mm f/1.4 + Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
- Audio Technica Lav Mic
- Benro Tripod
- DIY Skaterdolly
- Post in Adobe Premiere + Adobe After Effects
Related posts:
Jan Keck |
There is so much goodness going on in this story – from the juggling, to Julia’s amazing energy (living proof that she’s abslutely everything that she teaches and writes about), right down to the bartering of services. I remember our YSEC shoot with Julia, she is indeed a person filled with optimism and passion for what she does. Then again, so are you. Great job yet again Jan!
Ps. I told the Director of the Sunshine School in Laos about you today and we both agree that you should come here and work with us and the kids for some time
Most definitely!!
I found this story quite by accident, and living with a purpose as an over 50 male, will move forward finding my passions. I have been unemployed for over 9 months, and in that time have discovered that passion comes in small packages. Just because the title [ RIPE ] strikes me as wondrous, I will read and forge through as I find my own world of ‘Sharing Wonder’…a trademarked statement for a new business I am starting. We all have gifts, and ideas that will leave the world a better place, besides Adulthood II deserves some great candidates!
The best advice I can think of is turn off the Television, and put down the paper, neither will help you to re-invent yourself nor find what the world needs.
“Life isn’t about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain’”….
[...] was part of my book trailer — a video is now de rigeur — and the cinematographer, Jan Keck, was delighted when I suggested it. Later, he blogged about it, expressing astonishment that I had [...]