CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE

San Diego to Cabo San Lucas

2011-06-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I wasn't quite done explaining how awesome my job is. For this video we drove with a caravan of journalists from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas in an Outlander Sport. So basically an all expense paid driving tour of the Baja Peninsula. The trip took about 4 days and was amazing. It is vast amount of variety in landscape as well as culture from one end of the peninsula to the other is almost overwhelming. From shanty town villages to insanely gorgeous vistas with endless miles of desert in-between, I have never experienced anything like it. The trip concluded in a resort hotel right on the water in Cabo which is begging for a return trip.

Luxury Drifting

2011-06-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

I will gladly admit that I was jealous about this video. I would have loved to spend an entire day soaking up educational nuggets from Micah on the fine art of car control and tire shredding. That being said, watching the hours of video we came back with comes in a close second. It is moments like these that I remember how ridiculous my job is. Mr. DeLano, your task today is to hang out at the race track with your friends and film a car doing donuts and drifting...ALL day. Yes, ok...I can do that.

Mercedes SLS AMG

2011-06-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

Gullwing doors! This is a beautiful car. I wouldn't buy it, but it's gorgeous. Why not? A better driving experience can be had for less in the R8, and if you are looking for pure sexiness, you have to pick Aston Martin. We shot this up in the hills above Santa Barbara, we just happened on this perfect newly paved road, although it was a bit narrow, it still provided a proper back drop for the SLS. We had two gopro's fall off the car, we thought for sure that one had tumbled off of the edge but eventually found it wedged in some underbrush. Lessons learned: 1) The slightly concave surface of the SLS wing is not a great spot for a gopro camera. 2) The rear quarter panel gets hotter than hell from the exhaust, also not a good place for a suction mounted camera.

Nissan Leaf vs Chevy Volt

2011-06-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

Two of the most hyped green cars go head to head in this visual battle royale. Actually it's more of a side by side comparison set to some sweet 8bit inspired music by Micah Muzio. Check out the youtube comments on this one, who knew Nissan vs Chevy would be the new Hatfield and McCoy of the automotive world?

Jim Russel Driving school

2011-05-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

I am slowly burning through my huge backlog of editing, quite awhile back we were invited up to Infineon Raceway by Mitsubishi to flog some Evos around the track and maybe learn a thing or two. Micah did the learning, I did the shooting and editing and from that unholy alliance this video has been spawned. Enjoy.

Ford Explorer

2011-04-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Along with the Jetta project, the beginning of this year was consumed by a huge project we did with KBB and Ford. We set off across the country to answer consumer's questions about the new Ford Explorer, we ended up with 5 videos, a crap load of frequent flier miles and very little sleep. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Portland Oregon

Breckenridge CO

2011 JETTA

2011-04-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

Lately we have been busy working on videos for KBB "Guide Books" where we do a series of videos on a a specific car to be highlighted on KBB.com. The first series was on the VW Jetta. Here are a couple of those videos:

Land Rover LR4

2011-04-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

Off road with style, we didn't jump this thing like the Raptor, but it is still an impressive climber. That being said, the Land Rover is not the greatest road trip car, we took a drive up to San Francisco with 5 people and luggage and comfort wise the back seat didn't really holdup over the 6 plus hours. I demand reclining rear seats! Could also go for a bit more padding in the seats. Given the choice of this or the new Explorer I would probably choose the Explorer, well at least in the sit on your ass for 6 hours category.

Audis on Ice

2011-04-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

Directly on the heels of the Detroit Auto Show we shot up to Montreal with Audi to experience some all wheel Quattro action on a frozen race track. Most of the cars there are not even available in the US at this point, I am looking at you RS5. Here is the video proof of our sub zero adventure.

yo CUZ

2010-01-24T11:05:00.000-08:00

some sidewalk time, post Shillelagh pizza and burger...

Play

2010-01-24T11:04:00.001-08:00

Our park down the street is actually pretty awesome, my nephew can testify...

Flock of Pigeons

2010-01-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

It was good to get out after all the rain and just walk around a bit...

Down came the rain

2010-01-21T17:05:00.001-08:00

Plenty of water to go around....

LBC is Wet

2010-01-20T16:34:00.000-08:00

We are getting pounded with rain here in Long Beach. I love the rain, but it is getting a little bit crazy round here, flooding on the bottom floor of our building, our parking garage, the street, and a tree just went over, oh yeah that tree was right next to a car that got moved onto the sidewalk from the flood water. Madness.

Mazdaspeed3

2010-01-19T20:03:00.000-08:00

There are plenty of photos to go around, but I have been neglecting the pimpage of my videos! Here is a still frame from our Mazdaspeed3 video, shame this moment only lasted for a split second, so it really looks more impressive as a still. Check out the entire video below as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FESQ5oWChXU

Energon Gumball

2010-01-18T21:57:00.000-08:00

This is my boy, Donovan waiting in the Elevator, he got this tube of gumballs for Christmas, it's not often I read the nutritional information on gumballs, but I did on these, 170 calories per gumball! These take the new top spot for calorie dense junk food, the runner ups are those fruit pies at the gas station, they bring an impressive 470 calories to the table in a pretty small package, no match for gumballs but probably a better bang for the buck flavor wise.

The Asphalt Drive...

2010-01-18T21:55:00.001-08:00

On the way home from SF, I stopped in Tehachapi for a fresh coke zero and snapped this shot of a train sitting on the tracks in the cold...

On the way home from SF, I stopped in Tehachapi for a fresh coke zero and snapped this shot of a train sitting on the tracks in the cold

A bit of time in San Francsico

2010-01-18T21:46:00.000-08:00

I traveled up to San Francisco for a couple of days for a wedding, managed to shoot a few hipstamatic photos in between actually working...

The back alley of Hotel Whitcomb, straight out of Blade Runner:

A reverse peep hole, for waiters to look into the conference room...

Lobby of the Hotel Whitcomb

Glen the Trolley Driver

Detroit to Los Angeles

2010-01-15T10:23:00.000-08:00

First shot is from our Hotel room in Detroit, Motorcity Casino, the bridge leads over to Canada, I hear they have a nice ballet over there ;o

Second is our approach to LAX, just a cool haze/fog hanging over the city....

Detroit Auto Show NAIAS

2010-01-14T13:36:00.001-08:00

I feel very lucky that I sometimes get to travel on someone else's dime, or large heavy sack of dimes. I spent a very fast and short "3 days" including flights, in Detroit for the Auto show. The show itself was pretty subdued, but had a blast with the KBB and Beacon Street Crews. I think most importantly, I discovered Hipstamatic, its a camera app for the iPhone, it just makes your photos more interesting, in a retro grimy way. I am quietly going to start my picture a day challenge right now, challenge myself to put up at least one photo every single day on this blog. So let's start this challenge with a few images from the Auto Show. For more Hipstamatic and Detroit gravy check out my facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=140633&id=605584000&ref=mf

mikeD

Little Drummer Boy

2009-12-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

Just dug this out of the vault for Christmas, I think my first or second project in film school, enjoy.

Mustang GT500 tease

2009-08-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

A tire chewing, gas guzzling, 540 horse power can of whoop ass, and we just opened it all over El Mirage dry lake bed's face. I am editing our experience with this roaring beast right now, but here are a few pics in the mean time :)

James out on the lake bed shooting stills...

Chewed off the tires, there's got to be a tool kit in here right....right?

Still frame from the video

mikeD

What the Zuk!?

2009-08-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

Pomona Fairplex has giant empty parking lots, and those parking lots are sometimes filled with cones, and on some days people drive past those cones quickly. This was one of those days. Suzuki had us out to drive the new Suzuki SX4 Sportback AND a couple of their concept cars, the SX4t and the Zuk. It's rare for a manufacturer to let the unwashed masses of auto journalists soil their conceptual babies by driving them, so this was actually pretty neat. Check out the video, shot and edited by yours truly.

some pics from the shoot:

Highlight of the day.... a phone booth!! WTF!? haha

Zuk concept, with Mr. Muzio at the wheel.
Suzuki Cappuccino, its so tiny!
Suzuki PR crew

mikeD

Adam West BAM POW right in the dream catcher

2009-08-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

While perusing the massive Comic-con floor, out in the cheap seats where the action figure and comic book vendors sell their wares, I happened upon a small and lowly booth with 1960's era Batman periphenallia, upon closer inspection it was specifically an Adam West booth, and after an even closer maybe creepy inspection I found out that lovable bastard was going to be at the booth! Well HOT DAMN! Why so excited mikeD? Let me explain. Sure I watched the 60's Batman show on TV, I mean what 30 something didn't? oh, you didn't? FREAK! There were lots of neat colors, Batman and Robin kicking ass, hanging out in a cave, cruising in their awesome flame spewing jet car, I mean as a kid what is not to love? At some point Batman drifted away and we got Burton's Batman, and sure I could dig that, the moody darker batman kicking Joker's ass to the sweet beat of a Prince soundtrack. Fast forward to being raped by Batman Forever, although in a truly hilarious, yet still painful fashion.

So somewhere in the malaise between that freakish turd of a movie and the relaunch, I picked up the 60's Batman Feature film. I expected to enjoy some lame campy goodness and share some laughs with my 5 year old. And we did, but in between the laughs, I discovered something. In the dark recesses of that movie and I am sure the TV show as well, there is a grit holding it all together and that silty substance binding the whole thing together is genius. That movie is filled with subversive subtle comedy gold at every turn. From the ridiculous long winded non sensical riddle solving conversations, to the shark repellant and convenient foam rubber conventions, there is either pure comedic wizardry or high level autism at work behind the scenes making this all happen.

Back at the Comic con, with schedule synced I head back to the booth to meet up with Adam West. I am not really the star struck type, and usually avoid hassling celebrities, because truthfully I really don't have much to say to them, I don't know them personally, they sure as hell don't know who I am. This time though, I have lots to say, about the movie, about the genius, about the jet car, I am ready. I approach the booth, there is a small cluster of people snapping pictures, but to my surprise, no line, odd. As I step to the front of booth I am intercepted by a sleazy looking gentleman, he wants to know how he can help me. I explain I would like to talk to Adam West and get maybe get his autograph. He then explains that I need to buy something, ok fair enough, a man has to make a living right, even Adam West. He has a new DVD out, a documentary about Batman, $50 bucks with autograph...WTF!?, ok, obviously I just picked the wrong one, small signed poster, $60 bucks, glossy 8x10, $40 bucks. I don't want to be a douche bag and say don't you think thats a bit pricey, because, well Adam West is sitting right there. So with my head spinning and feeling like I just took a Bat-a-Rang to the crotch I started to wander away. At the very least I should get a picture of Adam West on my phone though right? I pull out my trusty iPhone, raise it to snap the pic and the mcDouche sleaze guy tries to back into my picture, my work here is done. Here is the pic.

Comic Con 2009

2009-08-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

I got to go to the San Diego Comic-con this year and I was paid to do it, haha! I was shooting video and interviews for Future US, and more specifically for MaximumPC.com. I was insanely busy while I was there, maybe 3-5 hours of sleep each night. I had a chance to walk the floor a few times, but missed all the panels, would have loved to see Kevin Smith. The videos are up on MaximumPC.com. I took a ton of pictures, a lot of them ended up in my twitter and zannel feeds but I will include some here as well. Future threw a party at the Tiki Thai Lounge and hosted the Crash Kings who played live, great bunch of down to earth guys, sounded great live and their musical sound in general is definitely a win. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/crashkings

I shot a few songs at the party, not sure where or when those are going to surface, but I'll keep you posted! I really hope this becomes an annual thing for me, had a fantastic time even though it took me about a week to recover.

Some Pics...

Love the red stormtrooper and then the Battlestar combo, Awesome!

I wonder if this guy knew that his Commander costume would be better than the piece of S$#t in the movie? Really we should have just shot the movie here at the Con with these guys, couldn't have been worse.
One of my favs at the Con, these "zombie" stormtroopers, RAD!
SoooOOOOoooo many Boba and Jenga Fett variations, really too many to count...
Full size Iron Man collection at the Marvel boot was way impressive
Just a rad giant robot down in the cheap seats :)
Oldschool cylon woot!
mikeD

Infiniti G37 Convertible

2009-08-11T21:25:00.001-07:00

I am not a huge fan of Infiniti, for no other reason that I think they look boring. To be fair I have never driven an Infiniti, I have sat shotgun in a few, and the FX35 long termer at KBB managed to haul my sweet ping pong table from the sports store to my house with minimal damage to the roof rack. So what I'm getting at is really, well nothing, except here is the G37 Convertible review that I shot and edited for Kelley Blue Book :)

A few pics from the shoot,

James our camera car driver/camera man/stills/everything rocks, picture speaks for itself...

Had a brief scare when after lowering and raising the roof 839 times it just kind of stopped...
Ahh sweet industry...
Rocking scooter sidecar combo on Long Beach Blvd...

MikeD

the Stepfather Trailer-Art of Editing or Spoiler Fetish?

2009-08-05T00:08:00.000-07:00

Either the art of the short film has been mastered or movie trailers have just lost all sense of purpose. Just one example of many, the Stepfather is everything I hate about movie trailers and everything I love about ultra efficient film editing. All the fat and calories of an entire feature length film in a tasty 2 and a half minute 30 foot wide bite size morsel. We are officially to the point where movie trailers need spoiler alerts. The entire purpose of a movie like the Stepfather is the mystery in whether the new Dad is evil or are the kids/wife/babysitter/cocker spaniel neurotic and paranoid. In the trailer to the Stepfather, not only do we see that the Stepdad in question looks kind of like the police sketches that are freaking everyone out, we also see him attacking people with power tools and then growing a unibomber beard that the sketch had, so that there is absolutely no doubt he is the evil serial killer guy. So hey audience, this is that type of movie, no really we are not f&#king around, this is that movie, seriously, here is how it ends, just so you know we are serious, check it out, look, LOOK! I am thinking the Snakes on a Plane approach might have worked better for the title, Creepy Bearded Dad Kills Step Family, Hot Daughter Lives. Oh, and there is a Cars cover song in the trailer, Micah's is better, rollonred.com.

Bentley GTC Speed

2009-08-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, so yeah its not everyday that you get to hang with a $240,000 car, yes that is the right amount of zeroes. Enter the Bentley GTC Speed, top speed over 200mph, swankiness everywhere you look and touch and strange things tucked away in its nether regions. I haven't done the exact math, but I think I could fill out most of my dream garage and have enough left over for a life time supply of burritos with that Bentley cash. That being said, that second wave of cash for clunkers cash might be coming through soon, so there's never been a better time to put $4500 down on a Bentley ;)

mikeD

Lexus HS 250s

2009-08-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

The Lexus HS250 is Lexus' first dedicated hybrid, this just means that there will not be a gas only version of this car. Lexus is quick to point out that this is not a premium Prius, it is a different platform altogether. At the launch, the technology elements of this car were front and center, a lot of time was taken to point out all of the systems, from the hybrid drive to the Onstar like service now offered, which was actually had some intriguing features. When chatting with a live person, they could look up your destination, whether you knew the exact name of what you were looking for or not, and then upload the directions to your navigation in car. Check out our HS250 video for the rest of the low down...

mikeD

Seal Performance videos

2009-06-16T12:38:00.001-07:00

A month or so back I got hired on by Guerilla Hollywood to edit these Seal performance videos! I am starting to hear these cover songs in malls and stores, it was a really short turn around and I didn't sleep for a couple of nights, so when I hear it, I want to take a nap haha, sorry no offense Seal :)

Seal - A Change Is Gonna Come

Shared via AddThis

mikeD

Cadillac CTS-V KBB Review

2009-06-16T11:58:00.001-07:00

This is a review of the Cadillac CTS-V for Kelley Blue Book, www.kbb.com. This is an amazing car, I am absolutely shocked that I am lusting for a Cadillac at my age, but I am. I directed and edited this video, enjoy!

MikeD

Watch out! Published Author in the Blog!

2009-06-16T11:57:00.001-07:00

Exciting news! I have been writing articles for Maclife.com for quite some time, but just recently, one of my featured articles was picked up for the print magazine! Yes someone actually spent money to print words that I wrote on real paper, it's crazy, I know. I am going to try to use this in every conversation from this point forward, "Well, as a published author, I think......" Haha.

Here is the Article,

Ten Things Every Final Cut User Should Know

and if that is just too much nerd for you check out this article from my trip to China:

Haggling for iPhones in China

MikeD

Experimental Film 1

2009-06-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

So at one point I had an experimental film class at the Academy of Art University. I think we did 3 or 4 projects, lucky you, I have found a couple of them haha. So here is the first, I remember wanting to play around with scrubbing the timeline “live” and recording that, and then capturing that back in and editing that footage, we also had to turn this in on VHS if I remember correctly, so I tried to screw with my teacher and class with the whole fast forward rewind thing at the beginning, and it totally worked! My teacher popped in the tape and then freaked out when it started rewinding, he jumped up and was fiddling with the VCR.....Awesome!

mikeD

Leash Laws

2009-06-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

How can you keep your kids safe, out of trouble and in control? Leash laws. A mock PSA from the Academy of Art days.

mikeD

Robot Girl

2009-06-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

A short film/music video from my days at the Academy of Art University. Starring Roberto Baldwin and Michelle DeLano, all set to an Aphex Twin song.

mikeD

Beaver Run Cafe Trailer

2009-06-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Quite a few years ago, I cut this trailer for a Producer friend of mine. It’s for the independent film “Beaver Run Cafe”. Kind of a supernatural, lesbian thing happening.

mikeD

Archived Demo Reel

2009-06-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

Although it treated me well for a few years, alas it is time to set aside this finely aged montage of clips. It’s final resting place, this blog, for all to enjoy.

mikeD

Living With Smoke

2009-06-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a clip from a classic anti-smoking production we did quite a few years back, notice our core values are all here, a Mini Cooper, Micah Muzio, Michelle DeLano, Laura Baldwin and who can forget the troubled San Diego youth? Enjoy

mikeD

Realultimatepower.net

2009-06-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

Classic web goodness right here. If you haven’t ever been to www.realultimatepower.net then you are in for a cleansing of the soul, entertainment in its truest base form, visual heroin if you will. If you have been there before, well, who couldn’t use another hit off that sweet ninja flavored crackpipe? Make the jump and prepared to get PUMPED! Make sure to hit the Pump up section, you will thank me later.

Dear Wendy

2009-06-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

I love this movie. I had heard it was strange, thats why it ended up in the ever growing and seemingly endless expanse that is my netflix que. Terry Gilliam meets Young Guns, no he didn’t direct it and no its not a western.....well kind of. Lars Von Trier wrote a movie about a pacifist that finds love in the steely embrace of a gun. This is that movie. Fast forward, he shares his joy with some misfits, some lady needs some coffee real bad and all hell breaks loose. Netflix it.

mikeD

2009-06-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

Now excuse me while I catch this blog up.

mikeD

the BLOG

2008-07-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Blog, I am a Director/Editor and DP from time to time, check in here for project news, photos, random stuff and just a general good ole time :)