June 21, 2010
Movie by Steve Douglas
Editors Note. Steve Douglas has been a featured contributor to this site for many years now. Aside from the many FC Studio and hardware reviews, Steve has also written a number of FC Studio tutorials as well. After all this time I thought that you, the reader, might be interested in seeing what he does for a living.
Enjoy,
--ken
In 1931 Helen Browning Scripps built a large sea-wall by one of the coves of La Jolla, North of San Diego. While the property was owned by the state of California, the state thanked her, transferred rights to the city of San Diego and according to Mrs. Scripps wishes designated the area for children and their families as a safe place to play and swim without the dangers of waves, tides and rip currents that open beaches are vulnerable to. Henceforth, this area was called Children's Pool. While seals have always frequented the area, in the early 90's, they grew in such numbers that the area was closed due to fecal contamination. Since then, there have been two sides going back and forth in the local, state and federal courts. Some want the seals driven away and the beach given back to the people and others want it kept as a seals only area. This short film addresses that issue. Thus we have the title 'Signed and Sealed' representing the many 'keep away' signs that the pro seal group has put up and at the end 'Delivered' parodies the old 'Signed, Sealed and Delivered'.
I sent a copy of this video to Ken Stone just to see what he thought of it and was both surprised and honored that he asked me whether he could put it up on this site for you to see.
I am sure that many of the readers on this site believe that as writers and videographers, we are filming with only the latest, greatest and best equipment. I sure wish I could afford to fit into that category. Except for two short clips, this entire film was shot on my old and only camcorder, the Sony HVR-A1U. If there is a message here, I will borrow what Michael Horton said to me on his Buzz internet radio show, "It is not the tool you use but the tool who uses the tool that counts"
Steve
Steve Douglas is a certified Apple Pro for Final Cut Pro 7 and underwater videographer. A winner of the 1999 Pacific Coast Underwater Film Competition, 2003 IVIE competition, 2004 Los Angeles Underwater Photographic competition, and the prestigious 2005 International Beneath the Sea Film Competition, where he also won the Stan Waterman Award for Excellence in Underwater Videography and 'Diver of the Year', Steve was a safety diver on the feature film "The Deep Blue Sea", contributed footage to the Seaworld Park's Atlantis production, and productions for National Geographic and the History channels. Steve was a feature writer for Asian Diver Magazine and is one of the founding organizers of the San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition. He is available for both private and group seminars for Final Cut Pro and leads underwater filming expeditions and African safaris with upcoming excursions to the Cocos Islands, Costa Rica, Lembeh Straits, Indonesia, and Wakatobi. Feel free to contact him if you are interested in joining Steve on any of these exciting trips. www.worldfilmsandtravel.com
