NEW WEBSITE

We're moving to a new website host so we can obtain the URL RyanRakowski.com. We don't have it yet but in time it will be our domain so from here on out go to:

http://ryanrakowski.wordpress.com

Wordpress is a little bit more professional and looks more like a professional website than a blog. Go to that website, favorite it, bookmark it because this blogger site about life as a filmmaker is going to be shutting down soon.

 -Ryan Rakowski

NEW VIDEO: "Alright That's It By Please Promise" Audio Waveform Animation

After about a full week of rendering this particle project is finally completed. Render Time= 40+ Hours. Completely made in Adobe After Effects w/ Trapcode Particular + Sound Keys. I won't say that the video is extremely amazing and entertaining, but it does need some recognition because over 46,200,000 particles were generated within this 5 minute time span.

Special thanks to Please Promise for providing the music for their newest single, Alright That's It.

Please Promise's Lynx:
Website: http://www.pleasepromise.net/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/PleasePromise
Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/pleasepromise
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/pleasepromise
Feedburner: http://feeds.feedburner.com/PleasePromise

NEW VIDEO: First Stop Motion + News

Here's a very short stop motion that I did alongside with Taylor Robida. Big thanks to Taylor for his awesome sound editing. We literally took over 5 hours to make this 18 second stop motion with Play-doh. Probably won't do this ever again for a while. It was made with a DV camera and a Stop-Motion Lunchbox. I will be using Dragon Stop Motion and an HD camera next time.

I also have some amazing news! After 15 days later, I finally got my job as the new production assistant for WGVU-PBS which I will be starting when I return for my fall 2012 semester. I also got a summer job in Pagosa Springs, Colorado at Sonlight Christian Camp as a Videographer. Both jobs will be great new experiences and I know I will succeed in them.

The only bad news is that my Canon Vixia HF20 HD camera is glitching up a lot lately. Its been having a lot of black screen issues whenever you turn it on and I constantly have to reset the camera and unplug the battery out and plug it back in in order for it to work. Kinda blows but then again I've had this camera for about 4-5 years so maybe its just time for a replacement. I want a Canon 5D Mark III now. I'm so spoiled..

This is something I have to get off my chest but I'm insanely in love with this one girl at college. I don't think she knows how much I like her but she should. Last week on her birthday I bought her some beautiful flowers and she barely said thank you. I feel like moving on now, she's not into me so why should I waste my time with her? I know my future wife is out there somewhere looking for me too.

Oh and last but not least I'm doing a video for Please Promise again. Sorta like a music video promotion with sound keys in the the audiowaveform animation style. Here's a screenshot:

3/12/2012

Man this has been a long spring break. I normally won't post life events that are unrelated to my film career on here unless I think its absolutely necessary but this saves me from having to have to post a crap long status on Facebook. And because nobody really pays attention to this I think its a good way to express myself. I finally got my laptop back on Friday. Fixed and fully functional again. It was suppose to come on Monday so that was a huge bonus coming early. The only thing I had to pay for was the shipping.

This week is definitely going to be a busy one. I have to catch up on school work, I have 2 midterms coming up within the week. On Tuesday I have an interview with WGVU. On Saturday I'm leaving for a Wings hockey game and on Sunday a special friend of mine has a birthday.

On Linkedin and on Youtube people are going crazy over my Nebulas video: http://youtu.be/1y4R0Iw6x5M They are asking tons of question on how I made it and are requesting that I provide them with a tutorial, or the project file or to remove the text so they can have the animation. I ignore most of them because in my mind I'm thinking, "screw you." You're not paying me to have this video so you are not getting it or any information about it for free. The Christian-Rock band Please Promise provided me with their latest track and I said I was going to make a sweet animation with it. I'm looking forward to it actually. They aren't paying me but as long as I can get my name out there with the 3000+ fans they have I'm good as long as I get some recognition.

Bad News: Broken Laptop

I'm sorry to bring about this bad news but my laptop is broken which means I have no good way to pump out videos until it gets repaired. Ever since I had my laptop the little prong inside the DC power port was always a little wobbly. Here's a picture of the part that is broken.

The silver prong broke off and is jammed inside the charger meaning I have no way of charging my laptop. So I called Asus customer service to speak to a bunch of horrible people that can't speak any clear and proper english. I was never so frustrated in my life. Why do companies insist on hiring foreigners and people who can't speak clear english to take calls from customers? After finally requesting to speak to 3-4 different people I finally got to talk to someone that could help me that I could understand and got my label printed off and I shipped my laptop the next day.

About a week has past, I haven't had that many withdrawals but I checked the tracking number only to find out that the building number was somehow missing from my shipment so I had to once again talk to a confusing foreigner from Fedex and change the shipping address. It all should be good now and I should have my laptop back and videos pumping out in about 2-3 weeks. Thankfully its spring break this week and I don't have a need for my laptop.

NEW VIDEO: Particular Sparkler Name (Motion Sketch)

With the help of Nick Campbell, I was able to create this small animation of my name using Trapcode Particular and something new that I learned called Motion Sketch within After Effects.

Music: "Have My Love (Instrumental)" by gagawhore is licensed under a Creative Commons License. http://soundcloud.com/gagawhore/7-11-final-version

NEW VIDEO: Lumiére Brothers Style 46-Second Film Project

In 1895, the Lumiére Brothers patented the Cinematographe -- a moving picture camera, developer and projector, all in one device. The brothers filmed 46 second movies with the camera and projected the films for audiences around the world. This was a video recreating the style of films they made within the 46 second timespan and was also good old vintage film look test for me within After Effects.

Video filmed, created and directed by: Ryan Rakowski and Taylor Robida.
Casting by: Taylor Robida
Edited by: Ryan Rakowski.

Music: Dark Hallway by Kevin MacLeod @ incompetech

Special thanks to (in order of appearance):
Lucas Mosher, Pooja Suresh, Ethan Christenson, Ryan Liddane, Ryan St. John, Kayla Kline and Derrek Shueneman.



To my Grandpa that reads my blog: "The small videos that appear in the player at the end of each video I post on here are not always mine. They are suggested videos."