Archive for Video Production

Kane Parsons, a Filmmaker Fresh out of High School

A pair of images, one showing Kane Parsons, a young man. The other showing the original Backrooms image of a hall with its musty old carpet and aging wallpaper.

Kane Parsons and the original Backrooms photograph.

Kane Parsons is an online filmmaker and visual effects artist who has received viral attention for his horror short films. His most popular work is a series called The Backrooms. Parsons, who goes by Kane Pixels online, released the first installment in his Backrooms series when he was sixteen years old. The nine minute short film which was uploaded to YouTube in 2022 takes place in an unnatural, lonely setting. The protagonist wanders endless, maze-like yellow hallways rendered in vivid detail with the 3D animation software Blender. This protagonist, whose handheld camera serves as our viewpoint for the film, entered this strange world by falling straight through the solid ground beneath him and into a place disconnected from our reality. In the days following the suspenseful short’s release, it would become highly popular in several online spaces. It was inspired by a post on a message board from 2019, one which described the original concept of the endless Backrooms, and featured the iconic photograph most associated with the uncanny dimension. The series expanded on the concepts first established in that post, and would only receive more notoriety as it went on, trending with each new entry in its ongoing narrative. As Kane Parsons continued to thoughtfully produce the visuals of the films, he grew more and more ambitious. The digital sets only became larger and more detailed, and later entries would use advanced motion capture techniques to make characters’ movements as realistic as possible.

All of the impressive work that Parsons was doing got him the attention of more than just online horror fans. The independent movie studio A24 has chosen to adapt his series into a feature film. Kane Parsons will direct the film, and it is to be written by Robert Patino, a producer and writer whose previous work includes the HBO series Westworld. While simultaneously completing high school, Parsons was able to build a unique online identity and inspire others with his fresh take on the found footage horror subgenre. He is quoted by ABC News as saying, “I just love doing this, I somehow almost never burn out. And I think that’s partially because of how much people love this series. It just feels like everything I do has value.”

I can say personally that the stories Kane Pixels has created have fascinated and transfixed me. I am reminded, as I climb to the third floor of a furniture store, of those windowless carpeted halls. I find myself wondering, “What would I do if I found myself in an infinite IKEA, or an endless airport?” The success of The Backrooms has shown me that if an idea intrigues me and has the sticking power to hold in my brain, it is likely that other people will have similar reactions to it. If I can unearth a novel idea and put in the time and effort to build upon it, I can make something people will care about.

 

Sources:

https://www.wired.com/story/what-are-the-backrooms/

https://abcnews.go.com/US/backrooms-horror-storytelling-online/story?id=92623707

https://deadline.com/2023/02/the-backrooms-a24-developing-feature-based-on-viral-horror-shorts-1235249413/

https://www.youtube.com/@kanepixels

Jeremy Byers

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

This is a question that many of us get asked when we are very young. Some of us come up with ridiculous ideas–some even outlandish, like an doctor in space. However, for Jeremy Byers, at age 14, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, and he continues to pursue that dream: he wants to make movies.

Byers, now 19, created his first film in high school, and since then, has created his own film company titled Joker Studios. He says, “I taught myself how to do everything, learned from other filmmakers and looked up to famous directors like Stanley Kubrick and Sergio Leone.”

Byers’ accomplishments especially hit home for me, specifically because of his location and his interests. He is from Tyrone, PA, which is only about half an hour from me. Seeing his accomplishments in film is fascinating to me because I know how difficult it can be to grow in a location that is seemingly slow. Byers says, “Tyrone was just a small town with nobody else in my field, so it would’ve been foolish not to capitalize on that.”

Byers continues to work towards his goal of someday working on a big film for Hollywood. He continues to make films he loves, and enters them in film festivals to gain more exposure.

When asked about his advice for young entrepreneurs, Byers says, “Don’t quit. It takes years to establish yourself, and it’s hard sometimes. If you quit, you really didn’t have a passion for what you wanted at all.”

Italian Graphic Design Entrepreneur

Do you ever wonder how you can make your social media look appealing? 

    Antia D’Alisera is not merely a successful YouTuber. Born in Rome Italy, and now a freshman at Kings College in London, she was raised by her father who is a movie producer and her mother who is an interior designer in Rome. Her older sister recently graduated from Parsons School of Design for fashion. Anita is surrounded by excellent taste and a beautiful eye for aesthetics. While on vacation, Anita and her family frequently travel to their house on an island off of Greece called Patmos. From growing up surrounded by her parents and sister’s excellent taste in style, art, and design, Anita has found a passion and deep interest for graphic designs, film, beauty and exquisite aesthetics. She is gifted with ideaphoria and can easily put her ideas into practice, since she currently has her own YouTube channel and her own graphic design business.   

    Anita D’Alisera, known as AniDali on Youtube (and for all her social media platforms), is currently a content creator for more than 6 years reaching 26.4 thousand subscribers. She is a young entrepreneur since she gets paid by YouTube, and also started her own graphic design business in 2020. The purpose of her business is to help Youtubers create aesthetic intro, outro, and banner templates for their Youtube channel. She customizes people’s needs based on what their YouTube channel is about and her prices are very affordable. There is a demand for having YouTube channels be pleasing, since the more the effort in regards to how one’s presentation looks the more people will subscribe to it. This is understandable and what a person says in their videos matters as well. 

   On the Fiverr website, an online marketplace for freelancers, Anita mentions that in addition to helping YouTubers create graphic designs, she customizes beautiful templates for clients’ social media as well. Anita has an entrepreneurial mindset because she realizes that not everyone is a YouTuber so she has branched out to help people make their other social media platforms look attractive and beautiful. Anita’s talent for design at her young age promises a lifetime of inspiration to create beauty and make it known.

Here is additional information on Anita D’Alisera: 

https://www.fiverr.com/anidali/create-graphics-for-your-social-medias 

https://www.instagram.com/anidali/?hl=it 

https://www.youtube.com/c/AniDali/featured 

The Bridge to Success

Social media has been building bridges to new ways of innovation and entrepreneurship ever since it began. Those who have capitalized on it when it began, however, are the ones making all the money and gaining the most fame. Felix Kjellberg, or better known to some as “Pewdiepie,” created his youtube account only one year after the website was released. It wasn’t until 2011, though, that he began to post on what would become the largest account on the platform ever (owned by one person). He began by posting quite short and relatively boring videos on his account purely for the entertainment of his friends and himself. As time went on, more people began to find his account, subscribing to it, and Felix’s fanbase grew. Less than a year later he had surpassed the 1 million subscriber mark. He began to post more and more and only a year after that was at 10 million. It was safe to say that he was on the right track.

Pewdiepie began to create merch such as shirts, chairs, headsets, and eventually his own game on the app store. He was rapidly gaining fans and in the spring of 2019, the creator finally reached an astonishing 100 million followers, which meant that 1 in 15 people who used youtube was subscribed to his account. This may not seem like much, however, almost half of the country uses this platform. He is still creating to this day and after selling many products and featuring in other videos and ads, he has accumulated roughly a cool $45,000,000 from online interactions alone. Felix will forever be remembered in the industry of videomaking and for revolutionizing the world by his assistance in bridging the gap between the real and digital worlds of entrepreneurship.

Jacob Landis-Eigsti- Jacob LE Video Production

Jacob Landis-Eigsti is the founder of Jacob LE Video Production which helps companies gain new marketing and video production clients. He has run his own business for 10 years now and is very successful. Jacob says he started this business because he saw many businesses struggling to tell their story and connect with others online. He wanted to use his marketing and video production skills to help other businesses.

Jacob’s business is very innovative because he uses the internet to communicate with people on how to grow their business through video. I found it unique that his goal is to teach people how to market their businesses better, instead of only trying to make his business the best. He is very selfless in this sense.

Jacob says he starts off each day by making a to-do list with three things he wants to get accomplished for the day. He also turns his phone off for 90-minute blocks in order to get tasks done without getting distracted. Techniques like these demonstrate a focused business person. He also said a success strategy of his is to always follow up with a client or business partner you’ve been talking to. This allows for closure or further conversation with peers.

Facebook, Instagram, and online video advertising are some of the things Jacob focuses on helping people with in his business. We are becoming more and more dependent on social media every day, so I think it was very innovative of Jacob to incorporate this into his business. If people are unsure how to market themselves online, it could be the downfall to their business. Jacob LE Video Production is an easy solution to help small/medium businesses with these advertising techniques.

Being a marketing major, Jacob Landis-Eigsti specifically inspires me to grow in my marketing knowledge so that I can eventually help people in the way that he does. In an interview with Carlyn Runnels he states, “Also, learn business skills first as an entrepreneur. It’s important to be good at your craft, but business skills and sales skills are incredibly important.” This inspires me to learn the basic business skills first, because this will set the foundation for being able to help people with all kinds of businesses, like Jacob does.

Below is a series of blog posts Jacob has posted on a site called Medium in order to assist with marketing, social media and video strategies.

Jacob Landis-Eigsti – Medium

 

Sources:

Jacob Landis-Eigsti (ideamensch.com)

Jacob Landis-Eigsti – Medium