Being the master of self-promotion that I am, I’ve let several weeks pass since this project posted publicly, but I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that the HDR grade of the new Evanescence video for “Better Without You,” is available on YouTube for viewing on any device capable of HDR YouTube playback (newer iOS devices for sure). Made here in the twin cities, directed by Eric D. Howell and shot by my good friend and frequent collaborator…

All things change. While I’ve never been one to dwell on my age, as I turn 50 this weekend, I find myself reflecting on the last milestone of my 40th birthday, and on the significance of what I began that year. Funny story, I missed my 40th birthday because I was flying to Singapore on March 6th for my first in-person meeting with the fine folks in the DaVinci Resolve engineering team, and crossing the international date line I arrived…

If you’re stuck at home, and you’ve been wanting to see the Chinese-language short I directed, “Carry My Heart to the Yellow River” after me talking about it all this time, are you in luck! It’s having a pair of one-time-only scheduled online screenings in both France and the USA on Saturday, April 25th.   The ÉCU (European Independent Film Festival) is screening our French Premiere (w/French and English subtitles) in the Saturday Session 2 block of shorts (we’re no.…

When: Every Friday from Mar 27 through May 15, 2020, at 04:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada) This series is now concluded. I’m considering continuing this at a later date, so stay tuned. Join me for “Happy Hour, with Alexis Van Hurkman,” a free 8-week webinar series where I answer questions about Color Grading, Editing, Finishing, and DaVinci Resolve. Hosted via Zoom, registration is required to attend (you only need to register once). If you’re Zoom cautious (understandably) you…

The intermingled beauty and horror of social media is the empowerment of anyone, in human or bot form, to freely express (in countries without filtering) any opinion, on any topic, to any number of people. In this time of pandemic, well-meaning people the world over have sought to reinforce and lift up information considered vital and correct, to the best of one’s current knowledge, and in an ever-changing situation. In the initial weeks, strident messaging around this slow-growing crisis has…

Current events being what they are, there are lots of people at home, some employed and some not, who are using their time to learn new skills. In particular, I’ve read plenty of posts on social media from folks who haven’t had the time to give DaVinci Resolve a try, who think that now may be the time. To pitch in, I want to do a weekly Q&A webinar series, one hour (plus), to answer your various questions about DaVinci…

Given the gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic that’s sweeping the globe, I thought I’d share some tips, from long experience, about working at home. I’ve seen many similar posts about this subject, and all are valid, but I have a few additional thoughts you may find valuable. I fully realize that not every job is capable of being remotely done. However, for the sake of those very people who must risk being in public on a daily basis, we who…

I’m extremely proud that “Carry My Heart to the Yellow River,” the short I directed and co-wrote in China in the summer of 2018, has found such a global audience on the 2019-2020 film festival circuit. So far, this uplifting story of a high school graduate’s epic journey on behalf of her sick friend has been accepted to 45 Film Festivals among ten countries and territories, including the USA, Guam, Italy, England, India, Ireland, Bhutan, Germany, Australia, and Canada, and we’ve…

Of all of the various and sundry side gigs that constitute my weird career, writing in various forms has always figured prominently. What with my technical writing, screenwriting, and the miscellaneous writing I do for proposals, planning, and of course this blog, it is known that I do a lot of writing. And as anyone who’s familiar with my output will attest, I’m unafraid of writing long things. And so, folks who think they ought to do more writing frequently…

36 years ago, while still in grade school, I finally convinced my folks to buy a personal computer. This was when the value of actually owning a computer was still debatable. “It’ll be good to know computers for my future,” I argued, knowing full well that really I just wanted to play games and maybe do some programming to try and make a game myself. At the time I was asking for an Apple II, figuring that would be an…

Having labored in various corners of the moving images industry for most of my adult life, I continue to be surprised at the number of people I meet who are under the impression that yelling at people who aren’t doing what you want is somehow productive. Anger is a powerful tool and an all too common stress reaction, but it’s also the least effective means of motivating people to be creative that I can think of. That said, long hours,…

My uncle Bill recently moved from California to Minnesota, near where my mom recently moved (also from California to Minnesota) which is two hours south of where I live. He’s a microbiologist who worked for the USDA prior to retirement, in which capacity he was once a leading researcher into wheat genetics. However, he’s also always been a huge audiophile, with progressively evolving stereo listening setups, the current iteration of which dwarfs any other suite, amateur or professional, I’ve ever…

I originally stumbled upon this thanks to i09 back in 2012, and just had to share it. In the process of updating my web site, I checked up on the project again and saw that I need to make several updates, because of anything the information has become even more relevant. The Humanae Project, originally on Tumblr but now moved to a new home at angelicadass.com, is Brazilian artist Angelica Dass’ ongoing effort to sample the skin tone of as wide…

By now, I imagine most people who know me via social media are abundantly aware that I directed a movie in China, Carry My Heart to the Yellow River, in the summer of 2018 that was finished back in March of 2019. It has since been playing its way through (to date) 24 film festivals in seven countries around the world, so far winning two awards in the process. Audiences have responded enthusiastically, shedding not a few tears over this heartfelt drama of a high school graduate undertaking an arduous bike trip on behalf of her cancer-embattled friend. I wanted to share a bit of how this movie was made, because it’s truly been an opportunity to do a bit of big feature filmmaking within the confines of a 21-minute short. We shot large-format 8K with a great camera and state-of-the-art cinema lenses, the editor and I had months to refine the edit properly, and I got the chance to do postproduction right, grading and mastering carefully considered SDR and HDR versions, and having a surround mix done in a Dolby Atmos theater.

It’s the holiday season here in the frozen north of Minnesota, and whatever basket of holidays you choose to celebrate (or not), I wish you well. We all find ourselves in the midst of those interesting times I keep hearing warnings about, but my fervent hope is we can survive them, in the spirit of Nietzsche’s famous quote. It’s hard to believe I’ve been adding to this blog, off and on, for ten years now. As is the way with these…