Push It A Stop

Linking up with Rob while he’s in the field is no easy task- As you can tell, he’s got more cameras than hands, and numerous important deadlines to meet. Luckily I caught him while traveling slowly in rainy interstate traffic for a few minutes of his time. Enjoy a look at some of the prototype lenses and extended life batteries that power his vision.

We also spoke for a few minutes, off the record, about his unconventional video workflow, which includes compressing with iMovie.

“iMovie is a really good compressor, you just have to trick it into being good.”

Rob’s technique involves laying both HD and SD footage (a typical mix in his edits) in an HD timeline, and exporting from Final Cut, uncompressed, in two minute segments. He swears that he can achieve far superior image quality if he exports with increments not exceeding 120 seconds. These segments are then imported to iMovie and compressed with normal HD settings, utilizing the popular H.264 codec. He then pieces the segments back together in Final Cut, and exports uncompressed. Obviously he bumps up the “fun” filter about five or six points, then uploads to Vimeo.

His self-proclaimed magnum opus of standard definition is the No Peg Left Behind Campaign Ad he created for 14th Division Street Controller Nominee Damian Racut.

Rob insists that Cali’s Patrick Taber had used the HD timeline technique in an SD edit many years ago, prompting his own research into negating Vimeo’s backend compression.

Just a week away from the release of the new Cult DVD “Talk Is Cheap”, I wanted to talk shop with filmer/editor Ryan Navazio- because one man’s premiere date is another man’s deadline.

How close are you to being finished with the video?

All but two parts are finalized and I have two more to go. Plus the credits. Also need to plug the graphics into everything.

How many gigs of footage are you working with?

Not sure what the total is, but let’s put it this way- When I lay out peoples footage in the timeline for the first time it can be up to an hour long. I capture everything, every crash, lots of mistakes, whatever- just in case. So in the end I have tons and tons of footage that all gets cut down. But having all that stuff in front of me at the end helps me remember how the part should look. It’s hard to explain but I try and memorize all the clips, so if someone were to ask me what they have I can recite it back to them, clip for clip. It helps a lot when it comes to editing.

How many hours a day are you editing?

It’s hard to say, but probably twelve at the least. But if I’m not actually editing I’m thinking about editing, or I’m at the record store or on YouTube. I’ve been taking breaks on the weekends but that just usually ends with me being up all night.

What are the biggest challenges at this stage?

Making everything flow together. Keeping myself sane. Dealing with the tediousness of finalizing peoples parts.

At what point do you choose the songs?

The intro song was chosen two summers ago, one song was picked yesterday. I try and have all the songs picked before I start editing, and in this case, I had about half the songs before I started.

How does this video compare to the first Cult video?

It’s much longer. Double the length. Alex & Bobby have full parts. Krone has a part. And I think the overall vibe is more relaxed. I think its filmed a lot better too, for the most part.

Are you done with the VX after this?

Definitely, and unfortunately. Then again, if someone wants to hire me to film with a VX, why not?