Megan Leigh Sweeney

Meet Slice of Lime

megan — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:21:07 +0000

A few months ago I made this video for Slice of Lime. They focus on User Experience, User Interface Design, and full-service Marketing Websites. I spent a day with the team and really just had a lot of fun. They’re a small group of smart, talented people who are also good at laughing. If you’re looking for UX, UI strategy designs and/or Marketing Websites, check them out!. The office is located in Boulder, Colorado with clients all over.

Coldplay Covers by The Autumn Film

megan — Fri, 04 May 2012 07:00:02 +0000

I loooove filming bands and working with musicians! That simple. So when Tifah Phillips reached out to see if I could shoot & edit a few music videos The Autumn Film wanted to produce, I of course said please! Back in December we spent one day and filmed all three Coldplay songs. It’s a fun & successful shoot when you get to listen to beautiful music and be surround by such talented people the entire day!

Below are all three music videos. You can purchase the tracks here: Til Kingdom Come, Paradise & Trouble. Which is your favorite?

Photography by Grant Blakeman

Behind the Scenes

megan — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:00:47 +0000

In between rendering and exporting footage, it’s a good idea to get some inspiration. So I decided to spend a few quick minutes watching these behind the scenes videos below. Can you imagine filming any of the Planet Earth episodes? The camera crews spent weeks to months trying to capture those perfectly authentic moments. One crew spent over a month deep in the darkness of caves crawling through bug villages. Another crew went face to face with a Polar Bear! Watch more of Planet Earth’s Behind the Scenes videos. Then there’s some lovely backstage comedy from SNL, video number two below. I’m trying to laugh more every day …a lot more! Lastly I found some behind the scenes footage from The Royal Tenenbaums, one of my favorite films. How dreamy would that be, to make a Making of a Wes Anderson film!?!? We can learn a lot from what others do.

The Making of Forests.

SNL Backstage

The Royal Tenenbaums

Let’s be a hero together.

megan — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:46:45 +0000

This is my hero and he told me, “All you need is a bib.”

Some Beautiful Videos

megan — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 02:25:05 +0000

There are so many videos in this world, an endless amount of content, all sorts of subjects & an extremely diverse source of video creators. It’s quite amazing. About every month I’m going to post a few videos that I think are inspiring. Here’s the first set thanks to Vimeo Staff Picks.

With all of the chaos we face everyday it’s important for me to able to put some perspective on my worries. I love this post on using the Grand Canyon for perspective. I like to look at the stars.

The Most Astounding Fact from Max Schlickenmeyer on Vimeo.

Who doesn’t love hearts? Clever & simply delightful.

Hearts (The Valentines Day Video) from Moist Creation on Vimeo.

Lastly, I love Paris. This video- which you’ve probably seen already- has great graphics, shots & music.

EF – Live The Language – Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

Let’s just have some fun.

megan — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:33:34 +0000

Demo: Let’s have some fun from Megan Leigh Sweeney on Vimeo.

Alright, here is the most recent demo reel I’ve made featuring work I’ve shot & edited. Footage is comprised of the shows listed below. I like keeping themes in the videos I make, especially my demos. I’m super lucky to have awesome friends and people I work with, thank you for your support & letting me film you! I’d also like to thank my assistant editor, Liam. You can see in the photo he’s reviewing the video. Hope you enjoy it!
The Founders
The Window Seat
Apres Adventure
The Story of Foodzie
Plus more..

Notes on Stacy Peralta

megan — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 07:53:25 +0000

Yesterday I went to Auraria Campus  in Denver & listened to Stacy Paralta speak about his films and his process. Peralta has made several documentary films such as Dogtown & Z-boys & Riding Giants. Here are some notes I took on what he said that stood out in my mind. Some of the things Peralta spoke about I can really relate to and were super helpful, hope they are also beneficial for you.

It’s alllllll about the story and try to make it universal.
Stacy Peralta has been asked a few times “what is your secret to success”? He says he has learned how to fail. There’s many paths to success, find your own personal path and figure it out. It’s not easy.
He really doesn’t make much money from his documentary films, he also works as a commercial director. (Thought this was interesting coming from such a well-known talented documentary filmmaker)
Peralta uses somewhere between 1,000 to 2,000 photos per film.
Peralta is interviewed about 600x’s per film.
He makes films about what he wants to see, it’s just so much work and so intense to make a film about something you aren’t interested in.
For Lords of Dogtown, there were a few people Stacy Peralta wanted to interview but couldn’t find them. On his way to work on his film noticed a detective’s office. So he hired a detective to find some of his interviewees.
A great tip when interviewing, start a conversation, don’t lose eye contact, have your camera person tap you on the back when rolling rather than saying action.
Sometimes the first thing he does is pick his soundtrack to get a feel for the film (I do that too!)
Creativity is tender, be sensitive & positive. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed with over 30 hours of footage to attack. It’s ok if you’re shy. All you need are your ideas and the ability to execute them.
Peralta paddles when he feels stressed or overwhelmed. What do you do?
If you’re looking to save money on a film, make sure to spend money on good DP’s, editors and food!
Be who you want to work with… let people rise to their best.
Stacy Peralta also mentioned this book as a recommendation, The Genius in all of us.

Dogtown & Z Boys Trailer

Let’s begin the adventuring.

megan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 03:37:23 +0000

In effort to take more photos, make more random videos and just explore, I’m letting my son lead the way. We went to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, met some mountain goats, a moose and took a trip to Mars. Conversations included, Polar Bear “Actually I’m not pooping.” Walrus #1 “Hello.” Walrus #2 “Hi.” plus more.

In all of the chaos of life I definitely recommend taking a break and letting your little explorer take you on an adventure. Your turn!

Happy Birthday!

megan — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:33:11 +0000

Happy Birthday to my best friend, Brian! I love you infinity! Here’s a short video of father & son, a birthday gift from Liam.

Grandma

megan — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:18:46 +0000

Happy Birthday Grandma! Today she would have been 86 years old. I wrote about her last year here. My Grandma was special to so many people. She was born & lived her whole life in New York City. We couldn’t walk a block without bumping into one of her friends. In fact, we took a trip to the Upper West Side over this past Thanksgiving and bumped into the same man on the street selling books, who of course was friends with my Grandma. We also were lucky enough to get a peek of the old apartment thanks to the current renters. A lot has happened in ten years!

The photo on the right is of my Great Grandpa in his darkroom, my Grandma’s Dad, who also would be celebrating his birthday today! He was a photographer, it runs in the family:)

I wish so much that I had recorded more video of my Grandma & Grandpa… so make sure you record some family video this weekend! I did find a few shots that I put in this video when we would take our annual trip to the Macy’s Day Parade on Thanksgiving. We love and miss you tremendously.