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By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
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 Technology has advanced a wee bit since the introduction of “moving pictures.” From that accurate description in the early part of the last century, came the term “movie.” And then there were “talkies” in which sound was incorporated into the moving pictures. It took more than two decades for sound to be commercially and technologically feasible.
Today anyone can be a movie producer — and apparently a good number of us have aspirations for it as YouTube has skyrocketed to the third most visited website on the Internet. Only Google and Facebook generate more web traffic. Out of billions of websites, being third is quite a distinction. It seems the fascination of moving pictures hasn’t yet worn off — even after more than a century.
Thousands of new videos are added to YouTube and similar sites every day but only a few have resonated with the viewing public. One of those is entitled, Seeing my dog the day I got back from Afghanistan. More than two million people have viewed the absolute joy that Gracie the dog felt as she saw her human, Andrew Schmidt, the moment he came home from Kandahar in September, 2005. Andrew’s wife Jen shot the video of Gracie’s unrestrained joy. The clip has even appeared on the Today Show.
This is something that will not only make you feel good, but also give you a reason to smile. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysKAVyXi0J4.
Another video on YouTube will cause you to wonder about human endurance (and possibly cause you to hold your breath for a moment or two). This is not something the normal human can do. The professionally produced video, entitled Free Fall, shows world champion free diver Guillaume Nery descend into Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas, the world’s deepest blue hole. He certainly takes his sweet time doing so. The video description notes that it is an artistic project and a work of fiction but also that it was done entirely on “breath hold,” meaning that, yes, the guy actually did this while holding his breath. The video contains absolutely stunning imagery and is well worth a view. More than five million people have already done so. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQITWbAaDx0.
After watching Free Fall, you may think to yourself, “Wow! I’d like to produce stunning videos too, but I can’t afford tens of thousands of dollars for camera gear and a few thousand more for post-production software!” Well, I’m here to tell you that stunning video production is as close as your iPhone.
Director Michael Koerbel using the iPhone 4 to film Apple of My Eye. The film was shot and edited entirely on the smartphone.
The film is entitled Apple of My Eye and is well worth a look. The producers also included very interesting behind-the-scenes footage (also shot using the iPhone) showing how the film was produced. It’s a cool look at how far technology has advanced, and certainly it will serve as inspiration for aspiring filmmakers. Check it out at http://vimeo.com/12819723.
Finally, sometimes being a successful film maker is simply being in the right place at the right time, as proven by Craig Shimala. Shimala captured a triple lightning strike simultaneously hitting three of the city’s tallest buildings. Check out his incredible footage, shot with a Canon 7D camera, at http://vimeo.com/12816548.
Amateur photographer Craig Shimala captured a triple lightning strike of three of Chicago’s tallest buildings. His video is available at vimeo.com
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