“Jimmy, You Did This? It Looks Incredible”

— James’ Mom.

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Enter The Dojo

Filming On Site


This dramatic video was captured at Old City Aikido, in Philadelphia. To film and edit this moody piece, I filmed in slow-motion to capture as much detail as possible. To execute, a lot of light was brought in which meant our light stands had to be very respectful to the dojo’s mats. Thank you cardboard, for adding the protection we needed.

Programs used include Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Davinci Resolve.


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Breaking Wind

4K Footage

After traveling the country, flying over 200 flights, and diligently editing, “Breaking Wind” is able to show the type of footage James Powers was able to resolve.

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Melting Point

Portrait of Metalworking


Shot on location in under 2hrs, this quick vignette focuses on the craft of casting metal. This particular cast is used for statue that is feature as a fountain in Princeton, NJ.

Programs used include Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, and Davinci Resolve.


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Dance: Burlesque

Anamorphic Footage

An exploration of burlesque dance, macro cinematography and also anamorphic camera lenses.

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Toguchi Furniture

Handcrafter: Attention To Detail


Filmed in Anchorage, AK — we used slow-motion, sound fx and interesting lighting to create an engaging branding video for a wood-working wizard at Toguchi Furniture.

Programs used include Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, and Davinci Resolve.


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Understanding Drift

An Immersive Training Video


This commissioned video articulates complex aerial survey concepts in lay terms, to better educated newly hired employees seeking to begin a career as a camera operator and or pilot — in the survey industry.

To accomplish this, kinetic-typography (animated type triggered by audio cues) and engaging, simple graphics were used to help crystalize solutions to common problems in aerial survey; drift.

Programs used include Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Illustrator and Photoshop.


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Playing With Anamorphic Lenses


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Commonwealth Choir

“Pacers”

Pacers, an upbeat track by Philadelphia’s, “Commonwealth Choir”, was recorded live at WXPN 88.5FM.

To fully capture the experience, five cameras were peppered throughout the radio station. The programs used to create this piece were Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop.

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Bumper Ad

Animation Triggered By Audio

By applying some simple scripting code in After Effects, I was able to use audio levels as a trigger for an automated animation. It has a clean look and definitely saves time.

Adobe After Effects and Photoshop were used to create this short ad bumper, along with Plexus 2 (a plugin available at AE scripts.com), in order to achieve the geometry.

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More Info


Past
Present
Future

The History


James Powers spent his childhood creating and drawing flip-books. His old tools — sharpie markers, index cards and rubber bands — were later traded in for cameras, tripods and laptops. He still has shoeboxes busting at the seems with old flipbooks. If you ask nicely, he may show you some of his earlier work.

Interview: Preferred Camera Gear?

What equipment do you use?

DSLR Camera Vs. Dedicated Video Camera?
The biggest stigma I hate is when a client judges you based on your gear.

When they see a smaller DSLR camera, most automatically assume you’re a photographer and or that your choice of gear isn’t professional. It’s hilarious when guests at weddings say things like, “I guess the bride didn’t hire a videographer?”, when in fact they did; the shooter just chose to record on a video enabled DSLR camera.

The funniest part is most DSLR Camera’s today overpower larger dedicated video cameras, since DSLR’s offer larger sensors, better low-light quality and are easier to travel with. To answer the question, depending on the length you need to record for, DSLR cameras are the go-to choice.

Time Travel: Would you rather visit the past or the future?

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James Powers

ACCOUNTABLE

Always up for a challenge and above all, James (Jim if you really know him) abides by the golden rule in business, and arguably life: do what you say you are going to do.

Up for travel; James is no stranger to flying around the country and while averaging roughly 148 shoots per year, he has to be.

Should a project require travel, James has embraced picking the right piece of equipment for the job. By efficiently packing the right gear for the job, James can efficiently mobilize his creative operation to provide significant coverage for your project. But at the end of the day James Powers meets your demands and more importantly, he does what he says he is going to do.

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Exceeds Project Demands

James Powers gives you the full business.

tripple

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A photo posted by Powers (@corduroypanda) on

 
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Desert Timelapse


Milky Way
Time-lapse photography is a tricky beast that demands patience. This quick time lapse was taken in the middle of an Arizona desert. The moon was half-full, making it difficult to see the Milky Way, however; it is partially visible.

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Dallas Airport


DFT
This time lapse was taken from a hotel window overlooking the Dallas Fortworth Airport.

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Raw Slider


3 Hours
After building an automated slider (a piece of equipment that moves the camera laterally along a rail), it was only natural to give it a test. This was shot in RAW format and allowed for a lot of latitude in post for color grading.

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Alaska Timelapse


Clouds
Taken at Beluga Point, Alaska, this video shows off Alaska’s scenery and fast moving weather.

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Video Services


Contact James any time for excellent service.


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FOR A QUOTE
ON YOUR NEXT PROJECT

please tell me what you are looking for

James Powers
Philadelphia, PA
(907) 764-6500

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Hey.
I would like to be the first to say —
You just nailed that E-Mail.


(James will get back to you ASAP.)



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