Being the children of a professional videographer, broadcaster, or content marketer comes with certain expectations. Big B’s television debut was at two days old, on CBS in Phoenix as his adorable face lit up the screen and the anchors congratulated his dad, one of their videographers, on his firstborn child. Days later, B’s photo was part of a mayor’s presentation at an annual address, exemplifying the growth and future of the community as the mayor extended congratulations to a mom who couldn’t attend the event she’d helped produce, due to the fact that she had just given birth. When your parents have a camera in hand most of their careers, you can expect that every once in a while you’ll be in front of it. They’re in convenient proximity, they take direction well, and I might be biased but they’re pretty adorable.
Over the years, the boys have been in public service announcements, event promotions, advertisements, almost all produced by their parents for local government or educational organizations. Some exceptions include an advertising shoot that earned Big B his first paycheck at the age of five, and a PBS documentary highlighting American life.
We weren’t surprised when the boys started asking to use the cameras themselves. Their film major father beamed with pride watching them traipse around the yard with an old iphone narrating the nature documentary of one of our beloved backyard birds they named “fat pigeon”. They ran around Hawaii this summer with a GoPro trying to capture hiking trails and snorkeling adventures. A few months ago, however, their movie-making skills reached another level.
Big B and little b combined their storytelling, their love of legos and action figures, and their camera skills. They started creating stop-motion videos. The first few starred their legos and were disturbingly violent but impressively detailed, when considering the patience and planning it takes to play out a scene of a lego storm trooper using his blaster against another minifigure, and then putting them in a car and driving away. After a few lengthy lego movies, they started asking for upgrades to the movie app on our iPad to include text, sound effects and green screen. Watching their imagination come alive and hearing their collaboration and creativity as they patiently capture each scene is nothing short of magical. I can’t wait to see what they make next.
Our Life in A-Z 