• 

• 

Mike Seidl and Ron Stewart have been at this for over 30 years. Creating images that grab attention is an art. Seidl/Stewart Video Productions believe that the art and craft of picture making must connect with the viewer.

They achieved this objective with their latest offering to the community – the Currents Online Splash Page Video. AHB contracted Seidl/Stewart to create an opening video that encapsulated the spirit and feel of the Bainbridge Island arts and culture community. They didn’t disappoint.

AHB got insight on Mike and Ron’s creativity, partnership and inspiration.

How did you start working together?
Mike
In early 2018, Ron was new to the island and reached out to the local photographic community, and I responded back. Ron is a very experienced videographer, and I needed help with my video skills, and so over a Cups coffee we decided to collaborate on a couple of projects and see how it went. It went well! I have a lot of experience shooting for the real estate industry, and Ron of course knows video. Instantly the quality of our real estate videos went up a few notches, and I think our finished products have continued to improve every month. And now we are branching out into other subject matters.

Ron
I had recently moved to Bainbridge and was looking to connect with some kindred spirits, so I reached out to local photographers and filmmakers. I really admire Mike’s passion for his craft and his excitement to learn. We get along great and have a lot of fun.

How does your partnership work?
Ron
I mainly manage the production and logistics for most of our video endeavors, while Mike manages the stills and co-directs all of our video interests. Mike films all of our amazing drone footage and with his vast knowledge of photographing real estate, he’ll put the R.E. video’s rough-cut together, then I’ll fine tune it for the final cut. With our projects outside of the real estate environment where there is more production involvement, we collaborate on mostly everything down the line, which works out well as we are usually on the same page.

Mike
At each step of the process we both have input. I think our mutual respect for each other allows us to freely collaborate and ultimately produce a better product.

What are your individual strengths?
Mike
My background is shooting stills, primarily of architecture and interiors and real estate, though I have some experience in almost all areas of photography. I think, more than anything else, I bring a strong sense of composition to both my stills and our video projects. I throw out a lot of ideas when we’re shooting together, and some work and some don’t. In addition, I am an experienced drone pilot, and we seem to use drone footage on almost all of our collaborations. But it’s true that two sets of eyes are better than one. Ron also has a background in stills (he is an EXCELLENT still photographer), but he has a ton of experience shooting, directing, producing, and editing videos. He brings really high standards developed from working in the extremely competitive LA market. And he is (usually) a very patient teacher, working with me.

Ron
I had a photo studio in the LA area for over 15 years, photographing campaigns for major brands. I was shooting a still campaign for Hilton Hotels, where they ended up wanting the same feel for an upcoming commercial campaign and I was asked if I’d be interested in directing it. With no experience in directing film, of course I said “Yes”. “Fake it till you make it,” I always say. I hired a great crew and we produced a successful campaign that grabbed a lot of industry attention and the commercial jobs just started coming in from there.

What was your reaction to the invitation to produce the Splash video?
Ron
I was extremely excited when the call came in. With all that happens artistically and culturally within the B.I. community, I felt the potential right away for a great piece. It’s been wonderful working with AHB and the local arts community. I’ve met some great people working on this project.

Mike
I think I can say that we were both very excited at this opportunity – both as a creative challenge, and also as a chance to work with AHB and the local arts community.

What was your concept for the Splash video?
Mike
The Currents Online mock-up contained a splash video made of stock footage of various cultural activities, using quick cuts and much energy and movement. We basically tried to match the feel with Bainbridge content.

Ron
We really wanted to celebrate the rich artistic and cultural offerings that exist on the island. Since we were working without sound, it meant that the visuals had to be very strong and really stand on their own. Plus, we were working in a super cinematic wide screen format, which added additional challenges.

How did you choose your content (for the video)?
Ron
We wanted to cover the broad spectrum of arts and culture on the island. There were several events that we filmed that ended up on the cutting room floor, because they just weren’t strong enough visually. The shots we ended up using had a real nice rhythm to them and we thought were captivating on their own.

Mike
Because this video was part of the Currents Online launch, we tried to include the most photogenic, energetic, and classically Bainbridge clips we could. We also had to maintain a consistent flow.

What was the most surprising segment?
Mike
For me it was probably watching and filming the two women wrestle the horse drawn plow at the winery. Very impressive! Love the old school technique, and so “Bainbridgey.”

Ron
It’s funny, when you’re editing a piece, you always have your favorite parts. I found on the Splash Page video, there were so many cool things going on in each shot, it was hard to pick a favorite. The one that surprised me the most is the ballet shot. We had no control of their actions as we were just filming a recital and got lucky. I just loved the timing of their movements.

How long did it take you – shooting to editing to finished product?
Mike
I would say it took about 3 months of intermittent work as our access to the various events became available. It is an ongoing process as we try to generate more video footage for future iterations of the Splash video, and to create a video archive of Bainbridge cultural activities.

Ron
The scheduling took a bit of doing, but overall we were allowed access to some great events and can’t thank all those involved for allowing us to film freely.

What’s your plan for the future video?
Ron
For the upcoming Splash Page updates, we still have a long list of ideas that we plan on covering – from Shakespeare at the Bloedel to an apiarist (beekeeper) tending to his colony. We want to share all the things that make Bainbridge’s culture unique.

What other projects are you working on?
Mike
We continue to produce real estate videos for local brokers on an ongoing basis. We have had the opportunity to shoot some incredible properties, and each one is unique, with a unique story to tell. We are just about to begin shooting short videos of the “Something New” artists, and also a personal video for an architect’s website. Also, we are in discussion with a company that owns a number of beautiful local golf courses about producing videos of their courses.

What do you love most about videography?
Ron
I love all the layers of producing videos – from script writing to the final cut, I LOVE it all. Also, that every day is different with all the interesting people we get to meet along the way and all the things we get to experience through having such a diverse client base.

Mike
For me it’s the creative challenge of telling a compelling story. We are storytellers, plain and simple. As a Literature major in college and a visual artist, it suits me so well!

What do you hope people feel or experience when they see the Splash video?
Ron
I hope they see how wonderfully diverse Bainbridge Island is and how it has so much to offer.

Mike
I hope people feel motivated to explore Bainbridge’s various artistic and cultural activities. There is so much going on here! If you are a painter, or sculptor, or actor or singer or musician or photographer or writer, or just want to observe and appreciate what artists do, opportunities abound. Try new things, express yourself, and get involved. It will surely enrich your life.

For me personally, I am so moved by people putting themselves out there. I hope we can somehow encourage that.

“To take photographs is to find the structure of the world – to revel in the pure pleasure of form, to disclose that in all this chaos there is order.” Cartier-Bresson.

This expresses the art and craft of picture making. This idea resonates with Mike Seidl and encapsulates the outlook of Seidl/Stewart Video Productions.

Answer to Who is Who picture?

• 

• 

Left: Ron Stewart, Right: Mike Seidl