You were nominated by Santiago to create a playlist, you have also joined the EY Movember team. How did it feel parting with your beard to participate?
Beards come and go, leaving behind only smooth skin and memories, and in the end my beard has been lost, like tears… in rain…
As part of our EY video team, where has been your favorite place to shoot?
As far as favorite locations I have to go back to my freelance days (as much as I love the creative challenge of shooting in offices most of the time and making it look good). I was the cinematographer (cameraman) for a project about nightlife in Detroit which has to be my all-time favorite, we spent a week shooting around the city, which is a surreal place and one that I highly recommend for a dose of American dystopia. You can view the project below.
Runners up for cool places include Aspen CO operating a camera in the Video Game Tent during the winter X-Games, Austin TX filming a cheese dip recipe, and interviewing farmers about sustainable farming techniques in rural PA.
What is your process for sourcing music when it comes to client projects?
I really love picking music to go with visuals- I try to imagine what type of song would complement the content and then I dive into my giant folder of royalty free music that I have collected over the years. If I can’t find anything in there or need a very specific sound I check out premiumbeat.com (my personal favorite for stock music). It’s fun to try to push the envelope of what clients will accept and I have been pleasantly surprised at what I have been able to get approved here.
Usually it is expected that you always use royalty free music in a professional setting but I keep hearing about a video for a Royal Caribbean pitch that just blatantly used Justin Timberlake so really all bets are off as far as copyright infringement when it comes to that type of video- we used the Disclosure/Sam Smith song Latch in a pitch video recently and I think it worked well (even if they didn’t go with EY in the end I can rest easy knowing that I got that song stuck in their heads).
Personal plug: Any outside personal projects you are working on that you can share with us?
I post photography from time to time on my Instagram- @crathmort
Outside of photo/video my biggest hobby is cooking. My highschool/summer jobs over the years were always food related, from Little Caesars to 300 seat banquet-style cooking- (let me know if you want any pointers on the fastest way to slice up any fruit or vegetable).
I’ve always been a big homemade sauce fan, and this year for holiday gifts I am ramping up a hot sauce production run- the Union Square Farmers Market has an incredible hot pepper stand and I have created a recipe including some of their peppers, pineapple, and cilantro- if you are into hot peppers let me know and we can go check out the stand and create a custom blend!
As a videographer, what is your favorite movie score? Mix of video and sound/music?
The first thing that came to mind for this was the Lord of the Rings soundtrack- I’m a sucker for any epic medieval/fantasy soundtrack- Braveheart can make me cry every time and Game of Thrones has been very strong.
I also love a good surreal musical break in a movie like David Lynch is a master of
Or this scene in Spring Breakers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX2Z8QVw3s4
Bonus fact: I still have the Shrek OST in my iTunes library
What are some artists you’ve been listening to lately?
I listen to most of my music on Soundcloud- there are some great DJ mixes that get posted on there from Radio stations like Rinse FM in the UK- Soulection Radio, the Pepperpot Show, Josey Rebelle, The Grime Show with Sir Spyro etc. I am a big fan of Grime and Future Bass music from the UK, artists like Skepta and D Double E, and really anything that feels like it is pushing the boundaries and having fun. Say what you want about mumble rap but I love the irreverence, to me it is the punk music of the 2010’s.
If self-driving cars took voice commands literally, which song on the radio would cause the most chaos?
The Cupid Shuffle… to the left, to the left, to the left, to the left
Hypothetical question: You’re a WWE superstar, what is your entrance song?
My 10-year-old neighbor did tell me I look like Captain Charisma… It’s probably been used many times before, but I have to go with this absolute classic banger by DMX:
LATEST MIX
Bangers from the Edit Bay (NSFW)
A collection of songs that have all been blasted in our edit room at one point or another, whether it be to get pumped for a shoot, take a break from motion graphics, or cool off after receiving a long list of incomprehensible edit notes… if you listen to this playlist straight through during a workday I will personally buy you lunch!