The Drone Dish: chrisxgxc

On this episode of The Drone Dish, Tyler talks with Chris Castor (AirVūz Profile: chrisxgxc), a visual artist turned filmmaker who's breakthrough short, "Cardboard Cadet," has been viewed many many times here at the AirVūz office. Watch and find out what went into editing this technical marvel and about Chris' other drone / 3D model work! For more highlights from the world’s best drone pilots, click HERE. And for more amazing aerial views, keep it tuned to AirVūz.com. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Tyler Mason: 00:06 We're excited to be joined today by Chris Castor on the Drone Dish. Chris, thanks for coming on the show. Chris Castor: 00:11 Hey, thanks for having me. Tyler Mason: 00:12 Now, your relatively new to the drone world, but you've been working in film and multimedia for quite a few years, I guess. How did you decide and why did you decide to add a drone into everything else you were doing? Chris Castor: 00:22 Yeah, I uh started flying my drone in December of 2016, and um, you know, honestly I just really liked the idea of being able to see the world from a different perspective that, you know, most of us aren't used to seeing. Um, you know, most normal people don't get to see that, that perspective very often, and um, and then I just, I like learning new skills. So, you know, the, the drone is just a, a, amazing piece of technology and I just really wanted to, to play with one, honestly. Tyler Mason: 00:49 Now, you uploaded the video Cardboard Cadet, which has just gotten rave reviews. Uh, it's probably one of the favorite videos that I've ever seen on AirVūz. Tell me a bit about that video, kinda how that idea came about, and, and what it was like to film that. Chris Castor: 01:00 We, we'd been doing little creative projects. He's, he's almost 5, and we, we do stuff like that together all the time, just making short little funny videos, and so we've been doing little things like that. I, I just like to kind of spend time with him and try to encourage creativity, um just to, you know, did it just uh for him to see the world in a different way. And one evening we started kinda just messing around building a, a cardboard airplane, and so that kinda sparked that idea and it, it quickly evolved from there. Um, and so, you know, I, I kind of talked to him about it. You know, I always like to talk to him and see if ... You know, I don't ever want to force him to do, you know, stuff he doesn't want to do. But he, the, you know, the AG's out right now, he seemed really excited about that, and um sounded like it would be fun. So um, he agreed to do it and wrote a, a simple script real quick, and um that's (laughs) just how it kinda got started right there. Tyler Mason: 01:52 And you uploaded also a behind-the-scenes video too with the green screen and kind of a little bit of, you know, what went into it. But a lot of it was in the post-production and the editing. Uh, how many hours do you think you spent on that, and maybe what was the toughest part of kind of getting that to all come together? Chris Castor: 02:05 For post-production I, I'd guess maybe I put like 20 to 30 hours off and on in it, something like that. Um, just, you know, I built a little uh replica of the, of the plane and, you know, in Cinema 4D, and you know, textured that and tried to make it look as close to the (laughs) you know, the thing we had as possible. And um, you know, sound and all that kind of stuff. Just, you know, over time I'm sure it's probably something like that but, but I'm not, not 100% sure how long it took. Tyler Mason: 02:31 Well, it was worth it. Uh, certainly a labor of love, but uh the end product was awesome. Uh, you've done some other videos too where you've added some things in post-production, uh really that I haven't seen before with drone videos. Um, obviously with your background, that's probably part of it, but you know, what kind of made you to decide to, to incorporate those elements in some of the other videos you've taken? Chris Castor: 02:49 You know, I, I like to play, like you said, to those strengths that I have. And um, you know, I, I love visual effects, I love motion graphics and things like that, and that's, that's something that I kinda spend a majority of my time in, you know, for work and, and so I like trying to mix those mediums and, and play there and, you know, just to push myself to, you know, to learn new things. You know, the 3D world is, is uh something I'm still learning a lot about, and so like I love trying to figure out, you know, tracking cameras and putting, you know, fake objects into scenes and, you know, just, just messing with that kind of stuff, trying to get better. Tyler Mason: 03:26 Uh, last question for you here. You, you mentioned you're working on get your Part 107 Certification. What do you hope to do with that, and is that something you hope to maybe add to your portfolio as an artist and then maybe, you know, incorporate that into your business? Chris Castor: 03:38 Yeah, absolutely. I, I'm always open to any of the possibilities that, you know, um commercial work would bring. Um, I'm definitely interested in the film world for sure, you know, seeing kind of what um doors that opens there, you know, having the, the Part 107 for, for working on films and things like that, so that's, that's really interesting to me. And uh just learning all the ins and outs of being a drone pilot, you know, for safety and, you know, making sure you're flying legally and (laughs) all, you know, all that kinda stuff, just to, to be safe and, and do a good job there. And so uh, I'm, I'm enjoying studying uh for the, for the 107 and, and kind of learning all that kind of things. Tyler Mason: 04:17 Well, you've certainly got a talent with, with your videos. I've enjoyed watching them. And I've enjoyed chatting with you on the Drone Dish, so thanks for coming on the show. Chris Castor: 04:23 Thank you guys. I appreciate it.