Bear Hanrahan 2/14/17 Bear Hanrahan 2/14/17

Candy Vibes Video

This is the first fashion film that I have taken on. I wanted to make something that had psuedo-80s vibes mixed with vaporwave and tokyo vibes.

The process of making this video was super simple, but in the most complex way. It was a lot of "Ok, do you wanna try something weird?" And it was awesome because they never said no! Ashleigh and Murphey were down for whatever which was so cool. Where the complexity came in however, was when I went in to edit it. When we shot it, I had not prepared any shot list, script or anything. Basically we totally wung it the whole time. The cool part of doing things this way was that I was able to piece together something that was totally unique in the edit. The pacing kind of sorted itself out as I edited.

The color scheme was inspired by Ashleigh and Murphey's hair. As soon as I saw their profile picture on Facebook I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this video.

Emma (my sister/partner in crime/BTS shooter/Makeup artist) did an awesome job with the makeup. I basically made a board on pintrest and was like "Do this" and she did an awesome job of translating that look onto the models. The lipstick however was Murphey's idea. She was like "hey I brought this what do you think?" Emma and I looked at each other and we were both like "YES".

The location of this shoot was Studio A at Weld in Dallas. I'm an intern there 2-3 days a week and it is an awesome place to get to collaborate and meet super talented people, as well as a peaceful place to work and shoot. #shamelessplug

Bear Hanrahan 2/9/17 Bear Hanrahan 2/9/17

Stop Killing your Art with Inspiration

Is there such a thing as too much inspiration? Such a thing as killing yourself creatively?

As creatives we thrive off of inspiration. We pull inspiration from all that surround us - nature, music, other people's art, films, photography etc, etc.

But is there such a thing as too much inspiration? Such a thing as killing yourself creatively?

Personally I think that there is.

What happens when you find a cool thing that inspires you? You generally seek after it and push your art in that direction. But what if you swarm yourself with so much inspiration that you end up falling down a rabbit hole of only that one thing?

You get burnt out.

I know that this is definitely true in my life and my art.

I get so focused on that trend, piece of music, element of nature, artist's work etc. and I fill my head with so much of it, and then I compare my work to those who are doing that thing to the point where I don't even want to create things anymore. I'm not good enough to make those things. I'm out.

Seems kind of sad and bleak yes?

Well it is both of those things.

and one more thing too.

It's incredibly uncreative and unproductive for someone who makes things for a living.

So how do we avoid this?

Well, there are a few ways. The first and foremost way is to

STOP LOOKING SO FREAKING HARD FOR INSPIRATION ALL THE TIME. PLEASE.

Being inspired is important, yes. But so is looking at your work objectively (not comparing) and seeing in what ways that you can refine and improve. What will take you from 90-95% at "good" to 100% at "great"? (to quote Musicbed) Figure those things out. Hone in on them, and eliminate them. Sometimes it helps to make a physical list of things that you can scratch out when they are complete. (It's way more satisfying. Like angrily closing a flip phone vs. smashing a digital button with your thumb)

For me one of those things that I can improve on is working with artificial light in my work. I hate using artificial light most of the time. It's usually either too cold or too warm, too sharp, and it can be quite hard to direct properly. But I am going to be spending the next few weeks learning how to use it well and nail down where I struggle with it. (Let me know in the comments if you'd like a blog post about my artificial light adventures)

One way to reduce the comparison issue is to just unfollow the people that you compare yourself to for a little while. Not forever though. I've heard this from several other photographers and artists (sorry I can't remember exactly who at the moment for reference). If you find that you are beating yourself up for not being as experienced, as talented, as creative, etc as someone, then stop following that someone. It has helped me a lot in the past to do this. It just frees up your mind from being like, *scrolls through Facebook/IG/Pintrest/Tumblr* *sees amazing picture from super talented human* "wow I am a terrible artist. I will never be this good" *continues scrolling while still silently comparing self to other person*.

The quote "Good artists copy, great artists steal" has been passed around the creative circles pretty much forever. And while it is true, it is only true to a certain point.

It's good to steal concepts, technical aspects, and some creative methods. But please don't steal directly from that person or try to copy them. Cuz that's piracy and/or plagiarism which is totally no bueno. :P But in all seriousness, don't do it because because that is just another opportunity to compare yourself. "If only I could just compose a shot like so-and-so I'll finally be good enough".

stAHP DoINg THaT PLeASe

To paraphrase Ryan Booth because I can't remember the artists he referenced,

You will never be Wes Anderson. Only Wes Anderson can be Wes Anderson.

You will never be Pablo Picasso. Only Picasso can be Picasso.

But Anderson and Picasso can never be you. Only you can be you. Your style is the conglomeration of all of your experiences, thoughts, feelings, and what you surround yourself with. No one can replicate that.

So there you go! Some ways to stay inspired, but not back yourself into a corner and kill yourself creatively with that inspiration.

How do you get inspired? Have you ever struggled with these issues before? I'd love to talk with you about it in the comments below!

Bear Hanrahan 1/12/17 Bear Hanrahan 1/12/17

2017 | NETWORK

So I guess it's 2017 now.

This is new.

This is nice.

That time that Emma cosplayed as Eleven for Halloween

So I guess it's 2017 now.

This is new.

This is nice.

What are we going to do with this year? So many new opportunities and things to be made.

My word for this year is 'Network'.

In May my family moved from Springfield to north Dallas.

Dallas is an awesome city, don't get me wrong. In fact it's probably the coolest place that I've lived. However I don't yet know tons of people, and business has been better. So this year I'm really going to focus a lot on networking and making friends.

One of my first steps in that direction is interning at WELD. WELD is a Dallas and Nashville based creative workspace and there are some pretty freaking incredible people who work here. Seriously some of the most talented people that I've ever met. I've already met a bunch of incredible people and I hope that I can learn tons from them.

Another step I've taken is going to Masters in Motion. When I say that WELD has some of the most talented people, I mean about 45%. Masters in Motion has another 45% of those people. I met and made friends with some absolutely incredible filmmakers there and I can't wait until I can get to collaborate with them.

Then the last 10% of the most talented people that I know are from all around the country. You all know who you are. :)

I spent the last part of 2016 working with some awesome people and making some really cool content.

Here's some of the stuff that I've shot over the last couple of months

Elizabeth+Jon Wedding no. 2

So there you go! That was the end of my 2016 in images. Not necessarily in order so much as the order that I found them, but still roughly in order.

I can't wait to see what the coming months of 2017 bring!

What makes this even more special is it is currently snowing for the first time in Dallas. Whoo! Definitely gonna be taking some pictures or something to capture this.

I hope you have a great new year!

Bear Hanrahan 10/30/16 Bear Hanrahan 10/30/16

Where to get TRULY FREE and LEGAL music for your videos

Guys. There are websites where you can get legal music for free to use in videos that is actually good. For reals. Here is a list of the best websites that I have personally found and a description of what their catalog is like.

I know the struggle for finding good music that is actually free that you can use in your videos legally. Since most of us are young students who don't have solid/any income it can be hard to try to regularly produce great content and not have meh music.

BUT DO NOT LOSE HOPE. GREAT CONTENT IS ON THAT DISTANT HORIZON

*Please note: Incompetech created by Kevin McLeod will intentionally not be featured on this list. His work can be quite good, but it is far less cinematic than I personally like for my projects. However I would recommend any beginning filmmakers check out his stuff.

**Please note 2.0: I am not being paid or endorsed by any of these websites to say anything that I am saying here. So what you're reading is my totally honest opinion.

Free Music Archive is so far the most popular and expansive fully creative commons music website that I have found. They have every genre and sub genre you can imagine ranging from experimental ambient, to full on punk rock, to cinematic orchestral, to noise/chaos music. The best place on the website to find the good stuff is on their 'Recently Added Highlights' list and on their blog. The catalog has lots of awesome stuff too, just be ready to sort through LOTS of weird stuff to find the good stuff (and by weird I mean extremely experimental/art music). Definitely be sure that you poke around a good bit though because there are some serious auditory golden nuggets.

Needle Drop Co's CC page is my second favorite place to find music. Their stuff is much more artist centric/indie which is awesome for those of us who like that. They have tons of folk, electronic, indie pop/indie rock, cinematic and much more. Their catalog is much smaller than FMA, but it is a lot easier to find good stuff on there and my CC music collection has grown a ton because of them. Also their web design is pretty sick too so that's a bonus.

I have gotten tons of stuff off of Bensound. He has a great selection of paid and free music that is extremely high quality and very cinematic. The cinematic and post rock pieces are the best though IMO. I have used his music on many different projects ranging from weddings to little random vibe videos for Instagram. Very solid stuff that is very easy to sort through. I'm a huge fan of Bensound's work and I look forward to seeing more as he composes.

Ok, I'm going to address these next ones one at a time because they are totally different animals. Where they are the same though is that they are both on Soundcloud, and both are curated community pages where tracks are being added all the time so there is often new stuff being added.

SC's Creative Commons page is mostly art music and experimental music. It's a great place to look if you are needing a soundscape for an alien planet or horror movie, or if you are making an art house film. If you're making more normal work I'd recommend that you stay away from it personally... It's very weird. But also kinda cool if you're into art noise.

SC's Creative Commons Music page is pretty much entirely made up of EDM tracks. Which I personally like a lot. There is everything ranging from Trap, DnB, Trance, Glitch Hop, Dubstep, straight up EDM, and lots of other sub genres. Check here if you're making a reel, highlight video, or just want to party a little bit.

Jamendo is the last one that I've found that has really really good stuff and isn't totally sketch. Their catalog is really quite good! Now, this website isn't totally creative commons because you can only use their music for free on personal projects, and outside of that you do have to purchase a license. But if you're making a reel or an Instagram video or a personal short film then it's an awesome place to look! I've only gotten one track from here before, so I don't know too much about it. Overall it seems solid though.

So there you go! Those are the best totally legal free music websites that I've found. I would highly recommend that you check them all out, and if you know any others that I didn't mention (other than Incompetech) I would love to hear about them! I'm constantly seeking to expand my catalog of resources.

Bear Hanrahan 8/31/16 Bear Hanrahan 8/31/16

Doc who? Doc you (mentary)

I have had a ton of people ask me recently what my next project is. "What's your next project?" "When are you starting on another film?"

Well guys, I have a new project. It is going to be very different from my previous and I am stoked to get started! It is going to be a documentary about a local restaurant called Spurlock's Malt Shop and kind of the story that surrounds it and its creation.

I have had a ton of people ask me recently what my next project is. "What's your next project?" "When are you starting on another film?"

The dates haven't been confirmed but I plan on using the Sony A7s II and the Sankor 16C 2x anamorphic. It's going to be a blast and I can't wait to get started.

Now what I'm going to do is show you a bunch of documentaries that have inspired me:

Claressa:

This is a documentary about the female boxer Claressa 'T-Rex' Shields who won the Women's Boxing gold metal in the 2012 Olympics. I love it because it's a fantastic look into what life is like for an Olympian in real life, and how things are post-games.

How Mr. and Mrs. Gock Saved the Kumara

This one is just adorable and clever and super well executed. I especially love the narration and the color.

Artist Spotlight: Foreign Fields

This is a super personal look into the lives of the artists that make up Foreign Fields. I love the candidness of it and the fact that it's black and white. It makes it feel more authentic and time tested I guess.

(Also just go watch everything on Musicbed's vimeo because it's all amazing)

Just Mark

Mark Redito is one of my favorite musicians. It's awesome to be able to get a glimpse into his process and his life. His music and vibe on social media is super inspiring to me.

What is your favorite documentary? What's your favorite documentary style? Let me know in the comments below!

Bear Hanrahan 8/22/16 Bear Hanrahan 8/22/16

The Ever-Present Struggle: GAS

GAS

Or Gear Acquisition Syndrome plagues all of us as filmmakers.

GAS

Or Gear Acquisition Syndrome plagues all of us as filmmakers. We constantly want to have the newest and best because we think it will make us into better filmmakers. Now granted, there are often times when we legitimately need the new gear because a project demands it and our old gear is no longer making the cut. Like, I am going to be upgrading to the Sony A7s II from the A7s I because I legitimately need the 4k for an upcoming project.

Some of the best short films I have ever seen were done with astoundingly simple gear. If you look at the winners of My Røde Reel 2016 most of them were done with very simple kits.

In fact, some of the best indie cinematography that I've seen was done with a Canon T3i hacked with magic lantern on a short about a father trying to find his daughter in Thailand. (I'm not going to share the film here due to some of the content, but the cinematography excellent)

Now, I know that this post might just be beating a dead horse or preaching to the choir, but personally, I need to constantly remind myself that even though the newest gimbal/monitor/recorder/camera/micrphone/tripod-monopod-ninja-sword-3-in-1 might be ridiculously cool I probably don't need it.

What's your cost per use going to be? If you drop $1500 dollars on something and only use it 5-6 times over the next 2 years before you either sell it or shelve it you are spending between $250 and $300 per use. Why not just rent it for the same price or less? However if you think you are going to use it all the time (for me personally that would be my Glidecam HD 2000) the price per usage makes it go waaay down.

Then there's also the whole thing where we start to think that newer, better gear makes us better filmmakers.

Nope.

That's like a chef wanting a newer, better stove to help him make a better omlette. Basically you know the whole "wow that film/photo is great! You must have a great camera" thing? Well, if you constantly upgrade your gear because you think that it will make you more talented or skilled then you are literally that guy. The good camera = good filmmaker/photographer guy. You are mentally giving yourself less value than your gear. Not only that, but you are totally letting companies tell you how good you are. Not to mention, it gets really expensive really fast.

To sum it up, you are not only as good as your gear, gear has very little to do with talent, and if you are only as good as your gear, then you are in the wrong industry.

Now go and make a ton of stuff without the newest and best gear.

Bear Hanrahan 8/20/16 Bear Hanrahan 8/20/16

Here we go!

A little bit about GBM in general;

GBM (GoodBear Media) is my brain child. The long term goal is that it will take off as a creative collaboration with different artists, designers, photographers, and cinematographers working together as a team in one of those super awesome loft offices you see on Pintrest.

What the heck does GoodBear Media even mean?

I originally thought up GBM while I was working at Monitogo Studios in 2012. It started out as Monocle Bear, but no one could spell Monocle, and only my steampunk friends even knew what a monocle was. Soooooo that didn't happen. But then after a few months of thinking about names I came up with GoodBear Media. GoodBear because I like Bad Robot's name but I didn't want to be viewed in a negative light because my name is Bear. Then I chose Media over Productions or Studios because I don't just do video.

So there you go

GoodBear Media.

Why are you blogging?

My plan with this blog is to post gear reviews/geek out, post BTS of projects in the works, do updates on what's happening, maybe rant a little, maybe do some interviews with people who are way more talented than me, and hopefully do some collaborating too.