Las Vegas on Kyle Anderson

Bridal Spectacular - Tuxedo Solo, January 2011

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:23:21 -0700


Project Meta Cameras: Sony DSR-250 Sony PD100 equivalent Editor: Premiere Pro CS5

This is a two-camera edit of the tuxedo fashion show number from the Bridal Spectacular’s January 2011 show. The addition of the second, handheld camera wasn’t planned, and the second camera was in full-auto mode. While it’s not perfect, the shakiness kind of adds to the energetic nature of this particular song. Unfortunately, trying to correct the sometimes over-blown images from the second camera didn’t work out, so it’s there as it was. Also note that I’m running the front-of-house camera and managing the projector feed at the same time, hence the strange panning at the beginning.

Brief with Lighting Designer David Hartley

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 22:21:38 -0700

David Harley has been working as a professional lighting designer and general audio/visual guru for over thirty years. I caught up with him at the Bridal Spectacular convention, one of the events in Las Vegas which has hired me for video coverage of their fashion shows. In the slideshow below, Hartley gives a glimpse into his life as a lighting designer.

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Reminiscing: Middle School Book Drive (2002)

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:54:20 -0700

Prior to high school, I was a bona-fide overachiever. This included a duty as president of my middle school’s National Junior Honor Society. During my 8th grade year, we ran a book drive for the elementary school nearest ours, one I believe was deemed an “at-risk” school under the No Child Left Behind Act. Our initial goal of collecting 1,000 children’s books was shattered with a final count somewhere around 4,500 books. Here is the news report highlighting the event, which aired around December 15, 2002. (Warning: My elocution and sweater-belt are completely terrible.)

Thoughts on Perspective

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:22:46 -0700

‘You won’t last six months in this town.’ - Anonymous

If you’re sensible, you take an indirect hint from the broke fuckers who spend half their lives wasting away at the blackjack table, pounding back cigarette after drink after sorrow.

“It’s always like this,” The stranger across the table from me says after yet another losing hand.

I was in the same boat as him, walking away from the cards with 2/3 fewer chips than I started with. Thankfully, the $60 I used to bet with all came from video poker winnings from earlier. No matter what, I told myself, I’m leaving here $20 up.

Greed got the best of me that night. Though ending the night with a profit, it was much less than it could have been. After hitting two four of a kinds on video poker, I had turned my initial $40 into $150 for $110 profit. Half an hour and two more free beers, and that dropped to $60 profit, and I cashed out. It was 4 a.m., and this is when I tried to sleep and couldn’t. So I tried my luck at blackjack at 6 in the morning. On a Sunday. Though I lost winnings, I convinced the pit boss to comp me breakfast.

There are two ways to look at this situation I put myself in. Either I could have won more, got greedy and lost, or I simply won $20, free food and drinks, and a night out. All of this seems to relate back to a concept I recently read about called the anchoring effect.

BT Spins in Vegas; Ravers _____ in Phoenix

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 04:11:25 -0700

Standing in this massive line was ridiculous, I thought. $45 gets me this? But after a few directions and the flash of a wristband, I was in.

BT, and his vocal accompaniment JES, performed at Rain Nightclub at the Palms Resort and Casino Saturday night, and it was a hell of a show.

You’re gonna have to trust me - this is BT.

Granted, this was my first nightclub experience, so it might as well have been all the same as any other club. But what made this particular venue attractive on this particular night was the man himself, BT.

A crooked hallway plastered in tiny mirrors beings me in to the club. The place is pounding with music. And people.

You have to shove past everyone in a club like this, but they’re all attractive, so I guess it doesn’t matter. Shoving past people for five minutes got me to a relatively uncrowded bar.

“What’s strong and cheap?” I asked the bartender after observing a guy pay $7 for a cheap beer. He gave me a double rum and coke for $13.

Waiting for the first DJ to finish, I stood on the upper balcony next to people I couldn’t hear. I watched as security guards ushered people, cleaned up drinks, etc. The dance floor was packed, and there was no telling where I’d end up if I tried to enter it. Best keep my distance.

Let's Make A Reality - TV Game Show Experience

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:24:32 -0700

In the rotting carcass that is the Tropicana Hotel and Casino’s convention center, a television studio was constructed, and in the last two and a half months, 98 episodes of TV’s newest game show have been taped in it.

The locale for CBS’s debut game show, “Let’s Make A Deal” with Wayne Brady, happens to be a 15 minute drive from my house. I invited my mother, who had been on the original “Let’s Make A Deal” in the ’70s, and my grandmother to a taping, one this writer, costumed in a size 18W purple dress and a necktie made of fake pearls, couldn’t take pictures of. Regardless, I figured it’d be a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon while I’m home for winter break.

Bridal Spectacular - Twilight Fashion Show

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 03:00:00 -0700


Project Meta Camera: Sony DSR-250 Editor: Premiere Pro Cs4

Preface: I’ve video-taped the last several fashion shows for the Bridal Spectacular wedding convention in Las Vegas. In August 2009, one of the fashion shows was themed around the popular book series and movie, “Twilight.” I was asked to make a short cut of the show focusing on the fashions and set to “Twilight”-esque music. This is what I came up with. Notes about this shoot: This was the first shoot where I used the Tektronix waveform monitor and vectorscope I bought at the Flagstaff Goodwill for $15 to white balance the camera, and it shows.

Las Vegas Philharmonic - Springs Preserve, Las Vegas - July 4, 2009

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:25:30 -0700


Project Meta Cameras: Sony DSR-250 (x3) Switcher: Panasonic MX50

Preface: This is a short clip from the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s performance at the Springs Preserve Las Vegas on July 4, 2009. This was a three camera shoot: one stationary and two on-the-shoulder roaming on a very packed stage. The cameras were DSR-250s. Production company, providing sound, lighting and video: AV Vegas.

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Springs Preserve July 4 2009

Ass Kicking

Mon, 11 May 2009 12:00:18 -0700

I’m writing this from atop a mound of dirt on the side of the I-215 beltway overlooking the Las Vegas valley, brightly lit as always, and accompanied by a nearly full moon. I’m listening to BT’s This Binary Universe, and remembering the tranquil swim I took at dusk under a purple and orange sky. Tonight is simply beautiful.

By the end of my sophomore year in high school, I was almost ready to leave A-Tech because I was so overwhelmed with work. Retrospectively, that year was the hardest for me in high school. I had yet to make a lot of friends, and school work was excessive.