Film location of The Fast and the Furious on Domenigoni Parkway

by Ray Roman in , ,

This is a video breakdown of a scene from The Fast and the Furious (2003). The scene was filmed in Hemet, CA. on Domenigoni Pkwy. In this video I breakdown the direction the cast is traveling and the differences between shots where the vehicles are driving the opposite direction. The majority of people will have no idea they’re driving on the same road in both directions in the scene but through the fast-pace editing it all achieves the directors vision for the scene despite the misdirection of the film staging. I wouldn’t call this a blooper because the scene successfully plays out without the viewer noticing. Enjoy!

San Diego 360° (Fixed Perspective)

by Ray Roman in , ,

This is the 'Fixed Perspective Version' of San Diego 360°. The original 360-video was created in 2015.

Over the years 360-degree videos have not always been user friendly. Depending on what device, browser or app the viewer was using effected the way in which a 360-video was viewed. For example, if I tweeted out a 360-video uploaded to YouTube, it would playback embedded within YouTube as a equirectangular format or flat view, giving the viewer zero capabilities of looking around a scene. Only if the user viewed the 360-video within the YouTube app (on mobile devices) would they have these capabilities, and on YouTube on the desktop only using the Chrome browser at that time.

Another example was for a time 360-videos uploaded directly to Facebook would not always playback for viewers depending on which device, or browsers they were using. This is just another example of how 360-videos were not supported by some of the main apps at the time on certain devices.

In December of 2015 I submitted San Diego 360° to The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for eligibility to win an Emmy Award. It was the first year they were accepting 'Online Broadcast' material. I was having doubts on any chance of being nominated due to many playback issues, let alone the various categories it could be submitted under with only being able to select one. All 'Online Broadcast' material was to be shared on a particular website, which played the videos in the JW Player which did not have 360-video capabilities. Within my submission I outlined a detailed description on the proper way of viewing the material, which is a hurdle in itself being that whomever was going to be judging it would have to be on the right device, and browser. Being that this was the first time 'Online Broadcasts' were being accepted, I highly doubted the judges would spend the minor but extra attention needed for proper playback. I exchanged several e-mails with 2 NATAS individuals about this, one stating "You might be a little ahead of your time on this one."

Since the start of creating San Diego 360° I wanted to make a fixed perspective version for all the reasons mentioned above. Hopefully, those who come across it will get a glimpse at what's possible as a viewer and that leads them onto having a look around San Diego 360° for their own experience.

Super Bowl LII Recap

by Ray Roman in , , , , , , ,

I've recently returned from a trip to the Super Bowl in Minneapolis, MN. It was freezing! I've experienced the cold before but never below zero. Luckily, I came prepared and survived the weather. There were various events, and interviews I captured throughout the week. One of the events covered was the Brain Health Summit, you can watch their live stream of the event here. Another memorable moment was getting a follow up interview with Brett Favre for the documentary I'm currently in post-production on.

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On this trip I traveled to Minnesota and North Dakota making that a total of 30 states I've traveled to. Besides the cold, I did not know what to expect on this trip and reflecting back on my 5 days in the Bold North I have to say I enjoyed it!

The food was delicious from the burgers, to the pasta, pizza, and so on. Read some of my recent yelp reviews here.