Today brings the second post in our series Featured In. Each installment showcases a Pond5 media maker whose work has been used in notable productions. Today we’re talking to Scott Carlin (Edgeofreason), whose clip Prairie View Golden Sunrise – Time Lapse was featured in Baytown Outlaws.
Scott Carlins has been self-employed for 12 years as a graphic designer, multimedia developer, photographer, and videographer. He is based in Denver, Colorado, which offers him a vast amount of shooting options. “I can drive less than an hour in any direction and shoot everything from urban city scenes, to the wide open landscapes of sparse farmland, to the rugged Rocky Mountains.”
Pond5 recently got a chance to ask Scott a few questions about the experience of seeing his footage used “in the wild”:
What did you think the clip your clip would be used for when you originally filmed it?
I have quite a few clips of lone trees in sparse, rural landscapes. I think that inspiration comes from 80’s album covers – it seems that every new wave band in the 80’s had mysterious landscapes adorning their albums. I shoot sunrise time lapse footage a few mornings a week, and Prairie View Golden Sunrise was one that the setting is just perfect for the mood I am trying to convey. It’s usage in the film Baytown Outlaws is exactly as I had envisioned – a transition scene to establish time of day and mood. In the film, set in Louisiana, the “outlaws” settled in to a little rundown motel for the night. Fade to black. Then, as a transition scene into the next day, the editors used Prairie View Golden Sunrise in its entirety.
What was your reaction when you saw the clip in Baytown Outlaws?
I happened upon it quite randomly. My girlfriend and I were having a lazy night at home, and clicking through movies to watch. We both like Billy Bob Thornton, and it looked like an interesting movie. About 20 minutes in, there it was! I did a bit of a double take – it was very familiar to me, but it took me a few seconds to realise that it was, in fact, my footage. We were watching it On-Demand, so I was able to rewind the scene and watch it again. It makes me wonder how many other places I can see my footage!
What did you learn from seeing this clip in a well-known movie?
I compare shooting stock footage to a freight train… it takes a while, and a bit of blind faith, to get things moving, but once it is moving, the momentum seems to continue to build, and sales gradually continue to increase to what seems an unstoppable force. Naturally, my eye for good composition, and my post-processing skills are increasing as well. Seeing my footage in Baytown Outlaws was a bit of a confirmation to me that I am on the right track with my subject matter, and motivates me to shoot more.
What other shots have you seen being used ?
I see my Denver skyline footage on TV almost every day, used in commercials by local Denver car dealerships, law firms, health care companies, and other Denver businesses, usually as an intro or outro scene. I attempt to keep my subject matter as generic and versatile as possible for a wide audience. I admire many of the other Pond5 contributors for their studio photography skills, and those who work with models and props to create specific scenarios, but my footage is intended to be used more as a backdrop of sorts, to set a mood or location, even if it involves a scene shot in Colorado, and used to convey Louisiana!