It all started with a cheap old digital camera. And it stopped, when I discovered that there was a movie function built into one of my newer and more expensive ones.
For the few years in between I have been shooting for fun, for my blog, for weddings, for car collectors, for social media and eventually for a variety of print outlets, including magazines (mostly car-related).
I hope to be doing some stills again in the future. Here’s more from the glorious past: blende.fuenfkommasechs.de
I have a background in computer animation, and have worked in this field for almost 20 years. As a “senior 3D generalist” you deal with such melodious topics as “non-uniform rational b-splines”, “sub surface scattering” or “computational fluid dynamics”. If you think that sounds like rocket science: in fact it is rocket science! And a “senior generalist” usually also does all the “compositing” too. That means the assembly of the final image layers in such a way that they look real. So yes, we 3d guys are beyond human! 😉
Therefore it’s almost like a little vacation when you have to “rescue” some actual footage for a change. Here, for example, I have been asked to adapt the C-class to the current model year, or to remove a certain equipment feature from the S-Class convertible.
My interest in videography is closely linked to my work in the film and advertising industry. These jobs consisted mostly of staring at progress bars, though. Filming yourself is much more enjoyable: not least you get some fresh air and travel a lot! And editing is like magic: suddenly everyday situations can be condensed into exciting stories.
Meanwhile I have been doing numerous commercial productions as a videographer, too. Whenever there is a tight schedule, a requirement to have the smallest crew possible at a certain location for more flexibility, but also a desire for maximum production value inlcuding editing and post production, I come into play.
A friend and I started filming our classic car related adventures in 2012, which until then we had only written about. The name fünfkommasechs (five-point-six) refers to the engine displacement of my own Mercedes 560 SEL. Over the years it has become one of the most beloved YouTube channels for German-speaking petrolheads with more than 125,000 views per video on average.
But I have to confess: I’m not that much interested into cars as it might seem. What fascinates me most are people and their stories. The spontaneous behind-the-scenes video of Mercedes’ farewell from DTM named “Das letzte Rennen” is a good example for this. Because it was completely spontaneous and I did not know what to expect when they invited me to Hockenheim just a few days in advance. So I went there and just kept filming without knowing if and how I would use it.
I’ve also just recently learned that our documentary on the development of the S-Class is being shown at vocational schools. This is much more valuable to me than even millions of mostly anonymous viewers on YouTube.
Some of our content has inevitably made it on the official Mercedes-Benz YouTube channel, as well. In fact, their most successful YouTube video of all time (15 million views) is just a cutdown of one of our adventures.
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