P   a   u   l     B   l   a   i   r  '  s
SUPERKEEN
n      e      t     w     o      r      k

NEWS

SNAPSHOTS

VIDEO

MUSIC

WEB

LINKS

GUESTBOOK

EMAIL
PAUL BLAIR

VIDEO


BEFORE YOU WATCH ANY VIDEOS...

Windows Media Player 7.1The videos on this site are encoded in the Windows Media format, so you will need the newest version of Windows Media Player to view them.  Not all my work is up, here, but I'm working on it.  Some things used to be up here, but were lost in the great superkeen.com crash of 2002.  Those items still have notes available, and can be identified by their salmon color.
 


Shorts

Franklin the Flying Weinerdog
November 2004 (13 minutes 31 seconds)
My last student film... the production of which happened to spill past my graduation by almost a year.  It's fair to say that quite a bit of what I have learned since I started college culminates in this project.  Email me to request the DVD, which contains much higher-quality audio and video (including a Dolby Digital Surround mix)!  The downloadable versions are available in plain-jane stereo as well as Windows Media Surround.  "Will the surround work on my computer?" you ask.  Probably not, especially if you have to ask.  Click here for more info.  I would recommend getting the DVD, which will DEFINITELY work on any living room surround sound setup.

Content-wise, well... it speaks for itself.  Post comments in the Guestbook!

Download: [ Windows Media 9 STEREO (62.8MB) | Windows Media 9 SURROUND (62.8MB)]

DVCAM/MiniDV 60i
Writer/Director: Paul Blair
Original Score: Mark Bertuldo
Assistant Camera: Melissa Bayne
Starring: Paul Blair
All postproduction: Paul Blair
 
Power
December 2002 (2 minutes 56 seconds)
The ICAM102 assignment was vague, so I came up with an idea that not only was pretty much a clean slate for interpretation, but also integrated my Power Glove into the plot!

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (5.06MB) ]

DVCAM 60i
Director: Paul Blair
Assistants: John Dion and Sam Chan
Starring: Samira Kotono
Wrong Way
April 2001 (5 minutes 34 seconds)
Visual Arts 70N is the "Intro to Media" class at UC San Diego.  It gives students a chance to learn basic video media techniques like linear editing and camerawork.  There are two projects for the class.  This was the second.
     Assignment: combine an interview and relate it somehow to some unrelated footage.  Challenging, to say the least.  The group and I headed into downtown San Diego to film our interview with a quite interesting homeless man.  Our interview actually stretched over an hour!  We also filmed some of the secondary footage in the area, and the indoor shots were done about a week later.  While I find "A Confusing Film" to be much more amusing, "Wrong Way" was selected to be shown in the final screening for the class, along with the other better videos produced by some of the other students.

Download: [ Windows Media 8 (14.1MB) ]

DVCAM 60i
Directors: Samira Kotono, Paul Blair, John, Erin Sanchez, Sarai Koo
A Confusing Film (4 minutes 30 seconds)
What began with the question: "How can we cheat the four-minute-max restriction on our first VA70N assignment?" ended up with a rather complicated solution.  The cast features a man with unknown motives and a mysterious case (Paul Blair), a desperate kid (John), his hesitant girlfriend (Samira Kotono), and a cop (Erin Sanchez). It's far from perfect (or refined, for that matter), but time and resources were limited, and so was patience.  If nothing else, it's a good gimmick, and worthy of a later, more polished attempt.

Download: [ Windows Media 8 (11.6MB) ]

Hi8 60i
Directors: Pau Blair, Samira Kotono, John, Erin Sanchez, Sarai Koo
Writer: Paul Blair


Music Videos

Trouble at School "Out of Me"
March 2004 (4 minutes 45 seconds)
Mark needed a music video, said I, so since I just got a new camcorder (Panasonic DVX100), I rented a jib and we filmed this at the park by my house.  The sexual innuendo was not in my original treatment, but it works so well.  Look for a cameo by Mark's own sister, whose robot dance puts the rest of the kids to shame!
"Out of Me" is featured on the Trouble at School "Family Favorites EP," which for now can be ordered by sending an email to Paul Blair (link is in the left column).

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (10.8MB) ]

MiniDV 30p, 24p
Director: Paul Blair
Music: Mark Bertuldo
Drummer: Mike Woodall
Guitar/Maracas Guy: Matt
The Girl: Danelle

Taking Back Sunday "Timberwolves at New Jersey"
2002
While they were in town playing a show at the Che Cafe, Taking Back Sunday put aside a couple days to film their new music video with us.  Mike headed up the project with his roomate, and they came up with the movie-preview-scary-movie-convoluted-betrayal concept.  The bulk of it was shot in my old house in San Diego and the surrounding neighborhood.  I helped mainly with the garage footage, which is the really dark stuff.  Mike also had me come in for some editing assistance (a few pacing things, text effects, crazy shaky stuff in After Effects).

Download: [ not available ]

DVCAM 60i
(ripped to web from DVD)
Director: Mike Kaminsky
DPs: John Dion, Sam Chan, Paul Blair


Award-Winning Shorts

Warpath
November 2003 (8 minutes 45 seconds)
24 hours to write, shoot, and edit together a video short... not an easy task, especially with our large group of directors with different sensibilities.  That being said, we all met in a small apartment in Hollywood and did our best.  Our team's prompt was "It's Walk, Don't Run," so we played with the theme of pacing, or, in particular, the choice made by one character to exact his revenge at the right time.  The project is rough around the edges, but hey, we made it in a day.  The screening was at the Vine Theater in Hollywood.
 
Finalist, 2003 LA 24 Hour Digital Short Film Marathon

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (19.1MB) ]

MiniDV 60i
Directors: Sean Lee, Paul Blair, Sam Chan, John Dang, John Dion, Gen Ito, Jubal "Ace" Kohn, Yyler Lindsay, Roland J. Lozada, Elisa Narikawa, John, Norbert Shieh
How Do You See S D?
February 2002 (2 minutes)
When informed by Mike that there were so few applicants that we were almost guaranteed a finalist position, how could I pass up the chance to work with him on this video?  Mike's roommate Andrew helped considerably with the camerawork.  We discovered that the audio was ruined just as we were about to finish, so we had to re-shoot nearly everything.  The only exception is the Jim Smith scene at the end, which we managed to salvage.
     Asking the "cleverly" phrased question, "How Do You See S D?" (Get it?  Ha ha.), the UCSD Associated Students expect the answer in the form of a on-to-two minute video.  Filmed and edited in half a day, this submission, by trio of greatness Mike Kaminsky, Paul Blair, and Andrew Whitlock, sidesteps the expected approach to the video and makes a few jokes instead (in addition?).  With cameos by A.S. President Jeff Dodge, Media Center head-honcho Jim Smith, and Jebb's bong, this is a sure-fire hit!  And yes, the cheesiness carries over into the video.
 
Audience Award, 2002 ASUCSD Video Art Contest

Download: [ Windows Media 8 (5.2MB) ]

DVCAM 60i
Directors: Mike Kaminsky, Paul Blair, and Andrew Whitlock


Promotional Materials

Sun God 2002 'Color' Intro
May 2002 (2 minutes 4 seconds)
This is the Sun God hype video that we played between sets.  This project marks the first time that I've used After Effects.  John Dion and Sam Chan came up with the idea and did the filming (watch for my too-long cameo, though!), and Sam did the basic editing and the "flash" effect, and I did the color effects.  The color stuff was done with keyframed masks and a single adjustable color filter.

Download: [ Windows Media 8 (5.53MB) ]

DVCAM 60i
Directors: John Dion, Sam Chan
Editor: Sam Chan
Color Effects: Paul Blair

FallFest 2001 Intro
October 2001 (1 minute 24 seconds)
The tradition lives on!  Armed with some of SRTV18's new event equipment (with the DV Deck noticeably absent), I and a group of other brave souls did a live three-camera mix of the concert (which should have used four, but we had a last minute problem.  Meanwhile, Susie and Celeste did backstage interviews.
     Alien Ant Farm's cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" has been sweeping the airwaves recently.  Using the transition between the two songs, this introductory video sets the stage for the concert footage (which is not yet available online) that follows.  It follows the same kind of template started with the FallFest 2000 Intro, but for the first time I had some cool text (and letterboxing, etc.) effects at my disposal (thanks to my new Canopus DVStorm-RT... and my student loan).  I also used used Canopus Xplode Pro for the 3D effects, which are still new to me.

Download: [ Windows Media 8 (3.19MB) ]

DVCAM 60i
Editor: Paul Blair
Club Ritmo Introductory Sequence
February 2001 (1 minute)
Club Ritmo is UC San Diego's only 18 and over night club, and one of the few in San Diego.  This SRTV18 special highlighted the first two weekends it was open, and featured songs and interviews with LA Symphony, Ton Loc, and Vanilla Ice.
     To the beat of LA Symphony's fittingly-titled "San Diego," hosts Paul Blair and Susy Del Vecchio are introduced, along with the highlighted musicians listed above.  I used Photoshop more than usual for this intro to bring John Dion's intro sketches to life for the video realm.  The clouds were a Premiere "motion path" nightmare, if you know what that means.  See if you can find the secret "Superkeen" video clip!  It's not from one of the skits available online... that's your only hint.

Download: [ not available ]

DVCAM 60i
Editor: Paul Blair
Club Ritmo End Credits
February 2001 (1 minute 30 seconds)
Yes, it's important to recognize whose sweat goes into a production such as this, but the more practical draw to these end credits is, of course, Vanilla Ice.  After the SRTV18 interview, the UCSD publication, the "Muir Quarterly," had their shot at asking the Iceman some intelligent questions.  One of our cameramen, Monte Kawahara, kept his camera running for the duration.  Now, watch the Muir Quarterly make fools of themselves!

Download: [ not available ]

DVCAM 60i

Lost at Last Introductory Sequence
November 2000 (1 minute 10 seconds)
Basically a series of slow-mo / high-speed video clips from the concert, this intro sadly has a noticeable glitch toward the beginning because of stupid "Reference AVI" files.  Nothing but trouble, those.  Of course, it's still worth a look.  There're some pretty cool visuals.

Download: [ not available ]

DVCAM 60i
 


Celebrity Interviews

Warren G Interview
(2 minutes 43 seconds)
It's a short one... not a lot is said, but if you just like to hear Warren G talk (and who doesn't?  That's what rap is, right?), give it a look.  The volume is low, so turn up your speakers.

Download: [ Windows Media 8 Lo-Fi (2.67MB) ]

DVCAM 60i
Alien Ant Farm Interview
(11 minutes 10 seconds)
Susie and Celeste interview one of today's most popular bands.  Find out why Dryden isn't afraid of God, among other interesting trivia. Also check out drummer Mike Cosgrove's bag of weed.  Noteworthy quote: "These are the two prettiest interviewers I've ever seen in my life." - Dreyden Mitchell (lead singer)

Download: [ Windows Media 8 (27.2MB) ]

DVCAM 60i
LA Symphony Interview
February 2001 (9 minutes 22 seconds)
The opening band for Vanilla Ice, LA Symphony was quite a contrast.  They put on a clean show... no cussing, nudity, nada.  Before they went on, Susy and I chatted it up and got a feel for them and their music.  Also in this clip: a brief introduction by the hosts, and a drunk "Mogul."

Download: [ not available ]

DVCAM 60i
Ton Loc Interview
February 2001 (1 minute 43 seconds)
Ton Loc was in a hurry to perform, since he was late arriving before the show because he was stoned.  He was also impatient, so he requested that the interview be short.  This video clip also includes some other stuff after the interview, including an SRTV18 plug by Vanilla Ice.

Download: [ not available ]

DVCAM 60i
Vanilla Ice Interview
February 2001 (6 minutes 38 seconds)
Vanilla Ice.  The name alone brings back memories of a different time in music.  Robert Van Winkle, as his parents know him, was a trendsetter for future white rappers.  While his 80's hair and clothes might have been left behind, the music was not.  He still performs "Ice Ice Bay" for the old school crowds.  Here, the Iceman speaks on his new music, why he's no longer a puppet, and what he thinks about "Da Hip Hop Witch."

Download: [ not available ]

DVCAM 60i
Lost at Last Interview
February 2001 (12 minutes 57 seconds)
If you want to get to know "Lost at Last," this would be a great start.  A good deal of time is spent with each member of the band individually, so you can get an idea not only of what Lost at Last, but also who they are as musicians and as people.

Download: [ not available ]

DVCAM 60i
 


Superkeen (1999-2000 School Year)

"Superkeen" was the freshman effort of aspiring-producer John Dion and aspiring-everything Paul Blair.  The cast consists mainly of their friends and neighbors, and all the editing was done on Paul's computer in his dorm room.  It was his first time using video capturing hardware or Adobe Premiere 5, and for that matter, no one had ever before attempted such a lofty production; however, it turned out well, even if it did take the entire school year to figure out how to get it done and get it done right.  Oh, and it's a sketch comedy show. DVCAM 60i
Directors: John Dion, Paul Blair
Postproduction: Paul Blair

 

Aquabats Plug and Warning (32 seconds)
Although not a central part of the show, the Aquabats plug and the disclaimer were part of the original broadcast, and as such are available for download here.  It's a necessity for any Superkeen collector!

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (1.37MB) ]

Theme Song and Introductory Sequence (1 minute 19 seconds)
While the filming for this intro only took a few hours (but many people), the recording of the theme song using Cakewalk 9 took months, and was actually recorded twice to get the right sound.  If you're interested, you can check out the song itself over on the Music page.  The shooting was a challenge because of tape problems with the camera (a Sony DSR-200A), but it just needed to be smacked around a bit.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (3.08MB) ]

Introduction (30 seconds)
Paul Blair welcomes the TV viewers to the show and Monte makes a silly joke and thrusts his hips.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (1.24MB) ]

Narcoleptic Ned (4 minutes 19 seconds)
John Dion stars as the sleepy-eyed, retro-dressed man with an amusing disorder: Narcoleptic Ned.  Ned attends a Narcoleptics Anonymous meeting and tells his new friends some of his "rougher" stories.  The now-famous Dr. Blue also did this theme song, which is not available for download... yet!

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (10MB) ]

Monte the Lost Tourist (5 minutes 10 seconds)
Monte Kawahara dresses up in strictly non-offense generic culturally-unspecific Asian garb and fakes a strictly non-offense thick culturally-unspecific Asian accent.  He wanders around UC San Diego in search of prominent landmarks and streets.  It's a good laugh, especially if you know the school and its area.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (11.9MB) ]

Estrogen (1 minute)
The "props" for this commercial took a while to assemble, and Juice kept spilling milk on himself (take note of how his shirt changes midway through the ad), but filming still took less than an hour.  The girls downstairs were not too happy with the milk puddle that formed underneath the balcony.  Oh, well.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (2.33MB) ]

Got Key? (20 seconds)
John Dion stars in this epic masterpiece "Got Milk?" spoof.  This was filmed in my dorm's suite area.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (915KB) ]

Stay Tuned (Rahzel with DJ Makka) (15 seconds)
One of two "real" commercials in Superkeen, this Rahzel clip is intended to keep people watching after the show to see interviews with bands.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (683KB) ]

Who Wants a Dolla? (7 minutes 34 seconds)
This "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" parody was co-written by John (who plays the host) and Eric.  Paul and Monte play the contestants. Tim has a cameo as the audience member.

Manistat (1 minute 3 seconds)
Most of the dialog for this commercial was taken right from the pages of the Monistat web site.  I'm sure you'll be able to pick out which lines were made up. 
The special effects here were fun to do... the screaming little man's voice was done by John Dion.  John plays the menstruating male, and is reading his lines from big cards behind the camera.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (2.44MB) ]

Dishwalla Plug (11 seconds)
The guys from Dishwalla give a shout-out to SRTV18.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (466KB) ]

Cracker Jacks for Adults (47 seconds)
"...and why should you grow out of this timeless tradition, getting a prize in every box of Cracker Jacks?"  You don't have to!  This new spin-off products has all the great taste, but with more fitting prizes!

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (1.82MB) ]

Stay Tuned (Aquabats Challenge) (15 seconds)
The second real commercial, this time the Aquabats entice the viewers to keep watching after the show.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (601KB) ]

UCSD RSO Special Unit (6 minutes 57 seconds)
One of the highlights of Superkeen, "RSO" is a parody of the COPS television show using real dialog taken from mouths of only the finest campus officers.  The introductory footage is real... students dressed in homemade uniforms raided the dorm rooms until a real RSO put a stop to it.  There are many inside jokes here; too many to name, really, but the skit is enjoyable to the uninitiated as well.  Special thanks: The Salvation Army (for the cheap jackets).

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (16.1MB) ]

Chia Trash (43 seconds)
Find out how to turn your nerdy self into a cool buff dude who gets all the chicks!  We had to refilm the "chicks" because the microphones weren't plugged in the first time.  Oh, well.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (1.65MB) ]

Rahzel Plug (15 seconds)
Rahzel does his thing as he lets us all know how much he loves SRTV18.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (619KB) ]

Herbal Essences (1 minute 5 seconds)
"From the people you trust with your hair, comes a new product... that will revolutionize the bathroom comfort industry."  Enticed?  See what the fuss is all about... and see why this man is peeking into a bathroom stall.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (2.51MB) ]

Priceless (51 seconds)
Tim Morgan -- in his most famous performance!  A parody of the MasterCard ads, "Priceless" is one of the more memorable of the "Superkeen" commercials.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (1.98MB) ]

Conclusion (22 seconds)
John Dion says goodbye to our fans and thanks our supporters.  The crowd goes wild.  Monte thrusts his hips.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (997KB) ]

End Credits (1 minute 54 seconds)
Sometimes some of the funniest lines are the ones said wrong, and those are just the ones you can laugh at while the orange credits roll up the screen.  Also, this is the only place you can hear the Superkeen theme song Brady Bunch remix!

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (4.42MB) ]

Stay Tuned (15 seconds)
In its original broadcasts, Superkeen was always followed by SRTV's first-ever Sun God band interviews  This is just a still-image segway.

Download: [ Windows Media 9 (218KB) ]