COmmercials & Music Videos

This was the 2nd project I made for the Heinz Ketchup contest on YouTube.  I was going for something much simpler here, trying to be a little abstract and arty, but comedy is in my blood, so I had to end it with a joke.

Written/Directed/Edited by: Ross Williams

Starring: Steve Hackett

This was made for another YouTube contest, this time Tax Cut Online.  I came up with this idea and planned on shooting and starring in it at the same time, something I wasn’t looking forward too.  Luckily I learned that my friend Steve was up for the task, and his hilarious performance as these four different characters makes the spot.

Written/Directed/Edited by: Ross Williams

Starring: Steve Hackett

This was the third film project I ever created, so it’s maybe not as crisp as some of my later work, but I still think it’s a lot of fun.  When I was working for an internet company in Seattle, I ate a ton of this spicy instant soup.  It was good and it was cheap.  I came up with this idea while carrying a bag of it back to the office, and just had to make it a reality.

Starring: Leo Lam, Aaron Golson & Zac Brownell

Written & Directed by: Ross Williams

Edited by: Eric Firth

After making the Monostereo video (below) I wanted to make a video for one of my favorite Seattle bands, Blessed Light, who my friend German played bass for. Three weeks before my family and I planned on moving out of Seattle, it finally came together. I met with the band's lead singer and founder Toby Gordon and we talked about some ideas. He wanted to make a video for a song German had wrote. I came up with a couple ideas for it, but nothing that begged to be made. German came to me with his ideas, which I liked much more than my own. We were shooting a few days later. It was my first time working on an concept that wasn't totally mine. I found it an intriguing challenge, as I didn't know exactly where it was going, but I think the whole thing turned out pretty unique.   Every time I watch it, it gives me more meaning.   

Starring: Blessed Light

Directed & Edited by: Ross Williams

Written by: German Nuestro

At the premiere of eRATicate my friend Ian, who plays drums for the Seattle band Monostereo, asked if I interested in making a video for them. "Sure," I said. I didn't have much of concept built for it, except the slight story of the band on its way to a show. But I grabbed my super-8 camera anyways and we began shooting. I roamed around Seattle with each band member individually looking for fun stuff to shoot. With Ian, I shot hand-held frame-by-frame to make his stuff look jumpy, like "drums". Damon, the bass player, got the frame-by-frame treatment also, but I put the camera on a tripod and asked him to scoot around to make it look smooth. For Lea, the singer and lead guitarist, I rolled the camera at 12 frames a second to give it a slight "off" look, but to make her section the most consistent. I didn't want to use these techniques all the way through the video, so I employed my talented photographer wife, Kristan, to shoot stills of their show. It was a lot of fun to put together.

Starring: Monostereo

Directed/Shot/Edited by Ross Williams

Photos by: Kristan Kelly