a TigerRAWk Film

Friday, August 31, 2012

Crash Cap Hooligans: the brief history of a legendary band



This is a documentary i made from the short time that I was playing in a band called Crash Cap Hooligans. This was a fun experience for me and it's ending was not due to band members no longer getting along or creative differences or anything like that but due to a couple members moving elsewhere. It also provided an open door for one to do what he loves and tour with our friends FBS. I am glad to have had this time and to share the behind the scenes of this band..

This film project was not intended to be a narcissistic ego boost for any of us but more a humorous look at the two months and eight days that Crash Cap Hooligans existed. The idea was to do a Spinal Tap type video but instead this is what came of it and I am happy with it. Hope you enjoty the look into the basement of 4114 Witler & what went on from March til May 2012.


Footage filmed using a Sony HD Bloggie & JVC Everio. All editing done using Final Cut Pro on a Mac Mini.

Filmed & edited by Joel A. Swanson

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Why nothing was posted here for so long...

So it's been well over 2 & 1/2 years since anything was posted to this page until my little mini update a month ago....

Here's the story...

The day I finished working on the Covenant Halloween Hardcore show DVD, the hard drive I had been using decided to stop working. On that hard drive was quite a bit of footage compiled throughout the year 2009....most of which had been posted to youtube and if warranted, to this page as well. Also on that hard drive was a show with the bands Leper, Grave Robber, Vexing Souls, and one other band I can't quite remember the name of which I never had the chance to edit. To this day, I still have not yet been able to gain access to that hard drive or the footage on it. Though really just a minor inconvenience, I delayed my editing hoping I could eventually salvage the files from that hard drive. I still hold to that hope that I will eventually meet a person who can do that for me.

During this time I was using digital tape with my video camera. When this hard drive decided to be nonfunctional, I had no space left on any of the tapes. A more professional videographer once told me not to re-use the tape due to dropping frames or something but I, not being professional at all but doing this as a hobby I enjoy, continued to re-use the digital tape (and in some cases wore them out I believe). Though finances were tight, I purchased a much larger and more efficient hard drive and tried to get the footage off some of the tapes before a show I had scheduled that night. This would be a show with FBS, Foxes On Fire, Cosmic Affliction, & Awake. I filmed the local bands using one camera then used the second during the FBS set and was able to move on from there to film shows again while I tried to find someone to fix that old hard drive.

In the meantime, things changed in my life and I no longer worked with Covenant and so those shows came to an end...a few months later I began doing house shows (eventually also came The 86) I had previously done all my work on my macbook. First I used iMovie then began using Final Cut Express. Both served their purpose for me to start but I wanted more control of the product I was making. I was blessed by my friend, Dan Simmons of All the Day Holiday with a Sony HD Bloggie. This would be my first HD Camera. I decided to purchase another one with a fairly large hard drive - a JVC Everio. I no longer would need to use the digital tape! After upgrading to the fully digital (and HD) camera and gearing my hands on Final Cut Pro, I found I would need a computer with a faster processor and other things my macbook was not capable of handling so I acquired a Mac Mini on another good deal on ebay to run Final Cut Pro.

I decided to finish projects filmed on the digital tape using the older software to edit on the macbook. With the Covenant shows, I decided to essentially work backwards starting at that point from the last show. I would do this during whatever free time I had in between editing footage that was more current.

I got most everything edited and posted but had yet another hiccup when the Macbook was used by someone else and ended up crashing. I eventually had it fixed and got within 3 projects of finishing off all the Covenant footage (that I could access) then just last month the hard drive failed again. On the hard drive is footage from the Covenant show on December 29th 2009 that I had been working on. I had finished editing the first set of that night and was nearing the end of the second set. So now I have two hard drives I hope to one day have someone recover files off of for me so I can edit and then post the footage.

At this point I don't have a macbook though I hope to find a good deal again through ebay or something to replace the old one once I have the funds. I continue to edit the current footage on the Mac Mini using Final Cut Pro and hope to one day salvage that show on December 29th 2009 and the one on that old hard drive from November 2009. In the meantime I will get the DvD list updated and hope to regularly post whatever it is I am working on to this page for those who care...if anyone still checks this out.

So, if you do check this page out, my apologies for the long time since I last posted anything here and I am back on track and hope to make postings more regular and have this DVD list up to date with each new project I finish.