Karen Abad loves Dinosaurs.'s videos (68)
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This is a really personal short film that I wrote, directed, shot, and edited.

"Forty Seven" is a day in the life of a young man who is completing a list of "47 Things to do Before I Die" while documenting it with post-it notes and Polaroids.
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  • nshack 5 months ago
    Really beautifully shot! Awesome! The cuts are great and well paced! Nice work!
  • Aww thanks Nathan, I invested so much of myself into this, and it's really personal and emotional for me...I have to tweak a couple things but then it will be done.
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  • Loonachic 5 months ago
    oh karen, this was fantastic! thanks for this!
  • Thank you for watching it, I really appreciate it.
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  • Elemeno Pee 5 months ago
    It's quite personal. Nicely done, Karen. I'm jealous of the equipment you get to use...
  • Thanks so much L-MN_o_P.


    haha...my one person crew (myself) and my silly little camera that I love...you'd be surprised what some intensive color correction will do for you.

    ...I get to use awesome equipment...but for this film..this is just all me by myself.


    That dolly shot?

    Yup..I definitely put a whiteboard on my skateboard and put the tripod on that.


    the things you do to "get the shot"

  • Elemeno Pee 5 months ago
    Hah, even better. It's a great looking piece.
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  • 3d60 5 months ago
    and this is only the beginning innit....ace
  • I hope so. :-)
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  • Thommy Browne 5 months ago
    This was so great. You do beautiful work - never stop doing it.
  • Thanks Thommy...and don't you stop making cute videos of your family! :-)
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  • blueeyed_girl 5 months ago
    Wow that was really beautiful and moving video. Thank you for sharing that and I'm truly sorry to hear that your best friend is dying.
  • Thanks. It's alright....he's a little spunk he won't go without a fight. Haha. :-)
  • blueeyed_girl 5 months ago
    Good to hear!!
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  • Madhatter 5 months ago
    wow, a very touching and heartfelt piece
    is he really dying? :( thats so sad :(
    great shots, very professional!
  • Thanks. Yeah he is, but I wanted to make something whimsical and happy for him. Things are good in the world. My project is turned in, I'm happy with it, and I love my BFF and he's pretty happy with the outcome :-)
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  • Aaron Baker 5 months ago
    this is important. you have made something really important and wonderful. i'm a better person for having watched it.
  • Aww thanks Babies Baker. I wanted to make something happy and pleasant.


    (not to mention that i'm more concerned with the cinematography over the editing, even though it's for an editing class hahaha)....


    I'm a better person for having made it.
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  • charliesteadman 5 months ago
    Great work Karen. You're a pro.
  • Thanks Steadman...you're too kind.

    On a more unrelated note...I'm gonna try marmite...so we have that to look forward to...haha.
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  • Blake Whitman 5 months ago
    Cinematography and editing were impeccable. Very well done Karen! I really enjoyed the quick cuts and the simple editing techniques were employed very well. Elegant and beautiful.

    Staff pick!
  • Aww thanks blake. You're my staff pick. (wait, did that even make sense? haha)

    I have to keep working up to making more things with cinematography that will make people's hearts explode.


    hahaha :-)
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  • janocjapun 5 months ago
    I'm impressed ... speechless. This is so sad but so intense.
  • oh no...it's supposed to be happy....kind of...haha..you know what i mean. :-)

    Thank you for taking the time to watch it...it means a lot to me.
  • janocjapun 5 months ago
    It didn't make me laugh :)
    I know, its totally liberating, he completed his list, he can go now with a smile and I'm lucky he did and it makes me somehow happy – but on the other hand the story made me so sad that I could not continue watching other videos ...
  • That totally makes sense. After I showed it in class, i don't think anyone knew what to say either. There was this really awkward silence thing for a little bit.

    I hope you can continue watching fantastic vimeo videos today :-)

    Thank you for your comments.
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  • Aziz K. 5 months ago
    such a heart-warming/sad (if that makes any sense) short film. great job karen!
  • Aww thanks Aziz :-)

    (Your name reminds me of one of the lion characters on Animal Crossing - a game on the gamecube...he was always my favorite...Aziz the lion with blue hair.. this is what he looks like animalcrossing.neoseeker.com/images/uploads/lions_mini.png

    I know that was completely unrelated..haha...but yeah. I love Aziz. haha.
  • Aziz K. 5 months ago
    haha :) I know Aziz the lion. I've played animal crossing on DS for a while, until one day, the person I was playing it online told me he was 11 and had to go to bed at 8pm.

    that's when I realized, I was too old for this :)
  • NO ONE is too old for Animal crossing.

    I have many memories of it taking over my life.

    And me scheduling my life AROUND it.


    *sigh*

    You will be my Aziz lion from now on.
    haha
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  • Soxiam 5 months ago
    really interesting. i love how the credits wrap up the story.
  • I have to extend them..but i reached the 5 minute time limit for the class assignment, so next week when I reupload it, it will be better if its on there longer so you can actually read it. :-)
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  • ignirav 5 months ago
    Hi from Spain. I'm very very impressive. i like your missatge... sorry for my english... you are a great person
  • Oh my gosh, this was such a cute comment. I thank you for leaving one. I think you are fantastic.
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  • chris eads 5 months ago
    really wonderful. did he really do the score? it was great.
  • Not specifically for this. It's already a song, and I talked to him about using it for a short film, or making a music video or something for it and he was really enthusiastic about it. He's a really great musician you should definitely check out his music. :-)
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  • Scruff_E_Guy 5 months ago
    Really fantastic work...terrific job, Karen...my best to your friend
  • Thanks Scruffs. Yeah the entire process of just making this and hanging out with him was just really great....this film was shot under ridiculous circumstances, at one point he got into a bad car accident before we were able to finish but he came over a couple days later to film the last scene at my house. I love him to death. He's like my little brother. :-)


    I need to keep making videos to catch up to your 100.
    hahahah.

    :-)

    Hopefully once school is done at the end of this week I'll have more time to make some stuff Take care scruffs.
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  • Joe Elmendorf 5 months ago
    Karen, you are truly the best friend anyone could ask for.
  • Aww Thanks Joe. I miss you a lot.

    We need to go on adventures together
    via the interwebs...
    haha
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  • Remyyy 5 months ago
    I'd really like to see it but my internet connexion don't want me to watch video on Vimeo today. Frustating.
  • Remyyy 5 months ago
    Love it ! Really beautifully sad !
  • Aw thanks Rems. I'm glad your vimeo is working :-)


    the vimeo community would stop if there wasn't any rems in it.

    :-)
  • Remyyy 5 months ago
    ahah
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  • VJnet 5 months ago
    Well done Karen! Good story telling. Hope your friend is doing well. Looking forward to the finished film :)
  • Thanks doll. Yeah he's doing alright, every couple weeks he has to go to the hospital but he's doing fine, he just works and goes to shows. :-) Yeah I have to trim a couple bits and pieces and wait for it to stop raining so I can shoot something over cause it bothers me (just like something little)..but that's the only way we grow, bye continually tweaking or work. But he really likes it and it turned out way better than he had expected so I'm glad.
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  • Emmanuel Tenenbaum 5 months ago
    It's beautiful Karen. There even are dinosaurs! I wish the best to your friend. Yeah, please tell us when the film is in definitive version.
  • Thanks Emmanuel. Yeah the thing that bothers me the most is the bridge scene in the beginning...the cutaways....the suspension of disbelief..that there is a chainlink fence there but when he looks out there aren't on the cutaways...but it's been so gloomy and rainy..hopefully next week it will light up so I can shoot cutaways again. Then extension of the credits. A lot of my other technical problems I can't fix without reshooting with Tim and I don't want to have to do that again.


    "we'll fix it in post"

    haha

    (Dinosaurs are vital to any Karen project. haha just kidding.)

    When I was little, I had an imaginary friend that was a brontosaurus.
  • Emmanuel Tenenbaum 5 months ago
    "we'll fix that in post"

    hehe

    you are right, the shot of the sky is strange when he looks outside. otherwise, don't worry. I think it is a great short and you can keep it as it is.
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  • LCF 5 months ago
    I don't care what your tutor says, I think it's awesome! It's so beautifully shot - reminds me of 'Me and You and Everyone Else We Know' - a celebration of life, or at least an examination of it. Anyway, before i get all analytical on u aahaha (we have iChat for that rawr)
    I THINK IT ROCKS LIKE A DINOSAUR!!!!!!!!
  • I love Me and You and Everyone We Know..the DP for that film did a beautiful job..my favorite part is the shot with the kids laying on the grass in a circle getting the gummy worms. *sigh*

    You're my favorite little chomper.

    chomp chomp
    thanks for dealing with me when i am hysterical and delusional while editing.
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  • Jon Salazar 5 months ago
    You don't need to fix anything, it's perfect! Such a beautiful concept Karen and it even had dinosaurs! I loved it. I really did. From the start to the end was just pure. I hope your best friend is doing okay. He is lucky to have a friend like you.
  • Aww Jon you are too kind. Yeah i just have to fix minor things like the cutaways on the bridge..I have to shoot it through the chainlink fence...which means waiting for a day where the sky looks good....with rains that could be a while. I HAD to have the dinosaurs....i"m so juvenile. haha. My best friend thought it was hilarious.

    I'm lucky to have a loving and encouraging vimeo community and Vimians like you.


    :-)
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  • Mark Jensen 5 months ago
    i think it's perfect as well. great job! great shots!
  • Aww thank you so much, this feedback means the world to me.
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  • The Baumer 5 months ago
    what else can i say?

    outstanding job.

    Your friend via your movie has inspired me

    I will start my own list and try to complete tasks (or at least work towards them) everyday.
  • I have a list of 100 things to do before I die...i'm working very slowly towards them all.

    haha

    Thanks Baumer <3
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  • Ben Millett 5 months ago
    I kept meaning to watch this since you shared it. Finally had some time today. Glad I was able to take a few moments to watch it. I could tell that he was really happy about being able to do each of the things he did. Really liked the idea of using a balloon to help a fake bird fly. Beautiful moment. Well done.
  • I thought it was funny too...There was supposed to be a shot of him flying a shark kite over a dock....but alas..no wind in fairfield.


    Thanks for taking the time to watch this Ben.
  • Ben Millett 3 months ago
    I thought I had "liked" this long ago. Alas, I hadn't. I like the color correction you did to it. Of course, I don't remember exactly how it looked, but this was pretty nice.
  • data.tumblr.com/Mup89kF6U62o5tup6jVtmCo3_400.jpg


    I hope that helps.

    The wall is really THAT blue in real life.
  • Ben Millett 3 months ago
    Thanks for the side-by-side. Very impressive work.
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  • PEIKA 5 months ago
    Great work Karen!
  • Thanks Peika :-)
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  • Laura 5 months ago
    Very touching video. Nice sound quality, the slight sounds of wind, birds in the background, and cars made it all the more real feeling and down to earth.

    PS I like how you respond to most comments on your video. It shows you care and are appreciative of comments/compliments.

    good luck and keep it up!

    c:
  • I love this community a lot. All these people mean so much to me. I am concerned about building meaningful relationships with vimeans because I watch their videos and I feel like I get a little insight as to who they are and what beautiful people they are.

    Thanks for your positive feedback. The first original cut i Made actually didn't have outside audio, and it was more of a music video type thing, but it didn't have the feel I wanted. Unlucky for me I had the intentions of doing that while filming, so most of the audio is really really awful and is of me talking to Tim telling him what to do and directing him. Or him making jokes. But it was a great experience.


    I look forward to checking out more of your stuff. Have an absolutely beautiful day.
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  • Summer Ordoñez 5 months ago
    I love this! I try and live by the saying "Carpe Diem" :)

    I saw on Tumblr you made some tweaks on this.. can't wait to see them!

    Keep up the amazing work. I enjoy viewing them :)