If you were watching the Chiefs AFC Championship game this weekend (and who wasn’t, really?), you may have spied a local company’s creative video handiwork. Jason Smith, owner of Raindrop Creative, says he “had no idea the NFL had purchased my time-lapse videos until a friend called me up and sent me a clip.” (True story: Smith actually missed the vid’s debut at the beginning of the game because he was busy corralling his kids.)
Smith has found success shooting time-lapse skyline videos—a process he fell into sort of by accident. “I’m kind of a tinker-er,” he says. “I built my own time-lapse rigs long before you could find them on Amazon or B&H. The idea was to shoot skyline time-lapses of all the major cities, then sell them on stock sites until I built my business. Plus, I could use the material myself in any production. And it was a great excuse to hang out with friends while waiting for the time-lapses to finish—which at night can be especially long.”
Smith—who inherited his entrepreneurial spirt from his dad—says our metro is a cool place to shoot. His goal is to make it look just that much cooler. “As a lifelong Kansas Citian, I’ve always thought our city is beautiful. We’ve gone through a lot of changes and continue to grow as a city, but all the pieces are there to create a stunning time-lapse,” he says. “And when you watch a time-lapse, it shows the city in a whole new context of time. Large, static, immovable objects juxtaposed by smaller, fast-moving objects create a stark contrast that you can’t help but watch over and over again.”
Speaking of repeated viewings, Smith says that’s where his company’s ideologies come in handy. “How many screens do you have in your home right now? Twenty years ago, the answer was between one to three. Now it’s seven or eight at a minimum—with cell phones, tablets, computers and multiple TVs. And with the younger generation, it can be anywhere from ten to 20,” he says. “Each one of those screens is an opportunity to reach a customer. And that’s what I’m here to help businesses do—reach out and connect with their consumers in a dynamic, impactful, and meaningful way.”
Goal achieved, Mr. Smith. Goal achieved.