Leaning back in his throne-like chair with his legs crossed upon his desk, Jonathan Getzoff ’14 holds his chin in what he calls the “James Cameron position” and gazes into his Mac computer monitor, judging the first seconds of a soon-to-be three-minute short promotional video for the National Kidney Foundation’s 2012 Kidney Walk.
After one hour of editing his 25 minutes of footage at the walk, Getzoff is able to synthesize the first 30 seconds of video for his recently founded video production company, Two Left Hands Productions.
Getzoff’s filming and editing experience stems from his participation in the Video Art Summer Program, which he attended in the summer after ninth grade. In the course, he learned how to set up a shot and edit the footage with the Final Cut Pro editing program.
Getzoff, almost weekly, also attends critically acclaimed films as a technique to enhance his editing eye and his overall filming craft.
“I always try to reflect on what the single best shot was and I think about why it was so cool and I think about how I could have made it better,” Getzoff said.
The first video Getzoff made was a documentary on science teacher David Hinden. Hinden is on the Two Left Hands Productions advisory council, along with Emmy award—winning documentary filmmaker John Rubin.
“[Rubin] is basically my mentor, a super smart, very hard to understand mentor,” Getzoff said.
Getzoff plans on making videos for both Mock Trial and Community Council. For Community Council, he plans to voluntarily make promotional videos for community service events. For Mock Trial he is making a documentary style video on the “Innocence Project.”
The business is still in a testing stage and primarily works for the well-being of the community.
“Right now I’m doing things pro bono because I am a student and I want this to be something for the nonprofit organizations that can’t afford professional video services,” Getzoff said.
For his current project, the LA Kidney Walk, Getzoff attended the event lugging his Canon 70 camera and sound equipment in order to catch high quality footage. Getzoff no only had to find the best shots and angles in order to capture the moments that will ultimately be displayed as the final video, but also conduct interviews.
“In the future, I want to hire specialists who are seriously good at the craft of video making and editing, and I would run the business end of the operation,” Getzoff said leaning back in his chair, legs crossed, gripping his chin between his thumb and index fingers. “Do I want to be James Cameron? No—well, yes.”
