https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=463ythHdaS4




Hello Everyone! Make sure to check out the new Video I posted today!


If you haven't already, make sure to leave a like, a comment and as always: Subscribe!!



This Short film is about a Caveman that's frozen in time, and is thawed into the present. For this project, i worked with two other members of my team, and I was in charge of the VFX or the Visual Special Effects. This Included the Mammoth, The Fur Boots, The Avalanche, the fake wall, etc. We filmed this in a secret location, because we, meaning me and my team, may or may not have been trespassing. I wont tell you where, but i wont confirm it nor deny it. ;)


The videos that are coming up throughout the summer of 2015, are going to be AWESOME!!!

A sneak peak of next weeks video: The DerekNation Reboot of The Bee Gee's Stayin Alive.- You can NOT miss it!!! It Is going to be EPIC!

Also, DerekNation is creating a new Video Series. I'm not sure on the name just yet, but the story line goes like this: Everyone Needs a Break...Including Jesus.


So take what you will with this "Sneak Peak" and stay tuned for every other week  starting in June, when our special guest, Jesus,  decides to try the activities of the thrill seeking Earthican...that's the citizen of the Earth if you couldn't tell! ;)


Anyways stay tuned for the next FX Friday!  It's going to be a good one too!! And you might get free stock footage!!


Till Next Time!

 Bye!

Sneak Peak!

Here's a sneak peak to our video that will be posted in two weeks! make sure to check it out when it comes!

Can you guess what it's about!?!

Hello Everyone! It's DerekWhitton, the creator of the brand new YouTube channel : DerekNation.

first of all thank you to everyone who has subscribed to my channel and liked any of my videos! Without you, i wouldn't have the motivation to create videos for you all.

Before i begin with my post about my new video, i first of all want to let everyone know that I am creating a new Series on my channel called FX Friday. FX Friday, is a show every Friday where i teach you how to master After Effects by creating one VFX at a time! It's SUPER cool and definitely worth your time to check out! I will also create an additional blog post on this new series.

ANYWAYS.......


This video is my rendition of Somebody that I used to know by Gotye. This cover is done entirely in ASL or American Sign Language.

I normally don't film covers to music or anything like that, but a friend needed some help and i needed an excuse to film for this Sunday; so i made an exception.

The filming took roughly five and a half (5 1/2) hours to film and edit. Started filming at 3 and ended at 8:30. For the ceiling to actor shot in the very beginning, I used a crane with the Canon 5D Mark III attached to it. I also used the Glidecam HD 2000. I LOVE the Glidecam. If you haven't figured that out by now then oh well.

It was fun to film and hopefully well worth it!


Stay tuned for next Sunday where you'll find yourself staring a caveman right in the face!

as always make sure to check out my channel and leave a like, comment and subscribe!

FX Friday Video Series!

Hello Everyone! Welcome to the Official DerekNation Blog!

This last Friday, I have decided to start a new Video Series on my channel called FX Friday. FX Friday is where I teach you how to master After Effects every Friday! Need to figure out how to create an explosion? or How to master the Muzzle Flash? then you're in luck! Every Friday I create a live event on my channel and take suggestions from the viewers and create a live, interactive tutorial on how to master the art of VFX.

If you haven't seen the two new videos ive posted on my FX Friday Playlist on my channel then make sure to check them out! Well worth it!

The first two videos: Explosions and Muzzle Flashes are must haves if you want to create the perfect action movie!

Southern Utah - Desert Voyage

Domestic Violence: Love shouldn't Hurt.

Domestic Violence PSA

Hey everyone! First off, before I talk about  my next upcoming video, I would like to take a second to thank everyone who has followed me through YouTube so far and supporting me up to this point!

Let's get back down to business! ;)

So the video I will be posting tomorrow, Sunday the 19th, will be a Public Service Announcement about Domestic Violence. I don't normally make PSA's, but when there's a chance to win a cash prize and a scholarship, then full steam ahead!

I have several friends who live in the type of situation where there is violence in the home and so I took this project to a more personal level.

On a technical standpoint, I used a Canon 5D Mark I I I. For the shots that appeared to float, I used the Glide cam HD 2000. I also used a crane, and I apologize, but I don't quite remember the name of the exact model. I also used a Nikon D3200 as well :)

The video was filmed on two separate days, a Friday and a Tuesday.

For editing, I used premiere pro cc, and after about 7 hours I finished.

This video took a lot of planning but I'm glad that it's over.

For the actors,y friend rylan, who was helping produce the video, got his patents to commit to playing the argumentative parents.
For the main character, the small boy, we used eric's little brother. Eric is also produced the video.

I am very excited to share the video with you this Sunday!

I hope you like it enough to give it a like and maybe...just maybe subscribe to help a brother out! 😂😂

See ya next week!

Shooting Schedule

Hey guys, first off I'd like to thank everyone who has subscribed, liked and/or shared any of videos! I know every YouTuber tell their audience that it means a lot to them, but to be completely honest...without you guys liking and sharing my videos, I wouldn't be able to share the world through my eyes! Thank you for staying with me and helping me!

Unfortunately, I most likely won't be able to post a video today Sunday the 12th. If a miracle happens to occur then one will be posted. However...after this week I'll be back on track! 
Starting next sunday- I'll be posting a PSA- or a public Service Announcement. The PSA is about a serious issue that happens everyday around the world: Domestic violence. With this PSA- you'll see how a little child is effected.
The Sunday following that, or the 19th, will be a hyperlapse of the Salt Lake valley.
This will be quite interesting because I've done a time lapse before but never a hyper lapse... a time lapse that moves.

In order of videos I'll be making for the next few months that you can look forward to are :

0. Southern Utah
1. PSA
2. Hyperlapse
3. Salt flats adventure video
4. Fire Tennis
5. Rainbow 6 Seige Live Action
6. Batman : Arkham Knight Live action
7. Zombie Slaughter Music Video
8. Zoo Parkour

This is just what the next 9 weeks will look like :)

I hope you like see and stay tuned for each and every video!

See ya soon!!

DerekNation- How I got started

Hey everyone!  If you haven't ready first post make sure you read it! It's the behind the scenes to my first real video on YouTube: Southern Utah - Desert Voyage

Let's move on shall we?;)

I've always been attracted to filmmaking. For those who can't comprehend on why I like it so much is that it's an art form! I can use MY imagination to express myself. I was never good at conventional art, so that was out of my equation, but I kinda had a knack for film; more so than drawing or sculpting.

Now that I had a passion for filmmaking, I always wanted to make the next James Bond/007 or some AWESOME action movie with lots of explosions....can't forget about those! :)
The problem I faced, though not massive, I didn't have really any friends who were passionate about filming like I was. I'm not saying that I didn't have friends, because I did, my action movies just didn't appeal to their tastes.

I'm very grateful for one of my friends Jared. Unlike my other friends, he always wanted to help me with an action film! And I just want to thank him for all the times he came over to help me film!

What I loved about action films were the VFX or the Visual effects. I thought it was SOO cool to have an explosion, occur feet from the camera, or a bullet come wizzing past the character, like Neo from Matrix. So I began the long process of teaching my self! I went on different websites and ALL over YouTube for tutorials on how to do just that!

One day I found a link to a website still dear to me, even to this day: VIDEOCOPILOT.NET
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Videocopilot.net. Andrew Kramer has such a talent and skill for teaching that I thought only Hollywood productions would only have access to this incredible site. But Nooo!

I started doing his tutorials for a very long time! To this day, I have probably clocked in a good 2-3 thousand hours just on video editing with some sort of VFX in the shot.

However, not all dreams are meant to come true. Now that I'm older, I realize it's much more of a hassle to do an action movie, than do something Devinsupertramp would have done.

For the longest time I ALWAYS wanted to create a cool action packed short film, like something Corridordigital would do or like FreddieW (now Rocketjump) would have done.

Most of my friends liked what Devin graham or maybe you know him as Devinsupertramp has done. I wasn't really into that style of filmmaking.

I started watching his videos and I thought to myself, "Hey, maybe I could get into that".

Now that I'm almost a senior in highschool, I wish that someone would have told me to utilize any and every opportunity I've had. What this means is that if your highschool has a video production program, JOIN IT, UTILIZE IT!
If I wanted you to get anything out from reading this, it would be utilize every opportunity you get your hands on!
I wrote down the 10 commandments to filmmaking that I follow everyday and every time I touch a camera. It's not how to operate a camera, but how to express yourself as a filmmaker; Never to make an excuse NOT to film, or that it's all about the shot. Your shots will differentiate yourself from the next filmmaker. It's not necessarily the story or the shot style but the type of shot you get! The quote,"it's all about the shot" comes from my now favorite Youtuber: Devinsupertramp.

Now back to the story.

In highschool, my film teacher, had access to the Glidecam. The Glidecam is Awesome! It let's you get shots that not many people can get. If you normally hold the camera with your hands, then you get to much shake when you walk. But when you UTILIZE the glidecam, your footage looks like it floats in the air. Now not everyone can just pick one up and get AMAZING shots with it...like everything else, it takes time and dedication to master. Now if you're passionate about something, then you'll see something to the end. I was passionate about filmmaking so I stuck with it, and that meant everyday using it.

I can see why devinsupertramp loves what he does. Now that I'm older and have realized what I really want to do, which is make movies, then I'll be fine with whatever style I choose to film; whether that's action shorts, a long documentory, or anything in between.

I finally got confident with the glidecam, so about 2 weeks before my trip down to southern Utah, to film: Southern Utah- Desert Voyage, I finally bought an Autopilot Camera Stabilizer. It's JUST like the glidecam, just 400 dollars cheaper. I started practicing with that. I then went down south and that's the beginning of DerekNation! :)

I thank you for reading this long blog entry on why and how I got started.

I'll see you next time! :)

Make sure to look me up on youtube!: DerekNation

ALSO!!! I am in need of a composer to help write some scores for my videos! If you are interested in that, contact me! With the subject being: MusicNation

If you want to contact me for business or personal questions, contact me here:
Derek.whitton97@gmail.com

Southern Utah - Desert Voyage

Hello Everyone! My name is Derek Whitton also known as Derek Nation. On March 2-4 I went down to Southern Utah for a trip with my friends. Before the trip, i had subconsciously decided to create a video to showcase the lower part of Utah!

I was SOO excited to come down, that i didn't think about the weather. On the car ride home my eyes were glued to the weather app on my phone. To my horror, the first day we came down we stopped at a gas station. We jumped out and boy was it windy! I was scared, because my Autopilot Camera Stabilizer, a device JUST like the glidecam, wouldn't be heavy enough to withstand the wind. If i did film in the wind, the camera wouldn't be smooth and it wouldn't appear to float.

On the First day, the plan was to drive down to Little Wild Horse Canyon in the San Rafael Swell, and hike in 4 miles. After hiking, we would camp for the night. The Following morning, we would hike another 4 miles to the end of the trail. After hiking the slot canyon, we would then drive another 5 minutes to Goblin Valley State Park. If you don't know what Goblin Valley is, its a Huge Area where these rock formations stand vertically. It's really a sight to see!

 Once we got to Goblin Valley, we would explore it for a few hours. This place is AWESOME because you can go anywhere, climb anywhere or anything, and do what ever you want! After a few hours we went back to our base camp which was only a few minutes from Goblin Valley and Little Wild Horse.  At base camp, we didn't have anything else to do. All our big expeditions were complete. I wanted to make my video a bit more interesting. Not knowing what i could do, i blankly thought of a time lapse. It was a bit of a gamble because i had never done one before.  After 5 hours and about 907 pictures, i did it! i didn't show all of the time lapse but what i did show, i think turned out really well!

I was really disappointed with the first day due to the wind screwing up most of my shots; so in the end only a few shots from the first day got put into the final video. But the last two days were PERFECT! Hardly any wind and if there was a gust, it would only be about  2 mph. So in the end the majority of the shots found in the final video came out from the last two days!

Next Week ill  be posting another video of down south, but in a different perspective! :) and also a PSA for Domestic Violence.

See ya next week! :)