Storm Assist Charity/Disaster Relief Project

[Skip Talbot]

Hey everyone, remember the "Storms Of..." series? It was a great opportunity for chasers of all backgrounds to get together and donate their footage toward a charitable cause. Several other chasers and I have been collaborating on creating a new project, breathing new life into the spirit and goals the "Storms Of" series had: a community wide charity DVD/Blu-ray project, with all profits from the sales of the production going directly to local charities and communities that have been impacted by the severe weather events featured in the video. We've dubbed the project "Storm Assist" and have a great bunch of chasers from all different corners of the community that have come together, donating their footage, time, and skills to make this project a reality. We're looking for chasers who'd like to donate dramatic tornado, hurricane, supercell, and storm damage footage from the 2012 season. You'll be credited on the footage, in the production credits, and on the webpage, while retaining all rights to your video. It's a great way to showcase your work and for a great cause too. Here's more information on what we're looking for and how to contribute: http://stormassist.org/?page_id=1336 Please PM me, shoot me an email, or contact the group on Facebook if you'd like to donate footage. I'll set you up with an FTP account so you can upload your video, or an address if you'd rather mail it in.

For more information on the project, please see our website: http://stormassist.org/
And like or join in the conversation on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StormAssist

Release of the 2012 DVD/Blu-ray is slated for later this fall.

Watch video >

 

[Bob Hartig]

Skip, I forgot about this thing. Sorry! I'll shoot you my footage of the Henryville tornado this week.

 

[Jenn Brindley]

Hey, folks! Don't forget about this, get your footage in - we are still accepting donations!

 

[Rob H]

Just a heads up - there is a photo contest right now for the cover that will be used for the DVD case. Any shots from 2012 are welcome, and it's a cool way to get your photography out in front of a bunch of people.

http://stormassist.org/?p=1421

 

[Skip Talbot]

We'd love to end this production with Hurricane Sandy and would be grateful of any footage of the storm people would like to donate to the cause. We're also still accepting stills for the cover photos contest (but hurry as that one is coming to a close), as well as footage for the rest of the DVD. It doesn't have to be from the dates listed either. If you've got a great tornado or structure shot from this year, please send it over.

 

[Rob H]

Thanks to the hard work of the Storm Assist team and the gracious video and photo donations from dozens of chasers - the DVD is officially for sale now!

http://stormassist.org/buy-dvd/

There's also an awesome new trailer out to celebrate the occasion:

Watch video >

 

[Bob Hartig]

Geeze, I'm laughing my socks off at the audio part at the end! I remember that--it captures the essence of Bill, and of Bill and me.

 

[Richard Vorhies]

Skip,
Do you know when and how much the Blu-Ray copy will be?
Thank you for putting this together and those involved in getting it done for the people who really need help.

 

[Skip Talbot]

The Blu-ray will probably be about $25 and should start shipping early next month. We're putting the finishing touches on it now, including some bonus footage that didn't fit on the DVD.

 

[Bill Hark]

I just received my copy today and have been enjoying it all evening. I am very impressed with the selection of footage and the variety of tornadoes including some from events that many did not chase. I really like the big nasty wedges from the April outbreak. The March 2 southern Indiana storm footage is insanely beautiful. I had completely forgotten about that tornado. There are great shots of flying debris, close-up drill bits, accessory and multiple vortices, elephant trunks, twin or "sister" tornadoes, great rope outs along with nice storm structure, Lake Michiagan waterspouts, aerial chaser footage and hurricanes Isaac and Sandy. The editing is simple and straightforward with no annoying background music. As far as I can tell, it is family friendly. My one criticism is that there are some segments during the April outbreak that are slightly out of focus and I would have deleted them or only used a couple of seconds. It is obvious that a lot of work went into the compiling, production and promotion of this charity project and I thank all those involved for their hard work. I highly recommend purchasing this DVD (I would even if if proceeds didn't go to charity).

Bill Hark

 

[Joshua Nall]

I received mine yesterday and enjoyed watching it with the family today. Some great video on this DVD. I really enjoyed the rope outs and video of tornadoes changing color when encountering different terrain. Everyone thought the time lapse of the March 18 supercell was especially cool and the massive tornado in central KS really impressed as it crossed a paved road... they said "wow what an odd color". I'm not sure the reason for that, but I tried to explain it as lighter colored condensation mixing with the darker dirt and debris, so that it did not have a uniform color. You could really see that one churning. The clips with more than one tornado were great as well as the one with close up multiple vortices appearing and disappearing. As a chaser I love this format with everything in order by date, and even time apparently. Nice work! Thanks to everyone involved!

 

[cdcollura]

Good day, Skip

If you will be selling these at the convention I'll grab one!

 

[Skip Talbot]

"wow what an odd color". I'm not sure the reason for that, but I tried to explain it as lighter colored condensation mixing with the darker dirt and debris, so that it did not have a uniform color. You could really see that one churning.

Yes, that struck me as really interesting as well. I think there was definitely a difference in composition going on there. The inflow jets that you can see feeding the back of the tornado are white from the condensation. There's probably a lot of light absorption in the main condensation funnel giving it that dark color like the parent wall cloud and storm, and there's a lot of reds mixing in there at the bottom, which must be dirt that's pulling in. Really amazing seeing that detail in the zoomed in shots.

Good day, Skip

If you will be selling these at the convention I'll grab one!

Yes, we'll have a table setup and several people from the group should be manning at different times during the convention.

 

[Alex Heimberger]

Blu-ray released yet?

 

[Skip Talbot]

Blu-ray released yet?

Yes, it was released on Friday, thanks for asking. I posted a new Marketplace thread about it, but forgot to update this one.

http://stormassist.org/store/

The Blu-ray has two extra chapters of footage that we couldn't fit on the DVD, in addition to being in high definition. It's well worth the upgrade.

 

[Alex Heimberger]

Great, thanks for posting.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Storm Assist has raised some money and we're getting ready to make a donation to one of the Adairsville, Georgia disaster relief funds. We'll post more on the website when we have the specifics of the donation. We'd love any video or still donations of the Adairsville damage or storm itself to use for promotional purposes to explain what Storm Assist is about, where our donations go, and for the 2013 DVD/Blu-ray production. PM me or get a hold of us on Facebook if you have some video or stills you'd like to donate. Thanks!

 

[Skip Talbot]

For those not following us on Facebook, Storm Assist made it's first donation yesterday. We were able to give $1000 to United Way of Bartow County to aid in disaster relief for the Adairsville, GA EF3. Here's our Kendra Reed presenting the organization with a check:

Thanks to everyone for their donations and volunteered time which made this possible! More information on the site:
http://stormassist.org/news-2/storm-assist-makes-first-donation/