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"Hello!" to
everyone taking interest in who I am. My real name isn’t Derek
Johnson—that
is a pen name that I decided to use for this project. My real name
is Robert Blankenheim. I am 25 years old, reside
in Los Angeles, CA, and am a graduate of Chapman University. I came
up with this Titanic parody trailer idea over five years ago, but
at the time I wasn't technically able to create it. In the past five
years I have learnt how to use programs such as Adobe After Effects
and Lightwave and they have helped me to transform my trailer idea
into a reality.
This trailer was entirely of my own making—including
the editing and the visual effects. It took 23 films and
months and months of work, but I finally released it on
April 3rd. Since then it has been viewed over 1.5 million
times—more than I could ever have imagined! On one
hand I wish I could have released it 5 years ago to beat
the whole “mashup trailer” boom, but then again,
I wouldn’t have had as much DiCaprio footage to cut
from. So in the end I guess it was better that I waited.
I am completely amazed at how much my work has delighted so many people.
I have received e-mails from people from all over the globe. I heard
that the Hong Kong newspaper printed an article in their newspaper about
my trailer, and a German company interviewed me last week for a feature
article on their website. In addition, my trailer has been seen on VH1's "Best
Week Ever" blog, CNN Headline News (TV), and a variety of other
media channels.
I haven’t cut any other trailers yet but the ideas are sure starting.
If anyone has any questions I would be more than happy to answer all
of them.
Thanks again for enjoying my work.
—Derek “Bob
Blankenheim” Johnson
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