Burning Man: Got Fire? (part 5) 2000

http://www.aquaburn.com Bill Breithaupt is a ten year Burning Man veteran, having attended and filmed the festival every year consecutively since 1999, when he ventured out to the playa for the first time and was blown away at what he experienced. Returning home he couldnt stop talking about how amazing Burning Man was. Realizing that he never could quite convey the experience to others through words, he decided to express it through film, a medium hes been working with for over 20 years. In 2000 Breithaupt started screening his films at Flambé Lounge, a pre-Burning Man party held in San Francisco. The next year at Flambé Lounge they showcased his film, Got Fire? from Burning Man 2000. It was through this event that he met Andie Grace, Burning Man Org Communications Manager, with whom he shared his idea of a Burning Man Film Festival to showcase the many Burning Man films suddenly springing up. There was electricity in the air as people embraced the years upcoming theme The Floating World at the Flambé Lounge Blue Ball in 2002. Breithaupt showed his 2001 film PlayaScape, and the crowd was ecstatic, cheering in unison as the credits rolled. A few months later, in July of 2002, Burning Man Head of Media Operations, Jim Graham offered Bill Breithaupt a spot in the 1st annual Burning Man Film Festival held in Santa Cruz, CA. This was a surprising request, as Burning Man is known for having strict policies regarding filming at Burning Man and the usage of such footage. Jumping at the opportunity Breithaupt headed to Burning Man for his fourth year in a row, partying with his friends and filming the entire week as usual. Aside from the beautiful time-lapse footage and cinematic shots hes known for, he also captured some fantastic insight from his fellow burners thanks to the verbal skills of his good friend Scott Sheppard. When he returned home he locked himself in his studio and edited, determined to make his best film yet. With only three weeks between the end of Burning Man 2002 and the day of the film festival, he began burning the midnight oil, editing 14-16 hours straight, rarely sleeping. At the end of this crazy schedule Breithaupt had edited a total of 180 hours, and was off to the festival without having slept for two days straight. The final result was the film AquaBurn. The 300 + audience that packed into the Rio Theater that day were awed. At the end of the film they cheered, then quieted to watch all the credits, and then cheered again, rising to give Breithaupt a standing ovation (at the end of which he thanked his mom). True to form, he filmed the audiences enthusiastic reaction, and was even quoted as saying it was one of the best moments of my life.
http://www.aquaburn.com

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