Austin/San Antonio, Texas based digital film maker, animator and motion graphics editor.
http://youtu.be/hnApJDsCw28
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3021382/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Playwright Ernest Kearney discusses the Kennedy assassination screenplay assignment he turned down, what he’s learned from decades of research and online discussions, and the influence two books, “Virtues of the Mind” (by Linda Zagzebski,) and “True Believer” (by Eric Hoffer) had on his worldview.
Others topics discussed are a critique of the documentary “The Assassination and Mrs. Paine,” the books “Rush to Judgement” and “Reclaiming History.”
This episode also contains never before seen footage of host Fred Litwin’s appearance at the 2024 LANCER conference in Dallas, Texas, and an in person examination of the infamous storm drain in Dealey Plaza.
I was recently using some 4K footage I shot of the infamous Texas School Book Depository (presumably back in 2021.)
I noticed how clear ‘The window” (the sixth floor, the far right side of the building window, where the Warren Commission said Oswald fired his rifle) looks in 4K. Visitors to the 6th Floor museum aren’t allowed to look out “The Window” (Not because the museum is hiding the truth, but because they have a specific display there that would be damaged) but people can see ALMOST the same point of view from the SEVENTH floor window, right above it (* see my footnote at the bottom).
The story of assassination witness Arnold Roland fascinates me. He’s a bona fide witness to the JFK shooting, witnesses and photos prove he WAS there. But he claims to have seen something that no one else in Dealey Plaza saw: a shooter on the sixth floor on the LEFT side of the building, as opposed to the RIGHT side.
Conspiracy book authors often cite this as proof that the Warren Commission was wrong and or lying. That the shooter was in a different window OR there was a second shooter on the sixth floor.
However, if you listen to what Arnold Rowland actually said, he never claimed to have seen someone shooting from the window. He said he saw a man with a rifle in the left side window standing “10 or 15 feet back from the window.” and he saw it 10 to 15 minutes before the assassination, not during. Not once did Rowland say he saw this man firing at Kennedy.
Lone Gunman book authors like Gerald Posner and Vincent Bugliosi point out that Rowland’s High School Principle and even his wife said that he had a penchant for exaggerating. It is telling that no one else in Dealey Plaza saw this man with a rifle. Did Rowland make the whole story up for attention?
In his favor is the fact that he said to his wife BEFORE the shooting “Hey look in that window- theres a man with a rifle, maybe he is a secret service agent?” But by the time the wife looked, there was no man there.
Maybe he moved, or maybe he was never there, we will never know for sure.
I’ve often wondered if maybe Lee Harvey Oswald WAS on the left side of the building looking out that window, waiting to see if or when fellow Depository employee Bonnie Ray Williams to leave the sixth floor, so that he could go to the right side of the building. Maybe Rowland DID see Lee Harvey Oswald standing there, but then Oswald moved backwards and or sideways ( there is no evidence of this either way, it’s pure speculation on my part.) If Rowland made the story up, theres no denying that his wife says he said it BEFORE the shooting, and making up a story about a rifleman on the six floor of the Depository is one heck of a coincidence.
One problem I have with Arnold Rowland’s story is that I doubt that from where he was standing, that he COULD see someone in that window, if they were standing 10 or 15 feet back from the window. I think you could easily see someone if they were standing right at the window, but if they were 10 feet or more back from the window- they would be very difficult to see.
As evidence, go look at the first video I posted at the top of the page.
In the wide shot, for the first 6 seconds you can see two people in two windows. At six seconds the person in the first window, ( first of the 2 right side windows) steps backwards and disappears. We can assume that this person is only 1 to 3 feet backwards.
The wide shot makes it seem like there were only 2 people in those windows, 1 person in each window. But I did a digital zoom in, and we can see there was actually 2 people in each window.
At 17 seconds, the person in the 2nd window seems to take 1 step backwards, but we can still sort of see them.
At 18 seconds in, I edited in a digital scale up, a fake close up of the first show. Because its 4K footage shot on a tripod it still looks pretty clear. We can now see that there was actually 4 people in those windows, 2 people in each window. And it confirms that this was shot in 2021, because they’re all wearing COVID masks.
22 seconds in, the first of the 4 turns and walks away. After he takes about 3 steps back he disappears. At 23 seconds the second person turns their head and we can’t see them anymore. At 32 seconds, the 3rd person takes 2 steps back and disappears from our view, he “fades to black.”
My point is, if people disappear from view in that window at 2 to 3 steps back, how could Rowland have seen someone standing 10 to 15 feet back?
In his favor, he was looking at a different window at the other side of the building, and, presumably the glass windows were open, making it easier to see inside. A little easier. But I still have a problem with him claiming to have seen someone THAT far back from the windows.
Arnold Rowland tells his story in a CBS-TV documentary:
This is a short video by author Paul Brandus about the 2nd man on the 6th floor:
(* PS, they installed a digital webcam at the base of “The Window” so people CAN see live footage of what Oswald would have seen)
I met Chuck Norris once, when I applied for a job on a new TV show he was starting up,
“Walker Texas Ranger”
I was actually offered the job, but it was an unpaid internship in Dallas,
Where I didn’t know anyone or had a place to live.
I toyed with the idea of sleeping in my car, eating set food and showing….. somewhere- I hadn’t figured that out…. I was around 23/24 years old….. I could have done something like that back then.
I turned the job down.
I’ve often wondered what would have happened if I stayed on that job.
When I say I “met” Chuck Norris, he was in the room as I waited for my job interview. I never spoke to him.
Noble Willingham, who went on to play “CD” on that show, was there. He was regaling the room with his impersonation of Jack Palance from “City Slickers” ( everyone in the room loved it, we were all chuckling)
Chuck was there with a semi famous martial artist, Benny Urquidez.
He was talking to what I assumed was one of the show’s producers about some new leg training device.
March 17, 2026, 3:53 pm. I am brand new to using Topaz AI. ( I just downloaded it a few days ago)
I bought it mainly to upscale video.
The Youtube show I am paid to edit is shot via 1280 by 720 zoom calls. I’ve tried to get the client to get newer better 4K cameras or even just use his iPhone on a cheap Walmart tripod- to no avail.
The footage I get from the client is a split screen conversation between two people (sometimes more than two!) so if I want to make it 4K I have to somehow upscale it 300%.
I tried to upscale the video (in Adobe Premiere) 300 percent and it looked terrible.
I tried to upscale the footage using after effects “Detail Preserving Upscale” but I have found that once you go over 200% it looks bad.
When I want to do close ups – that means I have to blow up the footage 600% to fill the screen with one persons face. That looks terrible even with “Detail Preserving Upscale.”
I asked on a lot of online forums and everyone suggested I use TOPAZ AI.
So I bought TOPAZ and used it on one episode. I didn’t have time to learn how to use it the right way, I was on a strict deadline and wanted to get this done as fast as possible.
I imported the raw unedited one hour and a half Zoom footage into Topaz and exported it as “4K, 60 fps.”
I did it at the end of my work day as I assumed 90 minutes of upscaling would take a long time to render. I was right, when I woke up the next morning it STILL wasn’t done. Luckily I just got a new computer with a fast processor and lots of extra hard drive space.
Now what about close ups? I wondered if I could do cropping or trimming right in Topaz. I am assuming it CAN be done but I didn’t have time to research how to do that.
So I took the 1280 by 720 original footage into After Effects. I imported the video into a composition set to 640 by 360, 60 fps, moved the position of the footage so that one person filled the screen.
( I added some basic color correction such as contrast on an adjustment layer before exporting.)
Then I exported it using the Quicktime > Animation codec.
This took more time than I wanted to spend on this…. I knew I was probably doing it wrong… but I felt the need to keep moving.
After Importing this close up footage into Topaz AI, I set it to export as 4K/60fps…
I thought the close up footage looked really great. I don’t think anyone would know it was originally from such small format video.
Then I took the close up footage back into After Effects and added my graphic overlays, Lower Third Super names, etc…
I imported both the huge 90 minute upscaled video file and the almost as huge close up file into Adobe Premiere, and just edited the footage as if that was its normal size. This went off without any problems.
Finally, I exported whole edited thing as one big file and uploaded it to the clients YouTube channel.
I KNOW I am doing this the dumb way, the wrong way.
I am sure there is a better way that would take less time and work.
Ideally, I would like it if I could install TOPAZ AI as a part of After Effects. So that I can only upscale the exact parts I want, with the shots with two men upscaled 300%, and the close ups I want set to 600%. Then instead of rendering the whole thing, I can import the after effects composition into Adobe Premiere and cut the un-rendered comp and only have to render once Im fully done.
I googled “add Topaz” and I saw how to click “plug ins > install after effects plugins”
and after that I saw in After Effects: Effects > Topaz > Enhance
But their enhancement options were just “2X Upscale” and “4X Upscale” and not the 300% and 600% I need for this ongoing projects.
Please don’t laugh at my ignorance.
(And yes I know- from a business point of view, I should have the attitude that is the client is happy with small 1280 by 720 footage then I should be too. I am doing this partially for the client and partially for me to learn how to use TOPAZ for my own projects in the future.)
This is a (partially) edited video “souvenier album” of the trip took on the weekend of Election Day, November 2024 to the Historical sights in Washington D.C.
I hope I can find the time someday to make a shorter, tighter edited version of this.
Mostly shot with my iphone, but some of it was done with my Sony Camcorder.
Edited with Adobe Premiere, with some Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects work.
1) My plane takes off, then I land in Washington D.C.
(Don’t ask how I took footage from the ground of a plane I was allegedly in.)
2) Bill and the other history buffs pick me up at the airport.
3). 13.07, the infamous “Exorcist Steps” right outside of downtown D.C.
4) 1.24 The “eternal flame” at President John F. Kennedy’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery right outside Washington DC.
5) 2:07 The visitors center right as one enters Arlington National Cemetery.
6) 11:15, The changing of the guard at the :Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”
7) 19.11 Earl Warrens tombstone
8) 19:30 the National headquarters of the VFW. This was of interest to us because this is where most of the testimony of witnesses to the Warren Commission. Many books claim the Warren Commission hearings were held at the National Archives- but this place matches the photos in many historical photos from 1964.
9) 23:52. Our attempted visit to the Capitol Rotunda, interrupted by some kind of gasoline carrying troublemaker.
10) 26:07 We got to go in the next day.
11) 42:29 The Watergate Hotel. You can pay for a tour of the room that the “plumbers” ( burglars) stayed in as they prepped to break into the headquarters of Democratic National Committee.
12) 45:50 The John F Kennedy Arts Center. I will NEVER call it by that OTHER name.
13) 47:50 Exterior shots of the FBI building. As I video-ed them, I highly suspect they were video-ing me.
14) 56:11. Fords Theater, where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
15) 1:14:27, the Lincoln Memorial and Washington monument at night.
16) 1:17:44 The National Archives.
17) 1:24 Mount Vernon, most of the group didn’t go to this. It was just Ed and me.
18) 1:35:40 The Washington DC Hilton Hotel where President Ronald Reagen was shot in the 1980’s.
19) 1:40 “Charlies Angels” joke shot.
20) 1:40:15 Ronald Reagen airport. Ironic, considering that Reagen fired the nations air traffic controllers for attempting unionize and strike.
21) 1:41:10 out the airplane window shots of me leaving.
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