Zack Stoycoff
Staff Reporter
CLAREMORE —
One Tulsa-area prodigy joins another when Joseph Hutson takes the camera for a Hanson concert tour this weekend.
Hutson, a 19-year-old Claremore cinematographer, is just nine weeks from completing his home school high school curriculum, but he’s already got a leg up on the field. After winning an online film contest, he’s been hired to film a series of live documentaries for Hanson’s latest international tour, which continues Sunday in Philadelphia.
“If I can keep making unique contacts like this, I don’t see why I should spend thousands on going to film school,” Hutson said.
He left this weekend for a tour that will take him from Vancouver, Canada, to Disney’s EPCOT Center in Orlando, Fla., where he will finish his behind-the-scenes filming on Nov. 9.
Hutson says he’s lived in Claremore his entire life, so the tour is a way to fulfill his three greatest desires — traveling, meeting new people and, of course, filming.
He’ll document band members’ backstage routines and man the camera while fans talk to them online during breaks in the singing. He’ll also film some of the on-stage action — all for online, and possibly television, distribution.
Hanson selected him personally when a friend of the group, a Nashville filmmaker who served as a judge for an online film contest held by Christian Filmmakers, was so impressed with Hutson’s submission last year that he recommended him for the tour.
Hutson was the cinematographer for a short film called “Leave Me,” which won the organization’s contest in part because of its emotional impact. It was the film’s maturity that probably attracted Hanson — a quality too often lacking in young filmmakers, Hutson said.
His aim is for impact, rather than humor.
“The challenge today in this world is making something so short — four to five minutes — that gives you real emotion besides humor,” he said. “Anyone can make you laugh in 10 seconds.”
“Leave Me” tells the story of a man who gets trapped in a camera that hold pictures of his dead wife. In one year on the web, it’s attracted 250,000 combined views on YouTube and Vimeo.
“People tell me they cried after seeing it,” Hutson said. “It’s a tear-dripper.”
“Leave Me” is the culmination of more than a year filming short films. He’s been doing more general video production for four years with his Claremore church and RSU Public Television.
He was the one filming RSU Hillcats basketball games last season — and the one playing on the court when the players were in the locker room, he said.
Hanson’s Shout it Out Tour ends Nov. 9, but Hutson will be back in Tulsa when the group plays at Cain’s Ballroom Aug. 25.
But the stop he’s looking forward to the most is the down time he’ll spend with the band in New York City. He’s already “hung” with members at their Tulsa home when they were considering hiring him.
“Hanson tends to hire their friends,” Hutson said. “I got to meet them as regular people. I wasn’t looking at them star-struck. They are very down to Earth, fun to hang out with.”
Hutson also had filmmaking ideas the group liked. His philosophy centers on making things interesting for today’s sound-bite society.
“You have to have a unique eye for composition and a unique way of keeping their attention,” he said. “In the current world, people have so many choices.
“In four years of camera operation, I’ve kind of developed my own style.”
Followers can see Hutson’s live filming at www.hanson.net, or for more information, visit his website: www.josephhutson.com.
“Leave Me” can be viewed at www.vimeo.com/4220803 or by searching “leave me” in YouTube.
