Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Luke Sauls.
Jon Luke, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I was younger, I was always fascinated with telling stories. I began at around 11 years old when I started attempting to make stop-motion videos. I used an iPhone and a stop-motion app to attempt to create videos with my toys. I would spend hours moving around the characters in an attempt to tell a never before heard story. I didn’t own a tripod to keep the phone steady, so I built a little holder out of legos to hold the phone in place. I also didn’t own a greenscreen, so I got a cardboard box and used taped green duct tape around the box in order to make a homemade greenscreen. It did not work very well, but it was one of the best advancements I had made at the time. XD
I think began to grow my arsenal of equipment and managed to get a real camera as well as an actual tripod. So I started to create live-action videos. They were an absolute mess but my friends and I thought that it was the coolest thing ever. I would work on video editing all the time. I was watching all of tutorials that I could. I watched every Final Cut King/Zach King video multiple times and I watched all of their breakdowns and tutorials. I even watched all of the After Effects tutorials despite the fact that I didn’t even have that software. I was editing everything on Final Cut Pro X. I kept growing at eventually made it to Highschool where I competed in a video competition and won a grant for my high school. I went onto win it the next year too, it was a long time ago, I can barely remember what it was haha. The administration at the school wanted to give me an opportunity to grow and thrive at Haleyville Highschool, so they created a film class for me to be able to inspire other students and hone my skills. I went on to win another Video competition at SKILLS USA for my school and decided not to go to Nationals.
Then I went onto Auburn University to study Media Studies. I joined the New Media Club and began taking my role as a videographer and editor much more seriously. I started to get a lot more clients. I was working on real estate videos, Motivational videos, business promotional videos, Product Videos, and short films. I hadn’t taken a single picture until about my freshmen year in college and it did not look good at all. So I decided to learn more about photography as well. I thought that my cinematography and ability to compose beautiful videos would improve if I learned more about photography. I started taking as many pictures and videos as I could. Attempting to improve my skills every day. I watched hours of tutorials and photography and videography. I ended up joining the Modeling Board at Auburn University and created some amazing images. Everything continued to improve in my craft. I was taking product photos, car photos, portraits, modeling photos for different agencies, headshots, and basically anything you could think of. By my junior year in college, I had just about mastered Lightroom Classic, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop. This is my senior year now, and I am working on some very good-looking work. I’m currently learning Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects. I’m working on a short film called SHEOL which is almost complete. The cinematography and sound are very beautiful. That is what I’ve been primarily working on. I have also been working on a short animation based on Sun Tzu’s book “The Art of War”. Lots of projects that I have to finish before I graduate in December. I currently live in Auburn, but I do lots of work close to Midtown Atlanta. I also do work in Auburn and Opelika, but Atlanta is a very great city for work. Lots of creatives living in close proximity, I think that it is very beautiful.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I would say that the road has been rather smooth for me. They have always been struggles, but I always manage to push through. Some of the struggles I’ve faced have been financially as well as mentally. I am a workaholic for sure. I love what I do, and I love to do it every single day. Almost the entire day. Sometimes that presents a problem because I will sacrifice my health for my work, and sometimes it goes way too far. I have had to start sitting much healthier boundaries. I have attempted to have more healthy and reasonable business hours. I used to answer texts and calls at all hours of the day, every single day. It was very unhealthy, but I got a lot more work because of it. I’ve started to have a cut of on days after 6pm (unless I’m shooting), and I also try not to work on Sundays at all. It is really hard for me to stick to those commitments, but I know that it improves my health. The next one is a financial struggle. As of right now, I am in college and so my business is not full-time. I do really great for a college student, but I’m not sure if the business that I currently run is sustainable for a man trying to raise children. I don’t have any right now, but I do want to have kids when I’m a little older. I currently don’t have the funds for kids, but I believe that my business’s income will increase once I spend more time tactically marketing myself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am most known for being a director. It is also what I am probably most proud of. I am a very skilled editor, photography, cinematographer, and actor, but most people know me as an excellent director. I consider myself to be very personable and I always have very good relations with my fellow actors and crew. Most models know me as their favorite photographer, but every actor and crew member knows me as their favorite director. I also am very talented at guiding the story and making sure that the story hits the marks like the writer intends it to. I would say the thing that sets me apart from others is my drive. I am very determined and disciplined. I will wake up every day and learn more about the craft than I did the day before. Over a month, my skills will have increased so much that the work I just finished is nothing compared to what I can do today. I love the work that I do.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Whenever Covid-19 happened, I had to have a temporary halt on all of my projects and clientele. That was definitely one of the most stressful things that could have happened to me. Pretty much all of the paid projects and unpaid projects that I was preparing for were just immediately stopped and that was very concerning for me. I was used to a certain amount of income and I was no longer getting that. I was worried about that sudden shift to almost unemployment, but I realized that I had enough savings to make it for a little while. So I attempted to utilize the abundance of time that I had been granted and spent all of it progressing my skills even further. I have learned to be more appreciative for what I have and to not take it for granted. All of it seemed to halt because of the Covid Crisis and that is something that I did not expect to happen. Nor is it something that I would have ever been able to expect.
Pricing:
- Videos – By Quote
- Portrait Session – 30 mins $200
- Portrait Session – 1 Hour $350
- Special Photos – By Quote
Contact Info:
- Website: jlsauls.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/jlsauls_
