![Jeremiah Lofthus queries a local farmer about Snow Day 2016 in front of Rooster’s Thursday, Sept. 15. The farmer, who studies hydrology for his farming, predicts Nov. 2, “plus or minus a day.” Submitted photo](https://www.gazette-tribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Snow-day-pic-40.jpg)
![Jeremiah Lofthus queries a local farmer about Snow Day 2016 in front of Rooster’s Thursday, Sept. 15. The farmer, who studies hydrology for his farming, predicts Nov. 2, “plus or minus a day.” Submitted photo](http://www.gazette-tribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Snow-day-pic-40.jpg)
Residents asked to predict Snow Day 2016
TONASKET – Jeremiah Lofthus of Volente Videography created a video Sept. 15 of Tonasket residents being asked to predict the first day an inch of snow would be on the ground this year.
Called Snow Day 2106, the clip features answers voiced confidently as well as hesitantly.
“Dec. 10. You can book it,” answers Brent Baker assuredly.
“Oct. 5. We’re going to have an early winter with lots of snow and it’s going to be cold,” predicts an attendee at the Thursday’s (Sept. 15) Tonasket Farmers Market.
Jan. 2 is the opinion of Val Welles, a vendor at the farmers market since it’s first year in Tonasket.
“This was my first time doing candid and unscripted interviews. While many were camera shy, there were plenty that were more than happy to participate,” said Lofthus. “I am always amazed at the different personalities that are represented in a small town like Tonasket.”
Lofthus has added an upbeat soundtrack for this short video that features people in their daily workday lives in and around businesses of Tonasket’s vibrant downtown.
After homeschooling as a child and participating in Running Start through Tonasket High School, Lofthus went on to pursue his love of portraying the world around him, earning a BA in digital film with an emphasis in production from Grand Canyon University.
Lofthus next became trained and certified by RED Digital Cinema, and furthering his skills additionally by “a great deal of self-help online training from places such as Videocopilot, Redgiant, FXhome and more.”
He and his brother Josh own and operate Volente Videography, offering photography and video services specializing in promotional videos, music videos and sports. Lofthus said his brother has moved to the west side, but they still communicate on the larger projects.
“Over the last few years my brother and I have completed many video and photography projects together; and being big fans of wrestling, produced a number of unique films for the Tonasket Wrestling Program,” said Lofthus, adding that he found valuable experience in each new project.
Lofthus is sharpening his talents even further, working on a Masters in Strategic Communication from Liberty University.
He said current coursework in the Masters program required him to restructure his post production system, and he produced the snow day video while “learning a brand new editing program on the fly,” taking about a week in total to produce the video, including the day of shooting interviews in Tonasket.
“It was the constraints of mostly my videography work in general and my Masters project that forced me to upgrade and learn new software for my present and future projects,” said Lofthus.
He said he loves doing the variety of projects his work with Volente Videography currently entails, including sports, documentaries, promotionals, instructionals and advertising pieces, his dream is to one day “shoot a real narrative film, a feature film, in Okanogan County.”
Fore more information visit http://www.volentevideo.com/.
To discover what the grand prize is for the winner(s) of the snow prediction contest, check out Snow Day 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O50L4aLKsRg.