Merlin's TV Service - Northgate Mile in Idaho Falls

My parents are still in business but back at the old Merlins TV building in Idaho falls on Northgate. Appliance repair, Television repair, and pretty much anything else. My dad has always had a knack for fixing just about anything.

So my dad showed me how to go in and replace the crystal with a completely different frequency so that my RC car could drive with anyone else's and not cause problems.

That was the coolest thing in the world. Well, my dad is still figuring out ways to fix stuff with my brother in law Troy. They do all sorts of repairs.

They've started doing appliance repairs on Northgate in Idaho Falls. OFten with a quick repair, you can get your appliances to last another 2-10 years, depending on the age and model of your machine. Of course, tv repair in Idaho Falls is Merlin's TV Service's bread and butter. They've been in the business of fixing TVs for many years; since way back when my Dad's uncle (Merlin) started the shop in the same building. There is quite a history to that old building on Northgate mile.


I can say that I have witnessed first hand what goes on at Merlins TV service because I worked there all while growing up and while in college in Rexburg. They are the fastest guys in Idaho Falls and the surrounding area. The best thing about doing TV repair in Idaho Falls or appliance repair in Idaho Falls, is that with Merlins they don't beat around the bush. They are gonna tell you what's going on with your TV and what it's going to take to fix it. They aren't into being "salesy" or trying to pull the wool over your eyes like some places. They give 100% honest evaluation and if they don't think a repair is going to be worth it, and you might just want to buy a new set, they won't hesitate to tell you, even though it may mean they don't make any money from it.


From appliance repair, TV repair, to Dish Network and DirecTV installation: whether in rain, snow, or sunshine, these guys will be there to help get your setup going when you run into problems. Don't hesitate to call in or stop by for more information.







Merlin's TV Service
(208) 523-5037
204 Northgate Mile
Idaho Falls, ID 83401

website for:

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Here's our Christmas card with a brief overview of how our 2012 came along. It's been a great year with lots of great moments and fun times. Hope you enjoy it and have a Merry Christmas!


Tietjen Video Christmas Card from Cloud Runner Media on Vimeo.

Pursuit from Cloud Runner Media on Vimeo.

The assignment: To film a character who is in pursuit of some object or goal.

Moment of Decision

The assignment was to tell a brief story about someone who has to make a tough decision. We were to shoot it so that the decision is clear and concise but bares some weight. I couldn't figure out what to shoot for the life of me... so this is what I ended up doing.



Moment of Decision from Cloud Runner Media on Vimeo.

Portrait of a Location


Portrait of a Location from Cloud Runner Media on Vimeo.

My recent assignment was to shoot a location with the goal of creating a certain mood or feeling based on the contents of the video.
We made the big move! Me and Shellena and Story are now living in Anaheim California. I am attending a graduate program (Screenwriting MFA at Chapman University in Orange, CA) and thus far its pretty awesome. Chapman is one of the up and coming film schools down here in the Los Angeles area. Chapman is ranked #13 in the world actually. Which is pretty awesome. 




In one of my production classes I was assigned to make a video (under 2 minutes) that would be used to introduce myself on the first day of class. The catch was that I could not appear in my video. The video above is the end result of that assignment.

Rob & Lisa - Logan, UT Wedding Video

I recently went up to Logan, UT to shoot a wedding video for some friends of Jeremy Lindstrom. Rob and Lisa were just awesome and though it was windy the day turned out beautiful (though none of the audio was usable) which was ok because the plan was to overlay music anyway.

The original plan was to also have the video done and ready--same day-- for the reception that night. But things ended up taking too long outside the Temple and I wanted to drive up on the hills in Logan and get some awesome shots of the Temple.

Well, when I got home, my computer wouldn't turn on...



We took it into the Apple Store and they told me it was the button on the back of the computer. They also said it was in no way possible that it was a manufacturer error, i.e. "I had been hitting the button with a hammer or something"is kind of what the guy was getting at; which is ridiculous. The iMac actually did this to me right out of the box, but I was able to get it working after fiddling with the button, but that only lasted so long. So, after yelling at the guy and whining a little bit they agreed to not charge me for the repair.

So I left my big expensive 27" iMac there knowing that I had a good amount of time before Rob and Lisa's 2nd reception where they planned to show the video. Few days went by, we picked up the computer (which also had all of the video files from the wedding stuck on it) and I was eager to get it home and get working on it. Monday evening I was up late cutting it together. I got it to almost perfection but I still needed to finalize volume levels and do the title shot.

Next morning. The computer would only come back on for 30 seconds before shutting itself off; a tale-tell sign of a bad harddrive. I spent the day at work just worried about it, because I still hadn't time to back up the footage. We ran to Best Buy that night and got a harddrive and I tried a trick Charles taught me, which is that you can turn a Mac off, hook it up to firewire, and hold down the T key, to access the Mac's HDD without it having to boot. And while this was cool and reassured me that the HDD still had all the information on it. The machine would still shut down after 30 seconds and not allow me to transfer any files.

So we took it back to Apple. They looked at it, said the found a lose connection, repaired it and next day we took it back. We got it home and it was doing the same thing... This is less than 2 days before the reception.

So, yesterday (Friday), Shellena runs the machine to the Mac store, while I had to be on a shoot yesterday. They determine that they can't determine what's wrong with my machine, so they decided to just replace it--THANK YOU APPLE CARE! But they had to transfer all the 800GB of storage onto my new iMac.

The shoot ended at 8:30pm last night. I called the store and they said it was done doing the data transfer. We were 30 minutes away and Apple Genius Bar closes at 9pm.  So we raced down the highway. Chris's speedometer doesn't work which turns out to be a good thing when speeding to get to the mall before they close.

I ran in the door at 8:55pm.... and needless to say, came home with a brand new iMac. Stayed up until 2:00AM finishing the video and there you have. The most difficult process of getting a DVD ready for a wedding reception.
I just wanted to mention to any that haven't seen it yet, the production company that me and a couple friends started this summer, well, our website is up and running. click below to check it out.

Video Production UT










This is a preliminary landing page; we have a website designer that is working on our fully integrated site that will be up soon...

Music & an Image

There is a branch of Film Theory that delves into Phenomenology. It's the idea that we carry with us all our past experiences and memories and that they in turn effect how we interpret an image (book, painting, musical score, people, etc.) It explains why there can be a myriad of responses to the same text or film. There is definitely some merit to this school of thought. Here we have some music and a completely objective image. This short video isn't meant to portray any sort of message or stance on a topic. But I can guarantee that the viewer will find something deeper just by paying attention to how they feel while watching.


Seeing the world through the eyes of my daughter has been very rewarding. Everything is new and interesting again.

Faces

People are amazing. This is a miniature documentary I shot just to look at faces. There is so much detail and thought written on every face. There is so much of God in each of us.


Media and Faith


 I recently watched a devotional on BYU-TV given by Amy Jensen entitled Some Hopeful Words on Media and Agency. Amy Jensen is currently serving as Chair of the Theatre and Media Arts department, which just so happens to be my major. Amy is one of the more qualified people to discuss this topic. Her studies have been focused on how teachers engage students on any academic level through media. I recommend the devotional and I have to say it has inspired me.
 BYU Devotional - Amy Jensen - (3/20/12)

In a few weeks I will have graduated from BYU in Media Arts Studies. After watching this devotional I've been feeling a growing responsibility to contribute positive media to the world. As a career I will probably spend the next few years working on projects that advertise and represent other companies and enterprises. And although I do not foresee myself compromising any of my values in this endeavor, I also recognize that making a commercial isn't the same as bearing my testimony through film.

So I've set out to post small videos that I've made which document things I find beautiful in this world. I've decided to call this project His hand in this world because I do believe that when we look around us we see His hand in all things and there are worthy, lovely, positive things around us each day. I admit that these videos will not touch upon the subject of religion directly. However, they are my testimony of the goodness of God and the blessings in our lives. I hope someone may watch and be inspired to look at the world in a brighter light. 

Buyer Acquire Commercial

In a week from this Friday I will be done with my undergraduate experience. BYU has been great, but now we look forward. Here is a commercial that is hopefully the first of many as me, and some of the people I've been working with here at school, are starting our own production company. Our goal is to shoot high quality commercials for a fraction of the cost that ad-agencies or commercial studios that do everything in house charge.


Pretty Darn Funny

It is often the subject of conversation that there is a limited amount of wholesome or "clean" media being created in our days. And although I don't entirely agree with that (there is a lot of good clean media out there but most of us choose not to watch/indulge in it because it gets filed under "not entertaining enough") However, I have been part of a student crew that has been working on this web series over the past semester. It was created by Jeff Parkin & Jared Cardon (BYU faculty) and Produced by Deseret Book with the goal in mind to create something that is fun, enjoyable, and humorous, without compromising personal values. The show is really awesome and fun. Its free and the episodes are short. I haven't ever worked on a project quite like this one before and it has been truly a great experience. Check out the link below:



http://prettydarnfunny.com/

Blazing Toy Guns



The elders quorum in my ward right now is having a film festival. All of us were invited to contribute a short film of some sort, clip from home movies, or whatever. So me, Shellena, and my bro-in-law's family put this together. Its somewhat of a "Toy Story" inspired type of story. It was a lot of fun to make, and I think it turned out quite nice. I'll let you know if I win any award from the Elders Quorum Film Festival!


Thanks to
Tim Hall
Bethany Hall
Ethan and Eli Hall

and Shellena Tietjen for producing the short film.

The Hobbit - Behind the Scenes



I am predicting that 2012 is going to be an amazing year of film.
Hunger Games, Dark Knight Rises, Arriety (Studio Ghibli) Brave (Pixar), The Avengers, John Carter of Mars, Star Trek II, The Amazing Spider-Man, (possibly the Ender's Game adaptation?) and--The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Watching this behind the scenes video has made me long for Middle Earth much like I did every December in high school, with each installment of the Lord of the Rings I think its going to be rather amazing!

Dark Knight Rises- Teaser Trailer



This trailer doesn't show much, but I'm so stoked in either case. Tom Hardy as Bane looks more and more awesome, and the chanting in the background at the end has me intrigued. There has been a lot of speculation about why Bane for the villain. Quote from random IMDB user "Bane was a lame character in the '97 Batman & Robin film. But I have to say that the best graphic novel series that I've ever read (and I read a lot of comics back in the day) is the story of Bane and how he breaks Batman's back; he almost defeats Batman for good. He is the only villain to figure out how to take the bat down "for reals!" He's not just a dumb strong-guy. In the comic Bane breaks all the villains out of Arkham and for several weeks Batman spends every night putting them away again, no time for sleep or much of anything else. At the end of those 2 weeks, Bane fights Batman, now that he is weak and exhausted beyond human capability. Then Bane breaks Batman over his knee--as shown below.

Jeremy Lindström - America's Got Talent


That's right! My best friend, on national television. Jeremy Lindstrom: dude in the orange shirt, with white jacket over the girl with the microhpone's left shoulder. He's famous now! Isn't this awesome! The Summerwind Skippers is Jeremy's jump rope team and they got a YES from the judges, so now we are waiting to see them in Las Vegas when they jump again?
Jeremy had told me they tried out but he was sort of skeptical about whether or not we would actually see them on the air. I'm sure hundreds of people try out, but low and behold! They made it. Hopefully we will see them again. Check out the footage! They are the first act that appears on this youtube clip below.