One of my best (or worst) attributes is my inability to leave work-in-progress, well, in progress. And here I’m talking about something larger (and ultimately more important) than simply finishing something: One can finish and yet not complete–in the same way battles can be won while the war is lost.

Yesterday I posted a rough-cut video that compiled what I consider the best of my handheld, time-lapse iPhoneography in Washington DC’s Foggy Bottom Metro station. I simply wanted my favorite shots in one place, and I was curious about the effect of reintroducing movement and sound to the photos’ frozen moments. Given the relatively small amount of time I spent lashing the thing together, I was quite pleased with the result–especially the choice of The Dream Academy’s “Waterloo” for its soundtrack. That, as they say, should have been that. Except that I was left with something still mostly conceptual. Except that it had lot of rough edges. Except that I knew I could do better. Clearly, I had two options: Either dial-down visitor expectations by underscoring the video was no more than a draft executed during a long lunch hour–or I could, you know, do the damn thing right. And as I’ve said, I’m a big proponent of genuine completion.

So here it is–for all five of you that may be interested: The deluxe, director’s cut of “I Can Hear The Trains Pulling Out.” With proper pans, perfected dissolves and even a title sequence.

But be forewarned: to do the photos justice in terms of resolution, this is a large HD video, and many visitors will need to pre-buffer. At the risk of immodesty, I think the patience is well worth it. ‘Nuff said.

You can find the final-draft video here:

http://web.me.com/kulturhack/Site_4/Metro_Station_iPhoneography.html