Another Year In Review

Hello 2012!  2011 had some fun stuff going on... you've got some pretty big shoes to fill...

2011 Highlights:

*I got married.

*I worked on a nice variety of documentary, art, industrial and commercial work.  New territory included some great transmedia work with Kinetic Fin, and my return to commissioned film (doc for hire sort of stuff).

*I finished up work on a compelling documentary, "Different Is The New Normal."  This was a great film on a boy with Tourette's Syndrome and aired on PBS in the fall.

*I attached myself to a very important documentary-in-progress, "Coached Into Silence."

*I bought a home and subsequently set up a sweet gear storage setup in my new garage.

*I shot (2nd) an episode of Animal Planet's "Confessions: Animal Hoarding."

All in all, I had a great year, both professionally and personally.  Let's hope 2012 continues the positive trend.


CHIN CHIN!

Recent stuff...

Been a busy few weeks:

-Shot an interview in NYC for an NHK Japan Special Documentary regarding the nuclear crisis over there.  Had to light and shoot according to a formula they use - basically matching the look of their pieces.  Also encountered one of the first really good reasons not to bring on a sound mixer.  "Oh, it's going to be dubbed into Japanese, so it's really not worth it."

-Gaffed a video for Bayer (Aspirin co.) for DP, Roger Grange.  Another situation where we had to match a look, except this was even more precise.  The client (a great, top-tier marketing co.) had a swatch for the color of blue on the background that we had to replicate.  The result was great, though, and it was a short, relatively easy short with some great people I like to work with.

-[Almost] shot a spectacular interview with former NHL star, Sheldon Kennedy for "Coached Into Silence."  We arrived, loaded in, set up a wonderful shot and then found out that of the 12 different people the producer confirmed with at the location (to remain nameless), none of them really had any say in the matter.  Kennedy and his friend/colleague Wayne McNeil gunned so hard for us at the location, but ultimately the location didn't budge and none of the aforementioned 12 answered their phones that day...  Ultimately, the crew got to sit down with Sheldon and Wayne a bit to figure out what was next.  The situation really seemed to set Kennedy and McNeil on fire and they offered to secure us location in Toronto that would be even better (and more relevant) than the pompous, elitist one that had ignored our efforts here in NY.  Air Canada Centre, here we come!

-Shot a music video in Tribecca for local artist, Andrew Watt.  Kinetic Fin got me involved with this one and though it was a lot of work, I think something cool will come of it.  Also got to meet a couple of really great people in the process.  AND on top of it all, 2 hours before wrapping on the last day (and leaving Tribecca for a very long spell - I don't make it down there much), I ran into a friend I haven't seen in 10 years.  So random...

That's it so far.  This Sunday, I'm headed off to Phoenix with Matt Johnston from Kinetic Fin for the PDMA Conference on Social Product Development & Co-Creation.  Should be a good time.

More good stuff on the horizon... keep checking in...

A year in review

2011 starts off slow (I'm taking it easy because I'm getting married in 6 days)

So, 2010 in review:

* Budapest

* A feature film I shot in the spring, "Director's Cut" is produced (and is currently at the Hollywood Reel Independent Festival and other festivals)


* "One Night Only: Barbra Streisand and Quintet Live at the Village Vanguard" (which I was a key camera operator) is released on DVD and Blu-ray (and DVD/CD combo) and subsequently goes platinum.


* I shot a number of great videos with Kinetic Fin for Gevalia Coffee.




* I shot a very nice tribute video for Ruth Messinger featuring a pretty awesome interview lineup, including Mia Farrow, former NYC Mayor David Dinkins, NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof and more.




* I shot second unit and b-cam material for a nice series of videos for Columbia Business School.



* I became a HDSLR convert (I'm not a an evangelical HDSLR shooter but I've discovered it's an amazing tool for a lot of things).

* Some fun industrial work for Nokia, Wunderman, PwC, BBCAmerica, and Kraft Foods.

* Gaffed and shot NY material for a feature doc, "Small Matters" (currently in post-production, eying a PBS run).

* I lit a commercial photo shoot... for video.  That was different.  For designer, Ippolito.

* A whole bunch of other little things...

...I learned a lot this year, as a cameraman and gaffer and filmmaker in general.  When I was assisting, my years tended to yield lessons on practice - new lighting principles, methods of operating, craft-based things like that.  As a working cameraman (and occasional gaffer for other D.P.'s), my years have brought about fewer and fewer new technical lessons.  This year was sponsored by... "Compromise."

• While working on the Ruth Messinger piece, for the higher profile interviews, the crew went in with the mentality that the subject could walk in any minute and demand to do the interview then.  Working faster that we'd have normally liked was the compromise for having access to these folks.
• On "Director's Cut" the production had much less time and money than ideal.  We compromised on setups to get the movie finished.
• For the BBCAmerica videos which took place in real, functioning focus group sessions, we had to have high production values in terms of lighting and camerawork, but at the same time, we, the crew could not infringe upon the participants' comfort levels.  Usually, what's out of frame doesn't matter (leading to forests of c-stands, messy rigging contraptions and stuff like that just out of the camera's view), but for this, it had to be pretty.  Even a clean-looking large Chimera overhead was too "movie-set" for the clients liking.  But they loved when we rigged a very large chinese lantern overhead (it felt "homey").  Meanwhile at the PwC industrial I gaffed maybe only a month or two prior, the client insisted we use the Chimera for it's "expensiveness."  In that situation, meanwhile, it would have been a LOT easier to rig than the large Chimera.  Compromise...

2010 was a great year and there's some pretty fun stuff on the horizon for 2011, not the least of which is getting married.  More on that (and the great video team I hired for the event) and other stuff in February, when I return...

Testing, testing...

"Hi, my name is Dave, and I don't own an HD camera." "Welcome, Dave. We're all here to help."

(from a Cinematographers Who Haven't Made the Jump to HD Anonymous meeting)

I've shot HD before and it sure is lovely. I've actually used just about every different HD format currently available - they're all great. But they're not for me. I must admit, I'm wary to make an investment. Things are just shifting so rapidly, that I don't think I can safely make an investment that will pay out over time. If I always had my way regarding shooting format, I could get something, but for most of my for-hire shoots, the production decides. What if they want to use a different camera?!

That said, I think the time may be fast approaching when I should buy an HD camera - so, what to do? There are a plethora of options. If I wanted to spend more than ten grand, the decision is easier, but frankly, that's not what I want.

One of the current trends is HDSLR cameras - small cameras intended for still photography that are also quite capable hidef beauties. So, lately, I've been researching the different cameras out there - particularly the Canon 7D and 5D, and the Panasonic GH1. Number one research method is searching online for sample footage. So, I go on www.vimeo.com and search "7D." Results come up - countless videos titled "7D test." Great. Someone did the work for me. Click, open, load the video... WTF?!

By now, I've seen hundreds of shaky, out of focus, poorly lit, crappily composed, unstable footage set to great music. This tells me nothing. Just like when 35mm lens adapters were coming out, none of the videos online help me at all. What I need is real world film-style testing. Good composition, good lighting, appropriate camera movement - stuff that reflects what I'll be doing with the camera. Among the thousands of 7D videos online, but a few dozen are appropriate for my research, and they're damned hard to find.

So that's it for this post. Sorry it's just a rant, but that's what I felt like today. Tomorrow I'm shooting some product work for Gevalia coffee - I think I'll have a nice amount of freedom to do my thing, so I'm looking forward to it. If I remember, I'll take stills and finally have some shots to share.