Bionaire
It’s always difficult to make a product that just sits inert look sexy and compelling. In this case creative Director Peter Smaha’s concept of the clean, clear water was the key. I think the atmospheric 3d effects were also very additive in this spot. To create the soft summer light, we used 3 18k HMIs through 4’x4′ 250 then full grid set about 10′ outside the window. The lighting setup posed an interesting question in prep – when you calculate fall off from the source, do you calculate from the HMI or the full grid? It seems that the intermediates would change the nature of the...
read moreTable Top Showreel
This is a montage of table top and product demo work that myself, Bruce and DP Jim LeBlanc have made recently. Love of table top work is love of craft at its most granular. At best to the audience, there is a lovely, fetishistic side to it. Personally, I love shooting...
read moreMr. Coffee Café Latté
There are some fun shots in this one that support the father and son storyline. We mounted the top of the Latté maker to the camera for the insert shot – I think it was a 28mm Ultra Prime. The rack focus past the cups and lids was with an Optimo 12×1. Also, check out the bokeh on the flowers in the background of the final shot – very Vincent (also Optimo 12×1). All shot with our RedOne...
read more“Whirring” by The Joy Formidable
A new high water mark for motion graphics music videos – stunning work by Director Christopher Mills. And cute kitties, too!
read moreMr. Coffee “Stanley”
Here’s another favorite from our recent campaign for Mr. Coffee. Vote in the straw poll: Is Stanley the creepy guy down the hall or the shy guy who has a crush on the girl next door?
read moreWhere’s the Pot?
Here’s a new spot that just hit the airwaves that Bruce and I directed a couple months ago. Very happy with it – I think the comedy really plays (thanks in large part to the cast). Shot on our RedOne MX with Ultra Primes and Optimos. Particularly happy with the choice of the 12mm for the wide angle POVs. In the funny coincidence department: the morning we shot this, I was sitting at the kitchen table on location, when Marc Sedaka walked into what I was about to learn was his own kitchen. He and I were PAs together on a film called Calendar Girl when we were new in town. Lovely guy, great way to start the...
read morePortrait with DigiGreen
As I reviewed some footage from a recent shoot, I can across this frame as I punched in for focus. As a continuation of my discussion of green screen versus blue, I now am meditating the benefits of digital green versus chroma. This young lad was shot on digital green, which is the first choice for many productions – Avatar among them – because the green is pretty safe for clothes and eye color. Chroma, which is much darker and more saturated tends to step on real-life clothing choices more often. But digital green does not do a good job of differentiating from gold – it pulls a very noisy key. I’m curious to see how chroma does with the new low-noise sensors. I’m going to shoot some tests this month and report...
read moreBogey and Me Downtown LA
A moment from our recent campaign for Mr. Coffee. Photo credit: First A.D. Wickham...
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