…or at least I’m fairly sure I didn’t pay for it!
I got a package from UPS today. I thought it was some filters for my still camera and so I didn’t bother to open it until later in the evening. When I did, I was surprised to find inside the box was another box labeled Polaroid. It made sense that a photo dealer might be recycling boxes but the box seemed a bit large and heavy for a couple of filters. I opened the Polaroid box only to find a Pogo. It’s a small, portable printer that can print photos directly from a phone or computer via bluetooth or you can hook it up via USB from a camera. That’s it. Yeah me!
I remember filling out a “sign up and win” form on the Polaroid website not long ago after reading about the product on some website, most likely Gizmodo. I figured, why not. If I get junk mail, it’ll go to my gmail account.
See Polaroid isn’t dead. The Pogo is not great, but it’s not awful either. I can totally see taking it on vacation and leaving photographs behind for friends I visit. To be sure, it doesn’t have the charm of a Polaroid picture as I remember it. I miss the shake, the placing of the photo under the armpit, and the joy of seeing the photo reveal itself like a slow wake from a heavy sleep. Let’s see if it grows on me.
Aaron sent me a script to read for a short film called “Tetris Dreams”. It’s a short film that takes pace in the near future about a soldier suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). So far I love the script. We’ll see if I get the job. It’s another show where they have a bigger name on the other line.
I love to do research. For this, I’m looking into minitures, artificial snow, and near-future technologies both consumer and military. Love it. I’ll write more after I finish the script. Can’t wait to talk to the director about it.
Just finished a set of spots for greenwala.com and produced by Jeff Cole Productions. The spots were directed by Clay and are a parody of the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” spots. In our case it’s Hybrid vs. SUV and Locally Grown O Delauney rganic Tomato vs. Mass Produced Tomato. Funny stuff. Should be done very soon.
→ Two for one. Bottom camera has a 35mm lens for the wide-shot and the top has a 50mm for the medium shot.
→ The close-ups are also shot on the 50mm lens.
↑ A producer’s job is never finished.
→ Posting in the bathroom. Should we be worried!? Touch nothing and someone, get me some gloves!
(more…)
21 Oct 2008:
I got word today that the spots are all but finished. We’re doing the color correction for the remanding five spots next week. Can’t wait to share the final spots and can’t wait till they’re all on the air. Bully!
13 Oct 2008:
I just finished a series of commercials for director Tony Hope. The spots are for Time Warner Cable and are called “I Am Time Warner Cable”. It’s been a while since I’ve done spots with them. A couple of years ago Comcast and Time Warner Cable purchased and divided a great deal of Adelphia Cable territory and at the time decided to outsource most of their commercial work. That may be changing back with these six spots. Here are some pictures from the shoot. I’ll be posting the spots as they become available to me.
↑ Really dude! → Bluescreen day
↑ I love sliders, I really do. I’m not talking about burgers (although I love them too). The slider I’m talking about there is a 24″ sliding camera support platform. Here we needed to shoot some shots with minor movement – perfect tool, although not very pretty. → Just say no to 1/3″ DOF. We used a Letus35 with Nikon lenses. She looks great and the shot is so much the better for it.
↑ Here we did a shot that goes from a TV screen, along an outstretched arm holding a remote, to finish on an over-the-shoulder, two-shot of folks on a couch watching the TV. We needed to under-sling the camera and the jib helped us reach out over the couch as we dollied back to the final mark. Great shot! → Me and the camera. Proof I was there.
↑ Clay Delauney (cam op) ready to do a “Steadicam like” shot. This rig and our experience level with it made it less than perfect but its imperfection made the shot work.
↑ We shot a day on a white cyc. These shots will be black & white. → We had to pick-up some of the black & white shots in an office. Surprisingly it worked just fine.
↑ Two in the morning at high noon. → How we shot it. I’m back to using China lamps. Notice the slider on the desk. Love that slider!!!
↑ I got tagged! Payback for my tag on Clay. Payback for the payback will be severe and with extreme prejudice! Watch you back Clay – the back of your shirt!
I love to read but hate reading books. I don’t like holding them, forcing each half to stay open and flat, turning pages and needing to have the lights on, etc. When I got my iPhone, while excited to have eBooks available I wasn’t sure I would be able to read on a small screen (I was hoping to someday get a Kiddle or something). But I gave it a try and loved it. I’ve read one book so far, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. With that book done, it’s time to move on to another classic – or rather an emerging classic… “Zombie Survival Guide”!
So far it’s a great book. My friend and director Clay Delauney suggested it to me. It’ll be a great resource the next time I shoot a zombie film. I love how “as a matter a fact” it is. I’ve read enough military and survival manual to appreciate how appropriately it’s presented. It’s not written “tongue-in-cheek” rather there’s a seriousness if not sincere quality that give it authenticity. Like a good movie, you’re easily able to become immersed in the book.
I was also surprised to find out that the writer is the son of Mel Brooks. He is also a high school classmate of my wife. Small world.
So remember…
I just got news that the music video I shot for Jonathan Bowen and the band Rockchild screened at The Other Venice Film Festival. Nice! Congrats to Jonathan and thank you young Will Wallace for the heads-up!
← Me with Red.
If I had a crisp C-note for every time I’ve been queried about shooting with the Red I would have owned one by now with all the accessories. Today, beyond mere testing of the camera, I actually got to shoot some footage. I shot a couple of vignettes/skits for director (and in this case, actor as well) Greg McDonald. Simple stuff really, all outside under reasonably contrasty conditions. The shoot took place in the Great Burbank outdoors (97° and humid).
So how did the camera perform. We did get a several warnings about the heat level of the camera which were solved by shading the camera and turning it off when possible. But, by and large the camera worked wonderfully. As would be expected, batteries didn’t hold up as long as they would if it wasn’t as hot as it was. The camera’s layout and button functionality perform very nice under practical conditions. I’m still a big fan of the False Color metering system but I need more time under various lighting conditions in order for my interpretation of what’s on the monitor to become second nature. We did have a problem with the audio board (couldn’t record to some tracks) but that will soon be addressed when the camera gets a new audio board. The lenses we used were both Red Lenses – 18-50mm and 50-150mm both ƒ3. I look forward to seeing the footage under better conditions to better evaluate their performance. We shot using the Red Drive – no lost footage to report, which is good. We did shoot some slow motion footage at 72, 96 and 120 frame-per-second. And for what it’s worth, we shot in 4K, 2:1 aspect ratio (protecting for 16:9), using RedCode36.
All in all, it was fun and educational. I can’t wait to have a longer project to really put the camera through its paces.
↑ Photo taken durning playback. Like in “Austin Powers” , the skits played with framing that gave the, er…, wrong impression of what’s going on. Don’t read too much into the fact that we shot in the Valley!
