e. gustavo petersen | cinematographer

…let me count the ways. My first Alexa shoot and I’m super pleased. The footage looks wonderful. Working with the camera is a breeze. Menu structure is just robust enough but not suffocating. While I’ve seen the camera before, I was still surprised at how small it is, not Red Epic small, but small or at least smaller than I remembered.

We ended up shooting ProRes 422 HQ in Rec. 709 for the bulk of the footage. For the few FX shots we used ProRes 4444 also in Rec. 709. Would have like to have shot Log C, but the accelerated editorial necessitated shooting in Rec. 709.

The project was for Blair Underwood’s new line of men’s suits – the BU Collection. Can’t wait for the spot to be available to share.

I want to thank the amazing crew we had led by Gaffer Josh Day and Key Grip Dwight Stone. Thank you gents! Also want to thank our amazing Steadi-Cam operators, Justin B.! One of the best I’ve worked with. Look forward to doing it all again very soon.

↑ I love this photo! From left to right: Justin B. (Steadi-Cam), James D. (2nd AC), Koji K. (1st AC) and Blair Underwood as he gets final touch-ups. Great suit!

…DORITOS SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL CONTEST TIME! I’ve shot my first.  Can’t wait to post it or link it.  Miles Crawford – whom I’ve worked with on music videos – directed this funny spot.  I’ll post a link once it’s up and you’ll have a chance to vote a million times for it to help us for the win.  Thanks in advance for doing that.

Side note:  Miles is participating in Movember again this year. If you can donate to this worthy cause, please do.  CLICK HERE.

Just finished shooting a spec commercial for a contest called Crash the Super Bowl, sponsored by Dorirtos and Pepsi Max.  The spot is directed by Ryan Barton-Grimley and features Aaron Schneider as our misguided romantic. We shot the spot with the Canon 5D and a 24-70mm T2.8 Sigma lens. Lighting consisted of a mix of tungsten units and Kino Flo lights.

It’s surpassed 3000 views – not bad considering the deluge of entries. The comments have been overwhelmingly positive.  Thank you to all the nice peps who commented – especially when it says how well it was shot!  Please win or I’m switching to Coca~Cola.  Oh and tell a friend.

Click to watch – after the contest, I’ll post the video here and on my demo page.

↑ Frame-grab from the video.

Just finished a commercial for a refinancing company shot, yet again, on the HX200 with a Letus lens mount. Funny spot. I’ll post a link when they become available online.

Clay (dir) keeping it together. Yes, that is a credit card suit.

The little camera that could.
Drew readies the shot.

Looks are good!
See! I was there…

Bernie (CLT) making it look good.
Dwight manning the jib.   

Just finished a video for the Chumash Casino Restort and Next Movement Entertainment. It’s the video that plays in the hotel room television and features the amenities the hotel and casino offers. I think what I like best about what we did is give it a cinematic look. There’s that and the fact that we shot lots of food related segments. Can’t wait to see the video finished.

2009 July 19: The final spot is online. Please watch it (a few times) and write a nice note if you can. A thirty second version will be available to watch on Hulu in the coming weeks.

http://www.trojanvideos.com/video/130/sri-lanka

2009 June 06: Just shot a web commercial for Trojan condoms, directed by David Green. Will post more in the coming weeks as well as a link when it’s on their site…

Just finished a set of commercials for Time Warner Cable. I’m pleased to announce that six of the eleven spots director Tony Hope and I shot have tested very well and are going national. I’ll post more soon when I can find the time. Great job everyone who worked one them!!!

Here are some pictures from the last shoot.

White cyc and a big close-up.

Tracking, tracking and more screen replacement tracking. Sweet!!!

Ah, a moment of Zen…

Don’t let dogs get too close to the lighting gear. Opps. (Dog is OK.)

Hey all. I’ll be out of reach for the next few days while I shoot a promotional spot on an aircraft carrier. If you need to reach me, well you likely can’t. I don’t know if I’ll have internet access and much less cellular service while somewhere in the Pacific. If you do need to reach me, your best bet will be by email but don’t expect an answer before Wednesday evening. Wish me luck – I’m bringing my water-wings just in case!

Update:

OK maybe not… I’ll know more later today.

Update 2:

So it seems we’re back on. See you all after Wednesday.

Update n:

Ahoy there matey. It’s off again. The “why” doesn’t matter – at least not now. So maybe in a couple weeks I’ll get my chance to land on a carrier by an arresting cable or being catapulted off. Next time swabbie.

We’re at the Panavision today on sound Stage 1.  Back to my old friend the white cyc.

It’s real late.  Here are some pics from today.

: : Nerd.

: : Adam (PA) our “hero” go-to-guy!  Thank you.

: : Aaron (UPM) keeping the show running.

: : Justin directs the voice over.

   
: : Liz (PA), Chris (Sound Mixer) / / / : : Craig (1st AC) and Leigh (2nd AC)

: : Lisa Marie get out talent ready.

: : Kodak moment.  (insert funny comment here.)

: : It may not be art, but I like it.

 
: : Again on the wheels of steel.  / / / : : Is it just me or do I have a “what-you-talkin’-about-Willis” look?

: : Our other hero, Mario (PA) retouches the floor.

 
: : Once around the park, Jeeves.  / / /  : : Let’s go again.

 
: : Get the short guy to do the big, sweeping shots.  / / /  : : And stretch….

: : Josh (Gaffer) need a little me time.

: : Even with these two guys, we still got it done.  Great job gents. Gary (1st AD) and Justin (Director)

+ + +

And now the much anticipated, moment of Zen…  Think of “Pageant of the Masters”, but not.

[ click here to view ]

First off, a big “shout out” to Rebecca and the rest of the folks at CELSOC who checked out the blog entry yesterday.  Again, I’ll write more this weekend.  Till then, enjoy. 

: : Our Bedouin monitor tent. 

: : Top of the world.  Shot from the monitor.

: : Justin rallies the extras

: : Reviewing the shot

: : Photo of the “web of cars”

: : Ron (Crane op) gets the shot of our “web of cars” ready

: : Camera flies into place


: : Football can be fun.

: : Does this mean that “domestic” object are OK?  So, let’s just call this your moment of Zen.

I haven’t had much going on much less time to write recently.  But here’s a bit of something worth writing about.  This week I’m shooting a commercial for my friend’s company, Next Movement Entertainment.  It’s for a professional association looking to inspire college age kids to pursue careers in engineering and land surveying.

I’ll write more later, must sleep now…

Till then, here’s some pictures from the first day.

: : 50′ Technocrane skims the water’s edge

: : Our “Gilligan Bridge” by Ken (Art Director)

: : 1st AC Craig J. readies the camera

: : Justin (Dir) preps his actor

: : Yours truly on the wheels of steel.

: : Josh (Gaffer) watches the madness

: : At the farm, Aaron (UPM) takes one for the team by running to a sprinkler (straight at the sprinkler) and covering it with a bag.

: : Gary (1st AD) thinks he can fly.

: : Justin (Dir) mulls over the shot.

: : Josh focuses the bounce.

: : Moment of Zen? For now, yes.

In December I shot a commercial for BargainPays.com and directed by Justin Viar.  It’s a fantastic and fun spot.  We used the Panasonic HVX200 and while we did have an M2 lens adaptor, we chose to not use it.  It proved to be a bit clunky given our situation.  I am looking forward to using the M2 in the future and under different circumstances.  The project required motion tracking so you’ll see little green dots on the clothing in the images below.  The dots connected a virtual price tag added in post and then painted out.  I think it worked swimmingly.

{ watch the commercial }

: : Justin directs his actors and the action.

: : That’s quite a smile.

: : It you wanna look good, you gotta coordinate!

Your moment of Zen…