mine

Zombie Roadkill color grading

e. gustavo — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:28:14 +0000

Zombie Roadkill finally got its day in the da Vinci suite. The color grading session took place at Company 3 in Santa Monica by none other than the iconic colorist Stephen Nakamura. It looks fantastic and I think everyone will be very pleased with the resulting web series which is due out in October (just in time for Halloween).

A million thanks and congratulations to David Green (director) and to everyone who has put in time and love into this project.

Stereography training

e. gustavo — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:07:25 +0000

Had a chance to take part in an intensive 3-day training seminar at Sony Pictures through Local 600. Lots of hands on, examples, and experimentations. I’ve been to many, many training seminar in the past either at NAB or CineGear or what have you but this might just be the first seminar I’ve ever been to where I felt I got something useful out of it. I’ve been re-reading stereographic publications and it all makes sense to me know. Last step, need a shoot to really put what I’ve learned through its paces. Any takers?

A million thanks to the folks at Sony, Local 600 and the students from Hollywood Cinema Production Resources and USC.

DNA music video…

e. gustavo — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:15:54 +0000

At last I can share and you can enjoy the latest music video I shot. The video is for the song “DNA” by Darwin Deez. It’s been noted as the “un-official” video since, while it has the blessing from the artist, it isn’t the official video for the song.

I had a happy moment the other day because when I scrolled down the YouTube page for the video, the first comment I saw said, “I love this DP”. Delightful!

From today…

In case you misread, “masterpiece”… Recognize!

The video was directed by Miles Crawford with choreography by Jashua Pelatzky. We shot it on the Canon 5D (Canon: 35mm, 50mm Macro, 85mm – Sigma: 28-300mm, 15-30mm).

Great job to all involved.

15 June:

One last thing. I read this review for the video from 9 June. Very nice things to say.

http://www.inertia-music.com/2010/06/video-darwin-deez-releases-kooky-dance-video-for-dna/

16 June:

Another very nice review for the video:

http://inoneear.co.uk/news/8983-darwin-deez-announces-tour-unofficial-video

Time Warner Cable Commecial

e. gustavo — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:27:03 +0000

Just finished a series of commercials for Time Warner Cable. I finally got to put a RED ONE with the new MX sensor through its paces under varied settings. Verdict… Loves it. I love the 800 ISO (except when outside). Inside though, being able to easily shoot at stops like ƒ2.5 to ƒ4.0 is so much better than struggling and fighting to get enough light at ƒ1.4 with an 80 ISO (like when using an HVX200 with a Letus lens adaptor). Outside continues to be a conundrum. Still having problems with IR contamination even with my Schneider Tru-Cut IR – it just doesn’t cut deep enough into the IR. I guess I’ll finally bite the bullet and purchase a Pancro IR filter, most likely as a neutral density (ND) combo. I think the ND1.2 would be a good choice since that’s the level of ND that starts to show IR contamination. Beyond that, I can stack additional ND as needed and below that I don’t need the IR filter. But $450 buck… ouch! Aside from that, I really felt like I got my groove on with shooting the MX sensor. After six days of shooting with it, I miss shooting and being on set now that it’s over.

One downside of the shoot and a lesson learned (besides the IR issue)… If you’re getting a deal on the lenses, check them thoroughly. We got a set of Zeiss lenses that used 3 aperture blades. What’s the big deal? Well, the bokeh looks like tiny pyramids in the background. What to do next time? Make sure there’s at least five blades (or better yet, lenses with at nine). I’ll take the Pentagon over the Luxor any day.

Had a great and fun crew to work with and I thank them all for all the hard work they put into making a great week of shooting. Till next time.

↑→ Reviewing the shot
→→ Super Grant (I love this photo)

↑→ Super Dwight (Key Grip)
→→ I like wearing black.

↑→ Tony (Dir) watching the SteadiCam shot

↑&→ ND.9 on the window, some pola on the lens, a pair of Kino “Fatboys” (the lights, not the talent – just so we’re clear) and a 1.2K HMI.

↑→ Distortion Grid for a wide-shot FX shot
→→ Tony gets ready for his close-up

↑ & → Canon 5D shot with a Sigma 15-30mm lens
(Sadly, only some weeks later did we find out the footage wasn’t transferred or got erased during the backup process.)

Hand symbols with a woman’s touch

e. gustavo — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 07:38:38 +0000

Any one who’s spent any time on set knows that Grip and Electric often have hand signals for various tasks and objects. On a recent shoot for Time Warner Cable a new nomenclature for the often used Full Apple Box positions – California, Texas, New York – was replaced by the Hair and Makeup Wonder Twins (Nikki and Mindy). The new terms are…

FLATS… WEDGES… STILETTO… (For my male audience, it’s a reference to women’s shoes, a reference Al Bundy would be proud of. For my younger audience that last reference was to a character on Fox’s “Married with Children” television show.)

These names are a follow-up to a discussion about “hot dog” and “corn dog” in reference to horizontal and vertical object placement, respectively. I like these terms over the potentially offensive terms Chinese and English (you get the idea).

What are your favorite terms?

Baby Maker music video

e. gustavo — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:17:58 +0000

UPDATE: Mar 6: Funny or Die picked “Baby Maker” as a featured pick today and linked to in on the front page. Hope the momentum keeps going…

UPDATE: Mar 3: It’s up and ready for you to shake your money maker to. Keep you’re eyes out for the baby maker dance, it’s gonna be big at the clubs yo.

Baby Maker – watch more funny videos Please visit the site and vote for this video.

Feb 20: Shot a music video called “Baby Maker” for Reno Wilson (aka Lil’ Problem). It’s a parody of rap videos and it’s real funny. The video is directed by Andy Lerner (wish I had a cool nick name for him, but I got nothing). Shot here in Los Angeles and Torrance using two Panasonic HVX200 we managed to cram lots of locations into two very productive days. The video has since been finished and should be available for viewing very soon.

Reno (er’ Lil Problem) looking sporty on the green screen
Working the choreography in the padded room

Andy (Dir) with the ladies (dancers)
Andy again with the ladies

Watching playback of the madness that just happened on the Anytime with Bob Kushell set with Blair Underwood as the host
Crane, crowds, kids, cars, and Jason Mews – It’s a good day.

Get to play with the new RED chip

e. gustavo — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:04:28 +0000

No, not potato chips (Mmmmm… potatoooo chipssss) but the new MX chip for the Red One camera. Shooting a cosmetics commercial later this week and can’t wait to explore what the new chip can do. I’ve seen some footage and it’s time to get my hands dirty. Stay tuned…

“Box of Shadows” trailer

e. gustavo — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:37:02 +0000

The currency independent filmmakers have is time, or at least time well spent. “Box of Shadows” is the feature film I shot late last year and it is now heading for the home stretch. The updated website and trailer are online and ready to be viewed and hopefully talked about.

New Tool…

e. gustavo — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:51:48 +0000

I wish I got kick-backs from equipment manufactures, but no such luck. Still, if I like it, I’ll post it. My new toy for the set and home is the Guppie from Columbia River. It’s fits great in the hand, it’s light and it does a bunch. It’s very well thought out and can’t wait to show it off on set. (And if anyone wants to send me a little “somethin’-somethin’”, it’ll be our little secret.)

Ain’t it got a purdie lil’ mouth?!

Any press is good press…

e. gustavo — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:45:09 +0000

Indie Slate (issue #59) did a cover story on Corbin Bernsen and independent filmmaking. I get a brief mention which is nice (better if they had spelled my name correctly in the article or actually used a photo with me in it instead of identifying me in a photo I’m not in). Still it’s a good read worth taking a look at.

As a side note, I’m currently reading a script Corbin sent me for a project this spring. I’ll share more about that script soon.