Super Cute Couple

I really couldn't resit posting this wedding highlights video. It's a piece I edited for Metmedia last week and it is just way cute. Oh and as a bonus, you get to hear the best pick up line ever used.



Ok say it with me... 1, 2, 3, "Awwwwww!" I know. Adorable. Meredith and John were married at Piedmont Community Church and their reception was at the Claremont Country Club. I picked a playful song because I wanted their sense of humor and easy going attitude to come through. I really enjoyed editing their full wedding and had some fun with time-shifting. 71HUGO!

-Jesse Tarnoff

Cine/Grading Test

I guess I really am addicted to filmmaking. When I don't have the opportunity to film for a week or two, I feel this slowly building angst that eventually results in me finding an excuse to go out and take some shots. I guess it's because when I'm shooting, it's like a meditation. A chance to be outside of my head and channel all of my focus into one thing. It's very freeing.

Enough of this new age hippie talk! Time for some dark and brooding cinematography inspired by Apocalypse Now. One of my favorite scenes of Apocalypse Now is the scene in the jungle where the tiger jumps out. I love it because of it's color pallet. Notice how extremely GREEN the greens are, and how everything else is a shade of blue. It's got a very cool neonish look that I wanted to replicate.



In doing some preparation for the Staff Blaster Orgins film, I wanted to achieve this look for Jack Shrapnel's opening sequence. Here is my test footage in which I combine in camera color processing with digital color grading.



Now the cinematography style is very different, but looking at the color, I think I did a pretty good job of isolating those greens and making them pop. I'm curious to know about how Vittorio Storaro accomplished this look in Apocalypse Now. I can't imagine he JUST used tungsten film outdoors. As far as this being a test video, here is what I learned.

Lessons Learned
1. Don't Shoot the Sky - The sky is impossible to get colored right. If shooting a jungle scene, avoid shooting anything upwards.
2. Expose properly instead of trying to crush the blacks in camera. Also, do not use highlight bias setting when shooting in a darkened environment such as a forest.
3. Bring more than one Powerbar when carrying a tripod, glidetrack, and camera kit through a forest. All that lifting = hungry tummies.

-Jesse Tarnoff

2009 Ava Awards

The results are back from the Ava Awards and apparently they like fusion! Metmedia submitted two projects that I edited to the judges. The first project was Laura and Scott's wedding which was a full length wedding film that was edited completely in fusion style. This film won the Ava Platinum Award, the highest honor in the Weddings and Events Category. I've always been very proud of my work on that film. The clips online show some of the quality, but the film in it's entirety is a very well produced piece. Here are some of the clips from that...




Earlier this year we also took home a Videographer Awards 2009 "Award of Distinction" for my fusion editing in Laura and Scott. I don't think I ever blogged about it.

We also received an Ava Gold award for the Yosemite Love Story I edited for Christy and Jared. While it's not a platinum, I am still proud of the achievement and speaks to the power of fusion style editing.


2010 should be a good year for some more awards. With the new DSLR setup, I think there are some very good projects on the horizon. It's about time I gunned for Weva Gold.

Morgan + Charlie Save the Date

Morgan + Charlie from Jesse Tarnoff on Vimeo.

Morgan and Charlie's story is really quite amazing. The two of them first met in elementary school, and have grown up together. I'm talking elementary school, middle school, high school, and yes... college. When I talked to them about their relationship, they emphasized the idea that no matter what's going on, there is always something that is pulling them back together.

When we were shooting their Save the Date, we talked about TV shows that we both liked. I was happy to hear that they both really liked Friday Night Lights, a show with a style I love. When I started editing, my goal was to give it the same kind of vibe as the tv show.

We were also EXTREMELY lucky with the weather. The forecast was rain ALL week. On the drive up, I was absolutely astonished at how beautiful the day was. It was a sunny day with extremely defined patches of clouds; very crisp. It really could not have been better.

By request: here is the gear I used. Canon EOS 7d with a canon 50mm f/1.8, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 with a polarizer. I'm pretty sure those are the only lenses I used. I also used my Glidetrack SD 1m and a 501 Fluid Head. For audio I used a Rode Videomic. In my opinion, the production value comes from the Glidetrack and the polarizer on my wide lens. Color grading was done in Magic Bullet, making good use of gradient exposures.

-Jesse Tarnoff