A few months ago, Robby Bagot and I were commissioned to shoot the ultimate wedding. I mean...the ULTIMATE wedding. Neda and Sati are having a week long event in Southern California where they are flying in a bunch of family from all over the world. The first piece of Neda and Sati's wedding saga was to make a Love Story Film to show at their first wedding reception (they're having two weddings). Here is that love story, we're very proud of it.
Neda and Sati are an amazing couple. I'm actually blogging this from a hotel room in San Diego where I am staying to shoot the rest of their wedding week. They really are as beautiful, happy, and friendly as this film makes them out to be. Even more so. As we continue to work on their wedding film, I will continue to share my experience.
For the Love Story there were three shooters. Myself, Robby Bagot, and Vitalie Ungureanu. We met Neda and Sati in Marin at around 7AM and shot until about 1pm. The weather was absolutely spectacular... perfect for the look that Robby and I were going for. He and I had met a few times prior to the shoot to figure out how we were going to tell their story, and we also did a location scout for all of our locations.
For the camera fanatics who follow my blog, we used a huge assortment of equipment: 2 EOS 5DmkII's (Pre-Firmware) 1 EOS 7D Canon: 50mm f/1.4 (and 1.8), 85mm f/1.2, 20mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8 Sigma: 10-20mm f/4-5.6, 105mm f/2.8 macro Glidetrack, Zacuto Z-Finder, Zacuto Quickdraw, Steadycam Merlin, 501 heads, and my favorite piece of equipment...the Manfratto 561BHDV Monopod.
I'm so excited to be a part of such a wonderful wedding. Above are some shots of our video playing on the screen for an audience of over 400 at the Beverly Hills Wilshire.
A few nights ago I rolled around San Francisco and shot a video for Shmaltz Brewing Company. Read more about it here. As promised: let the wild rumpus start!
I first got to see Heather Holliday and Donny Vomit in action when we started off the night at Cafe Royale. It was a small crowd, but a very receptive one. We then went over to Church Key, a very small but cozy bar in North Beach. It was a harder space to work in, because of the tight quarters but the people there were very warm and were happy to be a part of the night.
Our third stop was at The Monk's Kettle. This place absolutely loved the performance. What made it even better was that because it was so packed, there was no place for Heather and Donny to perform. So they stood up on a stool behind the bar, drawing everybody's eyes. They even had people standing on the street watching the show through a window.
The last location was a very cool bar called Bender's Bar. This place is awesome. They have pool tables, music, and plenty of seating. The interior was very stylish and edgy, perfect for the video.
Because all of the shooting was done at night in dimly lit bars, it was very hard to get a proper exposure without getting grain. I was excited to see how the 5DmkII and 7D performed in low light, but some of these bars, were sooooooo dim.
Equipment Used:
Canon EOS 5DmkII
Canon EOS 7D
Canon 50mm f/1.8, 20mm f/2.8, 85mm f/1.2
Glidetrack Shooter
Zacuto Z-Finder
Zacuto Rapid Fire
Lessons Learned
1. Monopod FTW - Both Rob Bagot and I were shooting hand held the entire time. It worked for this style of video, but for anything with the "crazy factor" dialed back, better stabilization should be used. Monopods make perfect sense.
2. Need Faster Lenses - For any run and gun night shooting, fast lenses are essential. The f/2.8 wasn't cutting it, especially on the 7d. I had to add a little diffusion to cover up the grain. At some points I cranked that ISO up to 6400. Ouch.
3. Shmaltz Shmaltz Shmaltz - The whole Shmaltz crew is great. A bunch of chill folks who know how to have a good time. Sword Swallower is a fantastic beer. Can't wait to try Human Blockhead.
Last night was wild! I was shooting a promotional video for Shmaltz Brewing Company, the makers of the famous Jewish style beer lineup, He'Brew. They also have a line of beers called the Coney Island Craft Lagers AKA "The Freak Beers." Each beer is named after a performer in the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. So to promote the beer, Schmaltz wanted to go around to different bars in SF with two of the performers and put on a short show for the crowds. Heather Holliday rocked the sword swallowing and Donny Vomit busted out the Human Blockhead. Here are a few snaps I took from the night.
Many thanks to Rob Bagot for coming out and shooting with me on short notice. I'm excited to cut together a teaser for the video. Like I said, last night was wild!
Does anyone even use the word "stoked" anymore? Not that I ever really used it. But it rhymed and fit the feeling. Drenched and excited.
I'm starting to adjust my sleep cycle for my new job. Today is Day 1. And it just happened to coincide with a 7AM Location Scout / B-Roll shoot for a Love Story I am shooting this upcoming weekend. I got together with Robby Bagot, cameraman and advertising extraordinaire, and we headed out to the Marin Headlands to check the lay of the land.
It was pouring rain. Whatever, we didn't mind. We walked all over the place checking out viewpoints, trees, beaches, and old WWII bunkers (my favorite). As we scouted different locations and came up with possible shots, we also broke down the Love Story into three acts. This should be a really fun shoot and a fantastic piece. We have some very cool stuff planned.
Now, back to my sleep cycle. I have a shoot from 7PM to 11:30 tonight. Two shoots on the same day at opposite sides of the clock. Yowzah.
Well, today was officially my final day working for Metmedia. Jonathan and I went out for lunch and chilled on some beer as the rain poured outside. We reflected on the last two and a half years, and even talked about the days when I worked there for a summer job, long before that. I started out working at the company printing labels and scanning photos, and have come a long way since then.
I was trying to tally up all of the weddings I have edited while working there. My initial count when looking back at our spreadsheet was over 45, but I know I am missing a bunch from my early summer job years. I'm going to estimate that I edited over 60 weddings while working there. Wedding films never get old. The story of love is a story I don't mind telling again and again. Each couple brings so many different ideas and values to their love, and I find it way inspiring.
A few weeks ago I was approached by LaunchSquad, a PR Firm in San Francisco. After a few meetings and some dialogue, they offered me a position as a video producer, specifically creating video for the web. So I'll be making a switch from doing personal stories to corporate work, but I don't think it's a big switch. LaunchSquad hits PR from a different angle... the storytelling angle. I'm excited to see how I can adapt my experience with personal storytelling to their company.
Lessons Learned from Metmedia 1. The Reward is in the Smile. Sure, working at Metmedia I didn't earn a big paycheck. But I actually looked forward to sitting down at my editing station and putting together work that I was proud of. I regard this as so much more important than my income. The real reward comes in the tears of joy I see when we get to play the films for couples. If I'm smiling and they're smiling, I don't need much else in life.
2. Build your Friend List, Not your Client List. In wedding filmmaking, there is nothing more important than becoming friends with your clients. Jonathan showed me this when he developed great relationships with brides. Not only will it relax them when they are in front of the camera, but the added trust will gain you more creative leeway. And most importantly, it's more fun when we're all buddies, working together to make their wedding day and wedding film great.
3. Energetic Editing. A 4 pack of Redbull might not be enough when editing a Wedding Day Edit or SDE. However, all night editing on location is very very fun.
I just want to thank Jonathan for the years of good times working for Metmedia. I truly appreciate your generosity in allowing me to use your equipment and in helping me grow as a filmmaker and person. Thank you.
A day off? Ha! No thanks... I think I'll spend my President's Day trekking through the beautiful valley's of Nicasio while putting my cine skills to the test. I mean, how could I resist? It was perhaps the most beautiful day of 2010 thus far.
I rolled out of Berkeley at around noon with my trusty 7D kit, my Glidetrack, and a backpack full of Powerbars and Gatorade. I anticipated this being a small day trip. Little did I know, I was in for a long night. But before I elaborate, please check out the video. The mood of the video is very pretty. The rest of my story is not. If your computer can, hit the full screen button on the video (little arrows).
I'm very happy with how the video turned out. I think there are some beautiful shots in there and some beautiful colors. I was a little disappointed with some of the Glidetrack shots because my track was sticking pretty badly. I guess that's what happens when you forget about the open can of Monster energy drink in your backpack pocket and decide to bend over to pick up the Glidetrack thus spilling the neon green fluid all over the rails. Run on sentence? Probably.
So, while shooting in Lucas Valley, I was attempting to shoot some shots for a logo I am working on for my film team. It involved a very ornate sword and a red silk sash. Somehow when I packed up all of my gear I left the beautiful sword on the ground, completely forgetting about it. I realized it was missing when I got to my next location. I figured it was in a remote enough location that I could go back when I finished shooting and recover the blade. Upon returning some hours later, the beautiful sword was gone. Alas, Arandir...thou blade now belongeth to another. Here is the last known image of thy sword, shot with my Digital Harinezumi.
It was dark when I went to go look for the sword, so I had to make a decision. Did I want to spend the next 2.5 hours hanging out in the pitch black wilderness so that I could do a star time-lapse? Of course I did. Well, after about 5 minutes I got pretty bored. Don't ask me where the time went. Exposing each frame for 30 seconds means a lot of sitting.
Weird things started to happen. I saw shadows of hawks/vultures flying 10 feet above me, deciding whether or not to attack such a bored fellow. A teenage couple came venturing out into the darkness to do what teenagers do. I started to hear wolves in the mountains, and other terrifying screaming noises (it wasn't the couple, don't worry.) My fear of lurking mountain lions pushed me back to my car where I grabbed a prop rifle to help me defend my time-lapsing camera. Oh and the only light source I had was my cell phone? And we're not talking about an iPhone here, as I'm sure there's an app for that.
Lessons Learned: 1. Polarizer + Stars = FAIL. I accidentally left my polarizing filter on my lens while shooting the night sky. This directly led to me needing to crank up the ISO more than I needed to, which is why those night shots are either grainy or underexposed.
2. Prepare for the unexpected. Bring a light source, good reading material, and a weapon when taking time lapse footage. Swords don't count.
3. Raptors do not exist in the Nicasio hills. Hyena's might...
It's been a while since I updated this puppy. Sometimes in this industry you need to hunker down and do some planning. I wish I could be out there shooting all the time, but at some point there is the whole other side: lining up freelance work, writing scripts, drafting proposals, talking with clients, and of course... drooling over new equipment. Aside from freelance projects, which I wont get into right now, I have a couple other side projects.
The first is a nighttime low light test that I am shooting entirely at night with my 7D. It's going to have a few time lapses in it as well as some sweet city bokeh. I really wanna find the optimum settings for shooting in low light environments with my lens kit.
The second is a cinematography video of one of my favorite places on earth, Nicasio. A few years ago, I wrote a treatment and an outline for a feature set in the small town. I worked with a screenwriter/director on pre-production for a few months (I was going to be the DP/Executive Producer) before we decided to put the project on hold to do other things. So I've been building some footage of the small town and it's surroundings, playing with color, and doing a few timelapse shots.
And here is the really inspiring one. Ten. I recently found out about a film festival that is just for trailers of movies that you want to make but don't exist yet. Are you kidding me?! That's possibly my favorite thing to do ever! My high school feature film was made solely because of how much support I got for making a trailer of what it would look like.
I also had 3 trailers for my pre-AOTR film, The Third Stage and a trailer I made while at Chapman for AOTR 2. Ten is probably the best opportunity for me to hit the pinnacle of my love for filmmaking.
I plan to enter between 3 and 5 trailers to Ten. All of which I can assure you will be epic, cinematic, and incredibly fun to make.
I'm so excited to be a part of such a wonderful wedding. Above are some shots of our video playing on the screen for an audience of over 400 at the Beverly Hills Wilshire.
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