India Shoot

Filming in the country of India this week. This is an ungraded screen grab from the Canon 60D I am shooting with. It is quite an experience trying to offload footage, recharge batteries and do editing when the power is prone to disappear at any second. It has been off for anywhere from a few minutes to over 10 hours at a time in the past three days. The internet is very unreliable in these parts as well--fortunately I have Charter at home and was prepared.

Advanced Fill Lighting Techniques

Art Adams has another great article about all the different ways to utilize a fill light. This will be a worthwhile read for anyone who lights scenes or even interviews on a regular basis. Very in-depth explanations with plenty of illustrations.

Visit his article at ProVideoCoalition.

Pionair Radio Spot

Produced a radio spot today for a company called Pionair and their Air Treatment System. Chris Chase, one of the founders was featured in the spot along with one of their very satisfied clients. Check out the website and see what their MiniMate can do for fruit in the refrigerator. Pretty neat.

Shooting Flatly (not the Riverdance guy)

I have been shooting quite a bit lately on Canon DSLR's, and am just now getting the hang of it. Since I am a trial and error type person, I had to learn the hard way some things that should be obvious. The biggest is that the lens makes all the difference. There is just no way to get great footage using the stock or cheaper lenses. While you can get probably get something usable in a good lighting situation, you will never get that smooth, sharp look that makes you feel really good about your footage as you sit in the editing bay. Hint: Use Canon L-Series lenses or better for great results. The second thing I have had to be convinced on is shooting flat. (This means shooting a very low-contrast, desaturated image to preserve as much detail as possible for using in post production.) Since I have started using this process, however, I have seen a great difference in the look of my footage. On the left is an example of a shot that I captured flat with a 7D and graded in post using a simple plug-in and one click.
If you are a Canon DSLR shooter, you can download Technicolor's Cinestyle picture profile for free as well as the S-Curve LUT that will "decode" the image in post. (Be sure to read Technicolor's instructions carefully to ensure best results.) The only other thing you will need is the free program from Magic Bullet called LUT Buddy that plugs in to Final Cut, Color, After Effects or Premiere Pro.  Once installed, you will simply apply the S-Curve LUT to your footage in your editor and adjust it to taste. Of course, you can do all of the grading yourself without even using this plug-in, but it is a great place to start.

Circle of Wealth Conference

Setting up the equipment at our shoot last week at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando, FL. This is a conference that we handle the sound, lighting and video for each year. The conference was attended by 800 financial advisors from around the country and is an enjoyable event to work. The four-day event kept my crew of five busy shooting every session (including breakout rooms), running sound and video screens, shooting stills and b-roll footage, taping video interviews and even putting together a last-minute production for use at the conference.

AMTC's SHINE EVENT

Here is a snapshot of the view from my judges' table at the SHINE event last week in Orlando, FL. This event is a top-knotch talent showcase featuring some of the best new performers as chosen by Actors, Models and Talent for Christ (AMTC).

Other VIP's included the heads of casting for MGM, BET and 20th Century Fox, as well as the top agents and managers in the country. I had the opportunity to audition a number of amazing actors (and even a singer or two) for potential roles in upcoming films. A big thank you to actor Craig Crumpton for the heads-up on this organization.

Erin Bates/Andy Leftwich in Studio

Just finished up studio sessions at Playground Recording Studios in Nashville producing Erin Bates (TLC's 19 Kids and Counting) and Andy Leftwich (4-time Grammy Winner). We had two very long days, but got some great stuff in the very unique piano-fiddle combination. One session was shot by a video crew for an upcoming TLC special on Erin Bates family. It should air in March sometime. I will post it here once I know the date.