Here are a couple of great YouTube videos that I came across. There are some valuable lessons here from some of the world’s greatest cinematographers. Part 1 of the Lighting Segment from “Cinematographer Style” Directed by Jon Fauer. The industry’s best talk about proper lighting and equipment know-hows. Films are much more than a good story or good laughs, its technique and supremely efficient execution is what...

I’m as much of a camera nut as the next filmmaker, and I am ecstatic about the giant leaps that camera technology has been making of late. Like so many others, I’m on the Amazon.com waiting list for two Canon 7D bodies, and they just can’t get here fast enough. But I have been noticing a trend in the independent film community lately. It seems that the most important thing to filmmakers theses days is the latest, greatest...

Why would anyone wake up at 5:00 AM on a Saturday? To see a building implode via dynamite demolition of course. I have never witnessed a building imploding in person before, so I just had to check it out. And since I was going to see this, of course I brought along my camera to gather what could be some valuable DV Rebel footage for future use. Here’s what I came back with from my HVX200 shooting at 60 FPS. I added a little ramp and...

My latest endeavor as a Director of Photography was a music video for R&B artist L’ren C‘s track “Ain’t Nobody Gotta Know”. The video was directed by David Bermejo, and post-production services were by Imaginary Digital. L’ren C is holding a special event tonight in Orlando, FL at Vintage. She will be performing live, then premiering the video. If you are able to make it, I’ll see you there. If...

I have never directed a film before so when my assistant editor Adam asked me to direct an entry to the National Film Challenge, I agreed. Who in their right mind would turn down a fun, sleep deprived weekend of filmmaking? Not me, that’s for sure. And fun it was. We had a weekend of DV Rebel style filmmaking with a one day shoot that took place at a small carnival, and a day of intense post-production. The weekend started with a...

A couple of months ago I was the DP for a music video for singer Raquel Martinez. The video for the song Heaven In My Heart was directed and edited by David Bermejo. I shot this with a Canon XH-A1, Redrock M2 adapter, and some Canon FD lenses. The most commonly used lens was a 50mm f/1.4. The 28mm was used in a couple of shots, but very minimally. This was mainly because we shot with a small crew and just didn’t have the time to...

This is my video camera all dressed up. It is constantly evolving, but for now it consists of a Canon XH-A1, the Brevis 35 Flip adapter, a Redrock Micro follow focus, speed crank, carbon fiber rod support system, Cavision handgrips, shoulder pad, matte box, French flag, 7″ LCD monitor, and a selection of fast Canon FD...

Below is a sample clip from a short film that I am currently shooting. This project is being shot over the course of a few weekends. After last weekend’s shoot, I decided to show the director, Sam Rossi, and producer, Chris Naylor, what kind of potential these shots have by giving them a sample shot. Initially, Sam was looking for a dolly back to reveal the characters around the table for this shot, but using a table-top dolly (skate...

I have recently gone on an equipment shopping spree. New camera, sticks, wireless mics, lenses, and other production goodies. Here’s a list at the iD CiNEMA site. My favorite item in the lot is the Steadicam Merlin. I have used a number of camera stabilizers in the past that range from small hand held stabilizers up to full size units from Glidecam and VariZoom. This is the first time I have used a Steadicam product, and I must say...