March 24, 2008

Lots of stuff going on lately. Had a quick edit for McKinney at the end of last week that ran into the weekend a bit. They're in pitch mode, which means that they've found a client (who I can't say, since it's still in pitch mode) and they're throwing a bunch of time and talent into this huge process involving print, video and people from the agency (mouthpieces) that culminates finally in THE PITCH.

I did a few customer testimonial pieces, and a quick 'Luxury' video, that highlights all of McKinney's past work, with the focus of course being on class and style. Basically a montage cut to Moby, who, if you aren't aware, is the artist behind the soundtrack to playing in every Creative Director's head. When in doubt, use Moby.

And of course last Thursday was the first time I had the opportunity to hear The Whistlestop playing an actual gig. I've followed them into the studio and shot tons of footage of them recording their songs, but this time they actually had a gig at Tir Na Nog in downtown Raleigh.

I covered the whole show with 2 video cameras, and was shooting as many stills as I could. Here's a link to the stills: The Whistlestop at Tir Na Nog.

Should be able to get a cut of most of the show (depending on how the footage looks, coverage-wise) to Mike & Co. soon, and hopefully they'll put it out and get some more bookings. They're a great band, and a really great group of guys, and I know once people hear their music they'll be able to play everywhere. I think that last sentence may qualify as gushing.

Ok, last note: I'm a producer/shooter on a documentary about Tift Merritt that Distillery Pictures producer Aninda Valentini is heading up. This past Saturday she played a homecoming gig over at Carolina Theater in Durham. After every new album of hers comes out, she does a type of homecoming show, and this one was memorable. She and her band were tight! They have a new lead guitarist, Scott McCall, who's really fleshed out their sound. 

We ran 4 cameras on her the entire show, thanks to the generosity of Kevin Wild and Drawbridge Media, who loaned out 2 cameras and sticks, as well as a couple of mics and a disc recorder to capture sound, so I think we'll have some great coverage.

March 18, 2008

Well, back to shoot some video of The Whistlestop at their last scheduled mix day at Overdub Lane. Since there's not a lot of drama going on in a mix session, at least not at this one, it turned out to be a good time to do some sit-down interviews with Rob, Mike and Pee Wee in the studio while John Plymale laid out some mixes.

Decided to try just having Dallas (my assistant editor/camera/jack of all trades) take some stills while we all sat around a mic and talked. It really seemed to help everyone loosen up, because I only had 3 or 4 questions, and I got about 45 minutes of audio to go through. Not too happy with the stills because of the low light, and we'll see how the shutter sound came through on the mic, but content-wise, it was a good way to go. If the stills aren't really useable, I'll just bump the audio underneath other studio footage, and throw up a title for whoever's talking.

This Thursday should be great. Dallas and I are handling video coverage of the Whistlestop's CD release party (well, I think that's changed, since the mix isn't quite done) at Tir Na Nog, downtown. Going all out even though it's a low-budget project. Using up my Drawbridge Media favors to borrow 2 cameras and 2 mics and an audio disc recorder for the venture. I think I'll owe Kevin (owner) a couple of stints as a camera operator after this.

The Whistlestop CD is really going to be incredible. Just the temp mixes I got to listen to really blew me away. Can't wait.

March 10, 2008

Finished up work a couple weeks ago on a reality television pitch piece for Distillery Pictures. Was editing with producer Matt Hightower, on a show about Mark Tarbell, a chef in Arizona. Tarbell is a top-notch chef (he won 'Iron Chef!') who owns a restaurant committed to sustainable business practices. He drives around in a converted Mercedes that runs on used vegetable oil.

The show is basically Mark driving around the country going on adventures and in general being the charismatic dude he is. Could be a fun show; hope it gets picked up.

This still is from a stills sequence I shot for some of our driving montage. The beginning of the sequence show Mark driving on the highway, while a Mark's VO talks about getting his car started in the morning ('Veggie oil gets a little gooey when cool.') and leaving L.A. Then this sequence of Mark writing in his diary is superimposed over the driving footage, as if he's just reading one of his diary entries.

The diary would play a pretty large part in the show. Basically, that's the way the entire story would be told: Mark reads his diary entry about whatever adventure he's on, and the camera follows him.

I shot the diary at 3-5 fps with the Nikon D40x, then converted the RAW images (DNG, then Tiff) to image sequences for import into After Effects, where I interpreted them at 3 fps. Then, and this is the important part, I used Frame Blending mode set to 'Frame Mix' to get a really nice effect; after I did that, and composited the sequence over driving footage, it didn't really look like stop-motion anymore. It didn't look like straight video of a diary entry either, though, which is why it looked good.

Here's a quick sample:



I got the idea when I watched this great doc on the NY Subway system on PBS; a lot of the bumpers consisted of modern-day subway footage that looked like it was shot with still cameras and then frame-blended to create a really interesting effect. It was a modification of the ever-popular time-lapse effect that is so over-used in docs. Definitely gonna keep this technique in my back pocket and use it in the future...

March 7, 2008

Good times were had the other night. The Whalewatchers opened for J. Roddy Walston and the Business at Slim's.

Took some photos, which are up on flickr. I was snapping photos when the Wood brothers & Co. were onstage, and maniacally foot-tapping during the Biz's half.

Just about done with the WPC edit, which is the first time I've edited an entire project with no contact other than emails and phone calls with the producer, who is based in Colorado. Kind of weird, and I think it made for more delays than usual, but at least it meets my goal of getting work from out of state. I love this market, but I am interested in expanding.

March 5, 2008

Very excited. Tonight I'm going to Slim's to check out my friends the Whalewatchers play with J. Roddy Walston and the Business. I got a flyer via email yesterday, and it looks like the Whistlestop may be playing as well, so I definitely have to go.

I had a chance go into the studio with Mike Roy and the rest of the gang while they recorded their upcoming album, and it was incredible! That footage will be coming out as some type of companion DVD to their CD when it gets released, or shortly after. Really hope to have something ready for them to package with the CD.

March 4, 2008

Got hired as a 2nd camera for a popular show on TLC yesterday. My flight out was so crowded. I went early to try and go standby on an earlier one, but that was no go...

There was some downtime after lunch, so I had a chance to scrub through the tapes and write down notes (with timecode, even) on the cases for the editor. You never get the chance to review your footage on a shoot, especially on reality shows.

Returned home the same night, so it was a long day, but I enjoyed it. Always fun to shoot, even though most of my days I'm an editor. Speaking of that, back to work today on a low-budget DVD for a conference in Colorado that meets every year. More on that soon.