Capturing the Story for the HD Documentary Strong Bodies Fight: Director's Perspective
“Want to see how we treat a snake bite?” asks Father Homrich. My cinematographer, John, and I look at each other with unadulterated enthusiasm and run to grab our gear struggling to keep up with the elderly priest. We had heard rumors of how poisonous snake bites are treated in this small, poor village of Bangladesh, but didn’t think that we would be so fortunate as to witness one. Mar 2, 2010,
16:24 read detail...
Creating Journalism in a New Way: Real World... Real Time
It’s 7:15 in the morning, and in Tempe, Arizona, the speed dial is already active. Simultaneously, in four other locations spanning the nation, eager bureau chiefs are joining in the daily conference call to the mother ship in New York. Story ideas are pitched and dissected, resources are gathered and committed, and a working plan for the day morphs and evolves from the spirited conversation. Multi-tasking editors in Manhattan confirm the day’s story list, and agree to check on progress throughout the day. Everyone hits the ground running. Mar 2, 2010,
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Lighting the 'Whale Room' for an HD Multi-Camera Shoot for a Television Satellite Channel
I was asked to light the Whale Room in the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, located on the sea border in Monaco-Ville, Monaco. The Whale Room has a huge whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling about 20 feet high. The room itself is about 100 square feet and naturally lit by the sun through many windows, plus ancient and beautiful 19th century practical lights. Mar 2, 2010,
14:38 read detail...
The Importance of Finding the Right Talent and Where to Find Them
I am a big believer that you have to start out with a great script to create a solid foundation to build on. Without it, whatever you construct will crumble, no matter what your technical expertise. Second only to that is you need to have good actors to draw the viewer into your story. Bad acting is like bad audio – it’s distracting, and disconnects people from whatever message or mood you are trying to convey. Feb 15, 2010,
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Show Business: Adopt an Approach that Gets You to the Next Project
With the advent of HD cinema, a moviemaker needs fewer people to realize his or her dreams in stunning images once possible only by shooting on film. A unique idea, its careful execution and a clever marketing strategy are the primary keys needed to open doors through which, in the past, only a select few could enter. Feb 15, 2010,
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Workflow and Weaving the Story for "Ten More Good Years": Includes a Shortlist of Tips for Documentary Editing
My first approach was to watch down the tapes and start pulling the sound bytes that I thought would be useful – looking for similar or dissimilar stories, struggles, emotions that could be used. After about a month, I put a dent in the subject matter, but knew that there was no way, at this pace (even working on it full time), we could ever get to the finish line in time. So I expressed my concerns to Mike about meeting his deadline – and we came up with another plan. Since he knew the material, (and had made the transcriptions), ‘why don’t we sit down and start putting the story together.’ This idea was really effective. With each of us being able to use our talents to the fullest: Mike with his knowledge and passion for the subject matter; and myself, efficiency on Final Cut Pro and my storytelling skills... Feb 1, 2010,
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Notes on Camera Movement: When to Move the Camera and Why
Motivation is not just something actors need – it's something cinematographers and other cinema artists deal with every day when making a movie. This not only applies to how a set is lit, but also to elements like camera movement. When to move the camera, why to move the camera, ultimately matters more than how you move the camera. Jan 26, 2010,
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Finding Film Industry Employment After Graduation: To Succeed, You Must Network
Not only do you want to be a filmmaker, but you want to work in the big leagues. You want to be on set and work on Fortune 500 television commercials for national clients and on studio and independent feature films. More than 90% of the people you see on a film set are freelance. They are hired, sign a deal memo, and work in their craft as long as they are needed. At the end of the job, they are unemployed. To succeed in a working environment like this you must network. Jan 26, 2010,
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The Monk Who Would Be a Director: Neten Chokling on "Milarepa"
For Milarepa, Chokling also managed to attract some experienced Western film professionals, such as editor Suzy Elmiger, whose impressive credits include cutting films for the likes of Woody Allen and Robert Altman, while Milarepa’s special effects supervisor, John P. Nugent, worked on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Terminator 3, and The Matrix. Jan 26, 2010,
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Finesse in the Field: Techniques for Deriving the Most Punch from Your Jib Moves
If you don’t have any wonderful scene setters to work with, then think about using the jib arm to create a unique perspective. I was recently shooting a story for the CBS Evening News about a massive dental clinic that was set up for several days to treat indigent patients. There were rows and rows of dental chairs filing a large portion of a cavernous warehouse type building. I had some time, so we broke out the jib arm, and I tried some moves starting low at the foot of a chair, climbing over it as I moved the camera higher, and then ending with a wide shot of the entire room. Not bad. However, when I tilted the camera straight down, and raised the jib all the way up, I had a unique perspective where I could fly the camera straight over several chairs, showing all the neat rows of dental tools and accessories at each station... Dec 1, 2009,
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Raiders of the Lost 80s: What's a Filmmaker To Do After Creating an Icon?
When Raiders of the Lost Ark was released in 1981, it did the unthinkable. The movie superseded the previous works that creator-producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg had each done individually in genre filmmaking. And that said a lot, with Lucas on the heels of the first two Star Wars films, and Spielberg just a few years away from Jaws and Close Encounters. Add Harrison (Han Solo) Ford to the mix, and you had a producer-directorstar team that couldn’t miss... Dec 1, 2009,
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Star Effects: Enliven Points of Light - How Star Filters Work
Star filters are excellent for transforming points of light in the scene into bright 'starlike' bursts blossoming out from each point. This has many uses, but before we discuss those, it will help us to better understand how they work. Dec 1, 2009,
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Lighting Period War Film, Shades of Hope: Separating Worlds through Color
For the Vietnam world, I wanted to really mute the color, and because the pallet of Vietnam was predominately olive drab, I wanted to embrace the monochromatic nature of that part of the story. I also wanted the highlights to burnout quickly and knew a bleach bypass to the film negative would give me both of the above. Brie and I also decided that using wider lenses in Vietnam and avoiding very tight close ups would help show how the soldiers were somewhat engulfed by their surroundings. We also felt shooting all the Vietnam sections handheld would also convey a sense of unease... Nov 13, 2009,
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Inside Casting Sessions: Casting Your Actors ...And When Your Actors Cast You
The single most important element for any movie or television show is the casting. Even documentaries must consider casting as a primary element, as this single most important element is what ties the audience to the material. No matter how good you may be as a director, if it is not cast appropriately, it will not work. And appropriately means casting in keeping with the director’s concept and theme for the story and its characters... Nov 13, 2009,
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Different Forms of Layoff for Stages of Editing: From the Earliest Stages to that Final Output
In the world of the professional offline editor, you are often coddled by the post supervisor and protected from the horrible monster known as “deliverables.” Whether working with a producer or for a client, there are several fine cut stages, wherein many eyes watch your edit and comments are handed back for further improvements... Nov 13, 2009,
19:23 read detail...
Visual Effects through Color Enhancing Filters
The painter needs more intense color; he gets a tube of it at the store. The cameraman with the same need gets a filter: a color enhancing filter. Color enhancing filters are for the times when the palette offered to us by our camera does not match our vision... Nov 8, 2009,
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A Conversation with Award-Winning Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC
Rodrigo is one of the hottest cinematographers working in the industry today. Nominated for an Academy Award for the beautiful cinematography in Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” (2005), he is also the cinematographer of Ang Lee’s film, “Lust, Caution,” (2007). He has collaborated with Alejandro Inarritu on “Babel” (2006), “21 Grams” (2003), and “Amores Perros” (2000)... Nov 8, 2009,
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Workshops
