So this was a fun one. Back in May I got to help camera op a live recording with Contrast Films for an upcoming album from Elevation Worship. It was a quick trip, but the shoot was at Elevation Church's campus in Matthews, NC. The first video from the night was released a few weeks ago and surely the rest are to come.
As a former musician in the church world and a Life.Church alumni I couldn't have been more comfortable in this environment. There was a mental shorthand I'd not used in a while that immediately came flooding back.
In addition to the crew Elevation and Contrast put together for the event, the camera department was a beast with Chase Smith as DP, ten camera ops, and a small army of technocrane techs, grips, and ACs. We were all shooting on ARRI cameras – mostly Amiras and a few Minis – and nice glass. Not sure of all the other camera lenses, but the Amira I was on was one of a few with Angenieux Optimo 24-290s. A couple of the cameras were also kitted out with the ARRI Master Grips to control the lens iris and zoom. Fantastic option as a zoom, but I'd have much rather been on a manual follow focus seeing as how I was shooting at the far end of the lens most the time at a pretty wide open T-stop and pulling focus across the length of the stage.
