The Best Emails...

"I saw your reel and site through some digging for a local OKC DP and your stuff looks really nice. I wanted to gauge your interest, availability, and rate for this project (we would like to see your rate include your camera package as well - Red Weapon correct?)."

I'm pretty sure these are the best kinds of emails. Those emails seemingly out of the blue from someone I've never met wanting to work together after seeing other things I've already done.

Producer/Director Josh Guffey reached out about an upcoming shoot with an Oklahoma City-based client. Pre-production was pretty straightforward through emails and phone calls before he and his team from Vidzu Media got to Oklahoma City. He'd seen another project I'd shot where we did a ton of setups in a short period of time with no additional lighting. It was a good reference of what this shoot was going to be like but with a little more resources (tools, crew, and budget). We had a quick scout the day before the shoot and then two days hustling around Oklahoma City cranking out what he already had scripted and storyboarded.

Gear-wise, we shot 4k ProRes files with my RED Weapon Helium & Zeiss CP.2 setup. Additionally, we rented out a Movi/EasyRig setup, Teradek Bolt wireless kits, SmallHD AC/Director and Client monitors, and the DJI wireless follow focus system (not a fan BTW). Crazy thanks to ACs John Dewberry (day 1) and Britni Harris (day 2) for being wizards in camera land and keeping my nonsense together.

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Las Vegas & Teacher Walkout Week Two

The last week was chock full of travel and schedule juggling. I was in Las Vegas for a few days for this year's NAB event while St. Anne the Wife continued to join thousands of other Oklahoma Teachers during the 2018 Oklahoma Teacher Walkout.

NAB was NAB and Las Vegas is still Las Vegas. I'd been to the National Association of Broadcasters event a few years ago and this year was a little different. The big draws for me are connecting with friends, making new connections, and being able to see the range of resources for a production toolbox all in the same place. Don’t tell my RED camera package how much time I spent with the reps at the ARRI booth.

In local news, the Oklahoma Teacher Walkout ended short of what the teachers wanted. It’s a hyper-personal subject for my family of teachers and kids in public schools. Anne was pretty crushed following Thursday’s OEA announcement calling for an end to the walkout. She went back to the classroom on Friday and The Kid is back in school this week.

Springtime in New York

St. Anne the Wife and I made it up north for a Spring Break in New York. Days one and two played nice weather-wise, but day three being the first day of Spring ironically brought a solid day of snow.

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We've done some of the touristy stuff before, but most of this trip had us intentionally wandering around a few different neighborhoods and dramatically adding to our daily step counts. We met up with a few friends living in the city and made some new ones as well. Anne's mom and my parents watched the kiddos while we were gone.

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Steadicam Aero 30

For someone who's shot a ton of handheld in an EasyRig over the years and seriously considers it part of my shooting style, adding a Steadicam to the mix has been kinda mind-blowing. We shot this simple test with Madison Bready in just over an hour one afternoon in an impromptu shoot organized just before lunch.

In addition to the Steadicam Aero 30 rig I'd just bought earlier in the week, I'd rented a wireless follow focus and monitor setup from lensrentals.com for a shoot the next couple of days. After a handful of texts, emails, and phone calls John and Madi met me at a coffee shop near downtown Oklahoma City to hang out for an hour or so and make something.

For sure there's plenty of "Hey look at what you can do with a Steadicam!" nonsense in the edit, but being able to move and operate a camera in new ways is like kissing for the first time. Yeah, you're really bad at it, but it's awesome and sure makes your heart beat faster.

Ronins and Movis booted sliders from the trendy/relevant filmmaker pedestal a few years ago but I'd only shot with them a handful of times. Yeah, I've seen some awesome shots with those tools, but I never really bought into it. My back always hurt after using them and I never felt like I had the amount and type of control I wanted.

All the conversations I'd had around stabilized camera movement kept circling back to Steadicams being the way to go. There were a few camera department guys I trust and constantly pester here in town plus the LA steadicam op I connected with working on a recent feature. They all talked about how much practice it takes to even be remotely passable as a Steadicam op and I absolutely agree. I've got a ways to go. Oh, and I now realize I've traded the back pain from an EasyRig for hip pain delivered via a Steadicam vest.

Camera-wise, everything was shot with existing light on my RED Weapon Helium at 8k widescreen, recorded to 4k ProRes, and a Zeiss 25mm CP.2. None of this nonsense was color-corrected or graded. The music is another rad Louis Futon remix from Soundcloud.

Crazy thanks to [John Dewberry][1] and Madison Bready for putting up with and helping me shoot a test like this. I've been working with John over the years and he had come over a day or two before to help me initially set up the kit. I'd been doing some simple tests and practicing around the house, but nothing beats actual time working with talent in front of the camera and an AC pulling focus. Seriously hope to do more with both of them very soon.

Seamless Paper Backdrops

A client I've been working with recently hired me to shoot a campaign they were working on for a small clothing brand. They wanted to feature on-camera talent wearing the brand's clothing in front of multiple solid color backgrounds. We didn't have the budget or the time to build out multiple sets in different colors, so our best option was to use one lighting setup and multiple colors of seamless paper backdrops.

Over the years I've shot a ton of talking head projects and normally our only requirements are making sure the room looks somewhat decent and is big enough for our equipment, crew, and talent. Recently I started using Savage Seamless Background Paper to try and improve our production value and it's been a great experience. It does take a bit more time and effort to get everything set up given the additional space and stands necessary. It can also be a hot mess to transport those wider paper rolls if you don't have a larger vehicle or box truck. Once you figure that nonsense out, the improved look can certainly be worth the effort if it's in line with the creative direction.

Talking heads are pretty simple. More often than not they're locked-off shot(s) and the on-camera talent is sitting and not moving around. For this project though, the client wanted the talent to be moving around and for us to capture a mix of close-ups, mediums, and full-body shots.

We had the budget to rent out a larger studio space here in the Oklahoma City area. The additional space gave us plenty of room to unroll enough paper for our head-to-toe shots. The space also had enough power for the larger fixtures we needed to evenly light our bigger setups.

The goal was to keep the shadows super soft, so for our key light we made a book light with one of the studio's 5k fixtures bounced into a 6x6' ultra bounce and back through a 6x6' silk. For the backlight, we pushed a single 4' Fourbank Kinoflo through a 48" diffusion frame. The larger light sources gave the talent plenty of room to move around while still maintaining a consistent look. We also used a large black solid opposite the key and a double net at times to help sculpt the lighting. We shot another look during the first half of the day using the studio's large white cyc wall, but we can talk about that some other time. Sidenote: my life is forever changed after using wheeled combo stands for the first time. Those things are magic.

Knowing how well they'd worked for me in the past, we used those Savage Seamless Paper Backdrops and the client picked out four colors: blue, yellow, pink, and red. The final delivery would be a 16x9 format, so we used the 107" wide backdrop. Savage does have a 140" option, but we weren't able to get that for our shoot.

The paper backdrops we were using were wide enough to fill out the background of our close-up and medium shots, but the full-body-length shots would need a bit of work in post. Depending on the edit, the paper backdrop edges would need to be digitally extended to fill out the 16x9 frame. As long as the on-camera talent didn't go past the edge of the paper, they'd be fine.

In the end, we were happy with our footage. The client didn't want to deal with a ton of post-work so we shot the full sensor 4k ProRes on my RED Weapon and baked in the the RedGamma 4 / Dragon Color 2 look. You're a bit limited with the framerates in using the 4k ProRes option on the RED Weapon, but we were able to get what we needed and the client didn't have to deal with the much larger raw 8k .R3D files.

CLIENT: Red Moxie Media
DIRECTOR: Tanya Martineau
AC: John Dewberry

Tallgrass Prairie Preserve

Out in Pawhuska, OK, there's a large sign at the entrance to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve that says "BISON ARE DANGEROUS KEEP YOUR DISTANCE." But seriously, have you ever been close to a bison? I wasn't close enough to hug one, but they seem like they'd be good huggers... Probably not. I don't always have the best judgment...

Oh, and the dust stirred up from cars driving along the gravel roads looked pretty great.

NNE Oklahoma?

Oklahoma. I know it's somewhere in Oklahoma. Probably not crazy far from the outskirts of Pawhuska, OK. It's far enough out there that you can stand in the middle of the road and shoot for much longer than you probably should.

BTW, the barn below shouldn't still be standing. It's probably older than the state, but it'll probably still be there after I'm gone. No rush...

Somewhere... No clue.

Had another shoot WAY the heck out there and stopped for lighting – and to shoot – more than I should've during the 2-3 hour drive home. Don't tell my wife...

Carnivale 2018 Photo Shoot

If your website is something like bestpartyintown.org you’d better not disappoint.

Carnivale is a black tie event in Tulsa raising money for the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma (MHAOK). The organization works to combat homelessness and the stigmas associated with mental illness.

Tulsa-based TPC Studios is the creative force behind the Carnivale event and responsible for making sure the fundraiser lives up to its URL. This year’s Stars and Stripes-themed event is inspired by the World War II era. TPC put together a team to recreate the set of a celebrity USO Tour Press Conference featuring the MHAOK Chairs and Committee Members.

TL;DR – Basically it’s a big photoshoot for the main promotion imagery for a HUGE fundraiser/kick-arse party.

I’ve been on a couple of the Carnivale sets over the years filming BTS footage and interviews (2015 & 2016). This year I was able to join the team shooting “moving portrait” style footage that they’ll project on screens during the event. Cue the RED Weapon Helium shooting 99fps at a 6k widescreen resolution.

What I absolutely love about the Carnivale shoot is the creative team behind it. I’d highly encourage checking out and following this stew of creatives. Crazy thanks to Todd Pyland and Tony Li for letting me crash the party.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Todd Pyland
ART DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Tony Li
PHOTOGRAPHER: Jeremy Charles
CINEMATOGRAPHER: me
CINEMATOGRAPHER (BTS & Interviews): Grant Sweetwood
SET DECORATOR & STYLIST: Stacy Suvino
WARDROBE STYLIST: Shannon Schroeder
HAIR & MAKEUP: Jordan Best
PHOTO ASSISTANTS: Sarah Eliza Roberts & Clay Flores