Video/TV Production for almost 30 years!

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My Demo Reel 2012

Check out my Demo Reel for 2012!  Its just a collection of some of my work from all areas of what I do.  A little bit of everything thrown in with some cool music.  If you are thinking of hiring me, this is a good place to start checking out what I do!  Then click a category across the top of the page that is more in line of the type of video you are looking for and give me a call to discuss rates.  Asking what a video costs is like saying “What does a car cost?”  It all depends on the options!  Are looking for a KIA, a basic model to get you where you need to go, or do you want a Lamborghini, something very high end that makes people say “Wow!”?  Either way, call me and we can discuss it and figure out the best way forward.  With over 20 years of doing this, from National TV shows to Weddings, I am confident I can help you get your project started on the right track!

 

 

Posted by  |  February 13, 2012 | Categories: Corporate Videos, Misc. Videos, Scenic Short Films, TV Commercials, TV Shows, Uncategorized, Wedding Previews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Return to Moose Pond

UPDATE June 2012:  This was chosen as one of the five short films to be shown at the Lake Placid Film Forum!!

 

I usually do non-narrative short films. This one is different! My wife, son and I love to go wilderness camping. Where you canoe in with a tent, food and all you need to a remote site. The last several years we have not found the time to go, however our son is getting older and soon won’t be able to go with us, so we made sure to get away the summer of 2011.

It was a special trip and one that I felt needed some narration to explain how I was feeling about it all. Most of the music is by a friend of mine, Scott B. Adams from the CD “Listening to the Adirondacks”. Check him out on iTunes!

I hope you enjoy what is surely my most personal film to date.

On the technical side, I used a SONY EX1 and a Canon 7D along with a Konova slider. Only had room in the canoe for a real junky tripod, hence not much panning or tilting! I shot the 7D footage with the Technicolor cinestyle preset and graded with Magic Bullet Looks.

Let me know what you think of this departure from my normal videos!

Posted by  |  February 10, 2012 | Categories: Misc. Videos, Scenic Short Films, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Silent Winter

Winter can be so still and quiet! Had some time to kill the other day so I shot this video, what struck me most was the stillness of the afternoon. I went back to Pt. AuRoche State Park in Upstate New York to shoot this. Same location as my Winter Solstice piece, but the same place can sure look different depending on the light.

I also finally got Magic Bullet Looks. Used it to add the vignette and to color correct these shots. Used it even more toward the end to add the soft warm glow to the footage. It’s a powerful tool but I see it overused alot. I’ll try not to do that even though it is quite fun to play around with the look of your footage. To me it’s all about enhancing the mood you are trying to convey.

Music is by Bill Douglas “Earth Prayer” from Hearts of Space records.

Stay warm! Spring is coming….so they say!

Posted by  |  February 10, 2012 | Categories: Scenic Short Films | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Technicolor Dreams

WARNING: This is a post for those who like to know the technical side of things!!!  If you are not interested in that, just scroll down and hit “play”!!

 

This is a video I made to test the Technicolor Cinestyle preset for my Canon 7D. It basically is a free download for Canon DSLRs that greatly opens up the shadow areas of the image. The picture as shot will look very washed out, (MANY examples of uncorrected technicolor cine footage on VIMEO) so it needs to be color corrected in post production to dial in the correct black and white and color saturation settings. But once you do…..WOW! It adds more dynamic range to the image, and it doesn’t have that DSLR, super contrasted look as much. I also feel the moire is reduced quite a bit!

To really test things out, I shot what I consider a contrast range torture test! A mountain stream on a bright sunny day, with lots of dappled light. Bright, bright highlights and deep, dark shadows!

I then transcoded all the footage into ProRes LT, imported and edited in Final Cut Pro and then used Magic Bullet Looks to color grade all the shots. Basically I used lift/gamma/gain and then color saturation. I did not use curves as I found it crushed the blacks and blew out the whites a bit too much. Actually I had issues getting the LUT (Look up table) Technicolor supplies to load into Magic Bullet Look Up Buddy (I think my system- a G5 PPC-is too old to properly use it!). I felt using Lift/gamma/gain gave me the best tonal gradations anyway, especially for nature subjects where a real cine tone isn’t as needed.

I mostly used my Tamron lenses. My trusty 17-55 F2.8 and the super zoom 18-270 F3.5-6.3. Kept shutter speed at 60 at all times, using ND filters when needed to expose properly.

Remember, this is shot using Technicolor cinestyle, but then color corrected in post. Your footage MUST be worked on after you shoot it, it does not look like this out of the camera. It amounts to alot more work in post production, is it worth it? I think so! I found this to make the 7D footage look quite stunning, especially considering what I usually get shooting such a contrasty subject.

Music is from Stock20.com, an excellent source for buyout music.

Enjoy!

 

Posted by  |  February 7, 2012 | Categories: Scenic Short Films | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Arrival of Winter

Here is a short video of some new clips I got with the Canon 7D in the fall and early winter of 2009. Shot in the Adirondack Mountain region of far upstate New York.   I missed the peak fall season because of some projects I just couldn’t get away from, but I also like the end of the season and the transition into winter.  That is what this video represents.

Hope you enjoy it! The music is “Rock Island, 1931” by Thomas Newman from the “Road to Perdition” soundtrack.

 

Posted by  |  February 7, 2012 | Categories: Scenic Short Films | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ashes to Ashes

This is a collection of images I shot with the Canon 7D. I always try and make a short have some kind of storyline or meaning. Even if its quite simplistic.  This one isn’t so clear as some of my others! I guess it’s up to you to interpret what it means or is about. The title refers to the saying “ashes to ashes and dust to dust” which is said at funerals. The imagery of cemeteries sort of works in that context, as does the falling snow which looks like it could be ashes. A bit of a stretch I know but let me know what you think!

The matched dissolves to autumn where all done manually by eye, just returned to the same spot months later and put the slider in the same spot, framed similarly (no reference to the other shots on hand) and shot away. It actually wasn’t until I returned to the edit suite that I realized they matched pretty close. Certainly nothing like PLANET EARTH on Discovery, but I’m OK with how it turned out!

 

Posted by  |  February 6, 2012 | Categories: Scenic Short Films | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

November Gray

Another short that I shot with the Canon 7D. November is a dreary time of year here in Upstate New York. Not much light or color. Very short days. I went to a waterfall not too far from my house that has an old abandoned mill next to it.

I used the indiSlider in a lot of these shots to add some interest. I call this piece NOVEMBER GRAY, though in reality, the 7D captured alot of color in these scenes! It continues to amaze me. I shot this one at 1080 24p. I also used the stock lens that came in the kit for some of the closeups of the waterfall. Its the 28-135 f.3.5-5.8 IS Canon Lens. Its tack sharp and the depth of field is quite nice when you are zoomed in, even though it’s only a f5.8 lens at that point.

I did some color correction, mainly to adjust white balance, I was shooting so early after sun up that the color temperature was changing quite rapidly.

The music is from Digital Juice. Vol. 50 the song is called MOVING FORWARD.

 

Posted by  |  February 6, 2012 | Categories: Scenic Short Films | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Balloons!

My son and nieces and nephews wanted to make an action movie a few summers ago. We even had a few extra kids from the neighborhood join in. This is what resulted from nearly 2 months of on again, off again shooting (tough to get everyone back together!). It is all in good fun and I hope everyone can see the “violence” is tongue and cheek!

Its a little long, (8 Minutes) but the bloopers during the credits show how challenging this actually was to shoot! Its quite a departure from the usual videos that I post!

Shot in 720 24p with my Sony EX1 and Letus Extreme. Most is overcranked to 60fps for the slo-motion. Color graded with Magic Bullet Looks. Enjoy!

Posted by  |  February 3, 2012 | Categories: Misc. Videos | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Autumn Glory

My mentor who taught me so much about TV production back in the early 90’s passed away in 2008. I hadn’t seen him in a few years but still think of his lessons nearly everyday. Many of these locations we shot together nearly 20 years ago. I will always remember him and I offer this video up as my way of saying thanks to an old friend.  This was one of the most popular videos I ever did, it was featured on the VIMEO HD Channel.

Technically speaking, this was shot with an EX1 in 1080 30p. Some shots use the Letus Extreme, some do not. A few also use the indislider, but mostly it’s just the stock lens. Cut in FCP and lightly color graded in FCP as well.

Posted by  |  February 3, 2012 | Categories: Scenic Short Films | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

America’s Team TV Show preview

This is a promo for “America’s Team: Being a US Air Force Thunderbird”. It’s a show about the US Air Demonstration team, and the first ever female pilot to fly with them. The program ran on US Public Television stations nationwide in 2007-2008, and even worldwide.  In Japan they made a Blu-ray disc of it for retail sale!

I shot most of it with a Sony FX1, then I edited down over 60 hours of footage to a one hour program! All in cockpit aerials were done by SSgt Josh Gray, the teams videographer.

Posted by  |  February 3, 2012 | Categories: Misc. Videos, TV Shows | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment