CareerBuilder.com commercial

I had one day off from the feature I'm shooting, so what better thing to do than camera operate on that day?  It was a pretty easy shoot and we had 4 cameras: 2 RED Epic Dragons, a RED Epic MX, and a RED Scarlet MX.  Shot on Arri Master Primes, a Canon Cine zoom, and an Angenieux zoom, all in a candy store.

Built up my RED Dragon with an Arri Master Prime.  I think I need a set of these.

Space Command: Redemption, that's a wrap!

Yesterday we wrapped the second leg of shooting on Space Command: Redemption and that is a wrap on principle photography.  We shot 13 first unit days, 7 second unit days, and now we wait for editing and post to see if there are any pickups that are needed.  We had quite a few sweltering hot days, but made it through.

It was a pleasure to work with the many talented actors who came on board: Ethan McDowell, Sara Maraffino, Doug Jones (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, Falling Skies), Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate: Atlantis), Bill Mumy (Babylon 5, Lost in Space), Mira Furlan (Lost, Babylon 5), Bryan McClure, Bruce Boxleitner (TRON, Babylon 5, TRON: Legacy), and Michael Harney (Orange is the New Black, True Detective, Deadwood).

Space Command: Redemption in production

I've been busy the last couple weeks with prepping and shooting leg two of Space Command: Redemption.  We just wrapped day 4 and things are going well.  We're getting some really good footage.  The first leg we shot was fairly static, as it had a ton of visual effects and needed a more or less locked camera for the sake of not driving our VFX team insane.  So on this part, I've been taking advantage of us being on sets to add some movement and energy to the shots.  On our bridge set, I have the camera moving at all times, putting our Dana Dolly to good use.  Today we shot out a corridor of the ship and we brought in my Steadicam guy (and 2nd Unit DP), Scott Baker, who did a fantastic job.

It's been four long, hot days and we have six more days coming up,  five on set and one on location.  I'm tired and glad we have a 14 hour turnaround today, but I'm excited to see what else we shoot.  The shoot has been a challenge, but we are making our way through it and getting some great stuff.  Props to my fantastic G&E team.

Nobility (continued)

After another nine days of principal photography, we wrapped on Nobility.  This was my first full two camera shoot (three cameras on one day!) and I'm starting to see why some DPs hire camera operators for all the cameras.  It can be a bit tricky to know what exactly all the cameras are getting when I'm busy operating one of them and not able to closely supervise the others.

Lighting was a big challenge on this project, as the sets kept changing and I'd come back in the morning and have to light a completely new space.  Our lights were minimal and I had no gaffer or G&E crew, so it was all me.  We managed to make it work and even wrapped early a couple days, partly in thanks to our director and 1st AD running a tight ship.  They kept things moving, but were always willing to give me an extra minute or two to move lighting around if I needed it, which I greatly appreciated.

We shot RED Scarlet for most of the shoot, with a little bit of Epic Dragon tossed in and we even dusted off a RED One MX for a couple days.  Due to it being a low budget affair, I couldn't afford to hire my normal 1st ACs so we got a revolving door of random guys.  I ended up pulling my own focus for a good chunk of the time (as the ACs were pretty green), but we also got a couple really good guys that I would certainly consider hiring on future gigs.

It was a pleasure working with our very talented cast and Walter Koenig was hilarious.  I'm curious to see what they do with this in post and am looking forward to seeing the San Diego Comic Con trailer they are cutting for the Nobility panel.  This, along with Space Command (which I'll post about soon), makes two projects that I'm shooting that have panels at San Diego Comic-Con this year.  I'm really excited to go and check them both out.

A couple pictures here of Walter Koenig:

Nobility season one

We started principle photography on season 1 of the science fiction series Nobility, described by writer/creator E.J. De la Pena as "Firefly meets The Office."  Part comedy, part drama (so that makes it a "dramedy" or so I've been told), it follows the crew of the C.A.S. Nobility, the newest and most powerful starship in the human fleet.  We're shooting on RED Scarlet with EF lenses.

Starring: Cas Anvar (Assassin's Creed, Star Wars: Clone Wars), Walter Koenig (Star Trek: The Original Series, Babylon 5), Doug Jones (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, Falling Skies), Darren Jacobs (Starship), Torri Higginson (Stargate Atlantis), James Kyson (Hawaii Five-O, Heroes), Adrienne Wilkinson (Xena: Warrior Princess, ER, Angel), Ellen Dubin (Napoleon Dynamite, Dead Zone), and Miracle Laurie (Dollhouse).

http://www.nobilitytheseries.com/