Filmfax Magazine April 2015

Earlier this year, Space Command was featured in the April 2015 issue of Filmfax magazine, complete with a multi-page article as well as the main cover story and image. It's an honor to share space with Star Trek's Leonard Nemoy, who also made the cover.

The article mostly covers the writing and directing side, as well as post VFX plans. It doesn't really talk about the shooting process at all. Nonetheless, it's still cool to see a project I shot get some love in an actual print magazine.

Sci Fi Magazine Dec 2015

Another project I shot made it into Sci Fi magazine, making it back to back issues my projects have been in (it's a bimonthly magazine, so there is no November issue). Sure, it's just a short little blurb, but it's still cool getting in a magazine. That marks the third time this year a project I've shot has gotten the magazine treatment. Pretty cool!

No, I didn't shoot Doctor Who. Maybe next time.

Nobility article!

Anomalies teaser

A friend of mine was working on a sci-fi/action webseries idea and needed some help developing it a bit further.  I gladly agreed to help and we got to the point where we decided to shoot a teaser trailer to help potential investors get an idea for the look and feel we were going for.  So we put together a one day shoot and shot a bunch of little scenes.  The short teaser turned out pretty well and should be useful as my friend pitches her idea.  The working title is Anomalies, though the actual title may change down the road. I directed the trailer and shot on RED Epic MX with Canon EF lenses.

Space Command: Redemption

Alright, I'm about to head off to San Diego Comic-Con and thought I'd squeeze in one more pertinent update, as it has a panel there this year.  Earlier this year I worked on a science fiction feature film called Space Command: Redemption.  We shot the first part of the film in April and the editor has been preparing a sneak peek trailer for their panel at San Diego Comic-Con.  This past week, they decided to do a few pick-up shots on our nearly completed bridge set to round out the trailer.  I've been extremely busy shooting the pilot for Nobility, but managed to coordinate shooting the Space Command pick-ups on my one day off.

We only had a few lights, but fortunately I've been working closely with our ship designer and builder to integrate as much lighting into the design of the ship as possible.  This allowed us to shoot the pick-up shots relatively quickly and with a minimal crew (basically just my gaffer and I) and a very small lighting package.  I was quite pleased with the look we got.  The directors asked for Star Trek Into Darkness but with a less flat look to the lighting.  I think we got a pretty close look to what they were asking for and we managed to do it for just a little bit less money than J.J. was working with.

I'm looking forward to the show going back into production (probably in late August or early September) so that we can shoot the final two-thirds of the movie.

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:

While We Can music video

You may be noticing a reoccurring theme: science fiction.  I seem to be shooting a lot of it these days.  Previously, I shot some elements for a music video for Jon Benton MacKinder's last music video.  So when he had another video coming up with a complex fight scene, he gave me a call.

We shot this on a Canon 5D MkII with Canon zooms.  I pretty much lived on the 24-70mm, as we had very limited time in our location and that lens gets me just about any focal length I could need.  Lighting was a very bare minimum (seems to be another reoccurring theme) and I had to black out the eight or so large bay windows that lined an entire wall of our location.  Fortunately, they had pre-built panels that allowed me to block out that whole wall fairly easily, as I had no gaffer or grips to help me.

The video is still in post and I was unavailable to shoot the other shoot days, so it will be interesting to see how it all comes together.  It's always enlightening to see how three different cinematographers shooting styles combine to make one video.  Here's a low resolution screengrab from the segment I shot.  Sorry for the low quality, as I didn't have a chance to grab anything from the shoot.

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/

Starship: Rising

About a year and a half ago, I shot two science fiction features simultaneously.  The first of the two, Starship: Rising, finally made it through post and is finished.  It was made with a tiny crew and we shot the two films in less than a month (plus a couple pickup days since then).  There was a ton of green screen work and SFX, so I learned a lot about that world (which has come in very handy on various subsequent shoots where production didn't have an FX supervisor on set).  I just found out that it'll be showing at the Action on Film International Film Festival this August, for what it's worth.

Shot on the RED One MX with EF mount lenses.  Directed by Neil Johnson.  An awesome soundtrack by Charles-Henri Avelange.