Sunday, May 15, 2011

Slowing down...at the fastest pace possible!

>So, at work the team has been working on a new Mormon Message about slowing down and recognizing the moments in life. That's about all I can say about it, other then they wanted to shoot in in slow motion. As the guy in charge of workflow I got a little involved to figure out how we would get the files out of this specialized camera we rented and into our editing system. Well, Monday came when the camera came in and the guy was coming to train and suddenly I found myself booked on the week long (killer) shoot. I call it killer because it was booked from 8-9 everyday. Normally I wouldn't mind this and this is pretty much the norm in production, but when I wasn't prepped to be on the shoot i had to drop my weeks schedule and be ready. I became the DIT, which is the Digital Imaging Technician., who is basically responsible for some settings in the camera and offloading the footage and 'data wrangling', keeping it backed up and then transcoding it later. It was a HUGE sacrifice on my family, just dropping everything and never being home and then when I was home i was processing data. But it was a HUGE growing experience!

This camera was shooting at up to 1470fps and we never shot lower then 500fps. This required a TON of light, way for then we are used to using when shooting with out Canon 5dmkII's. Indoors we typically ran anywhere from 7k-10k of light. Needless to say we tried to shoot OUTSIDE a lot.

I want to thank my family for being patient with me during this process, but it will turn out to be an awesome message when it it all done in a month or so.

Here are some on-set picts. And below is a fun slow-motion shot we did of hte crew just walking in slo-mo for our "hero-shot"

Setup with a 12x12 silk

Chris, the director, hanging with me,the DIT. Waiting for footage to download.

DIT gets put in the corner.

Slow-motion on a dolly. Shooting at 700fps.

Our DP/camera operator extraordinary, Tom.

Stil downloading footage.

Video Village on the last day.

Producer (Patrick), DP (Tom), Director (Chris) review a shot.

Lot's of light in this room, about 10k total (you can only see about half of it in this shot.

Fearless C. Peck is doing the lighting/grip/

One again, notice the DIT in the corner?

Tom frames up a spaghetti bowl which is about to drop in 1470fps

Framing up some kids playing in the rain. (Sunny day, C.Peck rigged up a rain machine)

Video Village

The Y3HDiablo

Director, DP, Producer




TEAM : MOMENTS
(from L to R)
Christopher S Clark, Director. Tucker T Dansie, DIT, Post-Production Supervisor.
Patrick H Parker, Producer.
Christina Torriente-Robey, Hair, Make-up, Locations, Casting, Catering.
Tom Garner, DP/Camera Operator. Christopher Peck, Gaffer/Grip.

Coincidental this is the same slo-mo camera they shot 'The Hurt Locker' on. Check out this short clip from the Hurt Locker. Don't worry, there isn't anything inappropriate in it.


Sunday, May 1, 2011

Blessings of the Priesthood

This fast Sunday is a special one in our family for a number of reasons. Let me break it down:

-First, I finished the movie I've been making with the Young Men in my ward (yes, I am promoting it again).



It's a funny take about Fast Offerings and it made me think more and more about fasting and the reason behind it, plus the boys had fun! I have chronic migraines, so I don't usually get to fast, I'm always taking morning meds and then usually needing food so I don't get a migraine for the day.

But today is a special day for 2 reasons and so I am fasting and hoping for the best (full disclosure, I started with 3 pills and a swallow of water).

1- As many people know the Church Media Services Department (previously AudioVisual) is building a set of Jerusalem in Goshen and they asked for a department wide fast to help the temperatures stay high so that the glue could set it. This is why I love working for the Church, morning devotionals, prayers & department wide fasts!!! Too cool!

2- Perhaps the biggest and most important thing is that today we will bless our new baby. I'm thrilled to be able to exercise this Priesthood ordinance. For the uneducated, this is sort of like a christening, but without water (I guess...). We give the baby a name and a blessing. It is always a joke in our family that if I don't like the name we pick out at the hospital, I'll just give the baby a different name during the blessing, the records of the Church will reflect it!

I'm privileged to hold the Priesthood and I'll be privileged to be surrounded by brothers, brother-in-laws, father, father-in-law and even a grandpa-in-law in a Priesthood circle of brothers to bless this sweet child. Nothing better then being a father...except one that holds the Priesthood.

(and since I'm a slave to my own work, here is an older Mormon Message about the Priesthood)

THE PRIZE - THE FINISHED PRODUCT

Here is the finished short film I helped make with my wards Young Men. (read previous post for more info)



Good thing there are people out there that still want to "play filmmaker" with me. So fun!

P.S.-The heck with my promise to have it done in 2 weeks or so, Fast Sunday is TODAY! I figured they need it in time for collecting fast offerings...(watch it to understand)