The Clapper Angel

5D in tha House

A quick link to a great interview conducted by Phillip Bloom with Greg Yaitanes, Executive Producer and Director of US TV show House. Which has just shot it's entire season finale on the 5Dmk2.

The interview is about an hour long and goes into quite alot of detail into the whys and hows of shooting one of the most popular TV shows in the world on sub $3000 DSLR camera. To shoot with the 5D (and the cameras that will soon follow) is no longer a decision and discussion based around budget, but one about creativity, control and creating a working process that most filmmakers have been dreaming of. Myself included.

I have never watched House, but I'll be certainly sitting down in front of the TV to watch this ep.

Herzog coming soon in 3D!

Werner Herzog talks (like Jesus to his disciples) about his new documentary about 30 000 year old cave art in France, which he has shot in 3D!

Obsession

Every now and then I go through a period where I listen to a single artist or album constantly over and over (to the dread of all around me) until I kind of exorcise them from my being.

Right now it's Neil Young. This happens a couple of times a year.

You know when you go through those stages where you get so into an artist/album/song, you kind of wish your whole body was an ear.

Right now is one of those times.

He's been so awesome for so long!

7Delicious

I'm totally amazed by the music video below. Over 8 minutes long and beautifully shot on the Canon 7D. Have a look at it, it's stunning. And it was shot with a CREW OF TWO people. One being the singer! On a camera you can buy for around $1500. Epic!

Small crews, small cameras. Less fuss, less logistics, freeing you up for so much more actual film making! I find this kind of thing totally inspiring for so many reasons. Some of which I'll go into more detail when I post the 'Sound Maker' film here (hopefully in the next week or so...)

Along with the minimal fuss approach to the filming, what these guys have done so well is choose great (public) locations, that are already lit and look great. This is where the Canon 7D / 5D's excel, in low light. So not having to use expensive film lights, opens up the possibilities, everything out in there in the perfectly lit city is ready and waiting to be utilised and pre-lit location. That said, the sequences shot in the snowy / foggy forest are equally amazing!

Here is a brief 'making of' the 'Break My Soul' video. And a few more details here.

Sound Maker pt 3

The 'sound maker' film I just shot in Philadelphia is almost finished. Just a few more tweaks and couple of days of post. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post the finished film here, but I'll put it up ASAP. It's been a fast and furious edit, but I'm very happy with the way it's come together.

Here are some random frames I picked up from the cutting room floor...

R.I.P Jim Marshall

Farewell Jim Marshall, the legendary music photojournalist, or perhaps more appropriately 'musician photojournalist'. You may not have heard of Jim, but you would have definitely seen his images.

Cool city. Cool clip.

I must be missing Philly. I watch the film Philadelphia, which is a far greater film than I remembered it to be, and now awake in the middle of night due to jet lag I'm trawling YouTube for cool clips about Philly, so I can see it again through somebody else's eyes.

A few seconds from my New York minute...

Before flying back to Australia, I scheduled a short (7 hour) day trip in New York. I think it really is my favourite city of them all. We arrived at 8am by train bleary eyed with no sleep after wrapping in Philly at 4am. The whole day was a little surreal so I'm glad I took the snaps below so I could prove to myself it wasn't just a jet lagged dream...

I was able to get to a couple of my favourite places as well as stumble across a few new ones. I think thats what I like about NY so much. You can wander off in any direction and find great things just waiting there. It's Disneyland for adults!

Sound Maker pt 2

Have just wrapped the week shoot in Philadelphia. Such an amazing experience. I feel so privileged to have been invited so warmly into the lives of people who live in such a different world to mine. The last 7 days have felt like exploring outer-space.

The textures, places and faces of South Philly have left a lasting impression on me.

Tomorrow a short day in NYC! Then flying home to my family who I've missed alot.

And the edit suite...

Los Angeles Transit

Sound Maker pt 1

Thanks to everyone who contacted me with ideas for the 'sound maker' project. It's been a cool few weeks of discovery and I have been exposed to some totally amazing and very talented people out there in world. For the project we found an amazing 21 year old rapper in Philadelphia and I'm jumping on a plane in a few hours to go and spend a week making the short film. This is a bit of dream job for me. I have been wishing for a project like this for while. Something small, intimate and direct. The crew is essentially me and my assistant Ryley. We will have a some much appreciated production support on the ground in Phily.

What exactly are we shooting? Not sure yet... I have some ideas, but it's going to be very much on the fly, and that is what is most exciting to me. I feel with our subject, the location, the music and the time to explore a little, we have all the elements we need. Fingers crossed.

Everything we are taking to make the film is in the picture below (apart from my laptop and some sound gear we will get in Phily). It's scarily stripped back. It's freaking me out a little..!

But if you look you can see some cameras and some microphones and a roll of gaff tape. Thats all you need really need isn't it? I'm planning to shoot mostly on the 5Dmk2, I did cave in at the last minute and hired a Sony HD Cam (VP1) just incase what we end up doing isn't suitable for the 5D.

Bring it!

HELP NEEDED!

UPDATE - WE HAVE FOUND THE ARTIST!

‘BURN’ DOCO

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I am looking to produce a mini-documentary featuring a ‘unique and unconventional, young urban MALE sound maker’ the doco will be featured on a website for a new 'energy drink'. This artist can be located anywhere in the world! They will be paid!

I am looking for someone who is unique in what they do and is passionate about their music and philosophy. They need to be fearlessly energetic and breakthrough, not mainstream. The sound I'm looking for should be personal and unique, but ultimately have its roots in urban music and culture. It would be best if they used vocals / words in some way, and perhaps electronics in their performance.

We had found the perfect artist in DAN DEACON and the film was going ahead, but 'due to circumstances beyond our control', this can no longer happen. Dan was perfect though, his energy is infectious and plays a show like nobody else. Check him out here...

or here

But it doesnt have to be in that style, have a look at BUTTERSCOTCH. She would also be perfect if she was MALE (we are doing another film featuring a female) and we can’t have both films with women...

Another guy who would be perfect, but he was not interested is DUB FX. His has a unique take on a traditional form of urban music, passionate, creative and dynamic. This clip gets better the more you watch it.

As an example of something we liked but went out of the boundaries, was LUCKY DRAGONS although creative and unique, they were too experimental with their sound. Perhaps more in the sphere of performance art. Which is awesome, but not totally right for this project. But they were nearly on brief...

Ultimately what we are looking for is very hard to define and is open to interpretation and yes, subjective.

But if you could break down... Male, age 18-30ish, Solo (Duo maybe), Vocal, Amazing performance, English speaking, anywhere in the world, new talent - undiscovered or just about to break through!

So is there another Dan Deacon, or someone incredible that we haven't seen...!?

We are working to a very tight deadline and are hoping to find suitable artists over the next 2 days! Please forward any suggestions that you think may be suitable and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly, or via facebook, or leave a comment below...

THANKS!

True Love and Chaos pt3

A few selects from the Knog stills shoot.

Black and White

I'm slowly falling more and more in love with Black and White images. Whether it be for stills or film. The film Strandon In Canton I briefly discussed in the post below this one, is stunning in all it's monchramatic glory, glitches and all. There is something in the way that when you remove all the colour information from an image it becomes so much more simpler, more direct, and I'm becoming obsessed with it! It's more about form, shape and texture. I know this baisc and obvious, but I'm really enjoying exploring it in my work.

I once read somewhere that films are not shot in black and white anymore because an audience won't feel as though they are getting their moneys worth. Insane.

Below are a couple of pre-production stills for the Knog stills shoot I've been working on. The actual shoot was yesterday and I'll post some images from it in the next day or so... It was great fun and I'm really happy with the way it came together.