Saturday, May 31, 2008

This is one of the floors of the building where we're shooting. Its
quite big, as you can see, and is owned by a friend of Peter's. She's
very generously letting us use the space.

The building itself is quite interesting. There is an odd collection
of all kinds of things all over the place, like some kind of packrat
swap meat. Its hard to describe. There is one area, for example, that
has hundreds of lamps, lampshades, etc, stacked up on shelves and
hanging from the ceiling (see the post above for that picture).

Sorry for the rapid-fire style of these posts, but they're all coming
straight from my phone. I havent gotten the wifi code from the guy I'm
staying with, otherwise, I'd do it on the laptop.

Grafitti village

Near Stephen's apartment where I'm staying, there is sort of a
graffiti village. Graffiti artists just go around and paint murals on
stuff...

Scooter: the only way to travel

Peter is taking me around "scooter style" to see some of the
locations. Its a great way to travel; we can zig and zag around the
clogged and slow traffic.

My first(almost) NY cab ride

I'm about 30 minutes away from where I'll be staying, which is at my
friend Stephen's apartment in Long Island City. And yes, the cab
driver has an accent...

And so the journey begins

The first entry of my NY journey is under way. Having squeeked by
security with a silver metal box full of ominous looking electronics,
I sit and await the moment where I will, well, sit and wait.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

A new day is dawning


Yes, the camera has arrived!! It is quite amazing. I will be free do whatever shooting gig comes by way, something that I have never experienced. I already have 3 gigs lined up for it, and that was before UPS even dropped it at my door!

I have a ton to learn about it. I'm going to be doing some test shoots with lighting and all so that I can take the footage through the whole workflow and see how it comes out. I may even post some examples here.

For a quick example of the kind of footage this camera can shoot, check out http://www.8112studios.com/nyc.mov. For more extensive clips of how this camera behaves with some additional equipment and a ton of talent & skill, check out http://www.philipbloom.co.uk.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

NYC

My long time friend Peter Clark has gotten himself hired to direct an independant TV series pilot, and he's recruited me to go to New York City to shoot it. It was quite a coincidence that he called me about it, since i had just decided to purchase a new camera, the first I've ever personally owned (Sony XDCAM EX1). I'll be there from May 31st to June 11. Once I arrive home, I'll be jumping directly into producing a DVD of the Bunker Dance Center concert (which is what is actually paying for the camera). It'll be a crazy couple of weeks...