Andrew’s Blog

Day 14 in on ‘Whatever it Was’

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:04:14 +0100

Well we are well into the production of the feature film ‘Whatever it Was’ we are filming on the Panasonic Varicam in HD with the Canon 4.7x11 cine lens. Things are going great, I am operating the camera as well and considering that 80% of the shots are handheld and that it’s a 30 pound camera my shoulders have taken a beating. The footage is looking great and we hope to have a trailer up on the website soon after production. I must mention my great crew, they are exceeding my expectations and I am very happy to have met them/work with them again. Hopefully I will be able to post some behind the scenes video soon.
Cheers!

Prep

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:56:53 +0100

Above is Canadian Director Dylan Pearce on the film of Whatever it Was, Written by Christopher Lawrence. We had a full read-through and cast & crew production meeting and it went great. We have a full day of camera tests with makeup and lighting tomorrow which I am very excited about. Then Friday we start shooting! Our first day we film on the Detroit river on a large sailboat. We should be able to get some great shots. All of our storyboards are completed, we finished them in Frameforge, for anyone thinking of using the program I highly recommend getting a tablet such as a wacom speed up the process, working in that program with just a mouse is painfully slow.

Things are going well, I’m really starting to get excited. Check out the future website of www/whateveritwas.com
it’s not up yet but it will have cast & crew blogs, photos etc. it will be great to check out!

Red Cam

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:51:48 +0100

After arriving Monday at noon in Windsor, Ontario I was very exhausted, however I wanted to get my hands on the Red Cam. For a little back story, the Red Cam is a 4K camera which is changing the film industry, most theatrical films are scanned at 2K resolution this camera captures twice that, oh and it’s only $17K. Suede Productions, is a Windsor production company that I used to work for when I was living here last year, they recently purchased the camera. So after being in the city for only 2 hours, I headed over to their studios and saw it with my own eyes. I viewed some of the footage they shot with it and it looks incredible. I am convinced that this, or the next version 5K ‘Epic’, will be the next camera I buy. The amount of information it captures and the ability to manipulate the image in post is astounding. And the best thing is that it shoots with the same DOF as 35mm. We’ll there’s my plug for the camera... :)

We are now in pre-production for ‘Whatever it Was’ I enjoy being able to spend this much time with the Director before hand so our vision can really sync.

When we get the camera and start doing tests I will be sure to post pictures and keep the blog updated.

>The picture above is from Fernie as well

Upcoming projects

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:58:02 +0100

I leave tonight at midnight fly to Toronto then to Windsor. I’m quite excited to be Cinematographer on another feature film. I will also be test-driving the new RED Cam, 4K capture. Suede Productions, my past employer, has recently purchased one so I will have a chance to shoot some test shots and see how it handles. I’ll be sure to post my thoughts and findings.

I have also been working close with Sulyma Productions on upcoming dance productions that they are producing, with a potential opportunity for me to work on a recording session in Kiev Ukraine in October! With the show hitting the Jubilee Stage in Edmonton, Alberta I am part of designing the video elements for the Multi-media dance performance. I am very excited to see how it evolves as some very interesting ideas have already been discussed.

>Above is a picture that I took at Pigeon Lake Alberta on New Years Eve, we were cleared off a rink and melting snow in a garbage can to flood the rink.

Folk Fest - Edmonton

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:14:51 +0100

I just purchased my Folk Fest Edmonton Tickets, it’s always a great time at Gallagher Hill. I can’t wait to see Buckwheet Zydeco I saw him last summer at the Winspear Center, he had all of us out of our seats singing along. I’ve been going to folk fest for 7 or so years, I have a friend that lives very close so I am always able to stumble home and find a place to sleep. If you are in Edmonton during August be sure to check it out! Hopefully see you there!