I've moved

For those who are following and wish to continue as I take off on my next adventure, a feature film that I will shoot in Mexico City, Guanajuato and Veracruz, Mexico - I am moving my blog to:
http://chrischomyn.wordpress.com/

I hope I will find something interesting to share -

Please check it out.

Thanks.
Chris

Mexico City

Home from Mexico now.  Two fast trips - first to scout and prep - then a day and a half home before returning to Mexico City to shoot.

The video has turned out well.  We got quite a lot done on a short schedule and a tight budget.  Protasio came across with a charismatic presence and the song moves the video along.  At some point I'll have some images to post, but for now - only memories of a unique location, a wonderful crew, a limited budget and a great experience.

Panasonic GH-1 - HDSLR

So there seems to be a new SLR camera with HD capabilities every month.  It's hard to keep up.

In the past few months I've had the opportunity to shoot on the Canon 5d Mark II, the 7d Mark II and the Panasonic Lumix GH-1.  All work.  I suppose to say that one is better than the others would have to be qualified according to the criteria used - the specific needs of the project being shot.  All have their place, their strengths and shortcomings.  But one thing is for sure.  As long as there is a camera that will record motion video, it will be used to make a film.  This seems even more true when that image is HD.

One thing that makes HDSLRs workable in a production environment is the growing list of third party accessories that are becoming available?  There are brackets, and mounts, and mixers and a wide variety of quality accessories that add flexibility and reliability to these camera systems.

On this video for Swiss recording artist Patje - the accessories that most served us were the HOTRODS PL ADAPTER  which allowed us to mount standard motion picture PL mount lenses on the camera.  Of course, then the lenses themselves.  A Novoflex Nikon to micro 4/3 adapter (Later this year HotRodCameras may have their own Nikon to micro 4/3s adapter out, but until then, the Novoflex is the best I have tried.)  This allowed me to use a range of Nikon series E and series G still lenses.  I also used the lens baby composer, and the two zoom lenses provided by Panasonic for their camera.

Another accessory that became invaluable was a second Panasonic Lumix camera - the DMC - LX2.  When we mounted the GH1 on the steadicam, a limitation in the design became problematic - the camera does not output a video signal to an external monitor while recording.  So the challenge became "how does one operate a steadicam without the monitor"  By mounting the LX2 on a flex arm behind the GH -1 and using the manual macro focus function, we were able to shoot full frame, the LCD on the back of the GH1.  Then using the video out from the LX2 - we sent that video signal to the steadicam monitor and were able to both shoot HD as well as record the SD video on the LX2 of the LCD - to give an alternative image for use in editing.





Admittedly it was a work around, but it worked and put our problem solving skills to the test.

In the end, the video turned out well.  The images are for the most part quite good.  There is some banding in non detailed backgrounds and also in atmospheric smoke effects - due to the large degree of compression.  A 16gb class 6 SD card hold about 2 hours of HD video  - If they reduced the compression - or offered a choice to a lesser degree of compression - I recommend 1 minute per gb - then perhaps some of the banding and compression artifacts that are present could be minimized considerably.

But even with these artifacts - the GH-1 is remarkable at the price of $1600 with 14-140mm zoom - and with consideration given to production design, lighting and the compression characteristics of the camera, many of the artifacts can be limited through careful shot design and execution.

In fairness I should say that compression always has challenges with smoke and dark uniform backgrounds with little detail.  So this challenge and these shortcomings are not unique to the GH1.

Universal

Okay - so it wasn't a distant location per se.  It was more of an office on the lot at Universal, which explains why I didn't take any photographs of it.  It was unremarkable from all points of view; but, it was our location for the interactive music video I shot recently - "GHOST MAGIC".

Ghost Magic is a promotional music video for singer songwriter Keaton Simons as well as for the CBS series "Ghost Whisperer".

www.gwghostmagic.com  (when the dancing hands glow you can click on them to see more)

The technical execution of the concept required that we shoot against black draperies, and that the subjects be draped in black as well.  One of our biggest challenges was the lack of space where we shot.  We found ourselves fighting low ceilings and close walls.

Still we managed to divide the available space (two rooms) into two sets which enabled us to leap frog back and forth between set ups - allowing us to move quickly and to reduce our wait time.  All in all this allowed us to make our schedule in the very brief time allotted.

The video turned out well - I think the interactive component will become more and more popular as more people turn to their computers and away from their televisions to watch and interact with content.  In time, as popularity grows, the level of interactivity will also grow - allowing the audience more opportunity to determine the content on their screen.

Given more time in both production and in post, the number of interactive buttons and the variety of options available could increase exponentially.  For each click of a link, there could be another camera angle (or sequence of shots) perhaps even another song verse - one that was not included in the traditional linear music video format for time considerations, but which could be easily included in an interactive format that is not limited by timed programming.

I am looking forward to seeing how interactive programming changes what we shoot, how we shoot it and how we watch media.  Will we become more involved with fewer programs?  Will each of us in essence watch or "program" our "own network".  Will this be the ultimateego centric expression of the me generation.  Not content to watch media created for us - but rather only content to create our own media entertainment.

Exploring Singapore

So much of what we have seen in Singapore is sterile, organized and controlled.  Though there are ethnic neighborhoods that have a bit of a more organic feeling to them.  Today we walked through China Town, Little India and Arab Street.  

It's funny that in a city/country that is so regulated by law, we have not seen any police yet. Though we have noticed a great many video cameras mounted high at intersections and on buildings.

We found this sign outside a mosque.

The population here, we have heard is 72% Chinese, 18% Malay Indian and 10% other - which includes a large population of Indians who come predominantly on work permits.  Their is a tolerance and broad acceptance of people of all cultures and religions, as long as they honor and obey Singaporean law and customs.

There is some interesting architecture.

But only a few small streets and back alleys that actually have texture and an organic feeling to them.  For the most part, the city feels planned.

There seems to be thousands of construction cranes at work, building the city in a constant hum.

Though I imagine it is slow going.  I don't know if it's the heat, or the humidity or some other cultural phenomenon, but everything moves slowly here.  It takes much longer than it should to order a meal, or to be served, to wait in line for a cashier, or to receive an order from Starbucks. Everyone and everything moves at a different pace and rhythm than they do at home, or in Egypt, or in Istanbul.  In general we found most service in Sweden to be slow too - it lacked any urgency, but to my memory, it was faster and with more purpose than in Singapore.

As we look around at the buildings, most are new, and many are quite interesting.  

There seems to be a vital night life, consisting mostly of restaurants and clubs and shopping. There are many malls, and several open air markets.  But none of it seems terribly exciting. None of it strikes any of us as unique.  It seems that Singapore is mostly a business center and a port, that receives goods from around the world, but does not make any exports.  There are beaches and sights to see on this small island city state - but it feels very sterile.

Most everyone here speaks English, which makes life easier for us, but also makes it a bit less interesting.  The prices here seem reasonable, but not spectacularly low.  From what we have heard, it is a very safe country in which to live and work, but at the same time is much more expensive than it's northern neighbor, Malaysia.

Singapore

The night we left Cairo was the clearest we were there.  The lights were bright and the contrast was high.  

Our shoot in Cairo went very well.  There were a few hitches, there always are.  But in the end, everything worked out very well.  

I forgot to include this photo earlier, but I really like the juxtaposition of the old with the new that is evident all over the city.

Our travel details continued to change up until the final hour; in the end a few of our group were able to fly direct, a few flew through Abu Dhabi, and Richard and I flew through Frankfurt.  When we landed it was zero degrees - a sharp contrast to Cairo, and a reminder of our cold dark days in Sweden.  Flying through Germany was a very long route.  In the end we are all made it to Singapore, with all of our equipment.  So amazingly it all worked out.

I can't imagine two countries that are more different than Egypt and Singapore.   In Egypt seems a bit like the wild west.  Where people do what they have to do to survive, and even when they don't they do what they want.  Singapore on the other hand is a country of rules and regulations, strict government oversight and control.  In some ways it feels too clean, too orderly - in that way it's a bit like disneyland.

There is not much traffic, and what traffic there is, seems to move pretty well.  There are some delays, but nothing like Egypt.

The view from my hotel shows this amazing floating soccer field.  They say it stays level, though we won't get to see it firsthand as there are no tournaments while we are here.  They are preparing for New Year's Eve - they are planning a big party and fireworks show.

Our hotel pool is beautiful.

They have something here I have never before seen - Fish Spas.  I have seen two so far.

I'm sure there are many more.

I could explain it, but I think the spa concept with this photo explains it all.  It seems to be popular.

We stopped into a Starbucks today for a coffee, but found it difficult to decide which pastry would be better.

So we passed, and only had the coffee.

In order to avoid more laundry issues on this trip we walked over to the mall and bought some essential clothing, to last us through the remainder of our shoot.

Today my friend and former student, Joel (who is living in Saigon) came to Singapore to buy some electronics.  We had dinner.  It was great to see him.

Tomorrow, after the pre-pro meeting, assuming everything goes well, we plan to go to the beach to swim.  (unless I can find a boat to rent to go sailing.)

Laundry On The Road

One of the biggest challenges of this shoot was planning and packing for four such different climates.  Although we shot in two very different areas of Sweden, both were cold, wet and dark - and even though one was colder, wetter and darker than the other, I am counting them as one.

When packing light for a 23 day production schedule in four countries, one must count on doing laundry.  As I wrote in a previous post, we took our laundry to a laundromat in Turkey which became a ridiculous comedy of errors.  But in the end, our clothes were clean, and eventually they dried.

In Cairo, we have had two more laundry incidents which bear revealing.  One only is only indirectly related to us.  When we were scouting locations the other day we felt large drops of water - rain from above.  It was rain on a dry day.  In looking up we noticed that two floors above us, right over our heads, a woman was hanging her soaking laundry to dry.  And so it was drip drying on us.

Yesterday Peter bought some laundry detergent to wash a few of his clothes in his room by hand, which he did this morning.  He then hung them over the furniture and railing to his balcony.  Later today his jeans were missing.

Apparently, in the strong breeze his pants had blown over the side and fallen 18 stories onto a balcony below.  After a good hard laugh, they turned up.  The inhabitant of the room called someone from the hotel to report the pants appearance on his balcony.  Meanwhile, Peter had called to report what had happened.  

Earlier this evening, the jeans were returned to him, clean and folded.

Given our early call tomorrow and our long day ahead, I will hold off on doing laundry again until I get to Singapore.  There is still a question regarding my departing flight.  Due to an overbooked flight, it looks like Doug, Richard and I may have to fly on a different flight from that of Peter and Melanie.  They are confirmed on a direct flight to Singapore; we may have a short layover and a plane change in Abu Dhabi.  We will know more tomorrow.

If we do have to fly through Abu Dhabi, we will have a very early departure from Cairo - I think it's something like 3am, instead of the more civilized 10am departure for the direct flight.  A 3am flight will make for a very long tomorrow.