You are sitting in the room with three of the most celebrated and talented event filmmakers on the planet. DSLR masters of light and sound. Cinematic auteurs through and through. You are given the microphone and have just one question to ask one or all of them. What would that question be? Would you waste […]
The Power of Documentaries and One You Should Watch TODAY
In my humble opinion, documentary filmmaking is one of the most important, cultural art forms on the planet. It educates, inspires, and motivates people to take action. A well made documentary can right wrongs. (Errol Morris’ “Thin Blue Line” actually helped get an innocent man off death row.) Movies like Enron: The Smartest Guys in […]
Is This the Wedding Video Every Event Photographer Should Fear
Back in the early 2000’s celebrity event filmmaker turned post-production house entrepreneur Paul Korver started shooting weddings on 35mm film. Yes, that’s right folks. He shot high profile weddings on the same super expensive film format that his movie star clients were used to being shot on for their films. Was it overkill for a […]
The Double Edged Sword of Pro Wedding Videos Going Viral
Boy, the professional wedding filmmaking industry has had an exciting past three months, most notably because of the same number of viral videos by three leaders in the industry. First David Robin’s “Dirty Bit” wedding day music video. Next up was Loyd Calomay’s “Inception Reception” concept video. Now, last week, BMX and wedding filmmaker extraordinaire […]
Filmmaker Friday with YouTuber Tom Antos (Crossing the 180 #39)
We’ve come to the end of our international excursion of interviewing foreign filmmakers. It’s been quite a ride. Today’s guest brings us back to North America to Toronto, ONT. In fact, our guest today is the perfect bridge between the foreign filmmaker series and the next series I’m doing on YouTubers. Today we have Tom […]
I’m Sure the Clients Loved It, But…
A few days ago I reviewed a video for a friend and colleague who wanted some honest feedback. My review wasn’t particularly good. It wasn’t a bad video, but it just left me flat. I’ve seen other work by this individual that really impressed me, so I also knew it wasn’t up to snuff with […]
Another Threat an FCPX-powered User Base Means to Small Pro Videographers
So last week I offered a “crazy” theory that the new Final Cut Pro X (aka FCPX) is aimed squarely at pro photographers. As I wrote in that post, based on the terminology, the paradigm shift, and the much larger market, I think this theory holds some water. But Mark Spencer of Ripple Training makes […]
Creating a Shot List
Last Friday I talked about the importance of creating policies and procedures. In that post, I talked about the value of having a written equipment check list to go through before ever shoot. There’s another list that’s pretty important if you’re a filmmaker: the shot list. This is the process I learned in filmmaking classes […]
Featured Filmmaker Friday – Patryk Kizny (Crossing the 180 #38)
Where in the world is Crossing the 180 today? Poland. Today we have on the show, timelapse guru and HDR video expert Patryk Kizny of Looky Creative. His collection of work has been viewed millions of times on Vimeo and once you see it, you’ll know why. When I first saw his film “The Chapel,” […]
A Quick Primer on Using Zeiss CP.2 Cinema Lenses
Producing our 48 Hour Film Project had a series of “firsts” for me. One of those firsts I mentioned was the first time for me shooting with a Zeiss Compact Prime CP.2 cinema lens (pdf link) (specifically the 35mm T2.1). There’s a lot of talk among DSLR filmmakers about the joy and benefits of using […]