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Best Photo Locations: Abandoned Six Flags In New Orleans

By Chase on May 7, 2012

If you’re primarily an on-location photographer or filmmaker, then you know how much value a great location can add to the shoot. So today I’m introducing another Series (ala the ‘Emerging Talent’ and others…) where I feature supercool locations around the world. Stuff I discover, stuff that other send me, places I’d love to shoot. Of course feel free to chime in, share, link, or otherwise contribute in your own way. Onward…

After being ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Six Flags New Orleans has been completely abandoned, left to be pounded by the weather and nature without anyone around to care for it. Rickety rollercoasters develop rust, forgotten carousel horses look upon the empty pathways with sad painted eyes, and concession stands will never again feed a hungry child. While the general public is strictly forbidden to trespass on this post apocalyptic dream scene, a few brave photographers have risked arrest and dangerous conditions to shoot some incredible photographs of this now surreal place. Click through the gallery tabs above to see for yourself. Stunning opportunities abound…

Anybody shot here or know someone who has? I’m curious.

If you’ve got other locations you want to share – fire me off a few photos and some info and I may feature it in the future.

[...and Don' Forget...While I have pushed boundaries on shooting at special locations in my career, I am not advocating that YOU break the law and shoot here or at any 'off-limits' location. What I can say is that creativity and collaboration with others can often get you through some hurdles that are not overtly "open" locations... And most people who wrangle "closed" locations are interested in...um... money and other possible perks that letting you shoot at a particular place might afford them... Getting access to special locations is something I've done regularly with good results - it's an art not a science. Generally speaking, all commercial photoshoots should be permitted and paid for and trespassing is illegal. If you go Rambo on this, or any location I'll point out in this future series of posts, you may get a high five from somebody, but you're doing so under your own free will. You may or may not get some incredible shots. ]

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RE-Watch of High Speed / Slow Motion Fashion Shoot with Superfad on Chase Jarvis LIVE

By Chase on March 21, 2012

3 weeks ago, I put the $150,000 Phantom Flex camera through its paces during an experimental fashion shoot with my good friend, director Will Hyde from Superfad. We had an absolute blast. We also had superhot female talent, an epic wardrobe, do-it-yourself solutions mixed with the highest end pro gear, and more than 50,000 watts of light. While the shoot went on for 6 hours, this here re-watch has been trimmed to include all the highlights for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy. Share if you dig it.

[The finished edit of our work is coming soon as well, stay tuned.]

——–

10 Essentials to Go the Extra Mile (for Your Clients + Crew)

By megan on March 15, 2012

Hello, readers! Megan here, Producer at Chase Jarvis Inc. We’ve just returned from an amazing 6-day shoot in Aspen, CO. You perhaps read about it here, here, or here. It got me thinking about client/crew relationships and customer service.

One of the ways you can set yourself apart as a creative professional is to really go the extra mile for both your client(s) and your crew. This applies to YOU, whether you’re a photographer or director producing your own jobs with a small crew, or a producer wrangling a hefty crew with a lot of moving parts. Here are some things to think about before your next shoot:

1. Flights: We do a lot of traveling around here, and we all know that flying can be a pain in the you-know-what. Lines, waiting, more lines, more waiting. Knowing whether people prefer a window or aisle, bulkhead or exit row, goes a long way to make the experience that much better. Be sure to include frequent flier numbers, when applicable. Also, how is everyone getting to the airport? Can you arrange for a car service to carpool some folks that live close to one another? Or should everyone cab it individually and bill the cost along with their final invoice?

2. Hotels: Whether you’re staying in a 3, 4, or 5-star hotel with tons of amenities, or a low-budget motel off the highway, providing the front desk with some details about your stay can really help things run smoothly. Be sure to let them know how many of you are traveling together and if you have any special needs (early check-in, late check-out, meeting space for your pre-pro, printing capabilities, wi-fi access, breakfast, gear storage, etc.). Ask for dining recommendations or the location of the nearest grocery or drug store. Additionally, since you’re perhaps spending a serious chunk of change with the hotel, you might be able to wiggle into a few extra benefits as well that could help your shoot – early breakfast, discount rates, or extra rooms for gear/meetings. Also remember: the front desk is there to help, if you let them. You can show your appreciation by generously tipping the staff, the shuttle driver, bell hop, housekeeping, etc. Upon checkout, we like to leave an envelope at the front desk for housekeeping. Generally, the rule of thumb is $2 to $5 per day per room.

3. Rental cars: Think about what kind of space you need: you may be traveling with so much gear that an SUV is a necessity or maybe even a cargo van. Or maybe your client wants a convertible if you’re shooting somewhere warm and tropical. Which company should you use? There’s a balance to be found between price, convenience and reliability. We are usually hurrying off to a pre-pro or a scout and need to know that our car is ready and right. Whenever possible, we go with a company with whom we have a preferred account for fast service and a location in the main terminal.

4. Food: I could go on forever about this one. Food is often an undervalued aspect of a shoot. Keeping your crew well-fed and watered can go a long way to making a tough day feel less tiresome.

Know food allergies and/or preferences. Is anyone allergic to nuts, gluten-free or vegetarian?
Snacks are an easy way to make people happy. Our crew likes Peanut M&Ms, red Swedish Fish, beef jerky and string cheese. What does your crew like to have handy?
What kind of restaurants does your client like to eat at for dinner? Sushi? Mexican? Find out so you can make a reservation in advance. We always love a spot with a private room for large parties. In many restaurants, there’s not even an extra charge!

5. Community: Make sure you get to know your clients and crew well; nothing brings a crew together like an off-duty meal. It’s a fantastic opportunity to talk about things other than the j-o-b and really get to know everyone on a personal level. Your client’s wedding anniversary is next month? File that tidbit away so you can be sure to send him or her a card and perhaps a bottle of wine.

6. Follow-through: Make sure everyone has received and read the call sheet you emailed by following up with a phone call to confirm. It sucks when a key member of your team calls bright and early on shoot day frantic because they don’t know where to go and when.

7. Organization: If there’s one skill that every producer should have honed, it’s organization. It can be tricky to keep track of all the moving pieces, but if you have a good system in place, it can help out tremendously. Try centralizing your information into a production book, with the creative, contact info, schedule, shot list, talent, locations, permits, calendar, travel confirmations, etc. that you can constantly reference. Not only is it super helpful for you, but it instills confidence in your client that you know what you’re doing and that you have everything under control.

8. Details: You know what they say, the devil is in the details. It’s often the little things that make the difference between an okay shoot and an awesome one. Is there a concierge we can leave our skis + snowboards with at the hotel? Is there a hotel shuttle available to take us to the location? Did you remember to get that radio to the 1st assistant? Or make sure everyone has their lift tickets on them? There are a million of these little details to think about on any shoot. The more you can anticipate in advance, the smoother your shoot will go. And the more you’ll impress your clients.

9. Communication: Words to live by, friends, “over-communicate.” Make sure everyone is on the same page and knows what the expectations are. Just had a conference call with your client? Summarize what transpired and who’s responsible for what in an email. I promise you, this will save your behind at one point or another during your career. This is also an effective way to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

10. Be (sincerely) nice: This might seem like a no-brainer, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten myself out of a jam by simply being really nice. I’m not suggesting that you overdo it on the saccharine; in fact, no one likes a kiss-ass. This can sometimes be easier said than done, but don’t forget that we’re lucky to be doing what we love for a living. You’ll find that people (both clients + crew) are a lot more eager to work with you on a long-term basis if you just be nice

Thanks for reading! For more production tips, be sure to check out Kate’s awesome post here.

Behind-The-Scenes Photo Gallery From Aspen [Day 4]

By Chase on March 8, 2012

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Day 4 here, coming at you–almost live–from Aspen/Snowmass. We’ve had an epic previous 3 days…and today the weather turned milky on us. Just white everywhere, with no snow…so we took the morning off which allowed me to wrangle a bunch of behind-the-scenes photos for your viewing pleasure. 30-something photos here from our iPhones, point and shoots, micro 4/3′s etc. Big thanks to Andrew, Erik, and Jerard mostly for helping me compile some of these.

Click through the tabs above to check out all the images.

As a heads up, we DID end up getting one of our shots in town last night and we’re back at it this morning…it’s 5:28am as I’m typing this right now and I’m due for call time here in 17 minutes so I gotta run. Feel free to ask questions of the images if you have any – I’ll answer what I can. And be so kind to follow along in the other channels, my Twitter @chasejarvis, my Facebook page, my Google+ page – which are EACH getting exclusive content this week. And be so kind to follow the great crew at Aspen/Snowmass on their twitter handle too…@aspensnowmass. Stay tuned for more helicopters, kids, and world-class athlete stuff coming up.

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Video Blog/Update from Aspen-Snowmass Campaign Shoot — Day 3

By Chase on March 7, 2012

Heading into Day 3 during our Aspen/Snowmass campaign, the weather report was looking sketchy. Lo and behold, we were completely wrong–the weather shifted to pure glory and we were able to make some amazing photos again today with the collaboration of a solid crew. Thought I’d save some time/energy from doing some typing, so here’s my video journal breakdown of the day…

Highlights:
-surprise perfect weather
-more work with Chris Davenport, world-renowned skier/mountaineer
-work with the remote helicopter folks from GravityShots – amazing angles with that chopper
-epic skiing in the Aspen trees
-NOW the weather looks to be shifting to the worse…

Watch the vid for more details on each – plus there’s some behind the scenes photos at the end of the clip… Enjoy – and feel free to hit me with any questions if you have em!

________

Day 2 – Diary of the Aspen/Snowmass Shoot – Nailing It

By Chase on March 5, 2012

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Here's the peak where today's first light morning shoot went down. Tasty.

Yesterday’s scout was epic. After waking at 3:55am Seattle time, flying Seattle >> Denver >> Aspen we arrived and hiked our asses up to 12,395 feet of elevation. Sea level to 12 grand in a few hours. Good for the heart and mind – hard on the lungs.

Our scout + the weather report (scheduled for perfect sunshine) yielded information that we must shoot our epic heli shot first thing in the morning. That was this morning. So day 2 — originally our scouting day — has now transformed into not just a shooting day, but another EPIC shooting day, complete with two ad shots, helicopters, world class athletes, first light and…a 3:30am wakeup time. Here was our schedule…

3:30am wakeup call
4:00am call time
weather is epic.
5:00am crew unit 1 (production team + athletes) takes snowcat to ski area summit – crew hikes
6:00am crew unit 2 (photog + camera support + creative director) at heli-port
7:00 the two crews unite to photograph athletes for advert #1 atop the peek from the heli
8:30 – 11:00 shoot athletes from the snow surface for backup of advert #1
11-1pm lunch (I had a burger with lettuce bun, tuna steak, small bowl of chili)
1-4pm united crew shoots ad #2
4-6pm download cards, get a beer and plan for tomorrow
6-8pm dinner with crew

Quick summary: all of the shooting today went aces – volume was up at 11. We greased the helicopter shoot right off the bat, and then worked numerous hours in the chowdery snow in Highland bowl for backup to ad #1. It was warm by the time we got to ad #2 and the snow was setting up, but we managed to find some fresh, sticky snow remaining on northwest facing slopes that completely salvaged the shot. Turned out far better than we’d thought – surprise and delight all around. We have a killer crew. Click thru the tabs at the top of this page for BTS snapshots from scout day and first thing this morning… Obviously more to come.

Oh…and on deck for tomorrow?? Remote control helicopter flying cine and still cameras overhead! Whammo.

Possible drama: weather looks to be turning to crap.

Thanks for tuning in and riding shotgun on this stuff. Good times. Follow along on Twitter, Facebook and G+. Icons on the upper right of this page.

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Follow Along With Our Week-long Campaign Photoshoot For Aspen/Snowmass

By Chase on March 4, 2012

Megan, Kate, Scott - and Erik in the background - jumping off our plane in Aspen just now....

Alarm clock at 4am. Right now, 6am. Boarding an early morning flight from SEA to Aspen, CO via Denver. Does this rhetoric sound familiar?

If it does, and if you’re a regular around here, you’ll recall a series of posts I did last year wherein I documented the play by play, day by day “Diary of a Photoshoot” during an REI campaign – capturing advertising stills and shooting this broadcast commercial. Based on volume of people who tuned in and the feedback you sent my way – it was a success of sorts. Although it damn near killed me (working 18-20 hour days and still making time to write and upload snapshots), I had a blast scribbling out the daily ups and downs, weather, production, and creative details in real-time.

Well, here we go again.

To that end, Aspen Resort and their kickass agency Factory Design Labs has given me the green light to bring you along with me for the 2013 Aspen Resort advertising campaign. Shout out to these folks who actually “get” this whole social sharing thing. While I’ve sworn off the putting myself through pure hell to report back details at every moment, I WILL be sharing as much play-by-play as I can muster while keeping my health and wits about me, including our early morning call times, first-light hikes to 12,000+ feet, helicopters, world-class athletes as talent, and the … ahem… occasional nightcap cocktail after a hard day’s work. I hope you’ll follow along. Some important coordinates for doing so:

My Twitter handle: @chasejarvis
My Facebook page: Facebook.com/chasejarvis
My Google+ page here.

And, since they’ll be piping out exclusive BTS content as well, follow along with the Aspen social channels too:

Aspen’s Twitter: @AspenSnowmass
Aspen’s Facebook: Facebook.com/skiaspensnowmass

I’ll do my best to respond to questions and inbound stuff. And thanks in advance for your RT’s, shares, +1′s and all that jazz.

BTW, today’s mission? Travel to Aspen, connect with our cast and crew, and squeeze in a scout for our Monday shots. Details to follow. #Respect from 37,000 feet.

-Chase

10 Tips to Help Photographers & Creatives [that's YOU] with Contracts

By kate on February 15, 2012

ARGH... Contracts!!!!

Are you a photographer, filmmaker or creative type and find yourself bogged down by contracts and legal documents? No where to turn? Do contracts make you want to scream? Well hello friends. It’s me Kate, Executive Producer over here at Chase Jarvis Inc. One of my roles as EP is to deal with all of the legal schmegal that comes through our shop and –while I have an excellent lawyer that I always consult– I feel your pain. Over the years I’ve learned a fair bit and now try to do as much of the legwork as I can reasonably do to keep legal costs as low as possible. You may want to consider this approach – it has saved us thousands of dollars.

I will start by stating very overtly that I am NOT a lawyer and can’t give you legal advice. This post is not said advice. I do, however, think that–by example–it could be really helpful if I were to break down one common contract that photographers often get asked to sign before a project – the Non Disclosure Agreement (the “NDA”) AND THEN outline some generally helpful tips regarding contracts in general. This won’t give you all the details, but it will give you an important foundation, an approach, on which to build. That’s the point of this post – here goes:

Example: The Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

The NDA is a contract that is also commonly known as a confidentiality agreement or secrecy agreement. It is a legal contract between at least two parties that protects the discloser (person sharing the info) and the confidential information when they share information with a recipient (person receiving the information) for a specific purpose. You may be asked to sign one any time an individual or company feels that they are sharing confidential information with you. This is certainly smart business practice for sharing sensitive information… IN FACT, you may even want to have your own NDA to protect your own confidential information if you’re in a positon to share such info with contractors, etc.

My Top 10 Checklist for NDAs
Below you will find ten things to consider as you review any NDA. And again, you should definitely consult a lawyer, but this is a great starting point:

Is there a “Purpose” or “Project” clearly defined? This will limit your confidentiality requirements to the specific project on which you are working.
Do the disclosure terms favor the party sharing the most information? It is designed to protect the discloser.
Does the agreement need to be mutual or not? You might be sharing confidential information on the project too. If you are, you may want to use an MNDA (Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement).
What is included in the definition of “Confidential Information?” Is this reasonable?
Is there a “Feedback” clause? This explains what rights the discloser will have to any of YOUR feedback. For example, it may say that your suggestions or recommendations belong to the discloser. You should decide if this is ok for you.
Review the “Term” (period of time for the contract) and “Termination” (how the contract may be ended). Both of these elements should be appropriate to the project.
Is there a “Survival” clause? This states that should you end the contract, certain parts of the contract may always be valid. Know and understand what these elements are, so you are sure to be in compliance.
Read the “Boilerplate” (that means the standard sections) even though it may seem boring.
State of law. If troubles develop down the line and legal action is required, where would the proceedings would take place. You may not be able to change this one, but it is good to know.
Look for the standard exceptions to confidentiality. These favor YOU, the recipient, and state when and if information is NOT considered confidential or when it may be shared. In NON-legal jargon, these are examples:

You knew the information before it was disclosed to you AND YOU CAN PROVE/DOCUMENT IT.
The information is or becomes publicly available (in a legal way and not through breach of any contract.)
The information becomes LAWFULLY available from a third party (that means NOT through your company or the disclosing company). And again, it must be legal, without any violation of confidentiality obligations.
You independently develop what is protected by the confidentiality WITHOUT the use of the confidential information. Be VERY careful with this one.
You are legally required to disclose the information. Just make sure you really are legally required to do so before you do. Also, you would want to determine with your lawyer if you are required to or should notify the company.

Some companies have developed really excellent NDAs that are perfectly good to sign in their original state. Others may just have a stock NDA that is quite broad and may even feel that it doesn’t make sense for your situation. You are looking to make sure that whatever you sign works for your company and the purpose of your project. I have the impression that many recipients believe that they MUST sign the NDA AS-IS in order to even be considered for the project. While that MAY be the case, in my experience, I have found that companies have been very open to suggestions IF the following is true:

they are reasonable requests and
I make it easy for them. They do NOT want more work, so I always send the client two things when I’m requesting changes:

a “Red Line” version of their own NDA, which shows the changes I and/or my lawyer have made within the document, and
a SIGNED, clean copy for them. That way, if they agree to our changes, they already have what they need. (This is often a magical technique that demonstrates efficiency and understandingl

If the company is not open to making any changes, it’s up to you to decide with your lawyer if you are willing to sign the contract with a real understanding of what your risks are.

Finally, Some General Contract Thoughts.
In this post, we looked at one specific kind of contract, but there are so many more… JOY! As you go forth, with your pen poised to sign away, stop first and consider the following before you sign anything [and did I mention that I am NOT a lawyer?? So, please take these thoughts with a grain of salt. These are just my thoughts after working in this capacity with Chase for so many years.]

ALWAYS read and understand what your are signing.
Seek advice. I know that legal advice can be very expensive, but know that getting into a bad agreement can be far worse. Sometimes it can be more economical to belong to professional organizations to get access to legal support, discounted legal advice or even documents. Try ASMP.org for resources around legal documents.
Stay positive in you negotiations around contracts. It is GREAT NEWS that a client wants to work with you!! Contracts are just one of the steps to the end goal of a fantastic job. You may not get everything that you ask for, but through the process you will understand what your are signing up for and make sure to avoid any ‘deal breakers.’
Always keeps copies of the agreement that are signed by both parties.
Note any requirements from the agreement you may have to follow through with later.

Best of luck to you in your legal endeavors! Until next time, Kate

chasejarvis RAW: Flying High In Telluride [BTS Video on REI Commercial]

By Chase on December 21, 2011

Last week when I posted the broadcast commercial for REI that I recently directed, I promised a behind-the-scenes vid. So here ’tis — the focus here on the epic aerial shots we nailed using a remote-operated RC helicopter flying an onboard camera, curtesy of our friends at FreeFly Cinema. Hope you dig it.

Also–since a lot of y’all have been asking via social channels–I figured I’d give a second-by-second, shot-by-shot breakdown of the entire :30 sec spot… on how we got each clip so you can see all the different mechanisms and techniques that went into the production. I’ll let your imagination run about how we actually pulled off some of this stuff up at 12,000 feet at single digit temperatures, and feel free to ask the how/why we did what we did questions below.

Shot by shot breakdown:
:00-:01 Racked focus onto talent as they approach chairlift dismount
:01-:02 Skier operated steadicam shot
:02-:03 Jib/crane tracking shot
:03-:04 Handheld close up of talent operating ski binding, snow level
:04-:07 Combo of handheld & steadicam shots of talent beginning hike
:07-:08 Overhead aerial with RC chopper (**see video)
:08-:09 Handheld close ups on talent
:09-:11 Combo of longer shots, locked off on tripods
:11-:14 Combo of handheld & steadicam shots of talent socializing
:14-:15 Locked off wide shot, masked sky movement sped up in post
:15-:16 Steadicam shot w lens flare of talent preparing to descend
:16-:17 Jib/crane shot w lens flare of talent preparing to descend
:17-:18 Close up, talent operating snowboard binding
:18-:19 Close up, talent dropping skis, prep to descend (voiceover starts)
:19-:20 Combo handheld & steadicam & closeups of talent prep to descend
:20-:21 Handheld zoom in as talent pushes off to descend
:21-:24 Hero overhead aerial shot with RC chopper (**see video), speed ramp to show talent covering distance, heading into sunset
:24-:30 Motion graphics closing bumper with voiceover
:30 Out

Here’s the spot again below if you want to play it a few times and follow along with the shot-by-shot breakdown. Hit me up with questions – will try to get back at ya.

Big thanks again to everybody who worked on the shoot. Everybody was super-pro, including the talent. (One of the many reasons its awesome to have a very authentic client like REI that uses real, qualified talent…) Hope you dig the BTS chasejarvis RAW heli-video. Music for the RAW is by Pete International Airport (here on iTunes). Music for the spot is from We Are Augustines (avail here on iTunes). Big ups to both acts!

When The Music Matters–Interview with Commercial Composer McKenzie Stubbert

By erik on December 14, 2011

McKenzie Stubbert in Studio Erik here…As the resident video editor here at Chase Jarvis Inc, I’m on a never ending search for music. Often times the music drives the edit. The rhythm of the music can have a huge influence on the pace for the cuts and the mood can make a hilarious moment tragic. In other instances I get the luxury of having custom music created which is based on my edit of the footage. When that opportunity presents itself, we reach out to skilled composer and our frequent collaborator, McKenzie Stubbert. Most recently he created the music for our ‘Dasein: The Art of Being’ documentary. While putting the finishing touches on the score in his Portland studio, I seized the opportunity to pick his brain a little about what he does.

How did this become a career for you? What’s your musical background?
I started music/piano lessons at around four years old. With the combination of supportive parents who encouraged and paid for lessons and a school system that still had money for music, I was able to get a lot of opportunities to practice and perform. After high school I went to music school and got a fairly formal education focused on composition. After that I had to teach myself the technological and business side of being a composer who can earn a living. They didn’t teach me those things in college. Add that on top of a basic natural ability for music and voracious appetite for all forms of art and…ta-dah!

How would you describe your “sound”?
McKenzie Stubbert in Studio 2 I’m still working on this and in a way hope that I never firmly land and stay anywhere. At one point a friend described what I write as “sad clown music” with “twinkles”. While I haven’t written circus music in a while, I’m still drawn to more melancholy harmonies and icy/metallic textures. But, as a commercial composer, I try to be versatile and write to the needs of the creative goal. Sometimes that means writing something quite different from what I would normally write for myself.

What are the various ways you get hired? How do you market yourself?
The adage “you’ve gotta know a guy” is still true. This translates into trying to get to know a lot of people.

At one point, I spent about a month solid calling and emailing people around the country trying to get them to check out my work. It netted about a 1% return. I’ve found that it’s very important to have good work and a clean website with which to share. My good friend Jason Glaspey (interactive wizard) told me that “your website needs to tell a story and, in this case, the story is: ‘I am good at what I do. I am available for hire and here are some examples of work I’ve done, and people I’ve worked with. When you’re ready to hire me, here’s how to get in touch.’” His advice helped me focus everything about my approach.

I still have to contact a lot of people. Looking for work doesn’t really ever stop But, the more projects I work on, the more McKenzie Stubbert Studio people become familiar with my work and no longer need to be convinced that I’m good enough at what I do to be hired.

I’m certainly guilty of coming to you on several occasions with my hat in my hands, hoping you’ll compose some magic for a project with a challenging budget or timeframe, how do you decide what projects are worth your time and effort?
With every project there are three possibilities:
1) The people are good.
2) The project is good.
3) The money is good.

I have to have two of those to take the job. This isn’t a philosophy of my own invention but one that I try to abide by.

Talking specifically about our Dasein documentary, what about that video made you want to take it on?
I’m always looking for projects that are so good that if I saw it later and didn’t work on it I would be really annoyed. Also, I’m a sucker for slo-mo b/w film of New York. Chase and Co make pretty pictures that are hard to resist.

What’s your process like? Where do you start? Do you start writing right away or do you allow time for the content to simmer?
How much time I spend before I start writing is directly related to how much time there is before the music is due. Each project is essentially a puzzle which needs the right sounding piece to fit in the space. In designing the piece I have to decide what the sound should be. What is the vibe/groove/feel/etc?. The real writing often doesn’t start until I’ve solved this problem.

I’m always impressed by your ability to take your musical cues from moments in films that I never expected. Can you give some examples of that in the Dasein video?
The Dasein logo that spreads out was an obvious “hit point”. It was actually my wife who said, “I want to hear a deep sound like a helicopter there”. That ended up shaping the pulsing sound that kind of anchors the entire piece. Also, the nature of the slo-mo b/w footage suggested a kind of dream was happening. Almost as if Chase is talking and remembering everything that you are seeing.

What equipment do you use to compose your music?
I use a Radio Shack tape recorder and make every sound you hear with my mouth and a piece of wax paper.

And…Apple Logic and myriad of virtual instruments. The Kontakt player is pretty vital to me.

How do you figure pricing/licensing for your work?
Usage is key. A 30 second spot for a tiny website is going to cost way less than a 30 second national TV spot. But that cost always seems to change. It would be much easier if there was a national index I could consult every morning like I was selling gold. Well…I am selling gold, but just not the kind that everyone can agree on. Music has value only McKenzie Stubbert Studio 5 when everyone agrees on it. It can be tricky to know what that is because people are essentially guessing based on their previous guess, then using that new guess as the precedent for the next guess. All that to say I try to do my best to come up with a number that’s fair to all involved.

What advice can you give about maintaining relationships with clients and collaborators?
Frank Zappa said “talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” Being that the very subject of my work is often hard to discuss, I try to be as clear as possible when it comes to every other aspect of my work. Before I send off every email to a client I ask myself…am I being/have they been clear? Clarity of language is key for me. It’s important for me to document what decisions are being made at every step so we can refer to those as we go along the process of the project. I also try to remember that this isn’t a commissioned work of art. What I’m doing has to serve not only the project, but the client’s desires for the project. I find that when I convey that goal to my clients, they trust my instincts a bit more.

For a refresher of what McKenzie does, give Dasein: The Art of Being a LISTEN:

Gear Details: How We Shot “Dasein: Art of Being” Documentary

By erik on September 16, 2011

Hey friends. Erik the video guy here. We’ve had a bunch of YOUR questions come in about what gear/process/technique we used to make the Dasein docu-short we posted a couple days ago so I thought I’d chime in with a quick gear- and technique-specific follow up on how this film was made.

First, Chase was the director on the project but wanted to remain focused simply on the overall look and feel. Plus, since he was in front of the camera most of the time, he specifically did NOT want to get sucked into all the details to get the look he wanted, so that put me squarely in the Director of Photography (DP) role, in charge of all the details he wanted to avoid. This worked out great – we collaborate really well in this capacity.

Since I knew heading to New York that we’d be working at all hours, around Chase’s crazy schedule and with no permits, no location assistance, and (in the best way) no solid plan on when and where we would be shooting, I made the call that one of our main objectives was to stay light and quick with our gear selection.

Given that an important part of this short film is about time–creating time in your life for creativity–Chase wanted the film shot in a way that arrested time visually…that is, he wanted it shot in slow motion. This was a part of the initial treatment he’d written for the piece. And while we originally discussed shooting with a RED One or Epic, I ultimately thought this might not mesh well with the “light/fast” motto I’d already decreed above. I wanted everything, minus the tripod and dolly, to fit in one bag – something I could manage by myself — in this case, one of our fav bags, the Lowepro Classified 250 shoulder bag. And it’s small…

So here’s what I lugged around:

NYC street doc setup

Let’s start with the CAMERA/LENS SELECTION. Factoring that Chase wanted the high frame rate, that he’d not be shooting at all–only directing–, PLUS the limited budget he’d allocated to make this film happen (not enough to bring in a RED and a bunch of primes for a month), I made the call that I would simply use my own personal camera/lens gear. So I shot the piece with my Canon 7D. I’m good with a range of cameras, but the 7D made sense because it gave the film 60p slow motion that Chase required, plus it was small, very light, and since I own it personally, it was free. I also carried 3 of my own lenses; the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC, the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, and an old Nikon manual 85mm f/1.8 with a Nikon-EOS adapter. They’re nothing fancy, but I was sure they’d do the job. The Tamron is a great all-purpose lens and the vibration compensation is fantastic for shooting handheld. Most of the footage was captured with that lens. I used the Tokina the least, but was great when Chase wanted a dramatically wide shot, and the Nikon 85mm was for when we needed that extra bit of focal length and space compression.

AUDIO. We captured Chase’s interviews with a Sennheiser Evolution G3 wireless lavalier set and a Zoom H4n Handy Recorder. Pretty straight forward, not too exciting, so let’s move on to the really fun stuff…

CAMERA SUPPORT: For this project we acquired two of my new favorite toys; the Zacuto EVF Pro and the Kessler Pocket Dolly. These two products are brilliant on their own, but when their powers combine they create a silky smooth shooting experience.

Zacuto EVF and Kessler Pocket Dolly

The Zacuto EVF is an amazingly powerful LCD monitor packed into a compact and lightweight package. It’s powered by the same battery that the Canon 5D/7D use and offers a plethora of helpful functions such as monochrome viewing (very helpful when you’re filming a documentary that will be black and white in the end), zebra stripes and false color for checking exposure, focus peaking assist (my personal favorite), frame lines, and a lot more. The monitor works with or without a Z-Finder snapped onto it, and on the Pro and Flip models the Z-Finder mounting frame swings up to get out of your way when you don’t need it while keeping the Z-Finder close by so you can quickly snap it back into action.

Zacuto EVF Pro on Canon 7D

The ultra portable Kessler Pocket Dolly was great for getting some much needed movement into our shots. We got ours with the optional outrigger feet for shooting low to the ground, and the feet are adjustable so you can maintain a level dolly move on uneven surfaces. The dolly also has various screw threads on the base so you can quickly secure it to a tripod. It becomes a bit of a beast when it’s setup like that, but it breaks down pretty quickly when you need to move. I’m always amazed at what a difference a little camera movement makes in video shots, even with just a little more than three feet of track. I highly highly recommend it.

Kessler Pocket Dolly and Zacuto EVF

Like I said earlier, these two products make a great combination. All of us on the CJ crew consider a dolly or some sort of moving camera support mandatory for capturing dynamic footage, and the addition of the Zacuto monitor is a great way to keep from having to lay down on the ground to see what you’re shooting from your worm’s eye view camera angle.

We cut the piece together using Apple Final Cut Pro. And we did all the color (B+W) grading in FCP as well.

So there ya go. That was my setup, front to back. Hope you can dig into this stuff in more detail this weekend. And hopefully this post has showed you how–with some good artistic vision–a fairly minimalist video kit can produce dynamic results like this:

Zen & the Art of Production: 12 Tips for a Smooth Photoshoot

By kate on May 4, 2011

Hi friends. Kate here again. I’ve been reading your questions lately, I’ve noticed that many are about production. It’s no doubt that shooting days can be stressful: you have a set of objectives that need to be accomplished, time is limited, the client is present, weather, travel, lodging and permits may be a factor, you’re coordinating people and there are always little surprises that crop up. Plain and simple, there are just lots of moving parts to a shoot. It follows that the more you can reduce your unknowns and possible stressors, the smoother your day will run. So, whether you are running the show yourself or you hire a producer, here are a few simple tips that may help you run a smoother production.

Have a plan. And a backup plan. Production is all about planning. The more organized you are ahead of time, the better and more smoothly your shoot will run. A great production is very front-loaded to allow time on set for you to focus on the shoot and deal with any surprises. Do your homework: think hard ahead time, anticipate possible challenges, run through the day in your head and preempt problems before stepping on set.
Prioritize. Work to get the most bang for you buck. After you’ve made your to-do list, prioritize the most impactful tasks and the most time sensitive items.
Clearly set expectations. Good communication with everyone involved is essential. Schedule a pre production meeting early on to get everyone on the same page. Follow up in an email for clarity. We all remember different parts of conversations that affect us. Summarizing is a great way to make sure that nothing is omitted.

[for 9 more tips, hit continue reading below...] Continue Reading →