Hella-Sweet Equipment

The Spider Flex

The SPIDER DOLLY with flex trak. This piece of equipment has got to be the ultimate dolly system. You can curve the track, which is very awesome, and the whole system is also incredibly portable. The drawback is the price tag of 400$ for the track, and about 1,000 for the dolly. But of course, who really buys anything in this business? Here is a link to a video how to on building your own dolly: DJ TV Billy's Blueprints: The Wheel Deal

HMI Light + Cherry Picker



The HMI is just one wicked light. It uses an arc lamp instead of an incandescent bulb to be more powerful and more efficient. For the short Lullaby, the crew stuck an HMI at the top of a cherry picker and basically lit up the our whole location at night. And yes, a good moonlight effect was seen through the second floor window. Again though, this is equipment typically unavailable to small scale filmmakers. Will definitely need some contacts or a bit of a budget to get a hold of these, and before you, you will have to stick to day shots, and first floor night shots.

Lastly, THE RED...



There is a bit of a wait on these babies, but please do yourself a favor and check out the FUTURE of the RED. When you first go there, just scroll down all the way and take it all in. The red camera is going to allow an individual to build there own camera with removable parts. You can go from a digital photography camera, to the bottom of the line video camera, to the highest quality video camera that Red offers by just upgrading and adding specific pieces. No longer do you have to buy a whole new camera, you can simply switch "brains." This is genius and is going to start a revolution in the independent filmmaking world. Granted, the revolution will most likely be stifled by availability, but eventually one's investment in a cheaper camera will in the same token become an investment in a more expensive camera. The people at RED are geniuses, and it looks like exciting things will happen in the coming year. Also, if you scrolled to the bottom, you can check out a sweet 3D camera...oh hell yeah.



I never even wanted to make a 3D movie...at least not until I saw this sexy beast!

Shootin' the Red

I am not familiar with what the general consensus is on the Red camera, but it is a magnificent beast in person. Just the sheer bulk of it aided by the attachment of a sizable lens inspires a lot of awe. Fortunately for me, I was lucky enough to crew on an independent short entitled, "Lullaby," that just so happened to utilize this beautiful piece of equipment. I only got a limited view of the footage, so I will post again later on the quality of the film, once the editing has gotten underway.

It was quite an interesting experience, as well as a testament of dedication and hardwork. The main part of the shoot was scheduled for 5 days, broken down into 2 days of filming and 3 nights of filming. The first day went from 7:00am to about 6:00pm, nothing like a good 11 hours to start off the shoot. The first day was cold, but not to be undone, the second day answered with the cold, and then one upped with a decent chunk of pouring rain. Luckily for me, my position was in audio (shot logging and lav monitoring). I will tell you there are benefits to being in charge of sensitive equipment.

However, the other members of the crew, such as those working in the camera department, had to prove their mettle. In the pouring rain, they moved a huge jib (yes, one quite bigger then the one pictured in the link) onto the roof of the cabin we were shooting at. Which was pretty ridiculous, but quite amazing. After two days of battling the elements, we then battled our own body systems to complete three night shoots. The first night shoot went from 1:30pm to 6:00am, the 2nd from 4:00pm to 7:00am, and for me, the third night went from 4:00pm to 3:30am because I twisted my ankle pretty badly earlier on in the night. I left early, and sadly missed the celebratory end to a very long production.

The film was written and directed by Eric Hurt who runs his own production company Pillage and Plunder Pictures, and was produced by Pat Cassidy of Who Do you Know Here, and shot by Johnny St Hours who also has his own picture company called Piraeus, also you can check out his blog Johnny St. Hours. I believe those three represent the bulk of film production out of Charlottesville, Va.

We also had the good fortune of working with a seasoned veteran in Jack Steinberg who was the assistant director, and has worked in Hollywood for over a decade (he was also an assistant director on a small film called Terminator 3). There was a wonderful cast that put in some brilliant performances. I mean putting up with the intense shooting schedule itself, is a performance in itself. The film has a short cameo by Mark Joy, but the intense performance by Jamee Vance is what will really give the bite to this supernatural thriller. The rest of the cast also put in great performances, particularly a strong one by the films heroine, Janey, a newcomer to acting on camera.

All in all, this was quite a thrilling experience, even though it definitely made me appreciate my passion for post production more. It is tough putting that much energy and sacrifice into a project like that, particularly when your job is not part of the creative process. But the ability to work with this crew and this cast certainly made this experience a valuable one, and I was very fortunate to be a part of it. For all I know, it may be the largest scale production that I will ever be a part of...but let's hope not.