First Proper Go Round with the AF

[adeath]

Before you watch the video let me state that I am not normally a DP for our company. I am usually the guy who sets the camera, builds the gear and manages the media when it comes of the camera. When we come back from a shoot I put on my assistant editor hat and log and capture all the clips for my director and editor. I have started to undertake a few small jobs here and there with a new client base that we don't normally serve. Most of our productions are very heavy in the aerospace industry with projects large and small for NASA and it's contractors. These kinds of shoots usually involve a multi-man crew with a lot of gear and several days at a particular location to make sure that every set up is it's very best. In this instance we were contacted by one of our clients to come out and shoot some client testimonials for a short web video. They were having a party to celebrate 20 years since the initial batch of clients first received corrective laser eye surgery and wanted to get their thoughts and feelings 20 years on. Since my boss and primary DP were down at the Cape shooting the Shuttle launch and VIP interviews it fell to me to direct the shoot. Suffice to say I learned a lot. We were rushed to get as many folks interviewed as possible in a very short window of time and in a very small workspace. This led to some audio not be perfect and some issues with framing. I am happy to say that when my boss returned he had a few comments about the placement of some of the stuff in the background but overall was very easy on my ego. My editor did a great job tweaking some of the visuals by adding a vignette and cropping down the video, allowing him to move the subjects around a little bit. Over all I was really happy with the overall look of the shots he picked and how he used the quotes to tell the story. The wide shots were done with a Nikon 50mm 1.8 and the closeups were shot with an HPX-170 on loan from my freelance DP. I will be interested to hear the feedback.

The password is: dvxuser2011



Alex D'Eath
Operations Manager
Space City Films, Inc.