Also known as, “What I Did Last Saturday Night.”

Last week director Dave Campfield (we worked together on the award winning feature film “Under Surveillance“) called me and asked if I would help him shoot a short spoof video for a project he is working on. Here is the result:

If you want to know more about how I lit this, check out the article I posted on my indie film blog.

Read more articles about lighting and video/film production at my Indie Film Blog.

This is not the right way to shoot a green screen, but I needed to work in a hurry.

I found an opportunity to convince some business folks on the benefits of an in-house studio space with a built-in pre-lit green screen. I wanted to make sure the execs knew that we already had the technical capacity to shoot and composite green screen work and that we only needed dedicated space to make an efficient system.

I can rack up another award on my resume. Under Surveillance, the independant feature film I shot and co-produced with writer/director/actor/producer Dave Campfield, won the Best Long Island Film and Best Score (I can’t take any credit for that one) awards at the 2006 Long Island International Film Expo.

Dave and I worked hard to get this project done, and I really enjoyed watching it on the big screen at the festival. It is very satisfying to have the hard work recognized!

I know a guy who needs to stream video from his blog for users. I searched your blog and did not find anything.It’s a 12 second video in MPEG format. What’s the best way to stream video? Should it be in a particular format?

A few years back I worked as co-producer and director of photography on an indie film called Under Surveillance, directed by Dave Campfield. He just let me know that it will be an opening night feature presentation at the Long Island Internationl Film Expo. Show time is 7pm on July 11, 2006.

There will be a short panel discussion after the movie and Dave and I will be speaking.

On my indie filmmaking blog I posted an article reviewing my new Porter Case camera case.

If you travel frequently with equipment and lots of bags, check out the review of this camera case that comes with a built in hand-truck.

I just posted a new article on calibrating color for home theaters on www.ColossalTV.com.

Check out the Calibrating Color article and let me know what you think.

The Go-To Guy

Recently I was digging through some old papers and found this funny little joke that a friend emailed me back in early 2001. I meant to put it up on one of my production websites, but it got lost in the shuffle. Now it has a home.

I recently spotted this message on the Videomaker Magazine blog. They are co-sponsoring a contest where the prize is a new Sony HDR FX1 HDV Camcorder. The contest runs through April 15, 2006.

Current TV is the cable/satellite station that is the partner on this contest. They are looking for short form documentaries they call “Pods” to air on their channel. Contest details are available at the Current TV website.

I had to make a very difficult choice recently. Unexpectedly, I received approvals to purchase a new High Definition video camera and had to hastily put together a purchase order for a new camera package. We’re talking about a budget in the low 5 figures, so I had the money to buy whatever I wanted and I was the person deciding what was needed. But, the choice was hard to make.