The Way We Watch

Thoughts on Being a Documentary DP

A still from the film I shot, 'Pop Up Men.'

I've been dipping my toe in the director of photography pool. It's a whole new experience for me.

Here's what happened. My company, Wheelhouse Communications, started investing in equipment. We purchased a brand new Sony FS700/OdysseyQ7 combo and then picked up a SONY PMW-F3.

After handling these cameras and dealing with lenses (some we bought and still some we rent), it became pretty clear that I knew how to set up these cameras quicker than the DPs we hire. Also, I knew their quirks. F3s tend to moiré without ND. FS700's can get grainy in the shadows, etc. 

Since I didn't want to risk being a DP on client work, I decided to find a story I could shoot on off days.

For my first subject, I picked the Christmas tree sellers who invade Manhattan after Thanksgiving and set up shop for four weeks hawking trees. I got the idea when I was crossing the street in my neighborhood looking at a Tree vendor who strung up some lights across his display of trees. I thought to myself, "That would be pretty to film at night." 

So I asked someone I worked with to scout around the city for a couple hours and to find a friendly person who wouldn't mind speaking to me on camera about selling trees.  We scouted on a Thursday. We shot on a Friday with a PA and a Production Coordinator/Boom holder. I edited over the weekend and bam! Pop Up Men was born. 

Here are some lessons that I've learned along the way to DP-hood and shooting with prime lenses. 

• Invest in the best tripod you can. The precision of your tripod, the ease in which it can be manipulated, has a direct result on the quality of your filmmaking.
• If you are doing documentary, stick with one lens most of the time. I find a 50 mm to be the best lens for me. It's not too far off from the way our eyes see things.
• Use zebras to help you with not blowing out your subjects face. I set them on 80% and then like to see the lines barely dance on the hottest part of the face.
• Keep the lens on the person! You can't think of your next shot while you're shooting your current shot. Find your shot. Breathe. Keep it there.
• Do your first shoots on cloudy days. When the sky is overcast, everyone has a nice soft look and you don't have to deal with harsh sunlight blowing out your scenes. Check out this interview with Woody Allen where he says he doesn't like sunny days either.
• In terms of compositions, here's a short list of what to look for: think of the screen in thirds; look for foreground elements; look for lines; look for balance and symmetry but then also don't make it too perfect -- I know that's contradictory. Once you start seeing the frame as made of these elements you can shape, you can decide to use or break the rules. There are tons of videos and books on this subject. You could go nuts reading about this. 

Here's the video! I was thrilled when the film was picked up by LaughingSquid.com. Many thanks to my colleague Dana Salvatore for finding these gentleman.

http://laughingsquid.com/pop-up-men-a-look-at-the-frigid-work-of-new-york-citys-christmas-tree-street-vendors/

What are your newbie DP tips?

Hitchcock Experimented In Every Movie and Why You Should Too

My undergraduate film professor, Jeanine Basinger, had a theory that Hitchcock was an experimental filmmaker.

It's agreed that Hitchcock was a master stylist and famous for the subjective camera that with editing made viewers feel suspense.
 
His style was based on the audience aligning with the motivations of his characters. When obstacles get in the way - the audience more times than not- becomes a helpless voyeur. Viewers of Hitchcock are constantly feeling suspense because they are trapped when they know more than the characters. We constantly want to say, "Hey, watch out!" to the lead characters.
 
I was just watching a famous scene from Marnie on TV. Tippi Hedren plays Marnie who is stealing money from her office and she's tip-toeing out the office. She takes off her shoes because she realizes a cleaning woman is working outside the office in the hallway.

Marnie puts the shoes in her coat pocket upon exiting. With the stolen money in her purse, she tip toes out. The camera keeps focusing on a loose shoe in her coat. It's going to fall down. It's going to make a noise and Marnie is going to be found out. "Marnie, look at your shoe!"

However, Marnie doesn't know that her shoe is falling out of her coat. Only we do.The shoe falls. Makes a sound.
The cleaning woman doesn't notice. Everyone is surprised and relieved once more. Marnie and the audience. When Marnie exits the office we learn the cleaning woman is hard of hearing.
 
In Psycho, seeing Anthony Perkins' shadowy figure enter Janet Leigh's bathroom when she's taking a shower is another example of knowing more than the characters.

Well, that was a bit of a tangent! Sometimes I need to talk Film 101.

But getting back to my point, Basinger asserted that the master stylist, Hitchcock, went out of his way to experiment. Some examples:

• Lifeboat. It's as if Hitchcock said one day, "I want to tell a story where the action never leaves a tiny row boat." Basinger called this a "limited space" movie. Das Boot is another famous one.
• Rope. Hitchcock makes an experimental movie where there is not one edit (except when he changes film stock canisters).
• Psycho. Hitchcock makes an experimental movie where the beautiful star is killed off in the first 1/3 of the movie. Unheard of.
• The Parradine Case. Hitchcock eschews all of his past subjective techniques and with long takes instead of point of view cuts makes a film where we don't naturally align with anyone.

It's a good lesson to remember. In your own video, sneak in an experiment. You'll stretch yourself and probably more important tweak your winning formula to keep it fresh.

Here are some examples:

1. If you've always shot interviews with the subject looking at an off camera interviewer. Use an eye-direct system (or make your own with a teleprompter) to have the interviewee look directly in the camera. There is a subtle difference.
2. Mix up the expectations. Start your video in one genre and then turn it upside down. Here are two examples of this technique.
3. Figure out ways to use the latest technology by building them into the budget. Use an octocopter. Shoot super slow mo with a Sony FS700. Check out a DJI Ronin -- a new way to achieve that smooth steadicam look. Be safe and partner with experts who use these toys day in and day out.
4. If you've never done stop motion, figure out how stop motion could enhance your b-roll. I saw an Errol Morris film and then tried the same technique here (see the apple at 1:08).

Experimenting is the key to learning and keeping you at the top of your field. You may be surprised that the result will be clients wanting more.

 Photo Credit: Thompson Rivers University CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

10 Things Everyone Does On a Video Set

I loved this post over at raindance about the 15 Things Everyone Does on A Film Set.

So to continue the meme, I thought I would tell you about the 10 things everyone does on my set...

1. Congratulate ourselves on packing the cart tight. Yeah, it's the simple things in life that are most satisfying. When a grip, PA or I pack up the cart like a veteran bricklayer, we're all very proud of ourselves.
   
   
   
   
2. Chatter about the latest technology. "Hey, did you see the new Sony FS7?" "I saw some 6K footage last night."  "I worked with a Octocopter on my last shoot."  "Check out my SDI cable, it coils!" During set up there's always a little talk about what's the latest bell and whistle to buy at B&H, Adorama or AbelCine.
   
   
3. Leave half-filled cups of coffee around and forget whose coffee is whose. PA's get extra points by putting initials on everyone's coffee cup.
   
   
4. Take a picture of the set but in the monitor that is attached to the camera. Feels very Brechtian to do this.
   
   
   
   
5. Remember that re-booting the camera is the most effective way to figure out camera hijinx but not remembering this until I've looked in the camera menus a dozen times in vain.
   
   
6. Chat during a shoot when sound isn't being recorded. You'll notice the loudest place in the world is when a film crew is shooting without audio.
   
   
7. Futz over the back light. It's a game of degrees. That's too much. No that's too little. Okay, just right.
   
   
8. Make fun of the guy who is particular about where to put stuff back in the cases. I am the guy they make fun of. But if it doesn't get put back in the right place, it won't be there next time.
   
   
9. See Number 1. Yep, again as we leave.
   
   
10. Give everyone a hug.  We battled; we won. We will reconvene and do it all over again soon.

Be A Shrink, A Bartender and A Rabbi on Set

A New York Times obituary by Bruce Weber for Sheldon Patinkin (a major force in the Chicago theater scene) ended with a perfect description of Patinkin's note giving style.

Written by Jeff Perry of Steppenwolf fame and delivered at a recent awards ceremony that honored Patinkin:

“As most of you know and have benefited from, Sheldon is a world champion note giver. His process is gorgeous; like movements in a symphony or rules of comedy, it comes in threes.

“First are the Socratic questions that lead you to this pleasantly shocked re-understanding of your intent. Then he continues with a great, blunt, nonjudgmental articulation of what he saw compared to what you intended. And finally, as you launch into a spin cycle of anxiety and self-justification about all the obstacles sabotaging your genius, he has the knack of being able to steer you, like a shrink, bartender and rabbi rolled into one, into the belief that the fixes are easy, they are absolutely in your reach, and there’s plenty of time to work them in.”

What a great reminder this is when working with professional talent or non-professionals, to bring all your intelligence, non-judgements and patience to set by being a shrink, bartender and rabbi all rolled into one.

Post-mortem: Ice Bucket Videos

 

My Facebook feed is a lot cleaner these days without those ubiqutous ALS Ice Bucket Videos. Ok, maybe that's the wrong perspective. This do-good form of charitabe giving raised millions of dollars for a good cause. It was also the first video meme that I can remember that all age demographics wanted to particpate.

From a video making and marketing perspective, what is the takeaway from this social media phenomenon?

• Big media started it (the first challenges were on Golf Channel and the Today Show).*
• Narrative matters. Suspense played a role (How will this teenager/celebrity/grandmother handle being doused with bone chilling ice water?).
• Timing matters. The lazy days of summer were a perfect time for this idea to spread.  Young people are around with not much to do.
• So, millenials followed.
• Celebrities followed.
• Exclusivity. The meme had an invitation-only "pass it on"aspect that was evocative of yesteryear's chain letter. 
  
• Boomers followed.
  
• We can all make video that our circle can see. Every age group now knows how to shoot video on their phone and upload it to Facebook. This is a big one.
• Video quality was all over the map.  Bill Gates' challenge had top notch production. My relatives in Suffern, NY operated a shaky cell phone with horrible audio. Bottom Line: Video quality doesn't matter when it's video about people you know and love.
• First time that I saw people embracing the hosting video function on Facebook as opposed to instinctually hosting on YouTube. I could see Facebook smilling ear to ear about this. Nothing would make them happier than to become the next YouTube.

My prediction: we haven't seen the last of these summer video memes for good causes. My guess is that the next one will have to be a notch more painful than ice water on a hot day.

* Wikipedia

 

Photo Credit: Kim Quintano CC Attribution 2.0 License

Gif Crazy

Do we love gifs because we know life repeats itself? We can all empathize with Sisyphus thinking he's going to get that rock up the hill.  We know he won't.  Endless repitition is what our days are like (sometimes).  The loop of the gif reminds us that it's all a cycle.

Or do we love gifs because we like to be in the position of all-knowing. If we can still be entertained, shocked, amazed, and charmed - even when we know what's going to happen - that's a strange magic that is addictive.

Twitter allows gifs now. Make one. Make one. Make one. Make one.

 

Looks like another gorgeous day. #NYC http://t.co/IfPZ4VlOXN

— Chris Ming Ryan (@chrismingryan) June 22, 2014

I know it's old news but Twitter now accepts Gifs. Here's my contribution. http://t.co/z7oaSsdo4p

— Chris Ming Ryan (@chrismingryan) June 20, 2014

Make 'Em Laugh

Libba Bray: How To Narrate An Audio Book from Wheelhouse Communications on Vimeo.

 
Libba Bray, the New York Times bestselling author, moved to New York after college and wanted to be a playwright. After five unsuccessful plays she wrote her first novel, A Great and Terrible Beauty, in 2003.  She hasn't stopped writing books ever since.

But if you ask me, she could have easily gone to Chicago after college and took up improv -- eventually moving to NYC -- and in my alternate-reality fantasy -- she would have been discovered by Lorne Michaels...

A couple weeks ago, Libba asked me to produce and direct a video to accompany her opening monologue at this year's Audie Awards (honoring the best in the audio book world).

Let's all hope she invests more time making video.

Follow Libba at http://twitter/libbabray.

Loving Haiku Deck and Now It's Online

WHY I GIVE - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires;

I've written about Haiku Deck before.  The app originated on the iPad and now it's available to anyone on the internet.  It works the same way as before, but because you don't have to type on your iPad, it's a whole lot easier to compose your decks. 

I made the above deck online in about 15 minutes from pictures from a video I produced and directed. It's a converstation starter to other parents on why I give to my kids' school Annual Fund. 

The advantages of Haiku Deck vs PPT.

• Themes (the font choice and how text is presented) are snazzy looking and make your presentations look instantly "designed."
• You can choose their free Themes or purchase others.
• Inserting text is easy and the lack of space for text -- makes me really focus on my message. Remember that Seth Godin post on how to make effective PPTs. In the post, he says never to put more than six words on a slide. I think rules are meant to be broken -- but I can see his point.  The deck is just to wake people up and make the "emotional sale" (Godin's words). There's always more information (a webpage, a handout, pdf) that explains in detail your deck.
• Inserting pictures.  Haiku Deck has done something brilliant here.  You can use pictures to illustrate your points from your hard drive, dropbox, facebook, Google+, etc.  Or, you can do a quick search through hundreds of creative commons licensed photos based on word searches.    I used the CC search on this deck. 
• Because Haiku Deck is now on your computer, you can easily take stills from videos (I make stills from video through Mpeg Streamclip (free app), screen grabs,  or your iphoto stash. Make sure you have the rights!
  
• You can work on your decks on the iPad and the online portal.
• When you're done, take the deck and embed it with HTML code or send to social media sites. And, you can even make a PDF or even export into PPT file. 

 
I've used Haiku Decks when I've presented talks to schools, as an opening teaser when bidding on projects and it's also a great way to get your team on the same page at the start of a project.

Next from Haiku Deck, I would like to see hypertext links on URLS. 

I'm looking forward to the next iteration.