Big Production Week

So busy prepping for next weeks jobs that this was as much of a post as I could muster... We shot the first part of the TMTS music video on Sunday.  I spent most of the day prepping for the UW commercials that we're shooting tomorrow and Wednesday.

l.a. landing, originally uploaded by thinklab.

Preproduction X3

It's been an amazingly crazy-busy-fun week.  I shot 2 TV commercials for World Famous in the Superfad studio on Tuesday.  Sean Porter did a wonderful job with the lighting and it's always a blast to work with the World Famous crew.  I want to start a company called 'The Best Around' and this would be our theme song.

I've been auditioning for the TMTS music video and have met a ton of great local actors. 

Mike and I took the RED out on the town to test its low-light capabilities and then its daylight capabilities on some shots for Great Speeches.  I'll be posting a RED reel soon.

If all goes according to plan by the end of next week I'll have completed 1 MS stills shoot, 3 UW commercials, and have shot the TMTS music video.

Here are the links:

• Neat Hotel Rooms
  
• Skater Ollies Car - This would be easy to make in After Effects
• Atlantic Ave. Art Walk Promo - Great stop motion
• Dubai is NUTS!!! - and that's an understatement
• Toyota Organic - Motion Control? 

Red Camera

After a year-long wait, Mike finally received the RED camera.  We spent the first half of the week testing it out in the studio and around the neighborhood.  The RED software and UI could use some tweaking, but the image resolution and quality is everything I could've hoped for.  I don't see any reason why it won't be the indie filmmakers camera of choice for the next 5+ years.

The TMTS music video, the first of the 6 shorts in 6 months project, is coming together quickly. The script is super fun and we've already got an amazing crew.  All we have to do is cast it, find locations and shoot it in 2 weeks from today.  It already feels like an insane pre-production schedule for a no-budget project.

Speaking of the opposite of paying jobs, the Puget Sound Energy project is winding down and the University of Washington commercial is ramping up.  I was also hired to DP a shoot for World Famous later next week.  I still can't believe how cool it is to get these jobs that require spending days or even weeks out of the office.

Here's a still from one of the RED tests:

mike-still, originally uploaded by thinklab.

I'm going to start posting a couple of favorite links each week:

• Reggie Watts in Slow Motion - I can do that
  
• Ikea in Slow Motion - Makes me want to design web sites again
• Careerbuilder.com - Mike Mills selling out or redeeming himself
• MGMT Music Video - My favorite song and memorable video
• Vimeo HD - Slowly it improves

Mystery Project

The big news last week was the birth of a new, unnamed mystery project. It's approaching a year since making my last short film, Numb. I've done a ton of commercial work, and got married since then, but I'm itching to start directing on a regular basis.  I can't keep it a secret.

The mystery project is this idea to do 6 short films, music videos, or whatevers and do 1 a month for the next 6 months.  We already have 3 of the projects pretty well mapped out.  I'll be working with a small team including: Mike Ragen-shooting, Rob Dalton-writing/co-writing, Joy Andrews-art direction, and a few more names coming soon. We'll post the projects online as they are completed.

In studio news, we have a new studio-mate, Thad.  Thad's a web-designer, animator, and all around creative guy who I met years ago while working at Garrigan Lyman.  The Puget Sound Energy AE project should wrap this week and I've been working with HL2 on the creative for the 3 UW commercials that we'll be shooting near the end of the month.

Here's a still from the footage I shot for a short experimental documentary about gentrification, directed by Adam Sekular: 

sanctuary, originally uploaded by thinklab.