Music Video - The METTAphors "My OwnFist"

This month has been a pretty busy one and a few weeks ago, in the middle of it all, I had the chance to film a local group (the METTAphors) as they did their thing.  With limited time and resources, we had to keep things nice and simple. So, with that in mind, I put together a rough little storyboard, we got a great location thanks to Bex McG, and off we went!  

If you haven't seen the METTAphors play live yet, add it on your to-do list... until then, check out a few still shots, the storyboard, and the final video down below!

Check out "Small Town Girl"! - North Bay Video

I've talked a few times before about our "Small Town Girl" music video which was in the works over the summer, and I thought it might be time to post the finished product.

We wrapped shooting on the video a while back, and the final edit was done shortly after, but since Pam was going to be having a big show at the end of this month, it seemed like that would be a good time to give the video its official premiere. The show took place on Saturday, and everyone had a great time... aside from kind of faking it for the video,  this was the first time I actually had the chance to see Pam perform, so it was nice to sit back and enjoy the show (without a camera in my face). 

I've had the video posted on my website, which a few people might have seen, but I thought I'd wait until after Pam's show to start posting this all over the place.  We had a great time working on this, and I'm happy to share it with everyone. If you haven't already seen it (and even if you have, hah), please take a few minutes to watch it, and pass it along! Here it is, Pam Millar &  "Small Town Girl" ... next step, CMT! 

Be a part of our crowd!

You might already know that we've spent a few days here and there shooting a music video for Burk's Falls singer Pam Millar... well, on the afternoon of June 26th, we'll be shooting our last scene and we're looking to get as many participants as possible & really end this shoot (which has gone quite smoothly) on a high note. This last scene will take place in Burk's Falls, and Pam knows she'll be able to draw a good bunch of people there.

It would be a bit of a road trip for anyone interested in taking part, but the more people we can get involved the better, and it would be great to see some familiar faces in the crowd.

If you'd be into joining us for a few hours, send me a message, and I'll get you the details.
Thanks!

New Short... "MISSING" - North Bay Cinematography

OK, I need to take a quick time-out in this crazy day to post something about a new short we've got in the works.  I can't really say much about it because it is really going to be quite short, so any explanation would probably describe the entire thing, but I figured I'd put up a few screen captures.  With an afternoon of shooting behind us, I'm pretty excited about how this one's looking.  We just have an other hour or two to spend whenever we can get together again, and then it'll be on to editing, and on to planning the next film. I'll go into that one (which will be a longer project) some other time.  One film at a time.

Here are the screens...

A little teaser...The House - North Bay Cinematography

Well, for those who might not have heard, The Lake won for Best Short at Film North International Film Festival last weekend.  That was pretty good news, and a nice way to end things with The Lake's festival run. I've posted more details about this film a few times before, but the last thing I'll say about it is a big thanks to Kevin Hoffman who did the editing, and submitted the short to a bunch of festivals a while back. If that hadn't happened, nobody would have heard of it, or heard of me for that matter.

Now that The Lake has run its cycle, it's time to start pushing the next project: The House.

The House is a short film I worked on earlier this summer, and it's just now starting to get submitted to festivals. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it does well over the next year or so. You can do the same if you'd like, but people might look at you and think you're a bit odd. I'm seeing a bit of a trend with the titles of the some projects I've worked on so far: The Gloaming. The Lake. The House. what's next? The Backyard, The Car, The Sky, The, The etc... Time to mix it up a little!

As usual, we had a pretty small group working on this short, and we actually shot most of it in a single day. Really we shot the whole short in one day, but there were a few things we weren't completely happy with, so we spent a few hours reshooting a scene a few days later.

Starring in the film are Jim & Claire Calarco, Danielle Baker, Abigail Calarco, and Lewis Hodgson.

Jim wrote, produced and directed the piece, I worked on cinematography and Kevin Hoffman handled art direction, sound, as well as the big task of editing the whole thing together. Heather Cairns-Hodgson lent her hand to wardrobe, as well as helping with just about anything we needed throughout the day (including holding an umbrella over me for a while so my camera wouldn't get soaked... Thank you!). And of course thank you to Nicole who puts up with me leaving for a day to get a shoot done.

I can't really say much more about it, but you can watch a little teaser of it below the poster.
Have a good weekend...

The Lake showing at Cinefest - North Bay Cinematography

Well, The Lake (one of our short films) is showing at Cinefest International Filmf Festival today. This is pretty cool, unfortunately I don't think anyone who was involved with the film will actually be there for the experience.  Most of the cast and crew have regular jobs they couldn't just duck out of to go to a festival, which is too bad.

In my case, it's pretty much the same. I have quite a full month with a lot of different contracts on the go, from websites to video work and photography. I just can't take another day away from the computer right now. It's a little disappointing, but in the end paying the bills and hopefully keeping the family fed for a while happens to be quite a bit heavier on the priority scale.

The lake will actually also be showing at Film North - 2010 Huntsville International Film Festival this weekend.  I'll be out in the wild doing a full day of shooting for the tourism industry, so I'll have to miss this festival too. On the plus side, writer and partner in crime Michael Humble will be making it to the event, and I'm sure he'll have a blast.

This weekend will pretty much mark the end of The Lake's festival shelf life. It has been around for a little while, and played here and there over the past year. One of the highlights was the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards where a certain Patrick Gilbert (yay me!) and Ed Regan won for Best Cinematography. now it's time to move on and start pushing the next one.

We have had a pretty good run with The Lake, and I look forward to continued success with our recent, and future projects.

If you haven't seen it yet, why don't you take a few minutes to watch The Lake...

Oliver Sherman

Hey folks, right now I'm in Toronto for a private cast and crew screening of Oliver Sherman, a feature film shot in the North Bay area last year which I did some work on. I have to say it's odd, and fun being in the company of several accomplished film makers. It's nice to have had some part (even a small part) in the making of the film, which will be premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in a few days. I'm honored to be a part of it all, small or not.

My role was in the art department, and my contribution came in the design of things like beer labels, vodka labels, cigarette packs, a cheque, bus ticket, signs etc... I had fun working on these items during my short time on the film, and it was cool to see the stuff on the big screen. Of course, these are pretty much just little props and are mostly out of focus in a lot of the shots where they appear, but it was still pretty cool.

I have to share a shot of something I saw just outside of the theater where the premiere took place. It got my attention, so i figured i'd post it. Talk to ya later folks!





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Freeze!

Ok, so with a number of projects on hold, I was planning on doing some running around yesterday but then Jaden wasn't feeling well, so she stayed home from school and I was sidelined for the day. 

I worked on as many things as I could, and she chilled on the couch watching Meerkat Manor. I don't care about meerkats, but the way they filmed and edited that series to be like a soap opera is pretty impressive.

Anyway, after a few hours, I felt the need to play around a little so I set up my camera on a tripod in the living room, went in the backyard, and started acting like a goof.  "What are you doing?... Why are you doing that?... You're crazy!". That's about all Jaden could say. It was the first sign of a smile I had seen all day, so I didn't mind that she was looking at me like I was a freak.

Anyway, a little bit of editing later, and I've got myself one silly little video. Check it!...

I've stocked up!

I finally got around to bringing a roll of film from my holga to get developped. It's been a while since I took that camera out to play around, and I can't really remember what pictures will be on that film. I'm anxious to see the prints, and that's part of the fun of using an old school camera every now and then.

There's only one place left in town where I can get this medium format film developped, and where I can buy new rolls. Having said that, their supply is running quite low, so before long I'll have to order online. The plus side of buying the film in town is that because everyone has been digital for years, the rolls are not in demand and have expired in 2005 or so, which means I get them for next to nothing, and the film works just fine.

So, with a handful of rolls in hand, I'm stocked up and ready to play around for a little while. I'll be posting some new Holga pics soon!



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The Lake

"The Lake" has been accepted into the NSI Film Festival! The Lake is a short film written by Michael Humble, Directed by Kevin Hoffman, and cinematography of flashback sequences in the film was done by... Yep, Patrick Gilbert. hah. You can see a bit about the film here http://www.nsi-canada.ca/the_lake.aspx
Here are a few stills I took during the shoot...