dvDepot Blog » Crewing

Invisibility Cloak

Adam — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:10:48 +0000

Our editor, Nayim Saati, spends a lot of late nights at the Depot. Whether rendering, uploading, or capturing footage, he has a lot of time on his hands, waiting for processes to complete. He uses this time for tests of cameras and postproduction processes.

Last night, he decided to recreate the invisibility cloak effect from the Harry Potter movies. He used the Sony EX1 camera and locked it in place. He shot footage of the background, and then shot himself pulling our portable green screen over his head.

On his first attempt, the shadows were too heavy to be useful in post. The second time around, he used two Arri 650 lights and that was all the lighting he needed. Using minimal lighting still left shadows on the green screen, a necessary step in order to capture the cloak texture of the invisibility cloak.

In After Effects, Nayim used the Keylight plugin to do the chroma key process. He layered the shot of himself pulling on the green screen over the empty shot of the background, keyed out the green, then dissolved to get rid of the folds.

In all, it was a productive way to spend his time waiting to render and an impressive video for an hour of work.

Canon 5D and 7D Are Here!

Adam — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:46:03 +0000

The Canon 5D captures the smashing of an acoustic guitar.

Cinematographer Philip Holahan lent his photography skills to the creative team of BLOODTIES, a rock musical written by Ned Massey. They smashed 4 acoustic and 2 electric guitars during their promo photo shoot at dvDepot. BLOODTIES will premiere at The 2010 New York Musical Theater Festival. Holahan shot the photographs at dvDepot using a Canon 5D camera.

An Array of Advantages

: The Canon 7D produces excellent quality video.

The Canon 7D camera is very popular and exciting to work with, shooting still pictures and digital video. Canon single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras create high quality video and give filmmakers more control over their image than video normally allows. The fact that the cameras are affordable and very lightweight only adds to their appeal.

Digital cameras use chips as their sensors. Larger sensors mean an ability to take in more information and therefore, a better image quality. The Canon 7D’s chip is larger than ¾ of an inch, which is a step up from the ½ inch chip in a Sony EX1, which is itself an excellent camera.

Test footage shot on the 7D

More Lenses Means More Merit

Test footage shot on the 5D

Canon’s SLR cameras open more possibilities in shooting because you can use Canon photo lenses. Still camera lenses are more readily available to the average user, allowing more choices in how you want to shoot. Additionally, using these lenses can help create a very cinematic look, including more control over depth of field than you normally have with digital video. As you can see in this video, a shallow depth of field can create a very dramatic look.

The L Series Prime Lenses

dvDepot carries a full array of L series prime lenses, including:

14mm F/2.8
24mm F/1.4
35mm F/1.4
50mm F/1.2
85mm F/1.2
135mm F/2

And the 70-200mm F/2.8 L series zoom lens.

Other New Equipment

The new Canon 5D is now available at dvDepot.

In addition to all the new Canon cameras, the Zacuto double barrel shoulder mount is now available at dvDepot. Not only does this cutting edge shoulder mount adapt to any DSLR camera, but it also looks super cool. It can easily be customized for every camera operator; the shoulder mount can be rigged on either the right or left side and is height adjustable. Throw in the Zacuto follow focus and you’ve got everything you need. This new equipment can be rented from dvDepot as a part of any package that includes a DSLR camera.

The Canon 7D is available for rent or in a crew package with an operator and the Canon 5D is available with a shooter package. Call 212.333.5100 and get in touch with the rental or crewing departments for pricing.

BET’s Food for Thought featuring Ice Cube

Adam — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:48:06 +0000

Ice Cube and Stephen A. Smith discuss current topics.
photo by Andrew Foltz-Morrison

dvDepot filmed the latest installment of Food For Thought, a BET television series, on May 27. This episode, “Food For Thought: Conversations with Ice Cube” aired in early July. As in previous episodes, three media personalities, the Media Assassin Harry Allen, Hot 97’s radio host Angie Martinez, and sports journalist Stephen A. Smith, conduct interviews with Ice Cube over lunch. Previous installments of the show featured musical celebrities Jay-Z and 50 Cent. Since this was the third time dvDepot has shot Food for Thought, members of the crew have become friendly with the interviewers, leading to what we in the industry call “water cooler conversations.”

Lots of Equipment; No Space

With this shoot, dvDepot continues to provide the BET series with both crews and equipment.

A confined space required specialized lighting.
photo by Andrew Foltz-Morrison

The crew used four HDX900 cameras to obtain top quality footage. Using the steadicam also contributed to a very smooth shoot. Due to multiple cameras, lots of lighting equipment, and many crew members, the set was chaotic, to say the least. In addition to all of this activity, the restaurant was open to the public; diners looking for a quiet meal certainly got an unexpected surprise!

Hot 97's Angie Martinez enjoys Sylvia's laid back atmosphere.
photo by Andrew Foltz-Morrison

The Location: Sylvia’s Restaurant

The interviews took place at Sylvia’s, the world famous soul food restaurant. Situated uptown in Harlem, the eatery is famed for providing great service and an array of Southern favorites. Sylvia actually came out from the kitchen to meet the crew and personally took their orders. Munching on delectable macaroni and
cheese, divine fried chicken and catfish, and delicious cornbread kept the entire group more than well fueled for a full ten hour day of filming.

Steadicam Op Jon Beattie expertly maneuvers his rig.
photo by Andrew Foltz-Morrison

Multitalented Crew

Each member of the nine person crew brought their unique talents to set. Alex Sierra resumed his position as DP for the third installment of the series. Ameer Grice exhibited enviable packing skills; the utility’s ability to stow so much gear into a relatively small van was nothing short of beautiful. dvDepot’s own Jose Caraballo along with freelancer Jack Hutson handled the audio with impressive skills. Most importantly, however, everyone displayed impressive eating skills that would have made anyone on the competitive eating circuit jealous.

Ice Cube

Working with Ice Cube was wonderful. The artist had a professional attitude that translated to a very functional, stress-free shoot. Ice Cube’s acting background became obvious as he handled the shoot like an experienced professional. The platinum artist had only one indisputable stipulation about the shoot; the day had to end early enough so he could watch the Lakers playoff game which, fortunately, they won.

The artist rocked a feathered fedora on set.
photo by Andrew Foltz-Morrison

Though the shoot was crowded and long, our crew maintained a cheerful attitude. With great food, better company, and completely functioning equipment, the day ended on a positive note. We look forward to working with BET on the next episode.

To see more pictures from this shoot, visit our Facebook page.

DP Alex Sierra.
photo by Andrew Foltz-Morrison

Camera Operator Andreas Wagner.
photo by Andrew Foltz-Morrison

TV Divas 10th Anniversary

Adam — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:30:02 +0000

TV DNA celebrated their 10th anniversary at dvDepot last night. The TV Diva Networking Alliance is a group connecting women working in the TV industry. They meet periodically to share knowledge and resources. Membership is exclusive, limited only to women actively working in television, and based on recommendations of current members. The members include producers, network executives, production managers, line producers, among other positions. One of our owners, Deborah Wolpert is fortunate enough to be a member and hosted the anniversary party.

The Sony Z5U, the Panasonic HVX200 and the Sony EX1 hooked up to monitors.

At last night’s meeting, dvDepot also set up a demo of our HD cameras for the Divas. We went through the advantages and disadvantages of several HD cameras including the Sony EX1, Z5U, and A1U, also the Varicam and HVX200 from Panasonic. Comparing cost to picture quality to post workflow, each camera is appropriate for various situations. The demo was a success and then the men of dvDepot scurried out to leave the Divas to their celebration.

You can read more about the TV Diva Networking Alliance at http://www.tvdna.net and see more picture from the event on our Facebook page.

Fashion Week Fall 2010

Adam — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:09:19 +0000

Shooter Roger Coraggio is very focused with the SDX900 in hand.

Last month, dvDepot covered Fashion Week. New York City’s Fashion Week is followed internationally. Each September and February, the hottest designers, both up and coming and established, gather in Manhattan’s Bryant Park to debut their collections for the next season. Last month was displaying fashions for Fall 2010. For the past few years, we have been working on this event with Shanghai TV’s “The Style Today.” Host Penny Wei conducted interviews at 9 different shows including Max Azria, Tibi, and Diesel and shot the runways. These photos are “live” from Bryant Park on February 17th.

Roger Coraggio, Penny Wei, and Daniel Pleacoff on location in Bryant Park.

Roger Coraggio has been shooting for “The Style Today” since they first came to us several years ago. His excellent work and coverage of Fashion Week events have produced a strong working relationship with Shanghai TV, which is owned and run by the Chinese government. On this shoot he used the Panasonic SDX900 shooting with the DVCPRO50 format. Along with Roger were sound recordists Dennis Brioso and Diana Milani and Production Assistant Daniel Pleacoff.

Fashion Week is a fantastic event that occupies the entire city’s production resources. At every show, we meet people we know also covering the event. Add celebrities, exciting fashions and a healthy dose of overseas production crews and you have one of the more enjoyable jobs of the year for us.

Roger Coraggio, Penny Wei, and Dennis Brioso.

How to Handle On Set Data Transfers

Adam — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:25:08 +0000

With EX1, HVX200, and other cameras that shoot to memory cards becoming more popular every day, the work flow on sets is changing. Log and capture used to be an important phase of post-production, but now, data transfer is a part of production. We’ve had our share of trial and error here at dvDepot trying to figure out how the future is going to look.

Derek Edwards transferring files on set

1. What to call them?

Nobody seems to have any idea of what to call this position. Data wrangler comes up a bunch. More common is “a guy to, like, do transfers and stuff.” Some people just call them camera utilities or assistant cameras. We eventually settled on memory card transfer technician, so that the duties are specific. We’ll shorten this to “card tech” or “transfer tech” most of the time.

2. Can a camera utility or AC do this?

A lot of utilities will know how to do this. But a lot don’t. We sent one of our best utilities on a job to do P2 transfers and he ended up taking twice as along as expected. Any time there was a problem with the camera, he jumped in to help fix it. This is what he’s good at, so it makes sense. This shoot also only ordered two 16GB cards per camera for several multicam interviews in a pretty short time. He had to be constantly dumping and wiping cards to keep up with shooting. We didn’t have time for him to do anything else.

3. Can I send an editor or assistant editor?

It’s tempting to send post people out. They have experience doing file transfers. They know the different formats post requires. We had an editor out once who really knew the transfers down pat and how to format the drives. However, when the camera decided not to recognize the memory card, he had no idea what to do. We sent one of our in-house technicians to solve the problem pretty quickly, but somebody without any knowledge of using the camera on set is missing an important piece of the puzzle.

Labeled SxS cards

4. How do you keep the cards organized?

We worked on one shoot when they were making fast transfers. The transfer tech noticed that he was missing the last batch of footage from camera B. None of the cards were labeled. We had to go through each card again and figure out which one had the missing footage. Most camera operators know to label their tapes, but some overlook labeling their memory cards. Labeling your cards is more important than labeling your tapes because cards will be wiped and then the footage is lost forever.

Labeled P2 Cards

Most people don’t realize it, but P2 cards have an area on the back that is designed for using dry erase markers. You can easily label the cards with A2 or something similar. SxS cards unfortunately don’t have this same convenience. For now, we use paper tape because gaff tape is too thick and can get stuck in the camera. The important thing is training our transfer techs in making sure that all cards are labeled and that they never accept a card from a camera without it being properly labeled.

5. So who do you send?

Kevin Provost is one of our regular transfer techs. He also works for us a camera utility and AC.

We decided that we needed people who are specifically suited to being card transfer techs. They need experience working on set, often as an AC or camera utility. The techs are often called upon to assist in the camera department and they need to be prepared. Additionally, the best candidates are often trained editors. They understand the problems that can arise with file transfers and can deal with them. A lot of our techs are working toward becoming full time editors. Using this as our starting criteria, we have recruited a pool of freelancers who are specifically assigned as transfer card technicians.

By finding the right people to handle the job and making sure the process they use is correct, we’ve turned memory card transfers into a smooth process. We are curious to find out how other people are dealing with this situation. Let us know what you’re doing in the comments below.

If you’re shooting with a camera that uses memory cards, we highly recommend assigning a qualified crew member to this position. If you’re like to hire somebody from dvDepot, please contact our crewing department, by emailing crewing@dvdepot.com or by calling 212.333.5100.

The North American International Auto Show in Detroit

Adam — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:54:42 +0000

The Audi e-tron is an electric sports car

AutoTrader.com regularly hires dvDepot to photograph car shows around the country. Megan Green, an excellent photographer, has been handling this job since 2005. We just received her photos from the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, one of the biggest car shows in the world.

Individual motors on each wheel helps give the Audi e-tron its speed

The Audi e-tron is a battery powered sports car. It is a leap forward in battery powered cars, with a top speed of 124 mph. Each wheel has its own electric hub motor to increase speed. The battery gives the car a range of 155 miles. A new heat pump system surrounds the lithium-ion battery, keeping its temperature steady even in hot and cold weather, which was previously a major barrier in electric cars.

The 2011 Ford Mustang is the most powerful version in the last 10 years

The 2011 Ford Mustang features a return to its roots. Since 2001, the Mustang has been made with 4.6 liter engine that some purists felt lacked the power of the previous models. At NAIAS, Ford unveiled the comeback of the 5.0 engine. With 412 HP this is a return of the power Mustang. The 2011 Mustang will be available in the Spring.

The GMC Granite is a concept car designed for remarkable fuel efficiency

The GMC Granite was presented as a concept car. Recent government mandates require that car companies must increase their average fuel efficiency. GMC’s line is almost entirely gas guzzling pickups. If produced, the Granite would be GMC’s smallest car and is designed to be so fuel efficient that it would drastically increase GMC overall average. Dubbed an “urban utility vehicle,” GMC hopes it will appeal to young, hip city dwellers.

Megan has just wrapped shooting the Philadelphia International Auto Show and the Washington Auto Show and we’ll have pictures up soon.

The 2011 Lincoln MKX features a completely revamped interior including more dynamic interaction with the computer

Everybody was raving about the interesting design of the LED headlights on the Audi A8

The 2011 Ford Mustang stripped down to show off the engine.

A revealing look at the undercarriage of the Ford Mustang

The Tragedy in Haiti

Adam — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:14:34 +0000

A series of Earthquakes absolutely devastated Haiti on Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday night, BET called us to shoot a series of PSAs to help raise awareness, get people to contribute and to connect people with loved ones in Haiti.

This PSA features Pras of the Fugees and was shot by Andreas Wagner with audio by Alex Sierra.

We cannot imagine what the people of Haiti are undergoing, our thoughts and prayers are with all those suffering in Haiti. The outpouring of support over the last week has amazed everyone and we hope it continues.

Michael Cera at the Jersey Shore

Adam — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:13:37 +0000

The Weinstein Company is releasing their new movie “Youth in Revolt” starring Michael Cera this month. dvDepot worked on a series of promos for the film featuring Michael Cera and the cast of MTV’s The Jersey Shore.

The official promo spots for Youth in Revolt featuring the cast of Jersey Shore.

DJ Pauly D teaches Michael Cera how to really style hair

As anybody who watches the show knows, the Jersey Shore kids are a wild bunch. They did not disappoint us here. DJ Pauly D took one look at Michael and decided he needed a makeover. They changed his wardrobe and spent an hour giving him Pauly’s signature hair style. Also, once they heard there was a hot tub on the roof, there was no keeping them out of it– not even the 20 degree weather. In spite of all the fun they had, our crew reported that everybody was professional and easy to work with. We can’t wait until the promos premiere so we can see our finished product.

Michael relaxes in a hot tub with the cast of the Jersey Shore

The promos were shot on three Sony EX1s with our operators Jeremy Leach, Andreas Wagner and Chris Piazza. We had two audio techs on set to mic all the people: Diana Milani and Michael Correa. Kevin Provost was a camera utility and handled data transfers. Joseph Bandelli was our PA. We worked with Partizan, who were producing the spots.

You can see more pictures on the sites we borrowed these from: People Magazine and the Huffington Post. We also get mentioned in the article at New TeeVee.

Michael Cera looks the part with Snooki and Sammi on his arm.

Michael Cera's Jersey makeover in full.

Movie Trailers – Movies Blog

Behind the scenes footage of Michael Cera and the gang in the hot tub courtesy of Gothamist.

BET’s Food for Thought featuring 50 Cent

Adam — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:31:02 +0000

50 Cent was the subject of the latest episode of BET's Food for Thought

Jon Beattie works the steadicam as 50 enters. We had to shoot this shot many time and 50 was always happy to go again.

dvDepot works a great deal with BET. In September, we worked on the pilot episode of the “Food for Thought” series, featuring Jay-Z. This month we were back for another episode: “Food for Thought: Conversations with 50 cent”. The series is a major event for BET and they pull out all stops in the production. We shot with four HDX900 cameras, including one on steadicam. The beautiful location required a full lighting package. BET’s production team and our crew worked together and created an exciting product to watch.

The producers watch as Angie Martinez interviews 50.

The show features three media personalities, sports journalist Stephen A. Smith, Harry Allen– the Media Assassin– and Hot 97’s Angie Martinez. They each bring their own perspective and style to the interviews. Smith is an expert on image and media. Martinez knows music and has an ability to get stars to answer personal questions. Harry Allen always asks the difficult questions and got some lively answers out of 50 Cent.

50 took the time to take pictures with the waiters that served him during the shoot at Bobby Van's Steakhouse

This episode was shot in Bobby Van’s Steakhouse (25 Broad St). Bobby Van’s is well worth a look for those of you who haven’t been there before. The restaurant has an upstairs formal dining room and another room in the basement, which used to be a bank vault. This gives the restaurant a luxurious and distinctive feel which made it an ideal location for 50 Cent’s interviews.

50 Cent was great to have on set and was a pleasure to work with. 50 is very busy at the moment with the release of his new album “Before I Self Destruct” which is available in all record stores now.

Jon Beattie and Jeremy Leach work together to get the right shot

We had a great crew on this shoot. Alex Sierra was the DP again, Chris Piazza and Jeremy Leach were also camera operators with Jon Beattie operating the steadicam. Michael Correa was the Audio/Video tech. Audio was by Ethan Goldberger with Brett Hammond doing the breakaway audio. Jeff Clark was our utility and Chad Williams and Gabriel Cassia were our PAs. It was great to work with BET again and we’re already prepping the next episode of “Food for Thought.” The new episode, “Conversations with 50″ Cent premiers Thursday November 19th at 7:30pm on BET.

You can see all the photos from the shoot on our flickr site.

Three cameras (including a steadicam), fully lighting the scene and three interviews can really fill a room.

Mike Correa, our operations manager, worked on the shoot as the audio/video technician. Ethan Goldberger monitors the sound.

Jon Marc Sandifer regularly requests us for his BET projects. He works closely with our crews and always helps them to be at their very best.

DP Alex Sierra has a device on his belt that steadies a camera on his hip.