Jasmine Lord: Film & Photography

The Challenge of Writing a Biography.

2011-10-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

It's been an exciting year for me this year with a few work goals slowly coming to fruition. More importantly, as these dreams have come to a realisation the faster I am learning new techniques and fine tuning my craft. Film and Photography are wonderful career passions as there is never a point in time where you sit back and feel that you know it all. Times change, as does technology, trends and techniques. There are always new challenges that present themselves to keep you learning, growing and on your toes.

While updating my website and becoming involved with numerous organisations in the photographic sense, I found myself needing to write a biography. I admit that writing is not my strength, however, without a doubt, writing a biography has been one of the hardest challenges I have come across over the last year. I have searched the web for months and looked at different photographers biography's and artist statements and felt so lost. How to write one without feeling like a "wanker" or how to write one that even read remotely interesting.

Recently I came across a really helpful article in the Wedding Photojournalist Association that helped pinpoint some key aspects that helped me at least get started. I do recommend checking out the following link. While it is directed at wedding photojournalists, it most certainly is not limited to just that field.

The Value Of A Solid Photographer Bio

With that said: Here is is, after many poor attempts and re-writes over the last 12 months, finally a more factual biography of my work as a photographer.

Jasmine Lord Photography: Bio

From LA

2011-09-02T08:58:00.001-07:00

One of the peices I operated on here in LA. We covered for Net-A-Porter an event that The Boy. By Band of Outsiders was putting on. Held in Hollywood forever cemetry, Boy. By Band of Outsiders served meatballs & cocktails whilst screening the Bill Murray film Meatballs.

iPhoneography aka Cool filters for iPhones

2010-10-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

A few days ago a good friend asked me what filters I used for iphone photos. I often post iPhone pictures up on facebook and leave it at that. I responded to her text rather quickly as I was in a hurry, but afterwards felt that it was important to share more of my discoveries and whom I discovered them from. I feel that one day when people look back on camera phone technology from 2010 it will be fascinating to see how it would have changed and developed.

I'm a little surprised myself, that I have had so much fun creating pieces with a camera phone. For example, the shot below was taken on the iPhone 3G at at the Joshua Tree with two friends whom are really fun, creative models. I edited the picture with the program Tiffen FX for iPhone, but more of that soon!

Initially I had purchased a few apps, the one above included, there were plenty that I also had never heard of and still haven't tried. If you pick up some photography magazines or search some blogs, you will find a truly dedicated photographer share every little detail of discovery. None more so for me in the app process than Zoe Wiseman.

In a nut shell, I think the world of LA artist Zoe Wiseman & her photography. It was her blog that influenced me to try new apps and experiment with certain looks and feels. Wiseman is ridiculously talented. Her work as a fine art nude photographer truly inspires me. When reading her blog she cuts through the BS and is very open and honest about her work and achievements. Wiseman also shares. Which was a huge blessing to me when it came to playing around with something I truly never thought would be taken seriously; shooting images with an iphone.

It's no secret that I am not much of a writer, so I will share the apps that I have been using, however I do encourage you to visit Zoe Wiseman's blog as she did a fabulous job of analyzing the different photography for iphone apps and their value for money.

The first app I ever purchased was Camera Bag which generates some generic filters giving you different looks from a "Instant" (think polaroid), cinema (a crop of 16x9 with the blacks increased), infrared, Helga, Colourcross, "Lolo" (think Lomo style with a white border) to a fisheye. It's a fun app, but comes with it's limitations. i.e. you can't crop and create layers. There are better ones out there.

I tried my hand at an app called Coloursplash. I wont lie, I don't have the patience to deal with this app. I can assure you that there are people out there who have run with it and are making some well wicked art work, It's just not my thing. Picture a colour photo of a yellow canary then converting the colour image to black and white while leaving a canary yellow. Painting is done with your finger and you can zoom in and out for accuracy.

Tiffen FX would have to be my most preferred iPhone app for photo editing. It's detailed, fun and you can layer. You can crop & run filters from the following categories: Film Lab, Diffusion, Grads/Tints, Image, Lens fx, Light fx, Photographic, Special FX. Within these categories are filters like Bleach Bypass, Cross Processing, Faux Film, Grain, Three Strip, Two Strip, Black diffusion, Pro-Mist, Glimmer glass Soft fx, contrast, NDs, Auto adjust, vignette, depth of field, wide and close up lens foliage, halos, colour conversion, the list truly does go on. You can have a field day and kill some serious time on a bus playing with this app.

Shake it Photo is a novel app that allows you to take a picture, then shake your iphone as you would have once with an old Polaroid and watch it slowly develop. See below:

Its fun, I've used it lots & makes for a great holiday facebook post.

Probably the most popular is the Hipstamatic which is very hipster indeed. Its fun and I have seen photographers get some real winners with this app, but it's not quite my preferred. I find the application occasionally buggy and slow. It's all about the borders around the images.

I haven't had a bunch of luck with Photo booth. True to name the app takes 4 photos in succession of each other as you would in a photo booth. I often found that the photos wouldn't load to facebook from the app and I would have to use iPhoto after retrieving the image from my phone. Cute, but I don't really use it much.

Lomo Style is another app I am quite fond of, although I don't use it as much as Tiffen FX it has a much similar to camera bag, it has filters like "Holga, B&W, Sepia, blue, green and red coloursplash" While Camera Bag has more filters, I prefer the look of Lomo Style filters to Camera Bag. Why? I feel that they are more dramatic.

It's a look I quite like. But that's me, I do recommend trying these out for yourself. The Lomostyle logo is that of the Fisheye 2 camera that Lomography sell on a red background, so it's easy to identify when searching for app.

There is an app I purchased a while ago call "Light" it allows you to put fictional light on your image i.e. Windows, clouds, curtains, foliage, light rays. I've had a play, but haven't really found a use for it yet.

TiltShiftGen is a digital tilt and shift generator. Think adding DoF to a wide landscape shot that suddenly makes the photo look like a miniature. Again, I am sure people out there are doing funky cool things with this app, I just haven't spent enough time with it.

For shits and giggles: Face Melter is gold. Not unlike photo booth on Apple computers you can lose valuable time turning your face into a melted blob that will leave you feeling hilarious for hours.

PhotoMarkr: generates a copyright symbol and image on your beloved pictures. It's a smart idea. I feel a bit of a goose sometimes copyrighting iphone pictures, but I've started to see some decent work out there very much worth copyrighting. It's your art, it's your choice.

PS Mobile: Photoshop has arrived for the iphone. In all honesty, I can't give you any more information on PS Mobile than that. I'm too caught up with Tiffen FX. So have a play and tell me what you think.

Finally: Easy Release is a cool tool to have if you have forgot your model release forms. Haven't had to use it just yet.

I will leave you with a few more pictures that I have shot on the iphone that I quite like and have edited with programs mentioned above.

Happy shooting.

The Von by John Mavety

2010-10-04T16:03:00.000-07:00

Hehe, DP Glenn Hanns, I was 1st AC

Spider

2010-10-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

When I was still a little green as an AC... I miss working on Aussie Short films.

BETSEY JOHNSON SPRING 2011, MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK NEW YORK

2010-10-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

VERA WANG SPRING 2011, MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK NEW YORK

2010-10-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

One of my fave back stages to shoot... there were a few tho...

ARGENTINA GROUP SHOW SPRING 2011, MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK NEW YORK

2010-10-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

Below is one of the many shows that I shot back stage footage at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week 2011. It was great to work with an old friend. The crew were truly amazing.

Promo

2010-03-25T17:35:00.001-07:00

New Pieces

2010-03-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

These 3 pieces are new editions to the gallery "Things I See"

The top & bottom pictures were taken in Maui, while the middle photo was taken at the Bellagio casino in Vegas, inside the foyer looking up at the ceiling at the glass flower instillation.

The inspiration for these pictures, I owe to Louis & Erin Palos. Louis & Erin are an amazing wedding photography team here in LA, who truly capture gorgeous magazine quality pictures of a bride and grooms special memories.

I encourage all brides-to-be in the LA area to check out their website.

http://www.palosstudio.com/

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure | Video on TED.com

2010-02-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure | Video on TED.com

This post is a little off topic, however I really feel that it is so worth watching.

JK Rowlings commencement address to Harvard 2008 graduates.

Simply brilliant!

Beautiful People

2010-01-31T16:20:00.001-08:00

I've discovered Animoto

2010-01-31T00:19:00.001-08:00

Ok, It's cheezy, but it's super cute. Aside from running around picking up prints from A&I and heading out to CSUN for ARRI nerd happy camera talk, I've discovered the cute fun that is Animoto. If you only want to mess with it for 30 seconds... its free... beyond that it will cost you.

Clearly the options for creativity become broader once you pay for the product ie: create your own titles, larger music selection, longer videos and no branding. It is a poor mans tool for slideshows and it works well. Not too bad if your not FCP savy.

Above is the first test I ran with some pix of my nieces and nephews back in Australia.

Updates & New Ideas

2010-01-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

It has been some time since my last post. I've was away in Australia for 10 weeks over the November and December period. While home my camera had quite the journey.

2 weeks into my trip, I dropped my beloved 5DII... well, kinda... It's something that I would never do onset as an AC... put a camera in a handbag. Again, it comes back to me wanting to be able to go out and about and not carry a low-pro bag but still be able to have my DSLR. (Still waiting for over-priced womens bags to actually have a function for my camera)

I placed my bag on the plush low lying bed in the Hunter Valley at a lovely hotel my Mum was kind enough to book for our little weekender. The soft sheets and my ill placed slippery bag assured that my camera succumbed to gravity. (why-oh-why did I not put it on the deck??)

The result... a cracked filter and a scary feeling that my 28-70mm L series was out of calibration. Normally I would have cried but just a few days earlier an old friend passed away from a heart attack... he was 25. Needless to say everything was in perspective for me... the lens could be fixed or replaced at worst.

You can imagine my surprise when a trip to Canon to drop my lens off with the understanding that Canon would repair my lens up to the value of $600, the cost only turned out to be around $80!! I may have told the female operator on the phone that I loved her? I did need a new filter though, which YAY for filters!!! :) Let this be a lesson for all people with no optical flats or UV filters on their lenses.

As a result of a filterless journey for the rest of the trip (yes, I waited to return to the USA where things are ridiculously cheaper than Aus to replace the filter) I shot mostly in Australia on my trusty 50mm 1.8 $90 lens from Samys.

The pictures posted here are taken from the Sydney Tower restaurant 360 while out at dinner one night. I have a secret love affair with lights. Seriously. I love shooting light fixtures. I have been known to shoot light fixtures with an aim and blame. Night clubs and restaurants are the place to go for such shooting.

My new little task, which I am most excited about, is to enlarge one of my prints for display on my low-lying wooden coffee table which currently clashes with our wooden floor. Choosing a colour to best match our decor was easy (many thanks to my husband who really has a better eye for design than myself) Today I ordered a 32"x32" 1/4' thick glass from downtown. I'm also in the process of working out which printer and paper to use. My biggest obstacle is choosing paper that wont stick to the glass over time.

Shooting Aneka

2009-12-07T05:33:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought that lighting with a single source on top of a piano would be so much fun!

SMC B&W Printing Class

2009-08-06T22:07:00.001-07:00

It has been far too long since my last post. For many reasons, besides being busy with work & hosting out of town guests. Many of the shoots that I have been working on I haven't been able to post about for various reasons, however, finally, I can post about my latest journey. Below is a collection of photos that I have been printed by myself at SMC during my B&W Printing Class for Beginners. All were shot on my 35mm Rebel G and I wont lie, most were taken out & about during sight seeing or were rushed as I found myself pressed for time with no previous shot film available here in the USA (all my previous B&W work is back in Aus in storage- I really should get that here)

All of the shots taken were printed on Illford, 8x10, Multigrade IV Resin Coated paper. My lens on the enlarger was a 50mm, with Illford filters. I will list above each photos the specs of the exposure time on the paper, f stop & filter used.

This picture was taken at the Custom Hotel, while I was drinking long island ice tea:) hehe. I had never seen so many girls dancing in bikinis and high heels! Needless to say I took a snap and used it to print the following Saturday!

Printing Specs: 5.6, 6 Seconds, #2 Filter

I have really enjoyed the printing process and am BUSTING to start shooting on medium format. Damn those expensive Hassleblad cameras for being so amazing & appealing. Today while in Samy's buying more paper for my class, I saw a Holga available on sale for under $30.00. I got it! It's my poor mans medium format camera and I already love it. I shot a role before lunch and had A & I develop it for my last class on Saturday.

22 seconds, f5.6, #3

My friend Kate was over one day and I quickly snapped up a shot of her tat (above- dark) & ring. (below)

7 seconds, f5.6, #3.5

This is Anne, this picture really was a rush, I was on my way from Culver City to A&I with no film shot! I was so busy hosting Anne I almost stitched myself for time to get some shots for class & negs back. I can develop negs myself in class, but truth be told, I find it boring. I know it's a lazy bad attitude, but it's true. Plus I don't trust myself. I don't want to waste my class printing someone else's shot cause I screwed up my own role while attempting to develop it. I only have 4 hours for class, so time is precious.

Below is a picture of my friend Sam, I was really soft on this one (damn it) so I ended up playing with it, and going for a faded effect. For me it didn't quite work, but you get the idea.

4 seconds, f5.6, #3

I like this one- This was a rush, in Culver City again, but I really enjoyed playing with the printing side of this.

10 seconds, f5.6, #5

This is taken out side the front of our condo.

9 seconds, f5.6, #2

Sam again- this time I had her sporting my new blue wig. I have no idea why I purchased it at all, but I was happy to use it for the purpose of taking a snap:)

11 seconds, f5.6, #3

Bulent at the Custom Hotel

15 Seconds, f8, #3 Filter

Sam again

5 seconds, f5.6, #3

Katrina at the Custom Hotel

16 Seconds, f8, #3

Anne at the Getty, this was on Saturday night, just after a print class.

8 seconds, f8, #3

15 seconds, f8, #3

The Getty

15 seconds, f8, #1

The view from the Standard Downtown in a rest thingy.

6 seconds, f5.6, #2.5

Test Strip

Colour Theory & Practice

2009-05-02T14:27:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday night I attended my 1st Colour Theory & Practice class at SMC (Unfortunately I missed the previous week, which I was really mad at myself for)

I am taking the class so I can understand colour more than I do now. What is complementary and what enhances an image, mostly, how to recognize subtle colour in tones ie: There is a little too much yellow in a subjects skin). While the class I am taking is directed solely at art (painting etc) and colour theory in photography and cinematography differ from what I'll be learning about, it is all still relative to some extent. The fundamental recognition of values and tones, I believe, are applicable over both mediums.

We started with the colour wheel that, at a glance, has all the basic hues and how they relate to each other, something everyone has seen in school. What were complimentary colours, analgous colours, warm and cool colours, and values- Tones from white to black. ie: Greys

I learnt that even while you'll see a painting in colour... 2 colours can have the same value (brightness) ie: Green & Red have the same value. Most paintings have 4 values, except in abstract art. It can have 3 or 2. Values are recognized as high key, medium key and low key. (mmm sounds not unlike Cinematography when talking about lighting)

We have been looking at examples of modern masters & abstract expressionists. We also went over the 9 values of B&W with greys in between. See above picture to see exercises of 9 vales and colour values.

We then went on to do exercises in space exploration using regular & irregular shapes in 4 values. We covered this in B&W & colour using complementary, analagous, monochromatic & contrasting colour. We are using acrylic paints for these exercises.

I wont lie... some of it is a little confusing... when dealing with cinematography or photography the primary colours are RGB (red, green & Blue) and the secondary colours are cyan, magenta and yellow. I was on struggle street when I had to forget what I knew in art and change it for cine... and now I am so used to cine, I have to remind myself that these changes apply to paintings.

I still feel that all I am learning is relevant to cine & photography, I am understanding how to achieve certain colours and thus recognizing colour in images more... and I am wanting to see this so I can make educated decisions about colour to enhance in an image subtly & with taste.

Next week we will look at Geometric Painting (although we did cover some of that already). Should be fun

LR2.3 & Zavier Rudd

2009-04-19T23:46:00.000-07:00

Today I sit here typing after spending most of my day doing exercises from my Lightroom 2.3 class at Samys. Zavier Rudd is playing in the background as I write to you now about what I have learnt, while I have drunk my last glass of two buck Chuck (red) for the evening and my husband scurries around the study, trying to work out what he is able to part with.

What an interesting day! While LA came out to play with the sun shinning, (hopefully) a sign of the summer to come, I eagerly sat myself inside a small dark and very air-conditioned room, to learn the ins and outs of Adobes Lightroom 2.3. Having already sat through the previous online tutorials I found the first half of the class, not as interesting as I would have liked... however, roll on lunch and an inevitable pita bread from "jack in the box"...I know, sounds worse than it was... and I was immersed once again in the possibilities of the digital darkroom. Today, I truly learnt the ramifications of not shooting RAW while in Sydney on my last trip (bad Jasmine!) Never again!

I also learnt how awesome a recovery can be in post for my white balance. Bitches YAY! Stoked or what!!!! I wont lie, I am guilty as charged for shooting B&W in low light situations where I find it hard to colour balance. eg: Clubs, Bars & Restaurants. Yay! There is hope yet.

I also guiltily confess that until a week ago, I had never heard of the term "Burn!" Yes yes, shoot me, I don't care, I never took photography at school and thus never learnt the awesomeness that is the darkroom (well, till next week anyways), so I am slowly, but hopefully not too slowly, learning the ins and outs of what I can accomplish creatively, in both a dark & light room.

I will spend the week attempting to use my post tools aesthetically... stranger things have happened. Wish me luck. I guess this is where the term Less Is More, will come into play so much.

New addition to the family

2009-04-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

I am most excited, just early this week a special care package arrived from Australia. My "new" canon lenses:)

1x EF 28-70mm 1:2.8 L

1x EF 24mm 1:2.8

Put together here with my previous little film kit I had, plus a couple of not so great purchasing decisions (primarily that flash!) it all looks like one big happy family.

I am really excited about having the 24mm lens for some nice wide work, although I am still finding that I love just having that little 50mm on my 5D Mark II. Its small and I can take it anywhere... I have a feeling my L series wouldn't be allowed to some of the gigs/nights out that the 50mm has been too.

My biggest problem that I am facing... and it is a rather girly one, but I feel its valid- Is fashionable bag for the stylish female photographer. Now before you laugh your head off at me, just have a think. I often take my camera out to nice events, where I am usually a guest at. I take my camera out to bars, clubs, concerts, restaurants and there is something to be said about your camera bag having an air of discretion.

Pulling my DSLR out of a Guess handbang doesn't raise as many eyebrows as say wearing a lowpro backpack to dinner. I don't want to carry two bags. Simple.

I would seriously feel that high end label bags would be worth spending the hundreds of dollars on, if they had TRUE functionality. Say for eg: if Burberry had a compartment inside their stylish bags, that was padded for my DSLR, I would be stoked and spend the dosh. Hell I wouldn't care if it were a bag with no label I purchased downtown, I am seeking a bag I can wear out, in a dress, that I can safely store my baby *ahem*...my 5D mark II in, with a small 50mm of course.

Maybe there is something in this... ?

UFC Undisputed

2009-04-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Friday saw me working with the RED camera again "Justine" as Tedford calls her for UFC- Undisputed, the game, commercial.

Teaming up again with DP Mike Tedford, Producer Jeff Kirshbaum & James Khanlarian, I worked for the first time with fun gaffer Rocky.

The shoot went rather smooth, with time to get some "B roll" shots after working with the talent.

Scott was out main man, most of you would know him more than myself, as I had never heard of UFC till this shoot. Although it does sound really interesting, and Scott was a pleasure to work with.

We used 2 Cookes, 1x 50mm & 1x 135mm... we also used the red zoom for one shot.

Out Of The Vault

2009-04-09T15:19:00.001-07:00

Here is an oldie out of the vault. Shown in a cropped smaller image (see www.jasminelord.com for full size image) this picture could possibly be one of my first ever successful cityscape shots. The photograph would have been taken around 2003, I was eager and keen to explore what I could do with my new Rebel G that I had purchased in NYC in 2002. I had been blown away years earlier by Ken Duncans panorama work and yearned so much to take colour rich photographs as he did.

Knowing NOTHING, I researched as much as I could and even went back to visit his gallery in Matchem, NSW, where my mother had taken me as a young woman, to probe and ask questions. It was here that I discovered Velvia. I had a long and loving relationship with Velvia that to this day will never cease. Some of my greatest flukes were achieved on Fuji's Velvia film stock.

I travelled from Berkeley Vale, where I was staying(Central Coast NSW) to Erina to buy this "magical" Velvia, only to find out a week or so later that Fletchers sold it just in the city, near where I lived. At the time of purchase I had a huge shock, it was the most expensive film stock I had ever purchased in my life. It was $20 per roll! Looking back I laugh at myself and feel rather silly.

I was told 2 things from the sales woman at Erina where Ken Duncan processed and printed his work. Keep the ASA down low for maximum colour effect and don't shoot portraits. Velvia is not kind to skin tones.

I had already been shooting time exposure sunsets and sunrises on regular Kodak 200 ASA consumer stock and had been quite bitterly disappointed. I am not knocking Kodak, I have worked with cinematographers who I greatly admire, who shoot on Kodak and the results are truly lovely. I was simply barking up the wrong tree for the effect that I was after. It was incredibly frustrating to not know where I was going wrong esp since I had no formal training in photography at the time.

I went out with a friend, Ricky Kang, who worked at the time in Sydney's Animial Logic, who was very kind to show patience with me as we shot the sun going down from North Sydney looking back at the city. It had been a showery day and we were purely experimenting with our exposure. Set to an ASA of 50, the aperture on f22 and the shutter on bulb... we sat and waited and clicked away appropriately.

I took my film in for developing at Fletchers in either Chatswood or Pitt St (I can't remember now) and my gosh, did I feel like a million dollars when I saw that one photograph that captured colour so dramatically as this. It was worth every crappy shot that I had taken over the previous months. It is by no means a prize winning photograph, but a true moment in my life where I finally felt myself moving forward as photographer, with a chance at taking rather good pictures.

Years later, in 2005, I had the slide scanned to disk by a photographer from Cairns who was printing on Endura paper, this was all new at the time, a metallic paper from Kodak (I hope it was Kodak- sorry if I am wrong). We looked at the levels of the picture in photoshop which he commented that they were rather good, but then he said.. "how about we add a touch of magenta" and the result is what you see above.

What got me, was how did he know that magenta was the colour to add? Why not red or orange? It still gets me to this day. Hence my determination to go back to the basics and understand colour theory.

I really do enjoy looking back at this picture, it reminds me how much I have grown as a photographer and how much more there is to learn.

Old on set "Prius" pix

2009-04-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a blast from the past! Well, not too long ago. I had the pleasure last year to work with director Michael Moretti & DP Graham Futerfas on a spot for Prius & Satchi & Satchi with Group 101.

Using the Phantom HD, we shot images of the Prius moving backwards while at the same time garbage being spilt into the world. Played in reverse, as the Prius passed the frame while the garbage cleaned up. The idea was that Prius helped reduce the garbage in the air.
It was a two day shoot downtown over the weekend & the final product looks pretty damn spiffy. I found myself still learning the set lingo of the Americans (I find myself learning set lingo every day! LOL) While also having the chance to pull focus on a very high speed camera.

The Phantom HD was slow to start up. There is no option to "quick- grab that shot" and power up and shoot. Like so many HD cameras, she needs to wake up and have a coffee before she can start thinking. Once you get into the rhythm of the Phantom HD, all is fine. The Phantom HD shoots up to 1000fps. Yes! 1000 fps. Need I say that action shots shown in slow motion for the most part look hot! Life truly does look beautiful when you have the chance to slow it down and have a closer look. With that said, our DIT Mark Weingartner (who was awesome to work with, I certainly learnt a lot from him) had to dispose of the copious amounts of information that we had on either side of the useful part of the footage from the clip. Shooting at 1000 fps and playing back in 24 frames.... you quickly learn what you really need to hang onto and what you don't.

Overall another great experience on set. As usual, I always find room for improvement within myself as a focus puller, pulling on such a high speed on one of the shots proved to be a learning experience 1'-4' may not seem much, but in the blink of an eye shot at 500 frames... its plenty to draw every ounce of concentration in your system. With that said... soft in this case sux.

Watch the clip at www.group101spots.com/2008/directors/michael_moretti/michael_moretti.htm#

Click on "Prius" just a note, I also assisted on "Chevy" as 2nd AC

Rocky Schenck, Jelly Fish 2000

2009-04-03T22:25:00.001-07:00

I just have to point out an artist that I am drawing a lot of inspiration from for my B&W printing class that is coming up at SMC. Rocky Schenck. He is a really talented artist and a good family friend of the Adams Family (my in-laws, although we need a nice name for my American parents as they are all amazing people)

There are quite a few pieces of Rockys work that I really like, but this one I love in particular. I don't have rights to the image so I do encourage you to visit this link. The image is of a jelly fish... and it is beautiful... the tones, the composition... I just really enjoy looking at this piece. It is so peaceful.

Having worked on the Great Barrier Reef I have such an appreciation for these creatures. They are very graceful to watch.

http://www.rockyschenck.com

go to MB gallery Los Angeles

Enjoy.

Welcome!

2009-04-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Jasmine on Film & Photography will explore my journey in these mediums. In regards to photography I will be working mainly with the 5D Mark II, while learning to apply post tools aesthetically. There is something to be said about using tools like Lightroom & Photoshop with taste.

I am new to digital photography. In the past I have always shot on film, mainly Velvia for the colour rich quality and as a trained focus puller I am very comfortable and feel at home using film cameras. Digital cameras certainly have made their place in film making & photography. Over the last couple of years I have found that I am working on set with digital cameras more & more. As I read once on a cinematography forum... No camera is magical and has all the answers. Each camera is a paintbrush, its own tool with its own limitations & capabilities.

I use the 5D Mark II because it is the only DSLR that I own. I can not run camera tests along side Nikons or RED... and a hasselblad is just too damn expensive. Besides... my eye is not trained enough yet to spot differences in an image because of sensors etc.

In a few weeks time I will take a B&W printing class at SMC. I really feel that by going back to the darkroom and learning the basics of printing from film, that I will have a clearer understanding of what I can accomplish using post tools for digital images. I am still learning to let go of a digital photographs original metadata and accepting that using products like Lightroom & Photoshop is not cheating.

I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I do.

Sex with the Ex stills#3

2007-06-18T21:34:00.001-07:00

Sex with the Ex Stills #2

2007-06-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

Sex with the Ex Stills #1

2007-06-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Production Designer Chrissie, Director Leigh and Focus Puller Jax

Autodesk Dinner #7

2007-06-04T01:39:00.000-07:00

Autodesk Dinner #6

2007-06-04T01:37:00.000-07:00

Autodesk Dinner #5

2007-06-04T01:36:00.000-07:00

Autodesk Dinner #4

2007-06-04T01:35:00.000-07:00

Autodesk Dinner #3

2007-06-04T01:34:00.000-07:00

Autodesk Dinner #2

2007-06-04T01:32:00.000-07:00

Autodesk Dinner #1

2007-06-04T01:31:00.000-07:00

Autodesk talk #1

2007-06-04T01:30:00.000-07:00

Last of da pix

2007-04-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

2007-04-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Scotty the Director

From JBs Shoot

2007-04-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

TURBO

LIS!!

2007-04-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

Glenn the DP

LIS pix

2007-04-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

More pix from LIS

2007-04-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

On the Set of Lipsmakers in Space

2007-04-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

The Von Wrap Party

2006-11-28T21:47:00.000-08:00

PRE PRODUCTION

2006-09-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

Thats right, Allyn and I are currently in our first week of pre. We have 4 productions in 3 weeks. They are as follows...
Water Under the Bridge- go to www.aftrswaterunderthebridge.blogspot.com
Sex With The Ex- details of blog to come
Kindle - no known blog as yet
Joyride - go to www.joyride-drama.blogspot.com

Go check these out, you'll get a fair idea of what we are working on.

I am 1st AC on WUB and SWTE, I will be 2nd AC on Kindle and Joyride.

WOOHOO!!!!

Ten Canoes

2006-09-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

1 Friday September 2006: The Australian Film Commission today announced that the feature film Ten Canoes is Australia?s official entry for nomination consideration for nomination consideration for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th 79th Annual Academy Awards®.

Great News for Super 8

2006-09-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

A word from Erika....

Hi all,
For those enthusiasts keen to shoot on super 8, good news! Richard Tuohy of Nanolab in Daylesford, Victoria has commenced operations processing Super 8, colour and B&W. They also supply film stock and also can handle 16mm.Check out their website! http://nanolab.com.au/

Focus on the Dolly

2006-08-30T23:38:00.000-07:00

Today Al and I really were able to put our focus practice to the test by getting on the dolly and having another moving object (A frame and focus chart on a dolly), threw a 200mm lens on the camera and started to really test our skills.

It was pretty cool. To finally really feel how the lens work focally with movement. Feels great to hit that mark. Although right now my eyes are a little tired and I will sleep well tonight. It was great. Loved it. Al and I are keen to get more of these exercises in.

Our Day At Panavision

2006-08-30T00:22:00.000-07:00

Allyn and I spend Monday afternoon with Andrew Collier from Panavision Australia, going over their gear in detail. While both of us are already familiar with the staff and some of the services there, Andrew really took us over things in detail and we were able to drill him with any questions.

I was truely in camera heaven. I had never seen so many Zeiss lenses, I had never even seen a Cooke lens or the Frazier Lens System for that matter!!!

Andrew also showed us a gorgeous looking Panaflex G2, it had come back from Panavision USA with a complete reconditioning. The camera is over 30 years old and looked absolutly stunning. *sigh*

Camera Heaven....

We also went over the Arri 435, but Al and I are keen to get back and really start playing with that sucker:)

Steadicam with Boshe

2006-08-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

Today Allyn and I had a class with Boshe re: Steadicam. In short... it was fabulous. I loved it. It was really wicked to finally try out something that I always wanted to give a go but had not had the chance to do yet. So, yes I need lots of practice, but the weight of the 570 did not bother me... although I can only imagine what an 16mm camera would be like let alone a 35mm!!!

Great news from Ben Phelps

2006-08-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,
Great news! A little bit more funding trickled in at the 11th hour last week which means . . . ."Thunderbirds are Go!" for the screening of Checkpoint in the World Comp at the Montreal World Film Festival! As per the rules, I'm heading over to Montreal this Friday. The 35mm print (with subtitles) has just landed there. It's been pretty frantic to organise with so little time. But it's all come together! Phew! Checkpoint screens twice on Sunday (2nd last day of the fest) and once on Monday (closing night). It should be a blast! I'll keep you posted.
In other news, Checkpoint has been selected in the "Best of the Melbourne International Film Festival" national screening tour. The response in Melb was really great. Better than I could have hoped!
Thanks for your help and/or enthusiasm!
Cheers,
Ben
Ben Phelps
(t) +61 413 131 788
(e) ben@benphelps.com
www.checkpointmovie.com

Film School

2006-08-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Allyn and I were playing with old school cameras. Yay. This is a Filmo. Today we were also lucky enough to be treated to the genius that is Stephen from Engineering. We went through the mechanics of the ARRI SR2 in full detail.... I am still in camera heaven.. Happy that I feel like I really know the camera inside out... *sigh* Later today we will learn more about the Intervalometer... Awesome:)

Think Outside the Square... Think 16:9

2006-08-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Well I am on my lunch break from my first day at film school. All is well so far. It is going to be a busy 10 weeks, but I am really excited about the stuff that I will be doing.

The head of Cinematography is Jan Kenny. This woman is really awesome. She was the first female camera assistant in the country her first job was with DoP Russell Boyd. (Oscar winning Aussie DoP) She worked really hard to prove that a female could do the job just as well as any guy even though traditionally women really never worked in the camera dept.

Now as a DoP herself, she is not only the Head of Cine here at AFTRS but the first women to be entered into the Australian Cinematographers Society Hall of Fame.

All round I have alot to learn from her. And from what I hear I have alot of hard work and dedication ahead of me. Awesome.

The library here is brilliant. I've used it before but they really have everything. I was given the full induction today.

I can look up any DoP on their database eg Russell Carpenter who shot True Lies, Titanic, prob a heap of other block busters that you have seen. And it will give me a catalogue of all journals written about him and his work.

So I was able to locate an American Cinematographer Magazine from 1994 September issue that had an article on what film stocks, cameras and techniques that they uesd for True Lies. (LOVE THAT FILM!)

So then I headed to the Journals, where they have EVERY ISSUE POSSIBLE from American Cinematographer, and I found the Sept 1994 issue and was able to copy the article for my own studies.

Now this must seem really geeky to most of you but YAY!!
AWESOME!!!!!!

Just wait till I raid the Star Wars and Matrix issues!!!!

The books that I have access to, ahhhh, dream! Its great.

Every morning I have loading practice for an hour and then Focus Pulling practice. I will be able to judge distances by eye without a measure tape, although it will all be imperial. WHo cares!!!! I just want to know how to do it;)

now.... to the database to look up the film stats of .... Star Wars.... 1970 something:)

Bin Appetit

2006-06-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have just finished working a pretty interesting week. I have been camera assisting Devris Hasan on a documentry called Bin Appetit. The director and writer was Jenia Ratcliffe.

I think what was most interesting about this doco was the fact that I had never heard of the topic before. Dumpster Diving.

For those of you who don't know what Dumpster Diving is, this movie will open your eyes to a sub-culture I just didn't know existed.

I don't have any pics to show at this point, but it is one of those things that you have to see it to believe it. People don't go through the skip bins because they are starving and poor. It is because day after day we waste so much food and beverages that are perfectly ok to eat, that they believe that someone may as well have it. Even things that are in date and have nothing wrong with them, that people pay good money for are just thrown out at the end of the day to make room for the new days supply to arrive.

It is our consummer driven society that has resulted in food just being thrown away, and not given to the poor as it really doesn't appear to be an economical loss to the business. (its cheaper to disguard rather than feed the homeless) It is crazy, and lets not get into the legality of giving away food with liability. Some do it for a political statement, for religous beliefs, others believe that they are trying to keep a balance in our society that has over-produced waste.

What ever you think of it or who you think are doing it, think again. These are well educated people, who when you hear them, and you see the quality of the stuff that they are taking home and not paying a cent for, you can't help but feel like they are on to something.

Check out Dumpster Diving online for more info.

Now to the shoot!!!

It was a week long shoot. Started approx midday and ending at approx 10pm. We shot on Digi Beta, and ended up with 16 tapes of 40mins footage at the end of the shoot. Did some interviews and dumpster diving, met some fabulous characters.

Dev is great to work with. I find that this being the 3rd project that I have worked directly with him on, that I am understanding how he works and what rhythm he works in. It makes the job so much easier when you can be ready and waiting and know where your DP is at before they ask.

So there wasn't much room for learning focus pulling (we were on a zoom lens and there was plenty of other things that I needed to be doing) and other such tech stuff. However my learning experience was still just as rich. I have discovered how much I am remembering certain things about this camera. (last time I used it, I did a black balance for the first time!!!)

I also learned the value of communication. I saw Dev and Rich work so well together because they had a way of cummunicating without needing to say much at all. It made me realise how much a DP needs to be clear and work well with his soundie.

I was lucky enough to do a little operating on the last shot of the day. I wont get excited yet. I havent picked up a motion camera for ages, and don't pretend to be anything in the same regard as Dev. But it reminded me why I am assisting and that is to shoot myself. I love it.

John Seale- Metro Screen

2006-05-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

I attended Popcorn Taxi's talk with Dion Beebe last night and I have to be honest and say that I didn't feel that the intervew was contucted well at all. So maybe more luck with Metroscreen, who are interviewing Cinematographer John Seale next month. Andrw Urban will be hosting and interviewing.

John Seales most recognised credits are-
Picnic at Hanging Rock - Operator
Gallipoli - Operator
Witness - DoP
Rain Man- DoP
The English Patient - DoP (Also won him the oscar)
The Talented Mr. Ripley - DoP
The Perfect Storm - DoP
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone- DoP
Cold Mountain - DoP
Poseidon - DoP (comming out soon)

Details are as follows:

Thursday 22nd June 2006
7pm-9pm (Doors open at 6.30pm)
$20 (unless you are a member of metroscreen, then it is $15)
Bookings are essential
612 9361 5318
metro@metroscreen.com.au
Paddington Town Hall
www.metroscreen.org.au

Day 3 of Frail

2006-05-21T02:04:00.000-07:00

Pip the Grip on the dolly with the Moviecam.
Alex the Director in conversation with the 1st AD Joel.
Bonnie Elliott (DoP) and Morag (Focus Puller) working their craft.

Overall it was an excellent shoot. I was presented with challenges and was lucky enough to play with new gear. Like all focus pullers I have worked with so far, Morag teaches me so much and she reminds me that every day you learn new things. I love learning and never want to stop:)

Day Two of Frail

2006-05-21T01:56:00.000-07:00

My slate
My 1st EVER 1000' loaded magazine of 35mm film!!!!
Morag, my focus puller with the Moviecam.
What a beautiful way to wrap day two!

Checkpoint Premiere

2006-05-21T01:52:00.000-07:00

This is the invite I was sent for the premiere of Checkpoint (the first film I loaded 16mm for last year!!!!) Dan and I will both be attending

Day 1 on the set of Frail

2006-05-18T04:32:00.000-07:00

On the set. Frail is a short film made by Azure Productions.
Believe it or not, these mags, which are so simple to load, gave me grief this morning when we had unexplained noise comming from the mag. We opened them up and had a good look and couldn't figure out what the heck was wrong. All of our theories were wrong, and then even wierder is that fact that they all stopped making the noise and we were able to shoot as per normal.

Thank goodness as we had done a gear check yesterday at Panavision and the mags were silent!
The camera built. It has the Angeniux 250mm lens on it with a 400' mag and a 6x6 matte box.

Tomorrow I load the 1000' mag. Again I am such a nerd. I am so excited!

We are shooting on old stock.

Kodak Eastman 5218 096 014 01

For black and white... should be wicked!!!!
Bonnie Elliott the DoP, operating from a high angle in teh dolly. Our grip for the shoot is Pip the Grip! He is awesome!

National Geographic Shoot

2006-05-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I was lucky enough to be asked to work on a National Geographic shoot with Hugh Miller and Katie Rose. I was to be the Clapper Loader on the Hawkesbury segment of a series of 90 second vingettes on "What Makes An Expert".

They filmed 3 all together, 1 in South Australia, 1x in Central Queensland and 1x in The Hawkesbury River. (I was not part of the first two but both Hugh and Katie said that it was unreal!)

It was a great shoot. The locations were unbelievable! To think that just minutes from Sydney is a world away from what most city folk could even imagine. We truely are the lucky country and it was one of those shoots, that even with working from magic hour to magic hour (Sunrise to Sunset), I could not help but think to myself that I really have it good.

The lenses that we used, the shots that we got, and then the personal journey of cultural experience just made the whole thing priceless. But enough blabbering on about how much I loved the shoot.

You can view these vignettes online at the National Geographic website. Go to...

www.nationalgeographic.com/travelaustralia/ask.html

Moviecam

2006-05-17T04:30:00.000-07:00

Today I spent the day at Panavision learning a new camera that I have never worked with before, Moviecam. We tested the gear and did an insurance test. Here is the focus chart that we used to test the lenses.
Our gear. We managed to condense the amount of hard cases that we are carrying on Morag's car to fit it all in.
This is the chart that we use for the steady test. Basically it is an insurance test to ensure that the camera is in working order. We shoot the grid so that the cross in the middle is straight, we then in a dark room wind the film back and re-shoot over the exposed stock wih the grid tilted on an angle.

When you view it back at the lab, if the lines move over each other it is not a good sign. But our test was fine. (as expected)

For more info on insurance tests read Eurbank or Harts manuals on camera assisting. They are good reads.
This is an actual nice pic of the Moviecam we are using. Go to www.moviecam.com or www.panavision.com.au for more information. It will be my first camera on 35mm where I have loaded a full mag of 1000'. How exciting. I am such a nerd:)

If Magazine News Article 16th May

2006-05-16T04:18:00.000-07:00

This article was published on the If Magazine website. I worked as a camera assistant on both Black Rain and Brown Trash.

Black Rain was shot by Bonnie Elliott on 16mm, with Morag Mankar as the Focus Puller.

Brown Trash was shot by Andrew McLeod on Mini DV and I was the only camera assistant.

Metro Screen: Multicultural Mentorship Scheme & Raw Nerve screenings (NSW)

WHEN 16 & 17 May WHERE Chauvel Cinema, Paddington Town Hall

Short productions made through the Multicultural Mentorship Scheme [MMS] funded by NSW Film and Television Office [NSW FTO] and Raw Nerve funded by the AFC will have their premiere screening at the Chauvel Cinema May 16 and 17.

Metro Screen runs these schemes in partnership with the NSW FTO. These schemes provide culturally diverse and first time filmmakers the opportunity to produce short drama’s, documentaries and animations. Each of the nine filmmakers showcased over the two nights has access to equipment, facilities hire, stock, post production facilities, and a $2,000 budget. In addition, each filmmaker was mentored through the process by an industry professional. These schemes run annually.

* Multicultural Mentorship Scheme screening, Tuesday May 16 at 6pm.Productions screening include: Patti Tsarouhis’s drama Timoleon, George Barbakadze’s drama Black Rain, Alia Alexandra Eva Hassim’s animation The Green Grass of Home and Alina Gozin’a’s drama Closing Stages.

These films are a bitter sweet array of stories dealing with loss, the distance between old and new home lands, Chernobyl 20 years on, sacrifice, tradition and the beauty of finding humour in any situation. These films reveal the migrant experience, cultural discrimination and conflicting value systems.

* Raw Nerve screening, Wednesday May 17 at 6pm.Productions screening include: Luc Anthony’s experimental drama Composure, Tresa Ponnor’s drama Brown Trash, Michelle Bleicher’s experimental drama The Hat, Maree-Louise Evans’s documenatry Squeegeeing, and Sam Phelps’s drama Falling for Grace.
These films deal with dark comedy, sex, adventurous hats and the age old notion that a kiss is not just a kiss. See unlikely circumstances producing romance, introverts on a winter’s day and discover an absurd rollercaoster of uncharted sexual awakening.

Metro Screen invites the public to these complimentary screenings to acknowledge the work and success of these new independent filmmakers and to experience new stories and ideas produced by young Australians.
Venue: Chauvel Cinema, Paddington Town Hall Cnr Oatley Rd & Oxford St
Time: 6pm to 7pm
Fee: complimentary, reservations not required.

A Welcome To Country by Lester Bostock will start each screening.

Starcross'd

2006-05-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

The last 4 days saw me work as Clapper Loader on a short film "Starcross'd". It was created by Digi Media Student Pat Clair, who directed the piece. In short it is his pet and I think it will be fabulous. We had proffesional dancers come in for the shoot, Amy, Sarah Jane, Kaylee, Jason and Ethan. They were brilliant. The moves these guys showed us were really really good. They were masters of their art from breakdancing, hip hop and freestyle these guys were great.

Andrew McLeod was the DoP and Bonnie Elliott was the operator and Brie Walsh was focus puller. Tigs was the 1st AD, which was great. I last saw her on a short film we shot out at Richmond for 3 days "Checkpoint"

Day 1 and 2 saw us with support, so it was a big couple of days. We knocked over approx 30 shots each day which was what we were aiming for. Day 1 we had the Digi Beta, and then for the rest of the shoot we used a HD camera.

Day 3 and 4 saw us with support, Gaffers, Grips and Design support too. The crane came out on day 3 and we used the dolly on day 4. (yay for Turbo, Boshey, Jason, Ryan and Rowan!)

Over all the shoot went really well, Pat even spoilt everyone with a bottle of Cab Sauv wrapped in celophane with candy hidden inside after we wrapped.

My slating is definatly improving and my camera notes are more detailed now, and I am no longer relying on Brie to give me the details for my sheets. (With prime lenses I am fine, but we were working a zoom lens and I found myself needing to always check what mm we were at because it changed so frequently)

I liked working with the HD, from an assistant's perspective the split is far easier to work with and it has a much clearer picture. Have a look at the pictures below, they will give an idea of what I am talking about. The whole shoot was blue screen so I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product.

The crane

2006-05-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

Day three saw the crane come out. On the crane is Bonnie Elliott, the operator and Brie Walsh the Focus Puller.

ON THE SET OF STARCROSS'D

2006-05-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

STARCROSS'D is a short digi based film created and Directed by Pat Clair. The DoP was Andrew McLeod and Bonnie Elliott was the operator. Brie Walsh was Focus Puller and I was Clapper/Loader.

The first two days were unsuported, so we had no Gaffer and Grips dept, so that was a pretty hectic couple of days.
The prosthetics were a little weird on this, the lights kept drying the makeup blending the prosthetic to the skin and as a result was cracking. Loads of KY was needed to keep it moist.
The tracking marks are for the digi supervisor. So when perspective changes whilst the camera is moving, the background will move accordingly.

STARCROSS'D PICS

2006-05-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

These pics were taken on day four of the shoot.
Turbo cutting light
We shot on Digi beta for day one and on HD on days two, three and four.
Boche's dolly

Welcome Note

2006-05-12T16:38:00.000-07:00

This is really a personal blog for myself to remember and note the films that I work on. Anyone is welcome to read, however most will find the information quite irrelevent for themselves. For fellow film buffs and work mates, you will likely like a little read. If entertainment is what you are after, go to the social page jaxlives.blogspot.com