On Location- "Silver Starling - Closer" Music Video

Innocent, simple 35mm music video shot by Frame Discreet cinematographer Michael Leblanc with FD Key crew -myself- 1st AC and our good friend Mick Reynolds gaffing. We used as much natural light as possible working around the schedule of the sun and where it was falling in the abandoned loft space. It got frigidly cold as the night progressed on without heat in the old building. The love and good times with the crew and talent kept everyone cheerful and rollin' through the sillyness of the makeshift fort. Did I mention you can rent the 35mm Konvas camera for $45/day from LIFT and the filmstock was 1Cent/foot at Media Distributors? Better and cheaper than a Red package with technicians....


Music Video: "Silver Starling - Closer"
Camera: Konvas
Stock: 35mm Kodak 5219 (500T) 5205 (250D)
Director: Ante Kovac
Cinematographer: Michael Leblanc

On Location - Tegan and Sara

Latest Tegan and Sara 'Alligator' music video, shot by our own Frame Discreet Cinematographer Mike Leblanc! Cool little project, we shot on 2 Canon 7D cameras using our jib arm for a couple dynamic shots. Simple concept, well directed by Marc De Pape. Interested tid-bit - a lot of the out of focus snow flakes were shot as a separate element and composited in afterwards :) Final Color correction done here at Frame Discreet. The 7d held up pretty well for color grading, only really fell apart when trying to brighten up a shot that was intentionally shot underexposed.

Enjoy!

Music Video: "Tegan and Sara - Alligator"
Camera: Canon 7D
Format: 1920 x 1080, h.264
Director: Marc De Pape
Cinematographer: Michael Leblanc

On Location - POV snowboarding 2K

Shooting some 2k/HD stock footage POV style of snowboarding. Later on we rigged up the camera to our helmet cam and went 'handsfree' :) Also shot some footage on the GH1 DSLR to compare the 60fps high speed capabilities. The RAW on the si2k camera was awesome for holding detail in the bright snow, and dark shadows. Silicon Imaging really is amazing with their si2k camera... geez, shooting 2k with something that small!!

On Location Music Video - "Ina Unt Ina"

Shot by our own Frame Discreet Cinematographer John Price, camera assisted by me, Justin!

Fun little project for the girls Ina Unt Ina (Celina Carroll and Christina Zeidler. They run the beautiful Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. We took advantage of this awesome space and with a limited budget and a little ingenuity, got some great shots! Not to mention the amazing lunch we had with them after the shoot in the Hotel... thanks girls, lookin' forward to the next video!

Music Video: "Ina Unt Ina "
Camera: XAH-1 Canon
Cinematographer: John Price

On Location - Harry Jerome

A National Film Board (NFB) feature doc shot with help from our Frame Discreet crew, headed by Cinematographer John Price. Charles Officer has done a great job in picking his locations and sculpting them to give character to the interviews. We shot all the re-inactments on 16mm high contrast b/w and it looks stunning. Interviews shot using the RED cam on a jib arm from our pal Felipe Rodriguez. Made friends with the actor- Nykeem Provo- and now he's playing on our indoor soccer team! Love this job.

Short Doc: "Harry Jerome"
Camera: Red, Bolex 16mm, 5d mkII
Stock: high con 3374, 7218 (500t kodak)
Director: Charles Officer
Cinematographer: John Price

On location -"Spec Commercial Tests POV Helmet Cam"

Testing configurations for helmet cam rigs for the si2k for an upcoming commercial project. Was a wicked time running around hooked up to video goggles so I can see the perspective of the camera to match the perspective of .. oops.. almost gave it away.. project is super hush, hush right now..

Eyes peeled, planning on shooting the full project in April.
Thanks fellas at CQB Paintball for hookin' us up!

Commercial: "Spec Commercial Tests"
Camera: SI2K Mini, 5.9 angenieux lens, mvyu video goggles
Stock: 1920x1080 Cineform Raw, 23.98
Director: Jeff Chan
Cinematographer: Justin Lovell

On Location- "Boonaa Mohammed - Green Card" - Music Video

Shot with our SI2K mini package, and small slighting kit. Double diffused the light source giving a very soft wrap around the artist and popped his eyes with a little catch light. Boonaa is an incredible artists and kept this approach very simple to let his presence shine through. The video posted does not have the final color correction applied to it.



Commercial: "Boonaa Mohammed - Green Card"
Camera: SI2K Mini
Stock: 1920x1080 Cineform Raw, 23.98
Director: Hassan Jama
Cinematographer: Justin Lovell

On Location- "Nokia Surge" - Commercial

Great time working with Rob Piltchowski and Frame Discreet Cinematographer John Price. I was camera assisting on the job and had an fun time laying out the circular dolly track and rigging the camera for some high angle shots. Commercial can be seen here.. and I even made a cameo :D

Nokia Surge

Commercial: "Nokia"
Camera: Sony V1U
Stock: 1920x1080
Director: Robert Pilichowski
Cinematographer: John Price

On Location- "Unity Charity"

Some more behind the scenes from the Unity Charity video that I'm working on.
Runnin' around with the SI2k mini camera following around one of the craziest creative power bboys in Canada.

These kids are so lucky to have him as a mentor and a friend.

Promotional Video: "Unity Charity"
Camera: SI2K Mini
Format: 1920x1080 Cineform Raw, 23.98
Director: Mike Prosserman/Justin Lovell
Cinematographer: Justin Lovell

On Location- "The Bay"

Internal video for "The Bay". Thanks to Storymasters for getting me involved. They're a progressive company doing documentary and corporate films. I've worked with these guys a number of times and am always impressed with their approach to corporate videos. They leave me with a lot of creative freedom to attack it with a more cinematic approach to lighting and movement. Owner Randy Woolgar is fantastic with his directing and just.. well.. he just gets it.

Project: "The Bay"
Camera: XD HDCAM
Format: 1920x1080 30P
Cinematographer: Justin Lovell

Yukon Breakdancing - on location

Having a background in breakdancing, shooting dance films and traveling around the globe for documentaries led me into this wicked project... I was flown up North to find myself shooting breakdancing on helicopter landing pads in the mountains.

The project was to document the 'Klondike Heat Bboy Battle'. There was also an intensive 1 week breakin'/popping/locking/hip hop workshop happening. My job was to document the event and help create a promo video for the Yukon based GWS bboy crew.

Shot on the SI2k camera, with a skeleton crew it was a real challenge. I also taught a photography workshop and the girls I taught came out to help with the shoot and learn about lighting and cinematography. Thanks girls, you were awesome!

Thank you Andrea Simpson-Fowler for getting me involved in this project.. you rock!

Project: "Yukon Breakdancing"
Camera: SI2K Mini
Format: 1920x1080 Cineform Raw, 23.98
Cinematographer: Justin Lovell

New World Samurai - Promo Spot #1

Click to download MP4

Profiles 1 v.1 Promotional spot #1 for New World Samurai/Karma Studios. Shot on location in Canmore, Alberta. Fun project to work on, being allowed to explore the inner workings of an impressive tattoo studio & gallery. The artists at NWS are awesome. Really pumped about the images I was able to create with the T-0.95 lens, beautifully shallow depth of field and soft vignette. Lit by sculpting the natural and existing lighting with an instinctive documentary approach. Thanks to Steve Cosens for the inspiration to shoot this style.

Music Composition by the talented Byron Wong.

Camera: Panasonic GH-1, Schneider Xenon 25mm 0.95

Format: 720p, 59.94 AVCHD - interpreted to 23.98 Cineform

Cinematographer: Justin Lovell

On Location- "Unbearable Prospect" Performance

Teamed up to shoot the Gadfly dance crew on their acclaimed performance of Unbearable Prospect. It's an amazing showcase of the crew's versatility and combination of street dance styles. This was a special sold out one night only comeback performance after the show's success last year.

We shot the dress rehearsal on our SI2k Mini with our EZFX jib arm. The allowed me to be right in front of the stage without any restrictions on blocking viewers. Stuck to the 5.9mm wide Angenieux lens and drifted around the front of the stage capturing some really gorgeous movement.

I love shooting dance movement and working the flow of the camera movements to speak with the choreography. I was a operating the remote head while jib operator Tony Del Rio guided movement of the jib up/down/left/right. Another awesome time for the FD crew!

Project: "Unbearable Prospect"
Camera: SI2K Mini
Format: 2048x856 Cineform Raw, 23.98
Cinematographer: Justin Lovell

Transfer Samples - super 8 64t

Pass the Cart II
A project put together by the members of the filmshooting.com forum.

Consists of 5 E64t Cartridges that have toured the world. I was fortunate enough to be involved, and this is CART #2. I shot the last film with 2 fellas in Toronto.

Had big goals for the project, but ran out of time... In the end I bucked down, set a date and convinced myself I was going to shoot it that day, make or break, no matter what. We had it all planned out, storyboarded on DSLR, and last minute the actress had to pull out as we ran out of time to shoot.

In comes plan B, shot rehearsal tests on a sony EX-1, 6 times for timing review; then rolls in the beaulieu 4008 to shoot it for real. We cut out a lot of shots which would have rounded out the toronto landscape a little better, but I was worried about it being at the end of the cart and losing a shot because I might not have the full 10'.

Ours is the last film of the 4.

On Location- "This Movie is Broken" Short Film - Bruce McDonald

A few more behind the scenes shots from Bruce Mcdonald's latest film. I was loading the 35mm Konvas for fellow Frame Discreet Cinematographer John Price. Micheal Leblanc came in to operate 2nd camera on a few days and Misha Petrenko even made it out as a key electric. Always a pleasure working with the FD crew.

Photos courtesy of Leah Barley- thanks :)

On Location- "ZEN STRETCH" Fitness Video

Got a call looking for a Jib Operator/Owner to help shoot a fitness video on ZEN STRETCHING a technique shown by Chris "Bodhi" Batista. I had no idea what I was getting into when I got the gig. Check the link, it's pretty impressive how this technique can really affect your body.

We shot with 2 cameras covering 10, 20 and 40 minute versions of the video. One camera on our dolly on a longer lens, the other camera our Jib arm with 10' extension and Remote Head. I monitored the camera movements with the joystick control and video goggles while Tony Del Rio operated the jib arm movements. Constant communication between all three of us was important to ensure that we weren't shooting similar frames and more importantly so that we weren't overlapping our zooms to change framing (makes for a happy editor).

Got a great tan hangin' out on the beach, and got a free instructional from Chris (using Tony as an example) on how to stop an attacker coming at you. Hillarious and scary watching that little demonstration.

Fitness Video: "Zen Stretch"
Cameras: Sony HD XDCAM
Format: 1080p, 29.97
Cinematographer: Justin Lovell / Chris Langenzarde