Take a peak at my setup for editing The Drownsman

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water. Production started on the feature-length horror The Drownsman towards the end of last year and in only a couple of fast-paced months the edit was assembled insanely quickly. I am dying to share the workflow with you all but it is pretty difficult to show without being able to actually reveal any images of the movie itself. In the meantime I offer a small glimpse into how I prepared for the project and what gear was used.

It was requested that I bring my edit suite to set and cut each day's footage on-site. This move is very uncommon but necessary in this case since the director needed to see how scenes were cutting together and also so that a rough cut of the film could be produced in the shortest amount of time after wrapping. The producers requested that I use Final Cut Pro 7, the first editing program I started on. It had been a couple years since I had used it, but it's like riding a bike. Plus all of the experience I had since gained editing quickly with Avid hotkeys, I found I was now a lot faster with FCP7.

Two weeks before starting I gutted my computer and put all new hardware in, including a shiny RED Rocket Card. This. Was. CRUCIAL. Without the power of this card, a day's worth of raw RED Epic footage takes at least a day to transcode before even begin to edit. I had no idea how strong-like-bull this card was until I ran it through some tests with REDCINE-X. With it my computer could now chew through a day's worth of footage in half an hour!

Most of the shoot was located in Mount Forest, ON. After packing up my entire edit suite and re-locating it there, I met with the DMT guy Dan Glegg. He would be responsible for backing up the footage. Together, this is what our workspace looked like for 3 weeks...

Each day production wrapped at around 3 or 4am. Once the cards were backed up, Dan would hand me a hard drive and I would setup my computer to make ProResLT transcode files. Half an hour later and baking's done. Then I would work through the night until the crew call the next day, when I would hand my iPad Mini to the director and he would look over the edits, request edit changes and make notes as to what pick-up shots were needed. Then I would sleep during the day. Rinse and repeat.

So there's a basic description of my approach to editing this film. The crew is getting suited up for one final day of pick-up shots before the Master edit will be locked and then sent to colour and sound.

I'll be able to go into more depth with describing the process later when the film premieres. In the meantime, I hope this sates you.

Acoustic jamming with The Vanishers (VIDEO)

One cold, winter night I got a call from my friend Paul. He and his band, The Vanishers, were lined up to play at a place downtown (the eBar is a popular place for live music) and wanted to record an acoustic set quickly before the show. Myself and two other camera operators showed up, armed with our gear and after a handful of minor technical issues (a broken field mixer being one of them, good thing I had my Zoom H4N recorder on hand), we were able to record two quick takes of them performing Mother Goose.

Also to give you an idea as to why I enjoy downtown Guelph so much, we recorded at the back of The Bookshelf (a popular place for...books) and they welcomed us in with a smile and wave as we setup and shot without disturbing any of their business. In fact, I'm pretty sure some of the customers sat in to watch the show.

The Vanishers

If you ever get the chance to, I highly recommend checking out the band. If you're a fan of throat-punching, country-fried rock 'n roll...well, you're in luck because that's what they play. Follow The Vanishers on their Facebook page and catch their next show.

Keep that camera moving

Most cinematographers develop a distinctive style of shooting that becomes their signature on a movie. Just by looking at how the shot is framed, how the camera is behaving or how the scene is lit can tell you exactly who shot it. Because a lot of shooters find a particular method or technique that speaks to them. Since I first picked up a camera and started shooting zombie horror and fantasy action films with my friends almost a decade ago, in my mind it was always meant to be moving. So if you've seen any of the videos that I've shot you'll know that I favour taking the camera off of the sticks (that means tripod).

Growing up watching Robert Rodriguez and other action movies, I saw how much moving the camera with the actors can do for the story. In a high-energy chase it can make you feel like you're running right with the hero. As one character encounters his lover whom he discovers has been disloyal to him, the intense emotion can be emphasized by the shakiness of the camera itself as the rocky relationship is torn apart. In a surreal dream sequence, having the camera seem to float and glide through the air helps lend the scene an out-of-body feeling.

Nowadays camera movement is often associated with low-budget, guerilla-style filmmaking since a decent tripod is not something a lot of shooters can afford (upwards of $500-$1,000 for a professional-grade video tripod). But it's also used very effectively in some noteworthy Hollywood films:

- Emmanuel Lubezki, who often shoots for Alfonso Cuarón, has become notorious for his use of camera movement during long shots in films like Ali, Children of Men and Gravity

- Eric Alan Edwards made the breakthrough film Kids look as gritty and realistic as possible by filming it the way you would expect a documentary to appear, with lots of shaky movement and long-zoom shots as though we were viewing it from a distance

- In 2011's The Adjustment Bureau, a star-crossed couple discovers that an uber-secret organization of men exist that keep the world in balance according to the plan of a higher power. This group seeks to keep the couple apart at all costs in their mission to maintain worldwide order. Early on in the movie the camera's movement is very smooth and stable. John Toll (Director of Photography) utilizes long dolly and trucking shots to reflect the Bureau's omnipresent control over humanity. As the story progresses and our two heroes rebel against the Bureau and their enforced control, the camera's movement becomes shakier and more irratic as the system becomes imbalanced by their actions.

While I will always see the value and beauty in well-composed, static shots (to this day I still find the work of Tonino Delli Colli breathtaking in the opera western classics The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West) my preference remains to let the camera off the leash (i.e. the tripod) and let it flow with the action; let it move with the emotional swings of the scene just as the music often does. I'll even defend the supposedly nausea-inducing camera work in modern fight scenes.