Hello.

This girl wants to be a pathologist. Watch out for her.

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 11:15:08 -0500

This girl wants to be a pathologist. Watch out for her.

Having fun at the agency. Going for that 70’s look. Hope...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:13:51 -0500

Having fun at the agency. Going for that 70’s look. Hope it works. What do you think?

It was fun working on this. I am very happy and proud to be...

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:18:14 -0500

It was fun working on this. I am very happy and proud to be working with such great people. 1st Place Vimeo Contest winner!

It was fun working with so many people I knew on this...

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:55:11 -0400

It was fun working with so many people I knew on this shoot.

Check out The Broken Social Scene

mattaustinphoto: Another fun shooting night with Justin Teichen...

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:53:01 -0400

mattaustinphoto:

Another fun shooting night with Justin Teichen last night.

This is us and the bouncers on the red carpet at the Latin Grammys. Shaky photo by the valet guy.

Louie CK talk cameras and film.

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:05:04 -0400

Louie CK talk cameras and film.:

An interesting interview with comedian and filmmaker Louie CK. He talks about the Red camera and the awesome lenses he uses for his show “Louie.”

The team did this for a client for Ireland. Music was done by...

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:57:08 -0400

The team did this for a client for Ireland.

Music was done by this amazing dude from Australia.

Super into this. Love the way skate edits have been progressing.

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 13:34:33 -0400

Super into this.

Love the way skate edits have been progressing.

Screen sharing with Rebecca Votta on our latest vid. It should...

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 03:55:00 -0400

Screen sharing with Rebecca Votta on our latest vid. It should be up in a couple days.

Anthony Mariotto, Production Sound Engineer On location working...

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 01:15:19 -0400

Anthony Mariotto, Production Sound Engineer

On location working a commercial for Irish TV. He’s our stand in every time.

Oh the people from RISD. How I love them… Here is a GREAT...

Sun, 22 May 2011 22:51:00 -0400

Oh the people from RISD. How I love them…

Here is a GREAT animation from Caleb Wood. Why GREAT? It is because he really makes the frame move in this stop motion “Stay Home.” It is simple yet put together perfectly.The animals are very cute, the way the pictures move and the camera “moves” is fanstastic. Black and white. The sound design is simple and natural. It is clear in the video that through simplicity brings complexity.

Scott Schuman (The Satorialist) says it best, “You can ask most chefs, they would need five ingredients, one pan, and a stick of butter and they can make the best meal you’d ever had. And I think thats where most photographers would like to get to…not to have all that other stuff but be able to create the most beautiful image they can, in the most simple way they can.”

As for me, I’m currently working on a couple projects. I’ll give you a better update when they become more tangible.

Adios…for now.

Hi! Just doing some tests. Shadows and vertical framing.

Tue, 17 May 2011 13:12:05 -0400

Hi!

Just doing some tests.

Shadows and vertical framing.

It was a Monday (yesterday) night, and Becca came to me with a...

Wed, 11 May 2011 02:26:00 -0400

It was a Monday (yesterday) night, and Becca came to me with a little idea. Drawn from inspiration of the song used, we sat down and I drew up a shot list. I wanted to try out some techniques and so did she. Created in a couple hours during the late ones of the night, we came up with this. Listen with some nice headphones.

Thanks Max Flick, for the Lensbaby.

This is such a great combination of low-fi video production with...

Sat, 07 May 2011 21:44:44 -0400

This is such a great combination of low-fi video production with animation and great sound design. I love when pieces come together in this fashion.

Photographic Primes VS Cinema Primes

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 21:16:00 -0400

For those of you interested in the difference.

One significant difference, and the most important for me, is lens breathing. Very noticeable with rack focusing, which is conterintuitive to film. I believe that a rack focus should not distract the audience from the narrative. To do so would be disparaging.

A cine lens has a robust body, much more so than a photo lens. This is key for pulling focus, as a larger body yields an easier and thus more precise throw.

For the most part, cine lenses of the same make (such as Zeiss CP.2 primes) also have the same lens diameter. This makes adding a matte box with doughnut simpler, as only one doughnut would be needed to shield light from behind the box.

When asked what I do for a living, I used to struggle with the...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 23:46:00 -0400

When asked what I do for a living, I used to struggle with the job title. It seems to me that being labeled as a filmmaker is just too vague. Typically I’d reply with a variety of answers: cinematographer, Director of Photography, photographer, videographer. Freelance.

I think I have solved my confusion. I work in the camera department on narrative films, music videos, and corporate work. It seems to answer the query quite well. I have been AC on quite a bit of recent work, but I associate myself as a Director of Photography.

Very excited for this coming week, preparing for the 24 hour film race, and other various projects. Got a very prestigious crew that I am working with, and am looking forward to collaborating with such great creativity. Some scenes will be shot with the Zeiss Distagon T* 21mm F2.8 ZF.2 with a Duclos Cinemod. Boss.

On the way home last night, I met a white stain on the CTA brown line. Sitting across from me, I wondered where he came from and if it was bothering him that the beautiful yellow jacketed woman sitting next to him was talking to herself rather obviously. Oh well white stain, I’m sure I’ll run into your mysterious self on another seat.

As of this morning, I got a hookup at Dunkin’ Donuts who gets me fresh ones from the back.

I went to Bikram Yoga this morning at the Lincoln Park studio. They have a great mezzanine studio. I find it astonishing the amount of beautiful people that endure the 105 degree temperature with 45 percent humidity, and come out less than half beautiful. Ah Bikram, always a good time.

Enjoy this song by Four Tet.

I got put on as AC for a short film some people in LA are...

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 02:55:00 -0400

I got put on as AC for a short film some people in LA are shooting here in Chicago. Great locations all over the city. 5D’s with Zeiss CP primes. Very excited, especially since I’ll will be getting to handle those infamous Zeiss primes.

Preparing for this shoot, I am packing:

- Lens cleaner fluid, lens tissure, lens cloth

- #7 scredriver

- Camera slate insert

- this awesome pen my dad gave me that has a a super powerful LED light on the other end of it. it incudes a snoot! what??

- paper tape in black and white

- small roll camera tape

- non permanent marking pencils for focus marks

- set of allen keys

- dry eraser marker

- can of air

I was listening to Future Islands and this song made a nice transition into Atlas Sound. Also a great song to play when the power goes out in my entire building. Currently have 15 candles going.

Well, GOOD MORNING everyone! I know my blog is still unfinished,...

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 10:18:27 -0400

Well, GOOD MORNING everyone! I know my blog is still unfinished, but I feel that this post is merited. This is one of my favorite shows. Not the best cinematography, but fun nonetheless.