Indiana Rattlesnakes

When I worked for Brown County State Park I began working on a documentary about timber rattlesnakes in Indiana. In my spare time I would shoot B-Roll around the park, our resident timber rattlesnake, and I even drove up to Pokagon State Park near Fort Wayne to get the story of the Eastern massasauga rattlesnake.

I've had this video footage sitting on my hard drive since then. I've been waiting to finish the documentary with more interviews, more b-roll, and a nice Attenborough-esque voice over.

I decided a few days ago that I really needed to do something with this footage. A longer documentary probably wouldn't hold most people's interest anyway, so instead I made a short (2:45) video that just touches the surface of these reclusive reptiles.

Instead of making one long, all encompassing, documentary, I am going to break it up into pieces. An overview, biology, habitat, and conservation issues.

Below is the first installment - an overview of the rattlesnakes of Indiana.

Enjoy!


Rattlesnakes of Indiana from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.

Anamorphic Lenses

I've been brought in as the Gaffer* for a short film based on the DC character Static Shock. We're still in pre-production and look to be shooting in April. A few weeks ago the director and I started looking into the possibility of shooting this project in a cinemascope, 2.35:1, aspect ratio.

Most HD cameras record video in a 16:9 aspect ratio (as are most new TVs and monitors) such as this one:




An anamorphic lens uses optics to squeeze a wider-angle image onto a piece of film or a digital sensor. Once you have the image captured you can either stretch it in your editing software (like I did) or you can project it using another anamorphic lens - thus stretching it back out optically. Here is a test with the directors new Panasonic AG-LA7200 anamorphic lens:




As you can see we now get the wider 2.35:1 aspect ratio without losing any vertical resolution or cropping. We also get those mega-sweet anamorphic lens flares that shoot horizontally across the frame.

"But wait!" You say. "There are awesome horizontal lens flares in the "Pilot Light" video as well!"

Yes, but those were added in by our visual effects supervisor and took 48 hours of hand-tracking for that 3 minute video. Now we can just do them in camera!

*I'm also talking to the director about DP'ing - we'll see what happens.

Also: hey r/photography - mcarneybsa

HO-LY COW.

September 2nd. That is the date of (until now) the most recent entry in my blog. Heck even Tom has me beat by 4 posts!

So much has been going on, I don't even know where to begin.

I started shooting video for BridgeWay Community Church in early September



I also helped Olivia Kay with her kickstarter project.



Of course I've still been shooting for 12 Stars



And I Shot my first wedding (Jacklyn and Jarad McLeland)

And that was all in September.

I rang in October with my second wedding - Chris and Nicole Shotwell (you know, the weekend after the McLeland wedding)

My schedule with 12 stars picked up even more - Now I'm working "most" time - about 60% of what a full-timer would do. We're still a ROWE so, no hour counting here and that has helped a lot - allowing me to move my schedule around at will.



I've been working a lot with Emmanuel. Mostly just messing around, but he has gotten me leads on further paid work with some local DJ's and Dancers.




I've also done a few other odd-jobs here and there, finished the last few days with Syncope and signed on to Gaff another project coming up in about 10 days. These last two weeks Rocky and Zach have been on vacation, so I've been manning the office myself while still shooting and editing (and boy is that a rough job on your own).

Well, that about catches me up with what's been going on since September. I'll try not to take so long before the next post!

There Are No Tunnels

It's finally here, the Syncope Trailer!

Give it some love and tweet, facebook, and blog the trailer.

The premiere is, last I heard, scheduled for sometime in October in Chicago.

Quick Trip to Lafayette

I went up to Lafayette last week to meet with Jacklyn and Jarad about their wedding photos and while I was there I got to stay with some friends I haven't seen in a while.

This, this is Kevin and his "Hey guys
I might switch to Canon" face.

Firstly, my good friend Kevin is moving to Los Angeles in about 2 days from now to start his career path towards becoming a world-renowned Director of Photography.

So if any viewers out there in the LA region have a job that needs to be filled - hit him up.

Best of Luck Kevin, and remember, Orange on Teal = Summer Blockbuster!

Triathalete? Check. Photographer?
Check. Ph.D.? Sooo close...

Next up, I hung out with Andy quite a bit. I do have to say one of the best things about Andy (aside from his personality, open couch, and a bunch of other stuff) is that he's got a bunch of fun toys and is willing to let me mess with them. So this weekend I took a 1d mk3, 100mm IS macro, and 24mm f/1.4 out for a spin in the woods. Here are the results:

[Click images to view larger]

Self Portrait. Hand held, f/1.4, 4lbs of camera - not easy or
comfortable for that matter.

Seriously, the 24/1.4 was made to be shot wide open,
its not worth the price tag for anyother use.

I think I have fallen in love with the 100mm IS macro.

No, seriously, its sharp, its a great focal length for
macro as well as portraits (Kevin's pic - look at his eye!)

It's ridiculously sharp.

Did I mention IS, because it has 4 stops of it...

Oh and it's price tag won't break the bank
clocking in at just under a grand before tax/shipping.

Because who doesn't want to get closer to this guy...?

One more thing about the 100mm IS Macro - the IS is killer when shooting video. Don't believe me? The video below was shot with the 100mm hand held (with a viewfinder). The only issue I have is when you start to pan it lags, but just once, before it recognizes you aren't just shaking.

Canon 100mm L IS Macro Handheld Test from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.

a quick 2 shot test of handholding (with viewfinder) the Canon 100mm L IS Macro lens on my 60D. I think I've found a new object to drool over....

48Hours Film Project 2011 - Indianapolis

Well Hello All! It's been a few weeks so I thought I'd post a bit of an update. Most recently I just finished a 48Hour film for the Indianapolis 48Hour Film Project.

I became the Gaffer on the team Brïán's Blankets - Directed by Ben Dewhurst, the 1st AC for Syncope. We wrote, shot, edited, and delivered a Superhero movie in under 48 Hours (47 Hours, 51 Minutes to be exact).

We were all really excited about our film, but unfortunately we were immediately dis-qualified. Our film had a run-time of 9:30. We were only allowed 7:00. Our director, editor, and everyone else present at the time felt that the integrity of our story was more important than winning awards, so we turned it in anyway.

The great project coordinators let us screen our film with the rest of them anyway, so we were still able to win "Audience Favorite" which is what we wanted anyway.

The nice thing is that now we can put our film into other festivals and release it online when we want. It's going to get re-mastered, cleaned up, and all the audio fixed (had a few problems editing in the car ;) and then we will publish it. In the mean time, here is the trailer and a Behind The Scenes video (the last half of which is just the product of staying up too late...)




Super Party BTS from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.
Behind the Scenes on the Super Party short film. Written, Shot, and Edited in 48 Hours by Brian's Blankets team for the Indianapolis 48hours film festival.



Table of Contents:

00:00-00:40 - Day 1 planning

00:04-06:10 - Day 2 Shooting

06:10-07:24 - Day 3 Edit and Drop Off

07:24-15:55 - Day 3 Ben's CoinStar Butt-Bank and other awesome ideas (aka too little sleep; too much caffeine)

USAC Indiana Sprint Week

So right off of Syncope, I was called by Stephen Dale of Sopwith MotorSports TV Productions to help shoot the United States Auto Club Indiana Sprint Week. 7 days, 7 tracks in 7 cities. We covered two divers each night creating a small reality series. Half-hour (22 minute) episodes for each driver.

Yup. 14 Half-hour episodes shot with between 6 and 10 cameras (depending on the number of static and GoPro cameras we used) in just 7 evenings.

And did I mention the whole shoot got organized just 72 Hours before the first race?

Check out the trailer:



I shot using my 60D the whole time. For the most part I used a Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 (and occasionally some wider lenses for crowd b-roll etc).

basically everything that isn't an interview, a GoPro, and a few other shots was captured by yours truly - I think it worked out pretty well!

Syncope Days 1-4 Recap

What a blur! The first four days of filming Syncope went by so fast, but I'm not complaining about our much-needed four day break.

Last week was hectic from the get-go. I had problems getting to, and finding the location for the North Vernon headquarters. My GPS took me to a cemetery instead of the NV Police Department - but I got there before the safety briefing and that is what is important.

I apparently could not find either of these tents...

I was assigned to work as a grip with one other guy. Grips set up the lighting and camera support and work under the Gaffer - the man in charge of the physical act of lighting the scene (who is in turn under the Director of Photography - who designs the way the light looks).

Part of my job as a grip was also laying cable. Lots, and lots of cable. Did I mention that I lay cable? And then when we change the shot angle (generally when doing a reverse shot or "flipping the world") I get to re-lay the cable. Lots, and lots of cable.

Myself and the other grip laying the "5-strand" main power
cables from the generator to the distro-box (not destructo-box).

Aside from the bit of rain and lots of wind, the first night's shooting went rather well. We wrapped filming for the day at 4:45am and I finally left the set at 5:30 when everything was put away. I then tried to drive home to get ready for work at 9am...

I only made it about 25 minutes to Columbus, IN where I promptly fell asleep in a McDonalds parking lot for 2 hours. I then woke up, cleaned up (in the Mickey D's bathroom) and went to work. Afterwords, I went home, slept for another hour and then drove back to beautiful North Vernon for another night of filming.

Seriously, it looked like this for three evenings in a row.

On the second day the gaffer came over to me, took my name tag and crossed out "Production Assistant / Grip" and wrote "Best Boy Electric." The Best Boy Grip is more-or-less second in line to the Gaffer and would be, on a full film set, in overseeing other electricians. The other grip was promoted to Best Boy Grip. Normally the Best Boy Grip would report to the Key Grip, but we don't have one, so instead he reports to the Gaffer. All of this is semantics, however, because it is only myself, the BB Grip and the Gaffer to begin with (but we do get to grab PAs to help us whenever we need it).

The second day was pretty sweet because we had an 18' jib on set.

This fella.

They guys at Hearland Camera Jibs did a great job getting some killer footage. But wait, there's more! They came back again on Friday (day 4) for the bridge scene. 

Toward the end of the shoot, the Gaffer had to leave to drive to Chicago to get condor certified which left me in charge of the lighting for about 3 hours (plus tear down). Things were a bit hectic, but I think the AD's and Producers were happy with my hustle. 

Myself and the gaffer adjusting a flag and a light (respectively)

After day 2 I was able to catch another 3 hours of sleep before heading back to Indy for another shoot for 12 Stars. I then drove back to North Vernon (with a quick stop-over at Arby's) for day 3. 

Day 3 was pretty typical, no steadicam, jib, or explosions to report. But I definitely started to feel the effects of limited sleep (if you've done the math, I'm at 6 hours from Tuesday morning through Thursday night). I finally got to get a slightly normal amount of sleep after everything got cleaned up from Day 3 (and our last day in the town of North Vernon). I managed to eek out another 6 hours of sleep before getting up for Friday's earlier call time.

Friday (day 4) we changed game plans and instead of doing a super-long day, we only did 4 shots, all at the same location, and with only ambient light - My job was cake for the day, except for the massive inventory I had to do of our 1ton grip truck and equipment from three different suppliers...

Friday's 30' Jib - booyah!

I was able to sneak away from the truck long enough to grab a quick video from the cheap-seats at Video Village and bring you this teaser...

Well, that's it for now. I'll try to blog during the next 4 days of production (Wednesday through Saturday) since I'll be able to stay down on location without driving back to Indy nearly every day.

Midwest Foresters' Conclave

Brad, a member of the
Purdue Society of American Foresters,
takes a break during practice
for the yearly SAF regional conclave

Remember Brad from way back when?

I grabbed this picture of him while taking a break from practicing for the Underhand Chop competition at the 2010 Midwest Foresters' Conclave.

This year the conclave was held at Purdue and, while I wasn't able to grab any sweet stills like you see here, I did get the opportunity to shoot some video during the actual competitions.

I wasn't able to stay all day, however I did make it in time to film the Underhand Chop - one of my favorite events of the day.


So here it is - The Underhand Chop

Underhand Chop | 2011 Midwest Foresters' Conclave from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.

150 Competitors from nine schools gather each year to challenge each other in traditional lumberjack games at the Midwest Foresters' Conclave. This year was the first year the event was held in the spring and was hosted by Purdue University during their annual Spring Fest and Bug Bowl.

Masterpiece Kitchen

As you may know, Last fall I started a project where I would cook new recipes and then photograph them, detailing all of my learning experiences on the this blog. Well wouldn't you know it, but life once again got in the way of my plans and I haven't been keeping very up-to-date.

This time around, I was all set to take a photograph when I got an email from the Vimeo Weekend Project group. As if a sign from above, it was a project based around creating a cooking show.

I put away my strobes and fished out my video lights (a-lá Home Depot) and my tripod to record the magic. With a little help from Abby, we made dinner and the video in a reasonable amount of time.

Chicken Bruschetta Pasta | Masterpiece Kitchen from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.
Welcome to Masterpiece Kitchen, the most dramatic cooking show known to man. In this episode we examine how to create the classic entreé Chicken Bruschetta with Farfalle, or the more colloquial "Bowtie," Pasta.

Sit back, relax and enjoy your meal with Masterpiece Kitchen.

Photo/Video Info:
Photo: Canon 60D w/ 50mm f/1.4 @ f/3.5 1/125 ISO 1000
Video: Canon 60D w/ 24mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4, 135mm f/2 all @ f/4 1/50 ISO 1000
Lighting: 23w CFL in "HD" reflectors (Home Depot) x2 - one high left over cutting board/counter, one high right over stove acting as key and fill each for the different shots. Intro sequence 1x23w CFL in "HD" reflector high left, practical lighting

The Children's Museum

Kelly, Evelyn and I went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum on Friday. While Evelyn's attention span and activity level only lets us stay at the TCM for about an hour and a half, we still got to see Dino-sphere (during the thunderstorm), go under the Chihuly, splash in the Play Zone, see movie magic in the new Incredible Costumes exhibit and romp all over the seven wonders of the world.

I've also been helping out 12 Stars Media with the Indy TCM's This Week's Wow bi-weekly web series. Check out the most recent video below and then the rest of the series.

Nothing like a little After Effects to help you (not) sleep

I came up with this idea out of the blue and got so excited about it I started working on it right away. After I got about 1/4 done, I decided I might as well finish it while I'm on a roll. Well now here it is, and here I am, at 5:42am - tired.

Enjoy!

The World of Light from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.

The Maori Creation Myth of Rangi, the Sky Father, and Papa, the Earth Mother, being separated by their son Tane, God of the Forest. The Maori look to the greak Kauri trees found on the North Island as Tane's pillars, still holding Rangi apart from Papa.



Photos of Aoraki/Mt. Cook were taken by me during Sunrise across Lake Punakaiki.

It is done.

Well, it's done. I've sold nearly all of my lenses, my D300s is almost sold, and I've already got my 60D, 50/1.4 and the 24/2.8 and 135/2 are on their way.

Here's the first thing I've shot with the 60D. Enjoy

Dare to Bare / 60D test from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.

Its not you its me...

I'm sorry, but we can't do this any more.

I mean, we get along great, we've been together for 4 years now, but well... Its just that lately you haven't been living up to my expectations. Its not for a lack of trying, but it just isn't cutting it. You do a great job at lots of things, but just not the things I need right now. It's not you, its me.

I hope we can still be friends. I think we can still hang out together, I mean we know a lot of the same people and I still think you're lots of fun, but i've found another.

That's right. I've decided to make a major change. I've thought about switching to Canon before, but I stuck with Nikon. As time has progressed so have both companies, but one way beyond the other. I find myself doing more and more video work and projects. Nikon hasn't been able to keep up with the competition and I've outgrown the limitations of my Nikon's video.

As I write this, I'm in the process of making the transition. I'm selling my Nikon equipment on Ebay. Right now I'm only selling a few lenses. At this point I can't afford to outright by the new Canon equipment. I'm first selling a few lenses in order to pay for a Canon 60D and 18-135 IS kit lens. Now, I normally frown upon kit lenses, however this will be the only zoom I am getting (to start with) and will be very useful as a simple walk-around lens.

Once I get the 60D and lens I will sell my remaining equipment. In replacement I am getting a Canon 60D, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, 24mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4, and 135mm f/2.0 (yeah, that's a 135/2 baby!). This will cover all of my needs for the time. Then I can begin to build my collection back up.

One of the major reasons I've decided to do this is thinking into the future. Canon, like Nikon, makes excellent still cameras. I will be losing very, very little functionality by making this switch. However I will be gaining much needed versatility as a video camera. Manual exposure, manual audio levels, swivel screen, variable frame rates - all things my Nikon can't do. Now, as Dr. Brown would say, back to the future - it is inevitable that Canon, with their decades of video experience, that they will within the next 2 years produce an APS-C sized sensor in a video camera with an interchangeable EOS lens mount.

With all of these factors in mind, I have made the decision to switch to Canon. Like it or Love it, I'm doing it.

Video Vignettes

Here's a new video vignette - the small patch of woods just northeast of my house.

Video Vignette: Winter Scene from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.

Video Vignettes

I'm going to start doing a short series of quick vignettes or "short, impressionistic scenes that focus on one moment or give a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting." Here is the first of such pieces: A Cold Day in the Park.

Video Vignette: A Cold Day in the Park from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.

Oh How Could I Have Forgotten!

I can't believe I wrote that whole last post and didn't even think to mention that I just uploaded my new DEMO REEL to my vimeo account today. Check it out:

Michael Carney Cinematography Demo Reel 2010 from Michael Carney Media on Vimeo.

Rattling Along

Well, I've got a few more shots in the can for the Timber Rattlesnake Doco. Next I still need to talk to a couple biologists, a law enforcement agent and then get some fall and winter B-roll. And of course, find out how to see inside a hibernacula!

[me filming the eastern massasauga - photo by Fred Wooley]

[Jim getting interviewed. Note the interpreting gesture ;) ]

[Fred getting interviewed. Again with the gesture. Its almost like the

facilitator clap,everyone does it if they know it or not.]

[and of course, the star of the show]

New Project

(Its like "Where's Waldo," but with a rattlesnake!)

I just got approval from my boss to work with our captive timber rattlesnake to produce a short documentary about timber rattlesnakes in Brown County State Park.

I'll be working not only with the snake, but setting up interviews with biologists, DNR employees, Conservation Officers, and many other people to put together this 10-12 minute documentary.

Topics will include natural history, biology, and, of course, human interaction both historically and currently.


Phase one - script writing. I'll try to keep the blog updated with my progress.

Blah-G! Nose Picking, Late Rent, Creamy Fillings, and Girl on Girl Action

Evelyn likes to pick my nose for some reason!

I forgot about the blog again, oh dear!

Well I haven't done many more stills recently, but I can finally post the video projects I've been working on for the last 4 months.

So we'll start with the off topic: "Late" by Joshua Cassida
One of the films I personally enjoyed, also winner of best editing and best actor (Jordan Kubat) at the Doty's (our classes film fest)
Its the story of a young man who falls behind on his rent and will do anything to make some quick cash.

LATE from Joshua Cassida on Vimeo.

Next We've got My film: "[all about the] Creamy Filling"
It was fun making it, but The script never really got where it needed to be, The actors were so-so and the visuals didn't turn out how I wanted them to (we had massive color balance issues during capture).
Its the story of three roommates waking the morning after a graduation party to find that all of their food is gone.

[all about the] Creamy Filling from Michael Carney on Vimeo.

Finally, we've got "Girl/Girl" by Matthew Irwin.
I had a great time as DP making this film. I'm so glad the party scene turned out exactly how we wanted it. After a few cuts around some really awful acting, this film ended up getting the Audience Favorite, Best Film, Best Cinematography and Chase Noelle won best Actress at the Dotys.
Jasmine begins a relationship with Sofia, who has a boyfriend. Sofia's never had a same sex relationship until now, and she must decide whether to go with her new love interest, Jasmine, or to stay with her boyfriend.

Girl/Girl from Matt Irwin on Vimeo.