The new Zacuto PlaZma Light, with over 30 patents on Micro Plasma Technology, will change the way you light. It has already received a “Best Innovation” award from the BCPVA at the NAB 2012 and was one of the most talked about products on the exhibition floor! Thousands of filmmakers, photographers, news channels and other professionals stopped by Zacuto’s booth at NAB, some repeatedly, all amazed by the sheer amount of light coming from such a small, flat source.

Above: Side, Front & Back View of the PlaZma Light

Unlike a LED light, the Zacuto PlaZma light is a super soft light source much like a Chimera soft box, yet extremely bright when needed. It is production grade quality, dimmable, thin, light and portable. Measuring less than an inch think, they can fit into extremely small spaces. Zacuto PlaZma lights will be available in many sizes and shapes. The PlaZma light is environmentally friendly, no mercury or lead used and is made in the USA.

The PlaZma light puts out an impressive 2000 lumens versus other industry 1×1 LED panels at 1200 lumens and 777 lumens on side lit reflected LEDS. It also has a characteristic incandescent curve unlike LEDS that can have a nasty green spike and don’t mix well with practical or tungsten lights. The daylight balanced curve is unwavering at 5800K and mix well with HMIs. Just like traditional soft lights, the PlaZma light has a wide light pattern as opposed to the spotty nature of an LED. However, unlike traditional soft lights, the PlaZma light has a huge throw. Existing lights, including LEDs, force you to lose light output as they need to be diffused, bounced or have an umbrella attached to it. The soft nature of this light enables actors to look directly into it (from 5 inches) without squinting and fills the face with beautiful soft light.

The PlaZma lights will be available in a 1×1 Tungsten or Daylight. We are also working on making different sizes as well as accessories such as barndoors and expandable snoot. The lights are powered by 110-240V 50-60 Hz AC or 11-18V DC with a 3 Stud Anton Bauer like battery or a Sony V-Lock battery. The power box also has the dimmer. The control box connects to the light via weather proof 10 or 25 foot head cable or and be placed on the ground or mounted on the light stand.

If you are looking for a small, portable AC/DC soft light, that is less expensive then LED hard lighting, the Zacuto PlaZma light is the choice for you! The lights are due out at the end of summer 2012. If interested in learning more about the light and availability, sign up here:

Now is the time to contact our rental department. We understand the changing needs of filmmakers and have made some changes to meet those needs. We’ve lowered our rental rates for much of our equipment inventory. All of our lens pricing is 20 to 40% lower; prices on P2 cards are lower, as well as DSLR camera bodies.

If that’s not enough, we’ve added Canon’s latest full-frame sensor camera, the 5DMkIII, and Canon’s cinematic workhorse, the C300 to our line-up. These two top of the line cameras round out our collection of DSLR, digital cinema, broadcast HD, and prosumer HD cameras.

If you compare rental prices in the Chicago area, you’ll notice our rates our competitive. You get what you pay for. You may get a lower price somewhere else, but we’re willing to bet the equipment won’t be in as good condition or the packages as complete as ours. We make sure you get all the equipment you need for a successful shoot. This means if you need a monitor we include all the necessary accessories that go with it. We’re not going to nickel and dime you with add-ons.

You’re going to get some of the best customer service in the business, which we pride ourselves on. There’s nothing worse than dealing with a condescending gearhead- especially when you’re trying to rent equipment you’re not totally familiar with. The last thing you want is to be on set with your crew scratching your heads on how to use a rig or a camera you’re not familiar with. Zacuto gets that not everyone is an ASC certified cinematographer. We’re here to assist filmmakers at all levels of expertise.

“We do whatever we can to give people the information they need to use their equipment properly. Often times, this means an in-shop demonstration of the proper way to set up an item or camera system. These mini-preps happen on-the-spot, upon request, all the time. Other times, with scheduled demo appointments, we will work with a customer to optimize a support option for their own camera. We build customized support rigs for our clients every day. It’s what we’re here for,” says Leo Koesterer of Zacuto Rentals.

Productions come in all sizes and budget needs. We mainly service local indie-level productions but other clients we’ve helped with rentals include reality TV producers, film students, DPs of commercials and feature films, and broadcast news producers. Most of these clients are local, but Zacuto will ship equipment anywhere in the continental United States.

As in any business, it’s all about building relationships and exceeding customer expectations. Rent with Zacuto- whether it’s a C300 with a Scorpion shoulder rig or a tripod and a lavelier mic- and you can expect the best in service and quality of equipment.

Need another reason?

“We like to think we’re a fun group of people to work with,” added Leo. “You’re going to encounter a lot of stressful situations in the world of production. You might as well make renting the easy part.”

To learn more about renting the Canon C300 or 5DMkIII, in addition to other great gear, visit our rental page.

Written By: Shirley Baugher

Natacha Merritt might be surprised at being designated a millennial woman, but she definitely is. She came of age with the Internet’s bare-all, confessional culture. She boldly went where few women had ever gone—on a journey of self-exploration for the new millennium—and gave us no holds barred images depicting her life through sensual encounters. She’s smart, she’s daring, and goes her own way in the world.

Natacha’s story follows the stories of two other women who broke the photographic ground of self-portraiture in the last millennium: Cindy Sherman and Claude Cahun. Like Natacha, Cindy Sherman was a star of her own photos. In the 80s she photographed herself in many guises: a Hitchcock heroine, a Monroe-like glamour girl, an abuse victim, a clown, a corpse, a mutilated hermaphrodite sex doll, a clown, and occasionally, as herself.

Above: Cindy Sherman as a clown and as a Monroe-like glamour girl

Above: Sherman as a mutilated hermaphrodite sex doll and as herself

Cindy Sherman began to make a name for herself in the 1980s. She achieved almost instant success after the shock value of a centerfold series the commissioning magazine refused to publish—not because the images were too sexually explicit, but because they were too disturbing. They depicted terrified, exposed, and hunted women which some thought perpetuated the idea of females as victims. Predictably, the more controversy her work generated, the higher the prices went. Before long, her photographs were selling for $1 million at auction. All of her early work was done using cameras with film. She recently bought a heavy-duty video camera and took a class in video editing. While her digital manipulations still leave you looking for the real Cindy Sherman, you might be able to find her in the retrospective of her work currently being exhibited at MOMA in New York.

Before Cindy Sherman, there was Claude Cahun—a French photographer born Lucy Schwob. In the early twentieth century, she adopted the pseudonym Cahun. Between 1920 and 1940, she took a series of staged self-portraits in which she questioned pre-existing notions of self and sexuality. Posing in costumes and elaborate makeup, Cahun shows herself as both man and woman; hero and doll; powerful and vulnerable. A retrospective of her work called Entre Nous: The Art of Claude Cahun was organized by the Jeu de Paume in Paris and co-produced with La Virreina Centre de la Imatge, Barcelona. With support provided by Helen and Sam Zell and the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, the exhibit is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago through June 12. Walking down the basement photography galleries, like the hero of Midnight in Paris, you will be transported back to Paris in the 1920s. This is the first solo presentation of her work in the United States.

Above: Lucy Schwob photographs herself as Claude Cahun, 1929

Above: Claude Cahun, montage

Above: Cahun self portraits

Now, it is Natacha’s time. In 2000, Merritt, at age 22, published Digital Diaries, a book that redefined the boundaries of artistic photography. Controversial and highly sexual, it was the first digital photography book ever published and presented a digital document of sex acts: oral sex, conventional male-female sex, lesbian sexual encounters, and sex with the use of arousal enhancers.

Above: Natasha on the cover of Digital Diaries

Above: From Digital Diaries

The bulk of Digital Diaries depicts Natacha performing sex acts on herself. She looked into the monitor of her camera and when she saw what she wanted, she shot it. While some may see the images as pornographic, Merritt says she was not out to shock or titillate. She was exploring, looking for something beautiful, interesting, and, yes, arousing. The images were featured in publications worldwide: Rolling Stone, The Observer, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal, and Der Spiegel. Through Amazon and the LA Times, it sold 300,000 copies.

 Above: Natacha Merritt

Following the huge success of Digital Diaries, Natacha’s interests broadened. She became obsessed with science and went back to school to study biology—specifically biodiversity and evolutionary biology. She became fascinated with the mating habits of plants and insects, which she viewed as a natural extension of her interest in sex. Just as she saw beauty in the human body, she discovered the beauty of varied life forms. She learned the role of plant and insect life forms on the ecosystem and their effect on human life.

In her new book, Sexual Selection, New book Sexual Selection, due out in May, Natacha is both scientist and documentarian. She asks questions about the nature of selection as a scientist and answers these questions as an artist through photography and writing. She believes that sexual selection constitutes the sensual side of evolution, and she creates lyrical images by comparing and contrasting the sexual intricacies of plants and insects with human sexuality. The concept goes back to Darwin who explained how animal characteristics influenced survival of the species. Merritt adds female choice and sexual plasticity—or the capacity for being changed in form and shape—into the process of survival. The images in her new book are works of art that offer insight into universal sexuality and broaden the viewer’s sense of beauty and understanding of sexual behavior.

Above: From Sexual Selection Image by Natacha Merritt

Above: Natacha Merritt on the cover of Sexual Selection

Above: Another aspect of sexual selection

In 2000, while she was working on Digital Diaries, Natacha collaborated with two fellow artists to shoot and edit D-Life, the first Internet reality miniseries which was picked up by Warner Brothers. Three years later, she became one of the co-creators of the Cirque de Soleil show, Zumanity, an exploration of—what else—sensuality and peak human performance. For this jproduction, she created large-scale multi-media projections from erotic images she had captured of the performers. In 2008, while she was studying biology at San Francisco State University, she wrote an Insect Circus, inspired by her observations of the insect world. She licensed the rights to this work to Cirque de Soleil.

Above: A Study in Sensuality by Natacha Merritt

Q. How did you happen to become a photographer? Did you receive any formal training in this field?

A. My boyfriend at the time (I was 20) gave me a hand-me down digital camera. It was 1998, pretty much the first year consumer-level digital cameras hit the market. The resolution was 240 by 480–basically the size of a thumbnail these days–but there was a live view swivel screen which I immediately fell in love with.

Q. What made you decide to focus your early work on human sexuality?

Above: Natacha Merritt

A. My sex life was fantastic. My ex was very fetishist and into exploration. Borderline sex addict. I loved it, loved the exploration as much as him when I was photographing it. So the two fueled each other. At that age, it was that simple, I loved it, so I took pictures of it. It’s taken me years of reflection and study to really understand that impetus other levels: artistic, evolutionary and socio-politically.

Q. Why did you choose yourself as the primary subject of your photographs?

A. I feel very comfortable with myself. It is convenient because I am always available. The logistics of self-portraiture can be daunting at times, but communicating with a model is equally complex. I often do work with models –always friends or acquaintances – but in the end many of the images look like self-portraits. One of the reasons being that everything I ask my models to do is something I would do myself. I definitely project myself into my subjects.

Q. What kind of reaction did you hope to elicit from those who saw your photographs?

A. I don’t think about it.

Q. In 2000, when you published Digital Diaries, you told an interviewer that, while your photographs were art, you were not an artist. Do you still believe that?

A. I always took great pains to avoid being the stereotypical idea of an artist. I thought artists were always theorizing (not doing), in pain emotionally or frying themselves on drugs or heartache to find their muses. I didn’t want to be that. But now I realize that stereotypes are irrelevant to my sense of self, and they are, at best, generalities. In order to come to that realization, and the realization that I am in fact 100% an artist, I went back to school to become a scientist. I received a degree in biology a year ago. My new book of artistic images is coming out nearly a year after I got my degree.

Q. How do you think you and your artistic output have changed since your early work?

A. The most noticeable change is the subject matter. I now look everywhere for images, not just down my pants or in my sex life, although I still do that as well.

Q. Why did you decide to return to higher education and become a biologist?

A. I had a little bit of financial flexibility, and I was trying to figure out how to make the best investment. I decided that giving myself the luxury of being a full time student for a few years would be the best investment. I had no idea what I was going to study. In fact, they barely let me into university because my high school biology grades were too low. I was hooked the first semester when I took a class called “world of plants, and it all clicked. Plants and insects were kinkier than anything I could have imagined. I wanted more. Turns out you can’t just study plants without all of the other science pre-requisites. The training is like pre-medicine. I had to remediate in math for a year. I needed tutoring and had to record my lessons and transcribe them. It was very difficult. It was a very very humbling experience, especially after all the success I had had in my early 20’s. It strengthened and simplified my artistic vision. I don’t think anything could ever be as hard as some of those classes. But I wanted to get to the end, to really understand genetics, evolutionary biology, and speciation. Now I can read primary scientific literature and really understand. My art needed that. And all along I was meeting new models in my classes and pursuing the erotic photography. I didn’t realize until a week after I graduated that there was a new book all done.

Q. Who has influenced your work as a photographer and documenter of the sexuality of humans and plants and insects?

A. There is a scientist by the name of William Eberhard. He wrote extensively on the evolution of genital morphology and different insect mating behavior. He is my favorite by far. Human sexuality, Otto Dix.

Q. What direction do you see your work taking in the future?

A. I definitely am pursuing this idea of merging science with erotica. I have mostly only explored arachnid genitalia, but there are many other species with elaborate and fantastic secondary sexual structures that I want to photograph. And humans, well I just can’t get enough of them as well.

Natacha Merritt wears many hats. She is an artist, a photographer, a filmmaker, a biologist, and a writer. Born in San Francisco in 1977, she had an eclectic education, including studying law at the Sorbonne and biology at San Francisco State University. Her first publication, Digital Diaries (Taschen), was a series of portraits documenting her personal sexual behavior. Later works included an internet reality series, collaboration on a Cirque de Soleil project, and a return to higher education where she focused on plant and insect sexual behavior. This study led to her latest book, Sexual Selection (Bongout), in which she shows how our morphologies are linked to other species through shared and convergent evolution. She was recently featured in The Guardian in an article on the genitalia of spider. Her photographs of a spider’s erection are nothing short of phenomenal. To get the shot, she boiled the penis of a dead spider in a bath of lactic acid, allowed it to cool, and waited for about an hour while the pedipaps (penis) expanded. Then she took about 60 images through a microscope at 50x magnification with a Leica camera attached. On a computer, she merged them all into a composite shot. She added extra lighting to give the shot …”a romantic feel”. While she admits that pictures of spider erections have appeared in scientific journals before, she says biologists would probably not shoot spiders as she did—achieving undoubtedly the first-ever artistic shot of a spider erection.

Above: Natacha today

Natacha is very much a woman of her time. She works exclusively with digital imagery—in fact, she never used a conventional camera or film. She didn’t have to learn the elements of camera photography and loves the new digital cameras which she says eliminate any existing technical problems.

Asked why she does what she does, she will tell you that she takes photographs to understand herself and her universe; and to understand herself in that universe. Amazing lady!

Guess who’s making room in the trophy case for three more awards? I’ll give you a hint- we are! Zacuto Films is proud to take home three Telly Awards from this year’s 33rd Annual Telly Awards. We received the news late April and are excited to finally share the details with you.

Before announcing what we won (in the spirit of all great award shows) let’s talk a little more about what a Telly represents. The Telly Awards were founded in 1978 to honor excellence in local, regional and cable TV commercials, non-broadcast video and TV program categories were soon added. Today, the Telly’s are highly sought after by industry leaders; from large international firms to local production companies and ad agencies. The mission of the awards is to strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting, and supporting creativity.

They have two major awards, the Silver Telly (which is their first prize award) and the Bronze Telly (which is their second prize award). Judges from the Silver Telly Council, considered some of the top advertising and production professionals in the field, award less than ten percent of the annual 11,000+ entries with the Silver Telly.

Drumroll…

Three 2012 Telly Awards go to Zacuto Films for the following programs:

bts: a web series This documenatary series provides a behind the scenes look at a documentary crew in the field making a documentary. bts received a Silver Award in the Internet/Online Video Documentary category with a total of 12,833 votes.

The Great Camera Shootout 2011 The 2011 Shootout was administered by Robert Primes, ASC to test the strengths and weaknesses of new cameras under a series of tests and on-set challenges. The Great Camera Shootout 2011 received a Silver Award for Internet/Online Programs, Segments, or Promotional Pieces Information category with a total of 12,840 votes.

FilmFellas Cast 7: Webisode 30, What is Truth – In this episode the cast demonstrates the differences between documentary and propaganda filmmaking. How do we really know what is truth is and what is not. It’s hard to make a film without letting filmmakers bias getting in the way. The What is Truth webisode received a Bronze Award in Internet/Online Programs, Segments, or Promotional Pieces Documentary category with 12,818 votes.

Zacuto Films, a totally separate division of Zacuto USA with its own staff of seven (including web series creators Steve Weiss and Jens Bogehegn) has risen to the top and made a name for themselves by producing top-quality original programming that’s been recognized by some of the most esteemed professionals in the industry. Of their six original web series (FilmFellas, The Great Camera Shootout 2010, [critics], bts, The Great Camera Shootout 2011, and Revenge of The Great Camera Shootout 2012) they’ve been recognized with six Emmy nominations and two Emmy wins (Midwest Chapter). Steve and Jens picked up their first Telly in 1991 and have received eleven to date.

“It’s always great to get awards, who doesn’t like that, but that’s not why we create programming. Jens and I have been DP and Director for 27 years and we just love it. We’ve probably made over 700 projects together and it never gets old. At this point, we read each others minds– when you get a partner like that, you stick together. It’s always about the project and the people your work with. We could care less what equipment we use. We started out with 16mm film and 3/4” video but we have always tried to overcome our equipment’s weaknesses and outsmart technology, but in the end awards don’t come for equipment, they come from story. If you have a great team, and a good story, it’s a blast, like you are twelve again building a fort in your backyard,” says Steve Weiss, Director, Zacuto Films.

Quality and content go along way. Steve and Jens have spared no expenses to bring in some of the best talent from around the world to discuss a range of topics in filmmaking. Their guest line-up has included ASC Cinematographers, award-winning filmmakers, wedding and event videographers, and distribution and social media specialists.

“I am most gratified doing these shows when we enlighten, educate and surprise people with the content. The challenge and what keeps us engaged is telling the story well, in a different and entertaining way. I think receiving these Telly Awards is confirmation of that and for that, it’s nice to be recognized,” says Jens Bogehegn, DP, Zacuto Films.

Stay tuned for more original Zacuto Films web programming! If you need to catch up on our existing films you can watch them online at http://www.zacuto.com/original-web-content.

Your persistence paid off! Congratulations on connecting with a director who’s eager to take your script and share their vision with the world. That’s right, their vision. After all, they are the director, right? You just wrote the words and handed it over- what say do you have in any of this? While I wish you all smooth sailing, sometimes things don’t go as planned. It’s important to understand the director’s expectations of the writer as a project gets the green light and goes into production.

What the director needs and expects from you is help maintain their vision for the scope of the film. The director’s vision may not be the same as the writer’s. Don’t fret if you don’t see everything eye to eye- they might just surprise you. After all, they love your script and taking it on as a project is a huge commitment. No one is setting out to destroy your story. (Not intentionally, of course.)

Know your level of involvement going into the project. Will you be the director’s right hand throughout the project or will you be handing off your script with no strings attached? Remember- your script is all grown up and has legs. It can stand on its own. (Take a hike and start writing your next script.)

The only thing you should be concerned about is seeing to it the film is made. If the director needs you to rewrite a scene based on a location change or a budget restriction (or even a budget bigger than what you wrote for) don’t fight or argue the change. If you can collaborate on set in pinch moments without any drama your stock is going to go up.

What the writer expects the director to understand: We just want to tell our stories. We want to help the director (and everyone else bringing their vision to the party) make the best film ever.

Keep in mind that every project is different. If you’re upset or worried about the director changing your story or rewriting dialogue wait until the producer gets involved. Their ideas and input will usually be inspired by budget or scheduling concerns.

1. Take everyone’s input and notes into consideration. You may not like them, may not use them, but smile and be polite. Just say you’ll think about it. This keeps you from committing to any changes but also buys some time to think of a better solution.

2. Speak up early or suffer the consequences. If everyone wants to turn your drama into a slapstick comedy and you don’t speak up, do you really think standing your ground on the first day of filming is going to get you very far? Don’t be the jerk holding up the shoot.

3. Don’t sulk and pout by the craft service table when your funny line is cut or the art department doesn’t dress the set exactly as you wrote it. You did your job- let everyone else do theirs.

4. Know when to compromise. Some battles aren’t worth fighting. The script calls for rain pounding on the windshield of the hero’s sports car but the director wants to use a SUV and take advantage of the sunny weather. Let it go. Besides, no one likes shooting in the rain.

5. NO DRAMA. #3 falls under this tip and I touched on it earlier. Making a film is no easy task regardless of what stage of production you’re in. Don’t make it more difficult. Be professional, be respectful, and be ready to work! Word-of-mouth travels fast and you want a reputation as someone who’s enjoyable to work with.

That old black magic has me in its spell, that old black magic that you weave so well…

On May 16th Blackmagic Design will host the Blackmagic Roadshow in Los Angeles. The event will be held at the Burbank Airport Marriott from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm and will include Blackmagic Design’s complete range of products for broadcast, post production and live events, as well as presentations by Blackmagic Design partners and renowned editors and color artists, as well as a keynote presentation by DigitalFilm Tree’s CEO, Ramy Katrib.

The Blackmagic Roadshow will be especially exciting considering the surprise release of the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera at NAB 2012 last month. A company known for post-production software and hardware like DaVinci Resolve and UltraStudio 3D had everyone buzzing with the news. The Cinema Camera was designed with high-end work in mind like episodic TV programming and feature films. The quality of video stands apart from other current generation video cameras on the market.

“This is one of the most exciting products we have ever created and its been a work in progress for a very long time,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design.

The camera shoots RAW format, has thirteen stops of dynamic range, has a 2.5K high res sensor which also down-converts to 1080p capture in 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 fps, takes off the shelf SSD drives, touch screen LCD for camera settings, is fully compatible with extremely high quality Canon EF and Zeiss ZF mount lenses and is available at a price point just below $3,000.

From a post-production perspective this camera makes a lot of sense. It records into CinemaDNG format for RAW files, ProRes and DNxHD for HD resolution files compatible with FCP X and Avid Media Composer amongst others. The Thunderbolt connection allows direct camera-capture via included Media Express software and supports live waveform monitoring via the included Blackmagic UltraScope software. The camera also includes a full copy of DaVinci Resolve 9.0 color grading software.

While the Blackmagic Cinema Camera falls a short competing with the 4K resolution of the new Canon 1D or other high res cameras, it’s also much more affordable. With the announcement earlier this year of the Digital Bolex, DPs and directors now have an exciting, low-cost alternative to HDSLR cameras.

Zacuto is hard at work designing and developing rigs that work with the Cinema Camera. Zacuto rigs are modular and adaptive, so chances are you can probably use your current rig as Jens pointed out in this interview for Digital Cinema Society. Zacuto will soon be showing the best way to configure the Black magic camera. Stay tuned in the coming weeks.

The Blackmagic Roadshow is free to attend and will include hands on demonstrations and theater presentations of Blackmagic Design’s products, as well as the first demonstrations in California of the new products announced at NAB 2012, including the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, DaVinci Resolve 9.0, Teranex 2D and 3D Processors, HyperDeck Studio Pro, UltraStudio Express, Universal Videohub Editing Interface and Battery Converters.

As part of the event, Ramy Katrib of DigitalFilm Tree will discuss new workflows and tools used at his LA based post-production house. In addition, he will discuss the DaVinci Resolve workflow used by DigitalFilm Tree on the nationally acclaimed television show NCIS: Los Angeles, as well as new studio projects being completed with Teranex standards converter processors.

To attend the event, please visit http://invite.blackmagic-design.com/event2012/.

Check Out Digital Cinema Society Interviewing our very own, Jens Bogehegn!

Written by: Jill Remensnyder 

If a picture speaks a thousand words Frans Hofmeester’s video should leave you speechless. In just under three minutes his timelapse captures his daughter, Lotte, going from a baby to a twelve year-old young lady. The video went viral last week, putting both Frans and his children in the worldwide spotlight.

Numerous timelapse photomontages exist online; countless still images strung together to show children growing up, personal documentations of change in hairstyles and physical appearance, and the ebb and flow of nature as well as urban growth. As far as live video compilations go, this one by far is one of the most touching.

For Hofmeester, a filmmaker and photographer from the Netherlands, it was only natural to want to capture his child on film as she grew up. Instead of a traditional photo album or scrapbook he opted to film his daughter once a week. The transformation is inevitable as you watch the wide-eyed baby grow, laugh, cry, talk to the camera, and develop a style of her own at age twelve. Each passing year is notated in the bottom corner of the screen with a number.

Three years into the project Lotte’s brother, Vince, was born. Shortly thereafter, their father began filming him, too. While Vince’s video hasn’t received as many plays or coverage as Lotte’s, the sentiment of a father trying to keep the image of his child fresh in his mind remains the same.

Hofmeester commented in an article in The Guardian that Lotte’s video is actually a shorter cut of a thirty-minute video where she’s interacting with the camera more. He felt the longer video was too personal and intense to be released online, but would be better suited for a gallery setting.

In the same article he makes an interesting point that this generation is the most photographed and filmed ever, yet the majority of these photos sit on the computer in files and are rarely seen. With the attention Lotte’s video is making around the world it will be interesting to see if other parents follow Hofmeester’s lead and begin creating timelapses of their own children.

Written By: Jill Remensnyder

This May British portrait photographer and filmmaker Natalie Hill will face her biggest challenge yet. She will abandon the familiar comforts of shooting in a studio and controlled sets in order to photograph and film the Belgian explorer Louis-Philippe Loncke on a thrilling expedition through Poland ‘s Tatras Mountains and its wild Vistula River all the way to the Baltic Sea. The expedition is expected to take 4-5 weeks.

This trip will be a world first and won’t be without challenges. The expedition will be over 700 miles long. Louis-Philippe will be completely unaided during the trek as he hikes and kayaks his way from Poland’s highest elevation down to sea level. Natalie will be faced with unpredictable weather, treacherous terrain, and transporting a film crew and equipment in order to document every step of Louis-Philippe’s way.

Born in Oxford, UK but living and working out of Belgium, Natalie first met Louis-Philippe last year while on assignment for The Guardian. She was bowled over by his unbridled enthusiasm. 34 year-old Louis-Philippe began exploring just seven years ago. In that time he’s crossed the Simpson Desert in central Australia, trekked across Iceland, and tackled Mt. Everest. This summer he will represent Belgium as a torchbearer for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Natalie will be leading a small crew to capture photos and film footage during the trek. She plans on using a Canon 5d Mark II with a range of L series lenses, plus a small DSLR crane, tripods, Zacuto Z-Finder and Cross Fire kit. Louis-Philippe will be utilizing GoPro cameras and a small Canon camera to film from his perspective. Shooting on DSLRs was the obvious choice due to the advantage they have over larger, bulkier cameras. When your packing gear for over 700 miles portability becomes an issue. The Zacuto Cross Fire will allow Natalie to combine her planned fixed shots with more spontaneous filming.

“Louis-Philippe and Poland Trek gave me the opportunity to challenge myself as a person and pro photographer/filmmaker. I’m really looking forward to waking up each day and embracing everything that Poland gives me,” said Natalie.

In the true spirit of documentary filmmaking there are certain aspects Natalie and her team will not be able to properly prepare for. Documentary shooting is all about capturing and reacting to events as they unfold which means thinking on your feet and being flexible and imaginative. While Louis-Philippe navigates the river on a small foldaway pack-raft, Natalie’s team will film him from a boat that will also serve as the crew’s accommodations towards the end of the trip. Between the hiking, the kayaking (which will be comparable to running a marathon), and sleeping in a tent the whole way, Louis-Philippe’s endurance will be pushed to the limits and it will be interesting to see how his mental and physical fatigue plays out in front of the camera.

Natalie will be testing her endurance as well. From a photography perspective she looks forward to concentrating on her work. However, since her main focus of work is shooting portraits, shifting her shots to landscapes will be challenging.

The entire expedition is about the spirit of adventure and surpassing one’s own limitations. As Natalie and her team documents Louis-Philippe they will be looking for people to interact with during their journey as they follow him through cultural destinations and famous cities along the way. Whether you’re a journalist, a tourist passing through Poland, or a native you can stay updated on Natalie’s adventure by visiting:

www.nataliehillphotography.com

www.polandtrek.com

Written By: Shirley Baugher

Imagine a group of wedding filmmakers—albeit the crème de la crème of wedding filmmakers—being asked to shoot an NFL network series and a documentary of the iconic Army/Navy Game! Imagine that same group of filmmakers being nominated for seven Emmys for those programs. It happened to Patrick Moreau and members of the stillmotion cinematic team. And it is one incredible story.

Patrick Moreau

The Cinderella tale began with a twelve-episode television and web series for NFL.com (which also aired on the NFL Network), covering all aspects of the game from the first kickoff to the final whistle; from the 50-yard line to the upper deck; and from the training room to the board room to the family living room. While stillmotion, a team of wedding filmmakers based in San Francisco and Canada, might not seem like the logical choice to film this series, they were, in fact, a perfect fit. Each web episode was designed to tell a story about the NFL season: the story of Arrowhead Stadium, the story of Brett Favre’s return to Lambeau, the story of Ray Lewis and his son—a star sophomore at Lake Mary Prep in Central Florida—a story of Atlanta Falcon’s owner Arthur Blank, a story of the quarterback whisperer Tom Martinez… And no one tells a story better than Patrick and the stillmotion artistic partners. As you might expect, Moreau engages in psychology to tell stories. Psychology helps him understand the characters as well as their stories. It enables him to use his equipment to tell those stories in a more relevant way and to capture his subjects’ most revealing moments.

Patrick gets in the game & On the field

On the basis of their technical skills and their unique ability to get inside a story, stillmotion got the NFL gig. The shows they shot resulted in a series that set a new standard for sports television. Directors conducted interviews that reached viewers in a way they had never been reached before; and the stillmotion crew used DSLR technology to capture breathtaking moments on and off the field.

Once bitten by the sports bug, stillmotion kept going. After the NFL Season they were selected to do a series of Callaway spots that allowed them to spend time with some of the best golfers ever to play the game, including Gary Player, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Alvaro Quiros, Morgan Pressel, and Annika Sorenstam. These spots were another perfect fit for the team, requiring them to be quick, low impact, and tell a powerful story. All stillmotion strengths.

Getting this gig was another quirk of fate. Director, Rob Bagot of Eleven Inc. in San Francisco, attended one of stillmotion’s workshops in Australia. He loved the team’s approach to filming and their ability to tell a story. Months later, he was working on the Callaway campaign and was looking for the right group to DP and do post. Who should come to mind but stillmotion.

Following the series idea of “the win within the win” Patrick and the team came in and focused on everything that was really important to the golfers—not just the game. They went inside their homes, they hung out with their trainers, they swam in their pools, and they got to know their kids. They became part of their families—so much so that Ernie Els’ wife even baked a cake for them. The result was a magical story about sports heroes as real people. Bagot’s choice was more than validated.

Then came the ultimate sports experience: a documentary chronicling a year in the lives of freshmen on the football teams at the U.S. Naval Academy and at West Point that culminated in the meeting between the two rivals in the celebrated Army/Navy football game. A Game of Honor was shot by Patrick Moreau, Justin DeMers, Joyce Tsang, and their secondary team Paul Los, Ray Tsang, Quenna Gregorio. Directed by Pete Radovich, the show was produced for CBS and Showtime.

Justin DeMers filming The West Point cadets as they head for class

Another triumph of storytelling, A Game of Honor takes us on the journey of the cadets and midshipmen from the time they enter their respective academies, through 100 days of life adjustments and rigorous training. We are with them as they slog through mud, climb barriers, and crawl on their bellies to dodge live bullets, all the while developing the skills they will need to become their country’s defenders in war and peace. We are also with them as they learn to pass, run, tackle, and hold the line on the football field. At the end of this remarkable film, we share their elation as they fling their hats into the air.

As you would expect from stillmotion, Game of Honor goes beyond the saga of a football game to show what it is like for these young men to be players, soldiers, and heroes. It is about rivalry on the field and the sense of brotherhood and common purpose both sides recognize once the game has ended. During the course of the film, we hear Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo talk about the camaraderie that exists among his players, and we learn from West Point Coach Rich Ellerson how the football experience trains the young men for life after football. We look at the game through the eyes of such luminaries as President of the United States, Barack Obama; Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; and NFL football coach Bill Parcells. And we come to appreciate the “specialness” of the young men who take the field every Saturday in preparation for the big game.

On the field

A Game of Honor has been nominated for five Emmys for Outstanding Sports Documentary, Outstanding Camera Work, Outstanding Editing, Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement, and Outstanding New Approaches in Sports Programming. The NFL Season: a Biography also received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding New Approaches in Sports Programming. Kudos to Patrick Moreau, Justin DeMers, Amina Moreau, Joyce Tsang, Ray Tsang, Paul Los, and Quenna Gregorio. We will be watching and rooting for all of you in April when the Emmys are awarded.

Q. How did you and the team at stillmotion get together?

A. When we first started, stillmotion consisted only of me and my wife Amina.

We were both in school studying psychology at the time, and we were just shooting weddings on the side. When we graduated we had to decide whether to continue with our plan to pursue a PhD or follow the stillmotion path. We chose the road less traveled, and we couldn’t be happier.

Several years ago Justin DeMers joined Amina and me as the third stillmotion partner. One of his biggest contributions to the team was his tendency to question why. Together, we searched for answers. The rest of the team came on board as we went along. We met Quenna at our workshop in Australia. She was looking for a chance to move to the US. At the same time we were looking for somebody with her passion for post. We hired her. We shot Ray and Joyce’s wedding and became friends through that. The wedding film inspired them to move into the cinematic world. They signed on to the stillmotion team, and have become a huge addition to the family. Hiring Paul Los is probably the closest we’ve come to the traditional way of adding to our team. Out of the blue Paul sent an email asking about a position with us. The timing was right, his personality was a perfect fit. Our family is fuller than ever.

Q. How does stillmotion divide the filmmaking responsibilities among the team members and what is the relationship between the creative and technical aspects of your film projects?

A. We are often involved in many shoots at the same time. Our team has to be diverse and open to the many challenges we face in order to cover a given shoot properly. We look at each person’s experience, where that person wants to go (i.e., some might want to direct, others prefer to focus on cinematography). We look at the client and the story that needs to be told. Then, we look at the logistics: where the shoot is, what gear is needed, and what people have been up to recently. That process allows us to find the best fit for each shoot and allows each person to push his/her abilities while continuing to grow.

The technical aspect of any shoot is inspired by the creative approach in a way that makes each meaningful and relevant. The way we shoot a wedding story has had a significant impact on our approach to commercial work. In wedding films, we always try to approach each shoot with lenses and gear that relates to the couple being filmed. Similarly, our commercial work has made our wedding films better. Shooting commercial spots, you can see how carefully a single shot is designed and how every aspect of the shot relates to the story being told. We now apply that approach to our weddings.

Q. What made you decided to specialize in wedding filmmaking?

A. I don’t know if I can say we ever really decided to specialize in weddings. We were asked to do a wedding, and we did it by telling the couple’s story. It worked. From that point on we decided that we would tell stories that we, or a general audience, would want to watch. Instead of just pleasing the client we aimed our wedding films at the masses. By doing so, we developed a unique style and gained a much larger audience.

Q. Exactly what brought you to the attention of the NFL production team when you were selected for the television and web series?

A. They are the only ones that can truly speak to why they chose us. From what I understand, they were looking at adding some DSLR footage into the mix and through a web search they came upon a wedding film we had done about JC + Esther. That film had sort of gone viral with 150,000 views or so. Out of the blue we got a call and the next thing we knew it, we were on the sidelines watching the Chargers/Jets playoff game. We were told that they really enjoyed how we told our stories and that they were impressed with our understanding of the technology. DSLRs were fairly new at the time and they were looking for a team that had moved past experimenting and really embraced the platform.

Q. How did the NFL web episodes result in the production of the Callaway series?

A. Director, Rob Bagot of Eleven Inc., who had seen the NFL web series, attended one of stillmotion’s workshops in Australia. He loved the team’s approach to filming and their ability to tell a story. Months later, he was working on the Callaway campaign and was looking for the right group to DP and do post. Who should come to mind but stillmotion. Working on the Callaway spots with Rob was an absolute highlight of or careers. Somewhat ironically, as we prepped for a shoot with Phil Mickelson, Rob referenced a wedding we had shot for inspiration in which the grooms played golf the morning of the wedding. How amazing to have a wedding film for Stu and Dana help shape the peice we shot for Phil Mickelson.

Q. Were The NFL Season and the Callaway shows responsible for your getting to produce A Game of Honor?

A. The director of A Game of Honor was the one who first contacted us about being a part of the film. Initially he wanted to meet and chat–just to get to know our team. As we were setting things up, a shoot at Quantico came up. He watched us in motion, saw our work, and decided to give us a chance. We worked our asses off and had a blast on the shoot. We later learned more about the full documentary. When it got the green light we were asked to DP and provide camera work for the film. I do believe Pete saw and enjoyed our some of the films for the NFL and Callaway but I believe it was this first shoot that really made all the difference.

Q. Following your enormous success in the area of sports and commercial filmmaking, will you still continue to shoot wedding films?

A. This is something that a lot of people are often curious about. We do continue to shoot weddings, but definitely far fewer than before (roughly 12 a year for our whole team). Weddings provide a very direct connection to the story you are telling and the people you are telling it for. They often push you to be quicker in your story development than a football game or a commercial shoot. We don’t want to loose that challenge.

Q. What are some of the projects you are working on now?

A. Recently we’ve been doing a fair amount of work for the Final Four down in New Orleans. We shot parts of the Saturday and Monday night openings. (CBSsports.com) We also just wrapped two very emotional pieces on the Chardon High School shooting and the Harrisburg Tornado. It’s a dream to tell meaningful stories that get to be seen on CBS. Viewership for these shows is in the millions. But it was also incredibly difficult to tell the story of these tragedies. Coverage in Harrisburg included walking through homes that had been torn apart by the tornado and seeing things such as breakfast still on a kitchen table with the windows shattered and the roof lifted blown off.

Q. What are StillMotion’s plans for the future?

A. Outside of filming, we have a couple really exciting things we’ve been working on. SMAP, the stillmotion APP, is set to launch in April, and we truly believe it has the power to make filmmaking so much more approachable and to give the filmmaker more power to make relevant decisions that push their story while in the field. We’ve taken all of our educational experience and used that to create a set of filmmaking tools that will help you choose a good focal length based on what you want from a scene, give you creative ideas in the field, and so much more. Check out www.meetsmapp.com for all of the details on this app, which has been years in the making for us.

Stillmotion is a band of filmmakers who, as a rule, tend to let their curiosity get the better of them. They believe the process of discovery is as important as what goes on the screen. Their films tell stories—big, small, and anywhere in between. In their own words, they’ve racked up plenty of miles and hard drive space doing work for Showtime, Callaway, CBS, NFL, and Canon. If this sounds like namedropping, well, it is. But with those credentials—plus the hundreds of happy wedding couples they have filmed, you know they have to be good.

The stillmotion family is seven strong: Patrick aka P; Justin aka Justin, Paul aka Pwl; Joyce aka Lil’J; Amina aka Meeners; Quenna aka Keeners; and Ray aka Rt. You can check them all out and more at stillmotion.ca

THIS JUST IN!

THEY DID IT!! At the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards show presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Patrick Moreau and his Still Motion team walked away with three Emmys for their excellent series Game of Honor. The show won for Outstanding Sports Documentary, Outstanding New Approach to Sports Programming, and Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement. Congratulations to the entire group. Well done guys and gals—very well done, indeed.

Written by: Jill Remensnyder

One of the most exciting camera developments this year has been the announcement of the new Digital Bolex camera. Developers Elle Schneider and Joe Rubinstein saw the need in the market for an affordable cinema camera and met the demand with the D16; a digital cinema camera that shoots 24 RAW still photos per second and embodies the spirit and quality of the Bolex name. The announcement came at this year’s SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

Originally WWII era cameras used primarily for news reporting and shooting documentary subjects, 16mm Bolex cameras eventually gave way to 8mm, and then quietly took a back seat to the dawn of home video cameras. The Bolex became an artifact and ended up as a staple to film schools and die-hard film enthusiasts devoted to staying true to the art of film.

Flash forward to the present. Digital Bolex has already completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the D16. Don’t let the crowdsourcing fool you. Prototyping of the camera was well underway prior to their online fundraising. The money raised is actually going towards producing the first 100 cameras ordered via Kickstarter. Elle and Joe also had a prototype on hand at NAB and were fielding questions left and right.

“Our desire for this camera and future projects is to help democratize the filmmaking process. We think that motion pictures are the most powerful medium people have to express themselves artistically and intellectually and we want to see more people able to make movies at a projectable quality level,” stated Joe and Elle.

One of the key components to keeping the price down and making the camera accessible is by using nonproprietary hardware. Companies trying to create a camera with all new in-house technology also need to spend more money on research and development, therefore driving up the cost for the consumer.

Let’s not forget the format. One of the greatest benefits of shooting RAW is that it gives you much more dynamic range. It’s similar to shooting a film in that you have minimally processed data from the sensor. DSLR shooters are dealing with a very highly compressed H264 codec. Not only that, but the 4:2:0 color space is not ideal for green screen or color grading work.

Other technical specs that stand out are the12 bit 4:4:4 color depth, XLR for sound, dual storage slots for redundant data capture, and 12 stops of dynamic range.

And, as Elle and Joe proved at the Zacuto booth during NAB, the D16 does work with the Zacuto EVF and does fit on some of their rigs. Not only that, but you can use vintage glass (perhaps from that old Bolex 16mm collecting dust in your closet?) and get some spectacular images.

Elle and Joe we’re very interested in getting filmmakers involved in the design process. While they couldn’t respond to every suggestion, they tried to integrate as many ideas as we could into the final design. Joe stated that the affordable price point they decided on simply didn’t allow implementing some features. Coming to understand what filmmakers working with a low budget want and need from the camera was their main focus.

The D16 will be available in October along with custom Bolex Software. For those lucky enough to secure one of the first 100 off Kickstarter, the price was a steal at $2,500. That’s $800 less than the suggested retail price. Digital Bolex represents the true spirit of indie filmmaking. It’s safe to say they’ve leveled the playing field- and made it affordable.