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Posts tagged as 5-questions
In this week's Video Spotlight, we're looking at the work of LA-based filmmaker Nathan Boehme, fresh off a shoot for a Demand Studios content partner, ModernMom.com. Click the image below to take a look at some of Nathan's Modern Mom content.
H
ow long have you been a DS filmmaker? I joined Demand's community of filmmakers in late 2006, so I didn't come in exactly on the "ground floor," but I probably wasn't too many floors above it.
You recently produced videos for a Demand Studios partner, ModernMom.com. What was it like working with Hollywood-level talent as your Experts? I was pretty nervous on my first day because I knew that I was going to be working with people like Brooke Burke who have established careers in the entertainment industry. In short, it seemed like I was going to have to work extra hard NOT to make a fool of myself. Fortunately, all of the nervous worrying melted away after spending just two minutes talking with Brooke. She's easily one of the most kind, easy-going, and accommodating people that I've ever worked with... famous, or otherwise.
Some of the videos were standard how to style videos, but I also shot some interviews with Brooke and friends of the site. They were supposed to be sit-down-style, back-and-forth interviews where they'd chat back and forth about their experiences with motherhood. We all collaborated on the "look" and "feel" of the video, and decided we'd shoot hand-held, and just the let the cameras roll. One take ended up being over twenty minutes long, and the conversation ended up covering a wide range of topics from the daily struggles of being a single parent, and raising kids after going through a divorce, to the public perception of celebrity moms and dads, and how the kids interpret the sometimes negative "coverage" of their parents. Really raw, unfiltered stuff. They also talked about their day-to-day lives as mothers, and joked about more common problems like "lack of sleep," or "time to yourself," or the lack thereof. The final cut of the video, as it stands, runs about six minutes long, and feels very organic to me... kinda like you're sitting right there in the room with them, which is what we were all hoping for.
I shot all of these videos on my trusty Canon XH-A1, recorded the audio with an Azden SGM-2X shotgun mic, and edited them using Final Cut Studio.
What is your favorite part of the production process, and why? There are things that I love about every aspect, from the writing all the way through to the final cut... and I suppose that all of those things really boil down to ONE thing, which is crafting the "story." I love getting lost on the creative side of the fence. I love being a part of that process from beginning to end. This goes hand-in-hand with my second favorite part of the production process, which is collaborating with people who feel the same way.
What was your first filmmaking job? My first "professional" shoot ever was a music video for my brother's band. We wanted to shoot in a coffee shop, but there weren't any in town that would allow a bunch of kids to use their place of business as a set. So, I ended up using the fellowship hall of our old church as a soundstage, and built a full-scale, semi-functioning coffee shop set (complete with movable "wild" walls) right in the middle of it. The end result was amateur at best, but I don't think I've ever felt more proud in my life.
What attracts you to filmmaking? That's a difficult one to answer. Reminds me of that scene at the end of "Almost Famous" where William asks Russell, the guitarist, "What do you love about music?" Russell repositions himself in his chair, looks William in the eye, and replies, "To begin with.....everything."
Nathan Boehme is a Los Angeles based writer, director and editor. As a tenured Demand Studios creator, he now spends the bulk of his production time creating premium content for Demand Studios partners and advertisers.
H
ow long have you been a DS filmmaker? I joined Demand's community of filmmakers in late 2006, so I didn't come in exactly on the "ground floor," but I probably wasn't too many floors above it.Some of the videos were standard how to style videos, but I also shot some interviews with Brooke and friends of the site. They were supposed to be sit-down-style, back-and-forth interviews where they'd chat back and forth about their experiences with motherhood. We all collaborated on the "look" and "feel" of the video, and decided we'd shoot hand-held, and just the let the cameras roll. One take ended up being over twenty minutes long, and the conversation ended up covering a wide range of topics from the daily struggles of being a single parent, and raising kids after going through a divorce, to the public perception of celebrity moms and dads, and how the kids interpret the sometimes negative "coverage" of their parents. Really raw, unfiltered stuff. They also talked about their day-to-day lives as mothers, and joked about more common problems like "lack of sleep," or "time to yourself," or the lack thereof. The final cut of the video, as it stands, runs about six minutes long, and feels very organic to me... kinda like you're sitting right there in the room with them, which is what we were all hoping for.
I shot all of these videos on my trusty Canon XH-A1, recorded the audio with an Azden SGM-2X shotgun mic, and edited them using Final Cut Studio.
What is your favorite part of the production process, and why? There are things that I love about every aspect, from the writing all the way through to the final cut... and I suppose that all of those things really boil down to ONE thing, which is crafting the "story." I love getting lost on the creative side of the fence. I love being a part of that process from beginning to end. This goes hand-in-hand with my second favorite part of the production process, which is collaborating with people who feel the same way.
What was your first filmmaking job? My first "professional" shoot ever was a music video for my brother's band. We wanted to shoot in a coffee shop, but there weren't any in town that would allow a bunch of kids to use their place of business as a set. So, I ended up using the fellowship hall of our old church as a soundstage, and built a full-scale, semi-functioning coffee shop set (complete with movable "wild" walls) right in the middle of it. The end result was amateur at best, but I don't think I've ever felt more proud in my life.
What attracts you to filmmaking? That's a difficult one to answer. Reminds me of that scene at the end of "Almost Famous" where William asks Russell, the guitarist, "What do you love about music?" Russell repositions himself in his chair, looks William in the eye, and replies, "To begin with.....everything."
Nathan Boehme is a Los Angeles based writer, director and editor. As a tenured Demand Studios creator, he now spends the bulk of his production time creating premium content for Demand Studios partners and advertisers.
In a new weekly feature on the Demand Studios blog, members of the video team will be profiling the work of our talented Demand Studios filmmakers. This week's edition comes all the way from Nashville, as Dimitri LaBarge discusses producing for DS and some of the challenges he faced on a recent indoor swimming shoot. Click the still image below to check out his video on Competitive Swimming Techniques and then read his interview for a behind-the-scenes look at the production.
How long have you been a DS filmmaker? I have been shooting videos for DS since November 2007.
What is your favorite part of the production process, and why? My answer to that completely varies on different days. There are days when I love the shoot the most, when I'm working with an expert who doesn't need as much basic coaching for on-camera presence, and is instead a true collaborator, making the video come to life. I once worked with a local TV weatherman who had extreme confidence on camera, and opened the topic up to camera moves, walk-and-talks, and other techniques that aren't usually available in my expert's toolbox.
On the other hand, there are some evenings when I come home and I have an enormous amount of footage, and I lose myself in a sort of puzzle, which is finding the narrative within tons of sometimes very disconnected footage. When I manage to produce a unified, consistent video, that can be the single most satisfying moment of this work.
What challenges did you face shooting at an indoor pool and how did you work around them? The biggest consideration when shooting in an indoor pool is the ridiculous amount of noise echoing around the structure. We considered using my Sennheiser boom mics so we would have flexibility, but they simply picked up too much ambient noise for clear audio. Using my highly directional Sennheiser lav mics mitigated that issue for the most part.
Another issue was determining what we could demonstrate in the water. Showing moves out of the water lacked authenticity; but it would be hard to show clear demonstrations when the expert was submerged. I decided to shoot both ways, so I could have above-water demonstrations showing specific detail as needed, then shot b-roll so viewers could see what those exercises looked like in the pool.
A final issue was the matter of light. I always have at least a Lowel Rifa-Lite handy for indoor lighting situations, and also a Tota-Omni kit for more complex setups. The indoor pool, however, had several big negatives. It was an area with large dark areas that needed some decent fill lighting to be usable; however, the pool area was soaked enough - and conducive to splashes - that I worried about introducing electricity to the situation. The approach I took was to use the best-lit part of the area, which had decent overhead lighting, and then used my standard LitePanels Mini LED light mounted on-camera, just to provide some low-level fill of my expert's face.
What methods did you use to secure this expert? This was as basic as it gets. I had originally needed a triathlon expert on another set of videos, and I had no contacts in this subject. I googled for triathlon and fitness experts in the city, and my expert's name came up near the top of the list. I sent him an e-mail through his website, and he responded almost immediately. (This is a good example of trying to find an expert who is good at more than one thing. By finding a great triathlon expert, I also now had an expert for future running, biking, and swimming topics.)
What equipment did you use for this shoot? I used my trusty Canon XL-H1 camera, Sennheiser G2 series wireless lav system, Libec LS-55 tripod, and a LitePanels Mini LED light, mounted in Canon's hot shoe.
What attracts you to filmmaking? I love storytelling. Whether it's writing screenplays or capturing someone's expertise on video, I love communicating a central idea and developing the narrative spine of a fictional or non-fictional project.
Dimiti LaBarge is a Nashville, TN based filmmaker who specializes in instructional, wedding and commercial work. In addition to being a full-time filmmaker, he also moonlights as a freelance film poster designer.
How long have you been a DS filmmaker? I have been shooting videos for DS since November 2007.What is your favorite part of the production process, and why? My answer to that completely varies on different days. There are days when I love the shoot the most, when I'm working with an expert who doesn't need as much basic coaching for on-camera presence, and is instead a true collaborator, making the video come to life. I once worked with a local TV weatherman who had extreme confidence on camera, and opened the topic up to camera moves, walk-and-talks, and other techniques that aren't usually available in my expert's toolbox.
On the other hand, there are some evenings when I come home and I have an enormous amount of footage, and I lose myself in a sort of puzzle, which is finding the narrative within tons of sometimes very disconnected footage. When I manage to produce a unified, consistent video, that can be the single most satisfying moment of this work.
What challenges did you face shooting at an indoor pool and how did you work around them? The biggest consideration when shooting in an indoor pool is the ridiculous amount of noise echoing around the structure. We considered using my Sennheiser boom mics so we would have flexibility, but they simply picked up too much ambient noise for clear audio. Using my highly directional Sennheiser lav mics mitigated that issue for the most part.
Another issue was determining what we could demonstrate in the water. Showing moves out of the water lacked authenticity; but it would be hard to show clear demonstrations when the expert was submerged. I decided to shoot both ways, so I could have above-water demonstrations showing specific detail as needed, then shot b-roll so viewers could see what those exercises looked like in the pool.
A final issue was the matter of light. I always have at least a Lowel Rifa-Lite handy for indoor lighting situations, and also a Tota-Omni kit for more complex setups. The indoor pool, however, had several big negatives. It was an area with large dark areas that needed some decent fill lighting to be usable; however, the pool area was soaked enough - and conducive to splashes - that I worried about introducing electricity to the situation. The approach I took was to use the best-lit part of the area, which had decent overhead lighting, and then used my standard LitePanels Mini LED light mounted on-camera, just to provide some low-level fill of my expert's face.
What methods did you use to secure this expert? This was as basic as it gets. I had originally needed a triathlon expert on another set of videos, and I had no contacts in this subject. I googled for triathlon and fitness experts in the city, and my expert's name came up near the top of the list. I sent him an e-mail through his website, and he responded almost immediately. (This is a good example of trying to find an expert who is good at more than one thing. By finding a great triathlon expert, I also now had an expert for future running, biking, and swimming topics.)
What equipment did you use for this shoot? I used my trusty Canon XL-H1 camera, Sennheiser G2 series wireless lav system, Libec LS-55 tripod, and a LitePanels Mini LED light, mounted in Canon's hot shoe.
What attracts you to filmmaking? I love storytelling. Whether it's writing screenplays or capturing someone's expertise on video, I love communicating a central idea and developing the narrative spine of a fictional or non-fictional project.
Dimiti LaBarge is a Nashville, TN based filmmaker who specializes in instructional, wedding and commercial work. In addition to being a full-time filmmaker, he also moonlights as a freelance film poster designer.
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