Ryan Patrick O'Hara: Journaled Writings

Panaflex-X

2011-05-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

Panavision Panaflex-X... that is really a Gold.

I'm helping a fellow cinematographer, Rainer Lipski, as a 1st AC on a student thesis film he will be shooting this following week. We are shooting 35mm Fuji film on a Panavision Panaflex-X camera... that isn't.

The Panavision Panaflex-X is much like the Gold, GoldII and Platinum packages, but has some key differences. First, it's not a handheld camera. The eye-piece is non-removable and studio configured. Second, it's a bit louder than the other cameras and does not have pana-glow. It also has a modified door, because of the long, non-removable eye-piece.

However, the Panaflex-X we are using has been so highly modified, I would venture to say that it is a Gold or Gold II at this point. The serial number says it's a Panaflex-X, but it has a much more updated video tap, a removable eye-piece and what looks like a GII door. If it hadn't of had a Panaflex-X serial plate, I'd have thought it was a Gold or GoldII and probably bet good money on it.

Here is a picture of the camera in full beast, studio mode:

I was sort of looking forward to using an original Panaflex-X, as I had never used one, (nor seen one) and that is something considering I used to work at Panavision! I don't know if any Panaflex-X's with the original build still exist, but I am beginning to doubt it. If they can easily up-grade them to GoldII like function... it would make absolutely zero sense to keep the original Panaflex-X's in the field.

More on this project later!

Cookies, Cookie, Cook and Cooke

2011-04-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

(Article was originally written for film-making forum DVXuser.com: If you do not see images, you may want to register with their website. In the future, I'll try and get the blog posts independent of the forum.)

In anticipation for an upcoming feature film, another cinematographer and myself had a little fun and did a lens test to see just how well matched the Cooke Panchro/i lenses were to the very popular Cooke S4/i's. The feature is looking to use a set of S4's and Panchro/i's on a two camera shoot.

Cooke S4's have been used on films and television shows such as: Entourage, Lie to Me, V for Vendetta, Erin Brockovich, The DaVinci Code, The Assassination of Jesse James, most of the Harry Potter series, Munich, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Live Free Die Hard, Jarhead, Kingdom of Heaven, Ray, The Interpreter, The Informant, The Illusionist, Hulk, Frost-Nixon, District 9, Chicago, Cinderella Man, Casino Royale, Capote, Brokeback Mountain, Brothers, A Beautiful Mind, O' Brother Where Art Thou, The Village, House of Sand and Fog, and many many more.

So we were interested in seeing how much the Cooke S4/i's little brothers, the new Cooke Panchro/i's, looked in comparison... especially because Cooke has always said the Cooke Panchro/i, S4/i, and 5/i lenses are color matched to each other. Cooke S4 lenses are also commonly considered one of the best color matched lens sets in the top professional level. This test may come to some as a no-brainer as to the result. I was told by a friend in the ASC, that cinematographer Robert Richardson, ASC who just shot Martin Scorsese's Hugo Cabret in 3D on some Arri Alexas and the new Cooke 5/i lenses, also had sets of Cooke S4/i's and Panchro/i's on the production. I would never doubt Bob Richardson, but I had to do the test myself!

So we set up a cinematographer's still life as a test shoot. We were simply testing the similarities of contrast, color, and similar qualities. If we were to use S4/i's and Panchro/i's on a two-camera feature, we needed to see how they varied juxtaposed to each other. Last thing any cinematographer wants is to have to go through a DI correcting things that ought to have been done right in camera. Large shifts in color reproduction and contrast between lens sets can do this. With that said, we were not doing these tests to compare resolving power. We already know from plenty of experience that all modern Cooke lenses are by-and-far sharp and it wasn't a concern if one was more than the other. If we ever feel like exploring this, we will get some proper charts and go about it in a more scientific way.

As for the variables:
Camera: RedOneMX
Lighting: Arri Tungsten 1k Fresnels, bounced. Controlled environment.
Color Temperature: 3200*k
Iso: 800
Shutter: 180*
Format: 4k, 16:9, RedCode 36
Distance from camera to subject stayed the same for every lens.

Lenses at our disposal:
Cooke S4/i: 50mm, 75mm, 100mm, and 135mm
Cooke Panchro/i: 18mm, 25mm, 32mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm
Cooke S4/i CXX zoom: 15mm - 40mm

I'll discuss my findings after I post the images. These images have not been touched in anyway. They are screen captures taken from RedCine-X and received absolutely no color grading. The .tiff files were then imported to Photoshop where I layered the correlating images upon each other and made my 'checkered' comparison still. All steps to preserve and maintain the quality/integrity of these results was taken.

Checkered comparison stills is something I created to give more comparison points of reference. Two images are overlayed, and instead of the image being divided in half, the image is divided into quarters. The Upper-left, and lower-right sections are one image, while the other two areas are the other. This allows two boundaries per image to be juxtaposed with the other. If anyone wishes to download the original RedCine-X .tiffs, please let me know. They will lack the checkered system of comparison, but will be the same quality.

Three Cooke Panchro/i focal lengths are compared to the Cooke S4/i CXX zoom lens, and the other three Cooke Panchro/i focal lengths are compared to the Cooke S4/i primes.

Cooke Panchro/i 18mm & Cooke S4/i CXX zoom 18mm:

18mm Checker (8bit .jpg (faster download))
18mm Checker (16bit .tif (slower download))
Original Panchro/i 18mm (8bit .jpg)
Original S4/i CXX 18mm (8bit .jpg)

18mm Color Crop (8bit .jpg (faster download))
18mm Color Crop (16bit .tif (slower download))

Cooke Panchro/i 25mm & Cooke S4/i CXX zoom 25mm:

25mm Checker (8bit .jpg (faster download))
25mm Checker (16bit .tif (slower download))
Original Panchro/i 25mm (8bit .jpg)
Original S4/i CXX 25mm (8bit .jpg)

25mm Color Crop (8bit .jpg (faster download))
25mm Color Crop (16bit .tif (slower download))

Cooke Panchro/i 32mm & Cooke S4/i CXX zoom 32mm:

32mm Checker (8bit .jpg (faster download))
32mm Checker (16bit .tif (slower download))
Original Panchro/i 32mm (8bit .jpg)
Original S4/i CXX 32mm (8bit .jpg)

32mm Color Crop (8bit .jpg (faster download))
32mm Color Crop (16bit .tif (slower download))

Cooke Panchro/i 50mm & Cooke S4/i 50mm:

50mm Checker (8bit .jpg (faster download))
50mm Checker (16bit .tif (slower download))
Original Panchro/i 50mm (8bit .jpg)
Original S4/i 50mm (8bit .jpg)

50mm Color Crop (8bit .jpg (faster download))
50mm Color Crop (16bit .tif (slower download))

Cooke Panchro/i 75mm & Cooke S4/i 75mm:

75mm Checker (8bit .jpg (faster download))
75mm Checker (16bit .tif (slower download))
Original Panchro/i 75mm (8bit .jpg)
Original S4/i 75mm (8bit .jpg)

75mm Color Crop (8bit .jpg (faster download))
75mm Color Crop (16bit .tif (slower download))

Cooke Panchro/i 100mm & Cooke S4/i 100mm:

100mm Checker (8bit .jpg (faster download))
100mm Checker (16bit .tif (slower download))
Original Panchro/i 100mm (8bit .jpg)
Original S4/i 100mm (8bit .jpg)

100mm Color Crop (8bit .jpg (faster download))
100mm Color Crop (16bit .tif (slower download))

Panchro/i FoV Chart
Each focal length box is actually the focal length image of that lens resized and placed on top of the focal length below it. See the differences between the lenses in the set. All are almost identical with the 18mm being warmer, and the 100mm being almost unnoticeable warmer.
Download Here (16bit .tif Image (slow download))

Results:
For the reputation Cooke has, I went into the test optimistically. When I took a look at the results, my expectations were surpassed. To put it simply, the Cooke Panchro/i's almost exactly matched the S4/i's. I didn't think two completely different sets of lenses would match as if they were the same. But that is what Cooke went out to do when designing the smaller Panchro/i's and that is basically what they did.

Under heavy examination, (clicking back and forth between two 4k 16bit .tiff images in rapid succession) I found the S4's had an almost undetectable amount of extra contrast... I really only noticed it in the darkest darks. The largest discrepancy between any of the lenses was the Cooke CXX. The zoom lens was warmer than the matching Panchro/i and S4/i lenses. It wasn't horrible, but enough that if I wanted perfection and wanted to avoid a costly DI session to hunt all the CXX footage down, I would make a very small compensation in camera. My $.02.

Out of the Panchro/i range, the 25, 32, 50, 75, 100 are exactly color matched to each other. However, the 100mm Panchro/i is a nano-bit more warm than the rest, noticeable perhaps only at the most scrutinized examination. Within the Panchro/i set, the 5-set mentioned above is matched, no doubt. However the 18mm was a bit different. Although the 18mm Panchro/i is very close to the others, it was noticeably warmer in comparison. I'm not sure if it would be enough that anyone would notice, but if being juxtaposed multiple times to the other focal lengths, and I was aiming for perfection in-camera, I might consider bumping the CT a couple of points. The 18mm Panchro/i is certainly not as warm as the CXX zoom, but was the greatest inconsistency between any of the Cooke Panchro/i and Cooke S4/i lenses had to each other. With that said, if that was the biggest issue, it's really a non-issue. Take a look at the Panchro/i 18mm compared to the other focal lengths in the Panchro/i set in the FoV chart. The FoV chart is actually made up from all the Panchro screen grabs. They are simply resized and stacked upon each other. You can see how warm the 18mm is, and how close all the other primes are to each other in the Panchro/i set. The 18mm is the only lens in the set that stands out as not being almost exact to the others. I think knowing this, a bump perhaps of 300*k might clear this up. I didn't test how much it would take, but it's not terribly much.

18mm Panchro/i v. 18mm CXX:
The CXX zoom lens does not have lines accompanying the focal lengths on the barrel, so I got the lens centered on the 18mm focal length engraved number, and that was that. Getting the CXX on 18mm the best I could, it should be mentioned that it was not as wide as the 18mm Panchro/i prime. The 18mm Panchro/i is warmer than it's fellow Panchro/i brothers, but still is not as warm as the CXX. The way the room was rendered as far as perspective is almost exactly the same between the two lenses. However despite FoV being similar between CXX 25mm and 32mm compared to the Panchro/i's, the distortion of how the room is rendered changes. The Panchro/i's will render a more realistic 'flat' field, while the CXX makes the room look a little deeper because the sides continue to have a small warp. It's not aweful, but there is a difference. However, the 18mm lenses match. The CXX is warm compared to the S4/i and Panchro/i's, but since the 18mm Panchro/i is a warm too (but not as much) the warmth is best seen in the 25mm or 35mm panchro/i comparison.

25mm/32mm Panchro/i v. 25mm/32mm CXX:
The 25mm/35mm Panchro/i falls inline with the rest of the Panchro/i series and S4/i primes in regards of color rendition. Thus it is easier to see the Cxx warmth in these checkered images. I also noticed a small discrepancy between how they portray depth and the field. The edges of the CXX seem to be 'closer' while the middle seems to recede. The Panchro/i creates a realistic flat field, while the CXX has a slightly more three dimensional feel from some image barreling. The very edges of the screen seem to 'stretch' around the lens. I would probably have never noticed it without direct comparison to primes. Download the 25/32cxx and 25/32panchro and toggle them back and forth in some sort of picture viewer. It's quite interesting.

50mm/75mm Panchro/i v. 50mm/75mm S4/i:
It was the 50mm and 75mm Panchro/i vs. S4/i comparisons that really blew my mind. If I hadn't taken so much care labeling the digital frame grabs, I would have easily lost track of which was which. These lenses are completely interchangeable and even under demanding scrutiny, the differences will probably escape the trained eye. The only way I could see a difference was by toggling between two 16bit 4k .tiff images over and over. I eventually began to see the S4/i's possessed a small bit of additional contrast, and the Cooke Panchro's had maybe a nano-bit of warmness? I still am not sure if that is true or if I'm just trying to see things. Regardless, these lenses are so close to each other, their tolerances are probably equal to the tolerances between two lenses of the same set and same focal length. Perfect match.

100mm Panchro/i v. 100mm S4/i:
The Panchro/i 100mm and S4/i 100mm are very closely matched. Not exactly matched, like the 50mm and 75mm demonstrate, but because the Panchro/i 100mm is a very small bit warmer, I must mention it. However, this is nowhere near as warm as the CXX and I don't believe it's far enough to correct for it, even on the smallest level. In fact, I think it's slight enough that it's actually nice. Considering I rarely use the 100mm lens for regular shooting and when I do, it is often for a very long-lens beauty shot, I welcome the little nuance... even if it doesn't comes across on screen.

Conclusion:
It's simply amazing how much the Panchro/i's did compare to the S4/i's. It was much more that I required. The CXX zoom is a fantastic lens, and it's a difficult lens to make being a 15mm-40mm zoom and all. However, it does need to be cooled down in order to match the S4/i and Panchro/i's. Just by a small amount. It also has some barrel effects mostly seen when it's longer focal lengths are compared to the primes. Regarding the Panchro/i and S4/i's, I would not think twice about using these lenses in a two camera shoot, but not just for different units, but even for mother-daughter or cross coverage shooting. The CXX I would probably tell my AC's to make sure they bumped the CT a couple hundred k's when it goes on. Although not to the same degree, the Panchro/i 18mm could use a small bump in CT too, maybe as little as 100 or 200 kelvin from my tests so far. Otherwise, it's all gravy.

***Disclaimer***
By now you have probably noticed how carefully I've been trying to choose my words when describing these findings. The differences I describe are almost all nuances and differences almost unnoticeable by the naked eye. I highly recommend downloading the images which I have taken so much time to compile before interpretations of my words become fact. I tried to be very thorough and detailed, and I don't want people thinking the differences I've mentioned are larger than they are, or smaller than they are. Please take a look for yourselves!

After writing the first review, I received a concern from one individual who had deeply examined the images. He was concerned about aberration in the lenses, so I posted his main concerns here, and then investigated myself. The following is his post.
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Hmmm.... is it just me or do they fringe (chromatic aberration) like mad in the out-of-focus areas?

Look at the book letters. Looks like transverse chromatic aberration to me.
And what is going on in that pistol? Random colored dots, compression artifacts, moire?

No offense here, but I´m surprised, I thought that a RED with Cooke glass would do way better.

- Frank

That still camera has a strange blue halo, the letters are fringing and something funky is going on in that pistol grip.
Looks like chromatic aberration to me, but who knows, maybe it´s the chip, Bayern pattern and codec.

Click on the pictures to enlarge and see the effects in full glory.

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My response to comment regarding aberration concerns:

I would be happy to examine these things you are discussing, but I must say it would be very very helpful if you would give a reference to which images you are examining. (Being so cropped, it could be many of the images, if not specified)

With that said, I never went through these images thoroughly for aberration, as this test was for color matching and contrast. However, I have looked into it, and you have found some very interesting things worth mentioning.

Out of the examples you gave, and I mean no offense, I only think the image of the Yashica camera is worth examining. I would be happy to take a look at the other examples should you give me an image you are looking at. So far those other images look like very very zoomed in images portraying what looks like random noise in the image. It's kinda funny that it appears the arrows you added to the image has spawned more of the noise around them. Perhaps a culprit of compression, the camera sensor, who knows. I don't think this has anything to do with the lens, quite frankly, but I would be happy to revisit it if I find this is more than just super enlarged imaging.

Ok, so back to the Yashica camera. From the image you posted, I must say you have found what I consider an usual suspect of chromatic aberration. I don't know what you were talking about, but I assume it's the same. Anyhow, despite not specifying which image you pulled the still from, luckily the Yashica camera is one of the outer-most props on the table, isolating your image from either the 18mm or 25mm FoV's. It should be noted that chromatic aberration is often found in focal lengths with wide field of views and near the peripheral of that FoV. Thus it seems our culprit fits the bill. Considering the above.

So let's examine two areas of the images, first with the Yashica camera. I took the 8bit .jpg images available in this thread, enlarged greatly, and used mac's Shift+Apple+4 to screen capture a .png file. I assume this is not a loss-less process, but chromatic aberration cannot be caused by this process, so please, for now, disregard what may have been an increase in pixel compression. If we want to explore that at another time, I'll do it correctly.

Please remember that the two enlarged images following the one below, are just portions of this 4k... please note the scale of the object as to understand how much chromatic aberration is taking place. The Yashica camera has been colored Red to show you how much we are zooming into the still frame from the video. If my math is right, the full image is about 32x larger than the portion we are about to examine!

18mm FoV checkered image with Yashica camera size noted:

Enlarged from Cooke CXX T/2 15-40mm zoom lens at 18mm T/2.8:

Enlarged from Cooke Panchro/i 18mm T/2.8 wide open:

25mm
**Next is the 25mm focal lengths. The following image is the FoV of the 25mm, with the Yashica camera highlighted in red, so you can understand the scale of how zoomed in we are looking and the offset of the chroma aberration.**

Enlarged from Cooke CXX T/2 15-40mm zoom lens at 25mm T/2.8:

Enlarged from Cooke Panchro/i 25mm T/2.8 wide open:

Conclusion from Yashica camera analysis:
(as it happens, if you only looked at the 'checkered' comparison files I offered in this thread, the Yashica camera was always in the lower right quadrant, which was always designated as the CXX. So I suppose it would have been impossible to see how the Panchro/i's handled aberration on the Yashica, unless you explored their .jpg stand-alone image.)

Postmaster has brought to light some images which have spurred me to dig deep into these images. It appears that the CXX-zoom does have considerably more aberration than the Panchro/i's when you really explore the image. This was a little shocking, as far as how much the CXX produced but upon further contemplation, it wasn't as surprising. As mentioned above, chromatic aberration is the offset of wavelengths of light (in most cases the blue-violet wavelengths (the shortest in our visible spectrum)) and lenses succumb to aberration increasingly so when bending light from very off-parallel angles, such as the peripheral of wide FoV's. Also, I believe that the more optical elements within a lens, the more difficult it becomes to properly bend the wavelengths of light correctly, meaning it's no surprise to me that an ultra wide 2.67:1 zoom (starting at 15mm and T/2) has more aberration than a prime lens which has considerably less optical elements. Looking at the CXX aberration now, it's definitely more than most DP's would like to see, but given the fact it's a 15mm-40mm zoom lens, the complexity of the lens and how it exists in the realm of chromatic aberration optimal conditions, I'd be interested to know if anyone could find a better ultra wide-angle zoom lens with no aberration. I guess that's being fair to a $38,500 zoom (or so says ebay).

Now examining the 25mm, we still see the CXX has much more aberration than the Panchro/i. The Panchro/i 25mm does pick up a little, because now, with the tighter focal length, the Yashica camera is on the very very edge of the FoV. This means the light coming from the Yashica camera is entering the lens at the most extreme angle opposed to the parallel light entering from straight ahead. Thus the light rays are bent to near perfection. It's there on the very fringe, but look at the variables. We are unforgiving zoomed into a 4k file by over 32x magnification on the edges of a wide lens. At this level, I'm certainly not concerned nor do I think they are performing outside the tolerances of what we expect from top pro-lenses.

Sadly, we did not have any S4/i primes in the wide variety, so I cannot test those results. Just the CXX v. Panchro/i.

It's not perfect, but I don't think they are fringing like mad, not the Panchro/i's certainly, and not quite the CXX. I do agree, now that I have examined the CXX, that it does have considerably more aberration than it's Cooke panchro/i brothers, but as mentioned, the lens is practically built to be prone to aberration, I consider the amount there is as a valiant battle of suppression. Show me a 15mm zoom lens that does better, and perhaps I'll start to shame Cooke and their CXX. There's definitely some there mate. I give you that.

The original review pointed out the CXX had a slightly less 'flat-field' perspective. Probably also why it has more aberration than the primes? I bet so.

What do you think? Take a look at the 'Arri' hat, and you'll see the same results.

Take a look at the Arri hat, which at 32mm is VERY close to the edge, which should theoretically be most prone to aberration, yes?

32mm FoV with approx. designated zoom area identified for reference of magnification:

Cooke CXX 15-40mm T/2 zoom @ 32mm T/2.8:

Cooke Panchro/i 32mm T/2.8 Wide Open:

Breaking Nominated for 8 Awards

2011-04-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, I was flown to Olympia, Washington to shoot a short film for the Faith-Based 168 hour film festival. As the name alludes, 168 hours is the amount of time given for the production teams to film-edit-and deliver the final film. Needless to say, it was a tough and challenging endeavor, but successful and rewarding in the end.

Breaking, directed by Gary Volker (Experience Studios) and Produced by my fellow film-school alum Paula Wood (Crazy LuLu Productions), went on to garner 8 nominations at the awards; the third most nominations out of 90+ films.

As of now, only low resolution images of Breaking can be found on my website (under demo-reel, narrative), but the Directors cut has just been released on YouTube, and as of the time of this writing, can be found here:

The film had a wonderful cast and crew. We worked with an old, but operational grip & lighting truck, while the camera-package was flown out with me from sunny Los Angeles. We shot RedOneMX and some wonderful new Cooke Panchro/i prime lenses. The 18mm had just been released and I can't imagine having to shoot this film without it!

The Crew!

One of many dolly shots.

Gary and I wanted very controlled camera movement for most of the film. When the main character's memory is most effected or out-of-reality we opted to go handheld. My tripod/dolly operating was classic in style, smooth and mainly motivated. My handheld operating was intuitive and occasionally, on purpose, counter intuitive to give a feeling of anxiety and conflict. Meaning, at times the camera would sway or tilt in the opposite direction that felt natural. Thus creating a strange and disorienting feeling, similar to that going on inside the main characters thoughts. Similarly, the use of fog, smoke and atmosphere is used as to give a personified characteristic to the world reflecting what is going on in the main characters mind. His memory is foggy and a mystery, the heavy amount of atmosphere/haze in the room when he wakes up and searches for clues to his memory is quite appropriate.

Lighting wise, I went motivated and natural for the most part. We desaturated and tweaked the response curve of the MXchip in camera because of our time restraints and because I work as much as I can in camera, using the RAW function of the RedOne, as a contingency plan. I tried to get the entire exposure tight, thus no pure white whites, or true black blacks. The result is a dull and miserable world, probably most stylized in the approach to the abandoned house and the subsequent discovery of the picture frame inside, although the interior was lended an even bluer, cold feeling.

During his flashbacks, we warmed up the image, let the whites bloom a little, and introduced natural and man-made flares into the lens for beauty and distortion. The memories are of a happier time, so the images reflect that. When they are taking a photo of each other, that was natural flares through the tree branches. But during the flashback where he is carrying her to the house, that was an unfiltered, 650w fresnel on the end of a gobo arm, being spiked from above the camera as we pushed-in toward the house. It created a very warm wash of flare which was just beautiful.

The lighting during the flash-back argument scene was 100% artificial. We shot the entire interior-day scene during the pitch of night. Special thanks to my lighting guys for skinning all the windows with diffusion and running all that power around the dark (and wet) house. It wasn't much for a normal show, (lots and lots of 1k pars, fresnels, and etc) but for 168 hour film festival type productions, it was an undertaking of paramount importance to time, and they did it. The light pool on the island is for a small under-return for the actors faces. The fruit is replaced with a 'pizzabox' reflector whenever it's not in the shot. We had the wife with her face initially in the key light, because she is aggressive and confronting. Chris's face, is initially in shadow and remains so, most of the time, because he is the one who is hiding a secret and is withdrawing from the relationship.

Moody day-interior filmed at night. Movie magic, kiddos.

The car scene, was completely man-made as well. In fact, the entire crew had a part in it. We had everyone swinging lamps, dimming the bulbs, and splashing the car to mimic car movement through street lamps, and other vehicles passing by. The couple of seconds in the film, where the main character is driving right before the crash, is all done inside of a garage. The streetlamps, headlights, and tail-lights were all controlled and operated by the entire crew. It was a wonderful and orchestrated effort that was really fun to shoot, and worked out very well in the end.

He's on the road to nowhere.

There are many many stories I could tell, but the last one that comes to mind, would be the final image of the film. The ECU of a letter, which pulls out to reveal a big pile of letters. Instead of taking a high resolution still image and pulling out from it in post (which most would have done) Jeff, the production designer, stuck them all on a wall and we pushed back on a dolly with a 25mm lens from 8 inches to about 6' away. Pulling focus on that shot was a nightmare, but we got it within the first 12 takes. If you pull focus, you'll know how insane a focus pull from close-focus can be!

Before removing the matte-box, to get even closer!

All photos taken by set-photographer Sherie Suter

Reflection Old and Recent Happenings

2010-02-26T20:52:00.000-08:00

I recently found out from director Dan Dowding, our film Reflection was accepted and shown at the Beaufort Film Festival, in South Carolina... but I also found it had been accepted and shown at the 2009 Washougal Film Festival in Washington. So congratulations to Reflection's cast and crew for the recent festival run.

The Second Choice Finds Legs

2010-02-26T11:32:00.001-08:00

It has been awhile since my last blog update. I've been very busy shooting a feature documentary and some narrative work as Director of Photography all while working countless music videos, features, shorts and commercials as a camera assistant. Phewwww.

Update time!

The Second Choice, directed by Alberto Belli,

continues to swarm the festival circuit. The Second Choice was accepted and recently shown at the Southern California Business Festival. The festival showcases films which have a strong business theme. The Second Choice won multiple awards, among them Best Female Performance and Best Incorporation of Business Elements, one of two Top Prize award categories. Congratulations goes to Brenda Canela for her acting award, and to Alberto Belli for the impressive win.

The Second Choice has also been accepted to the 17th annual San Diego Latino Film Festival, which will take place early-mid March. Updates will be given when I find out more!

Reflection Nominated for Best Cinematography

2009-08-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

Reflection, the narrative short film by Dan Dowding was one of three films nominated for Best Cinematography at the Oxford Film Festival in West Chester, Ohio.

But don't hold your breath... Unfortunately I can tell you that fellow cinematographer Alex Winter and myself did not win the category... but it is almost just as exciting still! This is one of the first couple of festivals to recognize my work as a cinematographer and again brings an external source of satisfaction and motivation to continue my studies and advancement.

Still frame captures from a video file may be seen at my website -HERE-

Best,
-rpo

A Song For Anna: Screens in My Home State Too!

2009-06-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

A Song For Anna to Screen at the Oxford International Film Festival

I just found out that another film I shot, A Song For Anna (directed by Eli Katzoff) has also been selected and will screen at the Oxford International Film Festival.

I am very excited and proud to have TWO films I shot be recognized and screened for a cinema audience in the Buckeye State, even if it's not in Northeast Ohio.

I moved from Akron, Ohio to Savannah, Georgia to attend Film School and pursue my cinematography ambitions. The film A Song For Anna was shot within the city and outlaying areas of Savannah, Georgia. In an odd coincidence, the Oxford International Film Festival screening is held at the Savannah Center in West Chester, Ohio.

I unfortunately (and fortunately) still unavailable to attend the festival, as I have a prior commitment which will keep me in the UK for two months of shooting. I have read some good reviews of the festival and wish them the best of luck!

-RPO

Reflection: Getting Around

2009-06-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

Reflection: More Festivals I Was Unaware Of...

As you could tell by reading my past press updates, the film Reflection (directed by Dan Dowding) has been going around the festival circuit quite a bit (IndieSpirit, Southside, ActionOn, etc).

Every time I see Dan, I get updates and news... but apparently not all the news! Just found out the film has been accepted and screened in multiple festivals I had been previously unaware of! Hopefully this is the last Reflection update, which successfully catches up the past to the present.

Official Selection of the Daytona Beach Film Festival 2008

Official Selection of FEAR Animation & Film Effects Festival 2008 (New Orleans)

Official Selection Victory Media Network 2009 (Dallas, TX)
(The 1st outdoor digital 'gallery' in the world, located in Victory Park)

Official Selection Foyle Film Festival 2009 (Northern Ireland!)

Official Selection Digital Media Festival 2009 (Online/Australia)

It's very exciting to see a film you worked on go to all these great festivals, but sad that I cannot accompany them. Dallas looked like an innovative and unusual way to watch a film, while I'd have loved to go to Northern Ireland for the Foyle Film Festival. I was just in Ireland about a month ago, and will be back for a documentary in about another month, but alas I'll be back in the States come November, when the festival begins.

I served as one of the two cinematographers on Reflection, along with Alex Winter with whom I've shot two other films with.

Two Films: SouthSide Film Festival

2009-05-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Reflection and My Deer Friend, both selected to screen at the SouthSide Film Festival this June.

Reflection (a film by Dan Dowding) is a film on which I served as one of the Cinematographers, along with Alex Winter.

My Deer Friend (a film by Andrew Cherry) is a film on which I served as camera operator. My friend Nathan Blair did a fantastic job as Director of Photography.

SSFF is in it's sixth year and is held in Pennsylvania.

Reflection: Screens in My Home State

2009-05-21T00:34:00.000-07:00

Reflection to Screen at the Oxford International Film Festival

The Dan Dowding film Reflection, on which I served as a Director of Photography along with Alex Winter, has been accepted and will screen in my homestate of Ohio. I am very excited and proud to have a film I shot be recognized and screened for a cinema audience in the Buckeye State, even if it's not in Northeast Ohio.

I moved from Akron, Ohio to Savannah, Georgia to attend Film School and pursue my cinematoraphy ambitions. The film Reflection was shot within the cities of Savannah and Atlanta. In an odd coincidence, the Oxford International Film Festival screening is held at the Savannah Center in West Chester, Ohio.

I unfortunately am unavailable to attend the festival, as I have a prior commitment which will keep me in England for two months of shooting. I have read some good reviews of the festival and wish them the best of luck!

-RPO

"Game Show" Screened at the Kent Film Festival

2009-05-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

Game Show Screens at Kent Film Festival

The short film GameShow, directed by Vin Carubia, was accepted and recently screened at the Kent Film Festival in Kent, Connecticut.

I served as Director of Photography on the project. The first half of the film represents a depressing reality. It was shot on a Panasonic HVX200 with 35mm optics for shallow depth. The second half of the film, the GameShow, was shot on the Sony F900 and is more television like with brighter and deeper Depth of Field.

Stay tuned for more information on this film. Stills are available on my website at www.RyanPatrickOHara.com .

My Dear Friend: First Prize Skidmore Int. Film Festival

2009-03-30T23:52:00.000-07:00

Hello! Here is an update on the Andrew Cherry film, My Deer Friend. You may find the original story on MDF HERE and the first update HERE. I served as camera operator (and camera package provider too!) My friend Nathan Blair was the Director of Photography and currently is doing the grind over on the East Coast.

Since being accepted at the DeadCenter Film Festival (Oklahoma City), Savannah Film Festival (Savannah, Georgia), First Sunday Comedy Film Festival (NYC + Winner of Judges & Audiences' Award), Etiuda and Anima Film International Competition (Poland), Oxford Film Festival (Oxford, Mississippi), Smogdance Film Festival (Los Angeles), and Macon Film and Video Festival (Macon, Georgia).... *Breath*

My Deer Friend was accepted and recently won First Prize, the Skidmore International Film Festival (Sarasota Springs, NY)

The film is available online (http://www.filmbaby.com/films/3147), at ShopSCAD, and ExLibris, the campus bookstore. A copy of the film is on display at the Savannah Airport in the SCAD display case.

Indie Spirit Film Festival: Reflection

2009-03-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

***Attention! You are not seeing double! ***

Update regarding the film "Reflection" (2008)
Director: Dan Dowding
Directors of Photography: Alex Winter & Ryan Patrick O'Hara

Reflection has recently been accepted
to the Indie Spirit Film Festival!!!

Something look familiar? Yes, this post is almost identical to my last post because now there are TWO films I shot last year which will be showing at the 2009 Indie Spirit Film Festival!!! With two films in the festival, I have recently considered going... although, as a D.P., going to festivals usually just results in squirming around in the theater, as the film is projected with improper color or black levels!

"The Indie Spirit Film Festival is an annual event for filmmakers (professionals and students) and film lovers alike, with a superb program of feature films, shorts, docs, animation, and many other films from around the world."-ISFF website

From the Indie Spirit Film Festival email:

"Congratulations! We are excited to invite "Reflection" to screen at the 2009 Indie Spirit Film Festival over the weekend of April 24-26, 2009. On behalf of everyone involved in the festival, I wish to thank you for selecting Indie Spirit Film Festival to show your work."

The Indie Spirit Film Festival is an annual festival held in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A Song For Anna was accepted into this years festival which will be held April 24th-26th, 2009. Stay tuned for more information!

-RPO

Indie Spirit Film Festival: A Song for Anna

2009-03-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

***Attention! You are not seeing double! ***

Update regarding the film "A Song for Anna" (2008)
Director: Eli Catzoff
Director of Photography: Ryan Patrick O'Hara

A Song for Anna has recently been accepted
to the Indie Spirit Film Festival!!!

"The Indie Spirit Film Festival is an annual event for filmmakers (professionals and students) and film lovers alike, with a superb program of feature films, shorts, docs, animation, and many other films from around the world."-ISFF website

From the Indie Spirit Film Festival email:

"Congratulations! We are excited to invite "A Song For Anna" (09-259) to screen at the 2009 Indie Spirit Film Festival over the weekend of April 24-26, 2009. On behalf of everyone involved in the festival, I wish to thank you for selecting Indie Spirit Film Festival to show your work."

My Dear Friend: Update

2009-01-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

An update on the Andrew Cherry film, My Deer Friend. You may find the original story on MDF HERE. I served as camera operator.

Since the Deadcenter Film Festival in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, My Deer Friend has played:

Savannah Film Festival (Savannah, Georgia)

First Sunday Comedy Film Festival (NYC, New York).
It won the Judges and Audiences' award at this festival.

Etiuda and Anima Film International Competition (Poland)

My Deer Friend has been accepted to, but has not yet screened as of this date (01-14-09):

Oxford Film Festival (Oxford, Mississippi)

Smogdance Film Festival (Los Angeles, California)

Macon Film and Video Festival (Macon, Georgia)

The director is awaiting to hear back from other Film Festivals on whether they have accepted MDF.

The film is available online (http://www.filmbaby.com/films/3147), at ShopSCAD, and ExLibris, the campus bookstore. A copy of the film is on display at the Savannah Airport in the SCAD display case.

Savannah Film Festival 2008

2009-01-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

During the annual Savannah Film Festival, (held in Savannah Georgia), SCAD held its student showcase which "features film and digital media work by several of the college's most talented students."

In the indefinite wisdom possessed by my alum college, SCAD, they did not post a schedule within the showcase. From sources who I have spoken to, it seems at least three of the films I shot were showcased this year. "A Song For Anna", "Reflection", and "A Kiss Goodnight." The film "My Deer Friend", on which I served as camera operator, played during the festival in addition. The student Showcase is part of a promotion effort for the schools department of Film & Digital Media.

For more information on the Savannah Film Festival please check out: http://www.scad.edu/filmfest

A Song For Anna: Awards?!

2009-01-01T18:01:00.000-08:00

"A Song For Anna" was a short film I shot early 2008. I served as the Director of Photography. The director, Eli Catzoff had submitted the short film into several festivals, many of which we have not heard back from yet.

There have been some positive news thus far, "A Song For Anna has been accepted to the Dam Short Film Festival" in Boulder City, Navada. More info on the festival can be found here:
http://www.damshortfilm.org/2009/2009.htm

I am not sure what we stand to gain at the Dam Short Film Festival, but exposure is priceless, so if I am free from work, I might make the trek to Nevada and see how people like our film.

In other news, we apparently won some kind of award from a 'Christian Film Festival' that our college had submitted us to without our knowledge. I am not sure what we won or the exact name of the festival, but according to sources we won something...cool.

Stay tuned for more, as we have many festivals yet to hear back from.

Best,

-RPO

YouTube Project Direct: DisConnect

2008-12-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

For the first time, I participated in the Sundance Film Festival & YouTube joint venture called Project Direct. Once again teaming with Director Dan Dowding (Reflection, Faceless is the Killer) we shot the short film Dis-Connect in three days, on location at Custom Hotel, Los Angeles. I served as Director of Photography.

The images below were taken from YouTube screen grabs. Check www.RyanPatrickOHara.com in the near future for BTS stills and full resolution screen-grabs.

The video may be watched here, as long as the link is active: Watch HERE

Enjoy!
~rpo

Reflection Receives Special Jury Award for Student Film

2008-12-26T20:19:00.000-08:00

Reflection, a film by Dan Dowding and Escape Entertainment, earned a Special Jury Award for a Student Film from the Action/Cut Film Competition 2008. The film was shot by Alex Winter, Director of Photography and Ryan Patrick O'Hara, Additional Director of Photography.

www.Escape-Entertainment.com

Reflection Nominated at AOF

2008-07-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Reflection, a film by Dan Dowding with Escape-Entertainment, was accepted into the Action On International Film Festival. It will be playing Wednesday July 30th at 4pm in theater two.

It has been nominated for Best Sound, which is the product of the talented Steve Papagiannis who I have worked with on a couple of films. On the film, Reflection, I served as a Director of Photography working under Alex Winter, the Director of Photography on most Escape-Entertainment films.

Congratulations to everyone,

-rpo

Patrick & Me

2008-07-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

Director Anthony Cohen and Research Producer Peter Coogan had contacted SCAD, for possible Production Assistants or interns. Somehow, my name was included, and I was contacted to attend an interest meeting.

Needless to say, I rarely turn down opportunities to work on productions. At the end of the meeting, Research Producer Peter Coogan was hurrying to leave, because he and the production crew were shooting in about an hour. Right at the conclusion of the meeting, I asked if he needed help that night on the shoot, hoping to get involved right away. It seemed as if they were not going to need PA's for that part of the shoot, but right as he was presumably going to say so, he was distracted by another persons question. When he was finished, I asked again. Either they could have used the extra hand, or maybe he was that much in a hurry, but he said if I could be on location in an hour, then yes.

From then on, I spent the next several days assisting the documentry Patrick & Me. The film is part of the Menare Foundation. According to PatrickandMe.com the synopsis is as follows:

Patrick & Me chronicles the journey of Anthony Cohen, a fourth generation descendant of runaway slaves, as he retraces the path of his ancestor Patrick Sneed who fled from bondage in 1849. Drawing from an 1855 interview with his forbearer, Cohen carefully uncovers the amazing life story of a Georgia slave captured twice under the Fugitive Slave Law who later went on to fight in the American Civil War

Meticulously reconstructing Sneed’s path to freedom, Cohen treks 3,000 miles, by foot, boat and rail, from Savannah Georgia to Canada in a dramatic and an unorthodox pursuit of historical truth. In detective style he falls upon the fugitive safehouses, underground tunnels, and slave auction blocks. He combs through diaries and artifacts of archives and museums and speaks to the descendants of masters and slaves who hold clues to his ancestor’s journey. Patrick & Me reveals the staggering impact of slavery on America’s psyche, as Cohen delves deeply into the souls of people, North and South, that he meets along the way. Seeking out black, white and Indian Americans, who bear the name of his multi-race ancestor, he attempts to discover the whereabouts of Sneed who mysteriously vanished after Emancipation.

The experience was worth the time and effort. It had been awhile since I had been involved with a documentary. On the job I got to visit the third oldest Jewish Temple in the Western Hemisphere, visit some of the oldest grave sites in Savannah GA, shoot from the roof of the tallest building in Savannah GA (Hilton DeSoto), and more.

Cohen and Coogan will be back in the fall with thier crew, but I will have left town for Los Angeles by then. I wish them luck, and can't wait to see the film in completion.

-rpo

The One Show: The Chip that Rocks!

2008-07-04T03:19:00.000-07:00

The One Show is an annual advertising competition in which there is a college division. Erica Cardinas, (an advertising major at SCAD) served as creative director and pulled filmmaker Chloe Lipp to direct the commercial titled, "The Chip that Rocks!" Chloe approached me to shoot the project. I was pretty busy (shooting three short films in ten weeks) but I jumped on the opprotunity for a smaller scale shoot, a one day gig.

Although the video did not place in competition, it was a good experience. As far as lighting: I mainly used 1k's highly diffused in chimeras with red or blue party gels to replicate the light that neon bar signs give. I had my units usually hung from a grid on the ceiling.

The contest deadline hurried the special effects work (chips in jukebox, etc.), which in my opinion needed more time. The commercial is 60 seconds, but I think it would have benefited having a 30 second re-edit. It is what it is.

Plot: Older woman is eating Doritos and decides to insert a chip into the jukebox, which starts to wail rock music from the late 1960's- early 1970's magically taking the woman back to her youth. The younger girl dances around the bar. The places 'heats' up, and finally the jukebox rocks too hard, and the dorito flies out from the coin slot and into the mouth of the girl.

Here are some frame grabs from the Quicktime file I recieved:

Enjoy! -rpo

As of the writing of this post, there is a YouTube copy of "The Chip that Rocks." Watch it HERE

The Fall Line

2008-06-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

What seems a LONG time ago, when I was just learning my ambition towards cinematography (away from directing/writing), I teamed up with now friend, Cody Greene. We wrote and co-directed (I was also cinematographer!) a short film called 'The Fall Line'.

It's the short story about a prodigy fashion designer under pressure by his agent and sponsors. In a desperate attempt to sabotage his own career, he decides to make nothing for the models to wear. The show must go on, and the models are nude. The crowd mistakenly interprets the action as a work of art, and thus the protagonist has escaped his attempted career suicide, and the pressure has been lifted as he has more time to create his next clothing line.

It's a student film people, it's not that clever or original I know. We shot the entire film on an Arri SR-II camera, using Kodak 7217. There was a massive flutter in the gate for the bar scene and I learned a big lesson in camera movement. This was my first large narrative as a director of photography, and despite some learning kinks I got out of my system, parts of the film (mainly the design studio scenes) I am quite proud of.

The biggest lessons I learned on that first big attempt at the short 16mm narrative, is the importance of checking the gate and film movement, along with reading reflective light meter readings vs the incident. I discovered on that set, that I would forever be a reflective spot meter reader. I am a zone system junky, and love to plan an entire scene based off of reflective readings plotted on a zone system.

Enjoy some early work of mine!

-rpo

Short Documentary: Hakim

2008-06-29T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hakim: Documentary

I just came across my DVD copy of 'Hakim', a short (@7min) documentary I shot last year. Hakim is a traveling saxophone player who has quite the story. He is often mistaken as being a homeless panhandler despite his dressy casual apparel and uncanny musical ability. He is insulted when people give him leftovers or half eaten food because they assume he is homeless or jobless. Hakim simply enjoys a different way of living. He moves from town to town, city to city, state to state, playing for his living. It is his chosen lifestyle. He has been to college, played with many of the great jazz musicians of our time, and has seen the United States from East to West coast. It was great to meet him, and his musical skills are beyond most. Maybe you'll see him someday playing for whoever will listen.

Wachovia Commercial Contest: Current Vcam

2008-06-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

Wachovia: Way 2 Save

Our SCAD Panna-Class needed a final assignment. We figured we ought to enter a contest if we were to shoot a commercial. A fellow student found this contest and we got to work with just two weeks until we needed to shoot the commercial. It was a sloppy race to the finish, but Talia and myself scraped locations just in time!

The shoot was demanding, and my 2nd ACing was pushed to the limits, but everyone came together and we made a commercial to be proud of! At times the odds looked heavy against us, but in the end the commercial came out really well.

Check it out HERE. Be sure to give it a vote, if the contest hasn't closed yet. Wish us luck!

-rpo

Senior Showcase & 2008 SCADemies

2008-06-27T01:58:00.000-07:00

Crazy happenings!

Exciting news! My college, The Savannah College of Art and Design, has announced the Spring Quarter Senior Show selections and have also nominated the top films picked for the annual "SCADemies" awards.

Spring Quarter 2008 Student Showcase

Every quarter students will complete their senior films and submit them as a completed senior project. Due to odd and sometimes complex reasons, SCAD does not offer every film a public screening at the end of the year, but instead the top films are chosen and shown at the quarterly Senior Showcase. This Spring Quarter, somewhere around 25 film and television students completed their student films. About 8(?) have been selected for the senior show, 12 or so total total counting the graduate films not mentioned previously.

Last quarter, all of these projects were in production. I came on board as Director of Photography for three of the 25+ projects: A Song for Anna, The Cows, and Kiss Goodnight. All three films were great experiences and all were so very different from each other which allowed me to explore different types, styles and approaches to cinematography.

All three films turned out great, and I have never been happier with student productions. I just found out this weekend that all three films made it to the Spring Quarter Student Showcase! I would like to congratulate Eli Katzoff, Baruh Benjamins, and Jason Zeni for their hard work and recognition.

The SCADamies

This horrible play on words is just what it seems: SCAD's annual student film awards. At the end of Spring Quarter every year, a panel of professors will select the best student films from over the course of the school year. There are multiple categories including Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Score, Best Editing, Best Costumes, Best Etc, Etc, Etc.

Each category has about five nominations, which will be screened at the Trustee's theater. This afternoon, I was very happy to find that I had been nominated for Best Cinematography for the picture A Song for Anna. I was also very pleased to see that it is also up for Best Editing (Jenna Craig) and Best Special Effects (Sandro Blattner).

Reflection

Other films of note would be a film I also served as a cinematographer: Dan Dowding's Reflection. At the time I joined this film during preproduction, Alex Winter was on board serving as Director of Photography, and I really wanted to get in on the Escape Entertainment cinematography team. Dan and Alex were nice enough to believe in me and create a made up position called the Assistant Cinematographer. My made up position allowed me to work with Alex on designing lighting plans, helping to develop a shot list, and bring some ideas to the table. It was really great for them to let me get in on the creative process and contribute to the cinematography of Reflection.

Reflection is up for Best Director, Best Narrative, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Design, Best Special effects, and Best Editing. It's very tough to be up against such good friends, and a film you helped DP! The irony is hilarious, and if I were to lose to Alex, I would really be losing to myself, so I wish Reflection the best of luck for the Cinematography Award.

On that note, I would like to mention that not all awards can always seem fair. To state what is purely my opinion, a good friend of mine, Nathan Blair, the most talented DP in our graduating class, seemed to go over looked by the deciding committee, but not his peers. I heard many talk of his lack of nomination, and the penciled in writing of his name on the nominee sheets are proof enough of popular opinion. I want to put on the record that I think I would be in good company to be in competition with Nate.

-rpo

Post awards addition to previous article:

Friday: As it turns out, A Song For Anna did not take first prize for cinematography, (Congratulations to Chris Flowers for On Homeostasis) but it did win for special effects. I was excited that it screened on a better projector (Lucas theater the previous night was a bit dark). Congratulations to Sandro for the win, and we will be sending A Song for Anna to festivals soon. In other news, the film Reflection won for Best Sound (Steve Papagiannis) and Best Director (Dan Dowding). Another film, My Deer Friend, on which I was the camera operator won best screenplay.

-rpo

"My Deer Friend"

2008-06-27T01:39:00.000-07:00

"My Deer Friend", a film by Andrew Dean Cherry, was selected by the 2008 deadCENTER Film Festival and screened in Oklahoma City, on 8:00pm June 8th 2008. If you are unfamiliar with the deadCENTER film festival, their goal is to:

"promote independent film arts. As filmmakers and film fans, we constantly work to bring independent films and independent filmmakers to Oklahoma City. So whatever your taste, you’re sure to find it here."

The film was shot by my good friend Nathan Blair, who did a great job. I served as camera operator, as well as providing the camera package. The shoot was quite hilarious considering the lead actor, Josh Jones, was opposite a 'puppitized' deer head. I have yet to meet one person who has not laughed helplessly at the awkward moments between boy and his best deer friend.

A Song For Anna: In the News

2008-06-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

Ms. Blatty (first name slips my memory), a journalist for Connect Savannah, visited our production as we filmed the climatic storm scene in a local sand quarry. It was freezing and around 5am-6am (because I needed to shoot the scene before daybreak). Needless to say, she was a good sport, and joined us at Eli's house after wrap. After Eli's interview, we were all sitting around making small talk. She began telling us that her father had worked in movies. In the back of our minds we were all expecting another, 'my nephew goes to film school' or my brother 'works in hollywood' story. She continued to tell us that the screenplay he wrote didn't do so well at first, but when he turned it into a novel, it became a best seller and then everyone wanted his screenplay. It was at this time my attention and interest peaked. As it turns out her father is Academy Award winner William Peter Blatty. The last time I underestimate a 'I know someone in the industry' story!!!

Read her article, "15 Minutes of Apocalyptic Fun" If the article is no longer available, I have screenshots located below. Please click on them, and they should enlarge!

Enjoy~rpo

P.S: You should be hearing about this film in the upcoming months. The film 'A Song for Anna' had a phenomenal cast and crew. I am not going to break out in an academy award speech, but my gaffer Andre Danylevich, did an amazing job and Eli would always try to get me whatever I needed to get the job done. In the end, we have a movie that everyone can, and is, proud to be a part of. I'm sure you will hear more about this film in the future.
-rpo

Middle of Knowhere, aka Creepy Country People Stills

2008-06-26T21:22:00.001-07:00

I got footage!

Today a rare thing happened... an editor actually brought me footage I asked for! He is certainly the exception tot he rule (thanks Brandon). It is very difficult to get directors or editors to send you a final copy of the film once it has been made. One of the many headaches of a student film. The film's title used to be Creepy Country People but was changed to the confusing play-on-words, Middle of Knowhere. (Know-where combined, not Know-here)

This film was directed and written by Taryn Wright. I, alongside with Jon Tolliver, served as the films' Directors of Photography. Below are some screen shots taken from the quicktime video export given to me. No color correction has been done outside of the editing process. Please consult color bars for optimum viewing. Thanks!

Enjoy,
-rpo

Justina Carubia- "Formula" Music Video

2008-06-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Formula; Justina Carubia

An old roomate of mine contacted me about shooting a short music video for his sister, Justina Carubia, an independent singer/songwriter. The project was brought to me a bit last min, but it turned out pretty good. I had to steal the directors hard drive to get this less then presentable compressed video of the edit, although the quality is worse on her website.

This was shot in one day with minimal preproduction work. The main gem of this video is the 360 degree spinning camera glidecam work. From the stills below, much of the moving camera and dancing movement is lost, and that was what made the video worth watching. The film was edited and sent out despite my wanting to color correct it.

EDIT: (June 29th 2008) The director wants to sit down with me this summer and finally color correct! I'll be sure to replace pictures with new ones, and erase all this mumbo jumbo when I do.

Enjoy the stills,
-rpo

Man Tan

2008-06-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

Jamie Olmstead, a classmate of mine, brings us this funny short film. He recruited me to DP and shoot his final directing the narrative project about two days before it was due. His concept was based off of a college humor article, and the video is a hilarious viral video. It was a featured short on youtube and is something different from the longer more serious narratives I usually work on.

I used mainly small (650w fresnels or 1k's with CTB and diffusion) arri lights at 45* angles from the counter. I wanted to add light to the actors faces to create a low contrast lighting ratio, and to also be able to stop down to expose for the actors and let the background expose darker to help isolate the action from the rest of the large room.

Enjoy the video!
-rpo

Warning to viewers: Video contains light hearted swearing and questionable language.

2006-2007 The Learning Years

2008-06-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Learning, Internships, and Freelance work

Not much to report about '06-'07. I was bogged down, busy with more challenging college work, at the same time doing small films and videos for class assignments, discovering my ambition to be a director of photography.

Events of interest would be my internship at Classic Worldwide Productions. It was a great experience from working the mailroom all the way to being on location. After which, I was even more grateful, because they hired me back for some freelance work as a Production Assistant, Camera Assistant, or Camera Operator among other positions. I got to work for some great people including, the Discovery Health Channel, Cleveland Indians, Golf Channel, Bubblicious/Lebron James Academy, The Cleveland Clinic, cable network satellite media tours, and many other musical performance, corporate, and medical videos.

2005 Telly Awards

2008-06-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

2005 Telly Award Winner!

For those of you who do not know about the Telly Awards:

"The Telly Awards honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, and work created for the web." -from Tellyawards.com

I had shot a three part commercial series for the local highschool play "Joseph and the Multicolored Dream Coat." Besides being very well received by the students, crew, and cast members abother individual, Mr. Bob Anderson, took interest in the video. Anderson, who's son was the lead actor in the production, is also Vice President and Creative Director at Classic Worldwide Productions based in Cleveland. He told me about the Telly Awards and entered the commercial on my behalf. As it turns out I won a Bronze Telly in my category, and since then have had a really nice statuette!

On an episode of the Colbert Report (Ep. 3115, aired 9/13/2007) Colbert goes on a rant about the upcoming Emmy Awards how he doesn't need another award. He states:

"I don’t really need another. I’ve got plenty. I already have 3 Emmys, 2 Peabodys, A doctorate from Knox College, and..." He lifts up a Telly Award..."this thing… I think you use it to open Hawaiian Punch cans."

I thought it was really funny.

C-SPAN's 2004 Campaign Cam

2008-06-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

Documentary Competition!

In 2004, as the November Presidential election was approaching, C-SPAN hosted the "C-SPAN 2004 Campaign Cam Student Documentary Competition". Students from around the country were challenged to make a documentary on a campaign topic they found important.

I, along with two fellow students (Eric Anderson and Stephen Lightner), teamed up and created our documentary on the topic of 'Censorship'. We interviewed top Civil Rights attourney, Avery Friedman, Congressman Sherrod Brown (now Ohio US Senator!), WDOK Cleveland Radio personality Trapper-Jack, Ohio Board of Education Member Dr. Debrah Owens Fink, and conducted many random street interviews.

Out of the 700 middle school & high school entries, 'Censorship' won third prize, placing between 6th and 12th for high school entries, and securing a spot to be aired on network television! Seeing my documentary air multiple times on C-SPAN was a great experience and one of the key moments of my highschool career.

Surprisingly, C-SPAN still has the '2004 Campaign Cam' website running and the videos (poorly compressed) can still be viewed if you have a compatible player. Please note the date of this post. If the links no longer work the website has most likely been taken offline.

2004 Campaign Cam Student Documentary Competition

3rd Prize Winners Listing (6th-12th Top Documentaries)

2004 'Censorship' Documentary

Blogs?!

2008-06-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would be one of those people with a blog, but here I am writing my first entry. This blog is for the purpose of my website and will be mainly focused on my film experiences and career news. I hope this will lead to an interesting and organized account of my cinematography career!

-rpo