FINALLY A CLEAR EXPLANATION OF WHAT WENT WRONG ON THE DEEPWATER HORIZON

Please checkout this link to Democracy Now and listen to a crystal clear explanation of what caused the failure at the Macondo Well, Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Click HERE

Deepwater Rising Producer Mike deGruy on CNN.com

The first airing of material from our 2 months of shooting the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf can now be seen on CNN's website . Our Producer Mike deGruy was Piers guest.
Click on the video below to watch!

SONY F3 vs PANASONIC AF100-Indie Filmmakers challenged by "DSLR KILLER" Market

Excerpt from "Independent"magazine, keeping the AIVF alive.

I'm primarily an independent filmmaker who uses whatever tools can do the job both effectively and economically to keep up with the industries attitude of do it quick and do it for less, a spiraling virus that seems to be the norm these days. With the advent of the HDSLR over 2 years ago we have been able to produce high quality films for a ridiculously lower cost than conventional film, make a profit once again and GREENER to boot! What an incredible revolution but oh yeah there's that rolling shutter thingy, and those other artifacts like rolling shutter, moire, aliasing and oh yeah the main one's by CANON TURN OFF AFTER 12 MINUTES ! What the !!%^&#$@#!...

So this year  we get the new "HDSLR KILLERs" or "HDSLR Compliments"which are primarily 35mm video cameras !! Panacea, hmmm, no, I don't quite think so. Let me now explain the new complexity of problems associated with yet another new entry of new technology into the domain or should I say limbo zone for the aspiring INDIE to FEATURE film technologist, producer , DP etc... By the way this article will not discuss sensor size, codec choice, compression , quality of the image, etc... It simply addresses the VOID created by this next gen of 35mm based video cameras.

It seems that these "DSLR KILLERs" get released without the most BASIC feature of all DSLRs the ability to be compatible with your investment in GLASS, that's right your incredible collection of either Canon and Nikon lenses!  It's a disease spreading like wildfire as the LARGEST camera manufacturers scramble to get products to market that claim to fix all the issues with DSLRs. Is this really both an effective and budget minded technology to put the plethora of DSLRs spilling into the marketplace back into stills only! Given Round 1 & now Round 2 of the offerings I would have to say NO. Not yet...

OK big corps if you want to call yourself DSLR Slayers, Killers etc. then YOU sure as heck better  support Canon and Nikon glass, right? Can these indie filmmakers afford PL lenses? Zeiss lenses? Lets be fair here Panasonic and Sony. Oh but wait a minute whats that booth way in the back tucked away at NAB...your product does what for the AF100, for the F3 ??

3rd Party "Fix it all" Conundrum
Leave it to the ingenuity of the "little guy" to see from the smallest feature gaps to the most needed in a product! Unlike a deer in the headlights of technology, innovation is still alive and well in America too! There are many great 3rd party manufacturers out there & they are the true backbone of the industry but are they now responsible for filling the gap in BASIC FUNCTIONALITY? Are the giants of the industry now relying upon 3rd party product for bare essential primary compatibility and functionality for their products? Did they really release DSLR Killers without ZOOM Lenses?? Without the ability to use the most prevalent glass out there in the DSLR world?
Apparently so on all counts...

Lets look at 2 of these CRITICAL CRUCIAL 3rd Party Products

The "BIRGER ULTIMATUM" No it's not a new Matt Damon film!
EF LENSES for the Panasonic AF100
700.00 solution, somewhat palatable


Panasonic AF100 potential customers are lining up at Birger Engineering's door waiting for the "Holy Grail," an adapter that allows CANON EF lenses that do not require one to set aperture first on a DSLR body & then removing said lens & mounting on the AF100. It's ELECTRONIC SMART & reportedly emulates the binary lingo properly to control the EF lens! It even has REMOTE CONTROL for IRIS & FOCUS! Is it shipping? Sadly no, it's on announced delay #2
Oh and one other thing why do I still see MOIRE, that annoying vibrating artifact same as DSLRs coming out of this camera!?

The "Specialty Optics solution"" from ABELCINE
CANON & NIKON Lenses on the Sony F3

5800.00 OUCH! um DOUBLE maybe even triple OUCH

So ABELCINE was showing off the Specialty Optics HDx35 adapter which lets you use your EF lenses and hey it's only 5800.00!! It also knocks down 2 1/2 f-stops...I think someone just let the air out of my tires on that one, 5800.00 price point? Did I tell you guys about the land I have for sale in Florida...

OK what about that rocker on the body, for ZOOM? Sadly not yet functional, the Sony PMW-F3 has NO power Zoom lenses that are compatible with it, just PRIMES or again PL lenses. However it does have a Rocker for future power Zooms. Hey it also has an option for dual HD/SDI RAW 4:4:4 output, watch out ALEXA! The Sony is priced considerably higher so you are committing to the next bigger tier of the camera world. It makes sense for those with BIG bank accounts to actually down size but it's a mega leap from the DSLR world to step into those F3 shoes.

SUM IT UP ALREADY
Correct me if I'm wrong here. These cameras, well it's like buying a car that only goes 25mph but the next revision will get you going faster, maybe. Uh yeah maybe faster so you can actually use the freeway! And oh yeah if you get the parts from that other company in Alabama...

Just a bit frustrating, a video/DSLR featured camera with only primes, no direct support for Canon or Nikon lenses who are the primary DSLR market share mfrs. If your claim is to compete with DSLR's then quite frankly I have to give you guys a "D" for not supporting the marketplace you are claiming to overthrow and for confusing the market place with cameras that have to rely on 3rd party product for PRIMARY FUNCTIONALITY.

But if you have to have one now I would settle for the AF100 because for the cost it's far less to shell out than the F3. Workarounds are numerous, Still has a little Rolling Shutter. Still has Moire/aliasing but numerous plug-ins and post can fix those maladies. Lots of adapters RAINBOWBRIDGE, NOVAFLEX to go from EF to MFT; 4/3, under 60.00, Can focus to infinity but IRIS is another story as we talked about, set on DSLR then transfer to AF100.

This is the route I will have to go to now, it's affordable and I need a fix for the 12 minute reset record syndrome.

My wish list ...

How about a version of the Sony F3 with an EF/PL interchangeable mount, fully functional with all features of the EF lens minus the Aperture click and instead a smooth transition true CINE LENS quality and a Long and Wide Zoom!  Or the Panasonic AF100 same features as above plus an APS-C or SUPER 35 sensor. Oh yeah and how about a price tag of 5995.00 MSRP for either one! Yeah yeah, I know I'm dreamin' here...

Your comments are welcome as I know there will be many! SONY and PANASONIC Camps fire away!

All geared up and feeling Techie...
Harry R.

Off to Vegas for the NAB Show

Harry & Phillip Bloom

Harry & Eric Kessler of Kessler Crane

Harry with Zacuto's Steve Weiss & Jens B. 

Well my AC/Grip Stephen Posner and I did a 1 day blitz at NAB to hang with our compadres and take in some new technology. Once again DSLR's were in the spotlight and the new cams from Sony looked quite impressive, especially the F3 and the up and coming NX line. The aftermarket products really are bringing these new cameras to light enabling EF lenses and zooms to be utilized on these new Super 35mm sensor based video cameras. Some innovative vendors to watch out for BIRGER EF lense adapters and Remote FI utilizing internal motors in the lenses! & Convergent Technologies with their 4:4:4 storage/Monitor!

Busy week JAMES FRANCO, Children's Miracle Network & Karl Ford's Action film "Burial!"

Well what a whirlwind 10 days of shooting. Michael was busy putting together a crew and shooting a commentary with Danny McBride,(Co-writer as well as actor) David Gordon Green, (director) Academy Award winning actor James Franco, and Justin Theroux their new film "Your Highness."

The day before was spent doing a number of spots for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, for CBS, Cottage Hospital, and CMNH for their telethons with actor John Schneider!

Harry was working as DP & second unit director for Karl Ford, former Producer from Ivan Reitman's Montecito Pictures, on his own feature film project "Burial" starring Noot Seear, beautiful fashion SUPER model and recently seen in TWILIGHT "New Moon" along with Adrian Quinones star of CSI and many other TV shows.

AFTA-David Crosby and Venice and more on our 9 Camera shoot

Well last week we grabbed all of our gear and headed down to Santa Monica and with the help of Dave Jenkins and some generosity tossed in by NEWTEK and their fantastic TRICASTER we captured some real magic. In this Multi-camera shoot we shot America, Richard Page (Mr. Mister) Venice and David Crosby in a stellar performance at Barnum Hall in Santa Monica. Students were up on stage providing the Orchestra section and the choir and a magnificent performance.

Using Newteks Tricaster 850 alongside of our Panasonic camera arsenal gave us a a superior High Def line edited performance! Dave Jenkins was or TD with Matt Levitz assisting with Queues. Sure we'll have to do a little mopping up in Post but no where near what we have had to do in the past.

Special thanks to Doug Armstrong of Touring Video for the mondo lens & viewing monitors and SAMY's Camera as always helping out with camera media every year!

Gear for this shoot: 
2-Panasonic HPX 170's
1-Panasonic HPX 3700
1-Panasonc HPX 300
1-Panasonic AG-AF100
1-Olympus G2 DSLR
2-CANON 5D Mark II's
1-KESSLER CineSliders
1-CANON 33x 11 Mondo Power! Thanks again Doug!

VIDEO FOOTAGE COMING !!

More on this later...gotta run to the next shoot!

JEFF BRIDGES & T-BONE BURNETT-LIVE CONCERT SHOOT with 15 Cameras!

 Can you ever imagine that it would be possible to shoot a LIVE CONCERT with 15 High Definition cameras on a shoestring budget!!?? Well I'm here to tell you that's exactly what we did at the Jeff Bridges and T-Bone Burnett concert. It took place in beautiful Santa Barbara as they performed to a Sold-Out crowd at one of the oldest theaters in California,, The Lobero Theater, for the 200th "Sings Like Hell" Concert series created by Peggy Jones. The band had Buddy Miller, David Piltch on Bass, Jay Bellarose Drums, Chris Pelonis Acoustic Guitar and Greg Leisz on pedal Steel. The concert was pretty much all of the Oscar award winning soundtrack for Best Film and Best Actor "Crazy Heart."

Here's the Layout with front
& back Camera Angles:

 So lets get down to the logistics... Working side by side with brilliant Director-Filmmaker & Cinematographer Alan Kozlowski, I had the unique opportunity to DP for this history making event! 15 cameras!! No switcher, no line cut! We setup zones for coverage with complimentary pairs of cameras Stage left and Right and Long zoomers back of the house. The arsenal consisted of a Sony F800 XDCAM HD with stabilized Fujinon HA42x9.7mm HD zoom, 3- Sony EX1's, 2-EX3's one with FUJINON HA25x11.5mm HD long zoom and the 2 brand spanking new Sony F3's! Add to the mix 3-Contour 1080P pov's, 3-Canon DSLRs, Kessler cinesliders and a Partridge in a pear tree!!

BERNIE EPK Featuring Jack Black wrapping in Post and more wraps!

Michael is wrapping up the first phase of the OTW/HI-FI EPK and Added Content for Richard Linklater's new feature film "Bernie" starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey.  Harry & Michael we're in and around Austin Texas back in Oct-Nov. shooting the footage for the EPK & Added Content.

We now begin work on 2 new films including a new short film being filmed right here in Santa Barbara with one of the Producers from Ivan Reitman's Montecito Pictures as his first solo venture. More on that a little later...

The Film Crew's Deepwater Rising Production a documentary on the Gulf of Mexico enters post and should complete on April 8th! Two months of working across the entire Gulf of Mexico coastline and out at sea will soon be ready for broadcast!

As "Deepwater Rising' enters Post Production it seems there is no shortfall of news pouring in regarding events in the Gulf of Mexico

The events in the Gulf of Mexico are still making major headlines daily almost 10 months after it all began. The reality of what we saw as filmmakers continues to reveal itself each week. The latest report covering the deaths of nearly 60 juvenile Dolphins spread out along Gulf beaches over the last 8 weeks, nearly 10 times the normal observed mortality rate.

This report by Vivian Kuo, CNN just in.

SUPER-UBER MICROBES EATING ALL THE OIL

Something else noteworthy has been surfacing in the news as of late:
SUPERCHARGED OIL EATING MICROBES, bacteria consuming the Oil at off the scale rates of consumption...wow ! really? we keep hearing about this. Were they invented in the Lab? Well uh  no... Did it's overnite superpowers give birth in the Gulf? Well uh maybe? All that Oil, well most of it is gone! Well uh no, not quite. It's all either sitting on the bottom in a nice cocktail mix of dispersant and oil, hovering around in giant moving plumes, ashified remnants of surface oil set ablaze and oh yeah all over the barrier islands and marshes in the Gulf. That's right we've seen it ourselves. Uh but they keep telling us it's gone... Now why is that?  I wish I had an answer for that one...

What we do know according to our journalists is that NO ONE COULD SHOW PROOF POSITVE IN ANY LAB Macondo OIL EATING MICROBES, that is actual oil from Deepwater Horizon being consumed at UBER rates by Super bacteria. 
Someone please show us!

Our Scientists like Samantha Joye and many others who do have scientific proof and evidence have shown otherwise. It's still here, it's impact will be long lasting. It's current impact has already destroyed, yes KILLED sea life in the deepwater. We now need to be looking at a solution and at ways in which mankind can help replenish what was taken away.


SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL has oil eating microbes. That's right and they are able to keep approximately 6600 gallons per day of natural oil seeping into the channel at bay according to David Valentine at UCSB's Marine Science Institute. If we gave these microbes some vitamins could they really suddenly grow to handle the consumption of over 500,000 gallons of oil a day? Could this happen without a collapse within the system? I'm not a scientist but it does not seem possible, the levels of Oxygen needed to support and promote this type of oil eating genetic monster of a bacteria is neither attainable or sustainable. This activity would yield massive dead zones that could be observed in the Gulf environment.


What is your opinion?