Stay away from counterfeit products: Straight talk with Vincent Laforet in this episode of ON THE GO.  Vincent Laforet and Nino Leitner “On the Go” for cinema5D. “Innovation is being destroyed” In this year’s first episode of our car talk show ON THE GO, I talked to commercial director / photographer and DSLR pioneer Vincent Laforet about the state of the industry. Vincent identified a dire state in gear manufacturing, with more and more innovative products being ripped off by (mainly) Asian counterfeit products. To make matters worse, some of those clone companies aren’t small operations, they are becoming huge international players. What’s left for the innovators is to go to court, which isn’t easy – not even having expensive patents necessarily protects you from counterfeiters, if you don’t have the financial resources to fight against them in international courts. And even if you do, particularly Chinese companies are still often hard to grasp legally from Western countries. We talked in particular about a high-profile clone of the MoVi Pro which has been announced just before NAB, which upset Vincent in particular as he was the person who launched the MoVi M10 together with his friends from Freefly a couple of years ago. Check back next week for another episode with Vincent Laforet, in which he will talk about how it is to shoot commercials for Apple, where his career is moving and where he expects things will go in the coming years for him and the industry. Do you care if you have “the original” of a product if it works better or is price all that matters to you? Let us know in the comments below! Please visit our sponsors’ websites to keep new episodes of ON THE GO coming! Watch previous episodes of ON THE GO (& On the Couch) by clicking here. Visit our Vimeo and YouTube playlists, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

In collaboration with production house Neighborhood Film Co, premium stock footage site Filmsupply has launched its own film series called “Filmsupply Originals”. Last week they premiered their first film, a well-crafted short with high production value and a cast of non-actors. We have looked at stock footage start-up Filmsupply before. What is special about this site is that their catalogue consists of high-quality licensed footage only, targeting productions that look for quality content instead of amateurish clips that can be found on other stock sites by the millions. In an effort to promote their filmmakers and create a set of original film clips that companies can purchase, they have launched the Filmsupply Originals series. Writer and director Ricky Staub from Neighborhood Film Co had the chance to realize his first narrative short film as the kick-off production of the Filmsupply Originals series. The Cage is an honest picture of redemption in the face of overwhelming darkness, a film for which Staub used a cast of non-actors in order to bring raw authenticity to the story of a young man’s survival on the streets of Philadelphia. The Cage is a tribute to second chances, to the profound transformation that can come from one kid deciding to walk toward the good, even when society has labeled him the opposite,” Staub said. “The cast of this film – people from my own neighborhood in North Philly – are very connected to the vulnerability and suffering at the heart of the film. They were so present and so honest. They had an almost childlike playfulness about getting into character.” For those among our readers who are aspiring directors, cameramen or other visual film enthusiasts, I think this production can be a true testament to what happens when a passionate filmmaker walks the bold path of being true to his vision. Personally, I find this film very inspiring and I applaud the crew and cast for the extraordinary performances they achieved with limited resources. As each filmmaker faces challenges, no matter if personal or work-related, it’s nice to see a story on screen that talks about facing those in light of the brutal reality that life can often be. There is a full interview with the filmmaker that you can read to find out more about the making of the film, which is an interesting read. For those among you who are like me and prefer the spoon-fed version of info about the production, check out this well-made 7-minute behind-the-scenes look at The Cage: The Cage and future Originals will be featured on Filmsupply’s platform and marketing channels. All scenes from each of the films will be available for licensing from Filmsupply.

Hiring directors of photography in television, film, commercial and industrial productions is a headache, and I challenge you to find a producer that doesn’t agree with me. There’s a reason this industry tends to be tough to break into; nobody likes hiring, and everyone tends to stick within their networks because the risk is lower. These five questions will help you find the right DP for the job.  Picture: Graham Sheldon Hiring is a high stakes game in entertainment. Everyone wants a job and not everyone has worked over a decade to climb to the position they are in. People like jumping rungs, even when they’re unequipped to be there and are afraid to be up so high. Every producer dreads being asked the question, “Where did you find this loser?” Gauging a director of photography’s actual talent and ability to mesh with the team is tricky because of how diversified the type of content being produced is nowadays. A DP with a background in doc/reality may not be the right fit for your feature film. But what if the film is a handheld-heavy project with a short shooting schedule in a vérité style? How do you know if they’ll work well in a small team, travel-heavy shoot? Because this is a hire-who-you-know business, many ops and DPs end up shooting projects in a similar style again and again. This is mostly true in docu-series and reality television. Look at the Netflix series Chef’s Table and tell me those DPs can’t run a narrative. The proof is in the pudding: go to the reel, look at the lighting, observe the composition. Are you affected by the execution of the photography in the same way you want the audience of your current project to be affected? Then you’ve found a candidate. Thankfully, we have online tools to identify talented DP’s such as Production Beast and StaffMeUp, and even unions now have some staffing resources. But, what happens when you want to weed out the less desirable candidate? Welcome to the interview process. 5 Questions to Ask a Potential DP when Hiring for Your Next Project: How do you like receiving feedback? Receiving notes or feedback on your work in any industry is hard, but especially so as a DP. For set cohesion to really work, all departments need to be able to take feedback or criticism professionally. One of the number one personality traits that will bring you back to recurring gigs again and again is the ability to take a note, make the change and make it quickly without attitude. Tell me about your biggest challenge on location that didn’t have to do with lighting. Don’t let them get away with answering this with a lighting challenge because everyone has had a lighting challenge. This question is about true problem-solving and the answer is usually illuminating for the interviewer. The best answer here will usually give you a glimpse into their leadership or mediation style. What projects would you like to be shooting more of? I usually ask this one to see how close my particular project is with their five-year or even life goals. People tend to continue learning and building themselves towards a particular goal, and remain a little more stagnant in their knowledge of other areas. If you’re looking for a DP with lots of action experience, but his answer is something like, “I’d like to shoot more macro photography of insects”, then this may be a good indicator that this DP is not as passionate and therefore not as particular in an area where you need them to be. Why do you want to be involved with this project, and what have you heard so far? The best DP’s are planners, and a good planner will do at least basic research and know some of what they are walking into. Heavy improvisation in the field is a morale killer for the G&E department, and will mean a lot of large lights being setup and broken down without ever being turned on. Make sure you are adding a planner to your team. What do you want to learn from shooting this project? I love this one because it reminds the interviewee that it’s okay not to know everything and to be willing to step outside his or her comfort zone. With every project I’ve ever shot, I’ve tried to push a particular skill or try something that isn’t firmly in my wheelhouse. If a DP has something special they’ve been wanting to try, and you can help make that happen, it might also tame other instances where a Director wants something simple and a DP wants something gorgeous. Picture: Graham Sheldon Obviously, the easiest way to find the right candidate is to compare their hopefully honest resume with your particular show. Trying to staff up “Deadliest Catch” for Discovery, you’re probably headed in the right direction with a DP with lots of ocean-borne shooting experience, but rarely do we get candidates with resumes that match 1:1 with our projects. Lots of money is at stake and at least a career or two, so set yourself up for success in the hiring process. What do you think? What great interview questions do you find effective? Tell me below!

During my recent trip to Japan, I had a chance to visit FUJIFILM HQ and discuss the future of their X camera line, particularly the new X-T2. The talk was centred around the video capabilities of this new camera. Later this week, I will publish my review and a short video that I took with the X-T2. But first things first, and to anyone who is not familiar with the new camera, here is a short summary: As reported by us during early July, Fujifilm announced their first 4K APS-C sensor size mirrorless camera, promising to shake the somehow crowded DSLR/mirrorless camera market with a new filming tool that includes their famous film simulation. In addition, they have added an F-log function for achieving greater dynamic range and maximum flexibility during the color correction stage for anyone who is willing to use and invest in an external recorder. The additional offered VPB-XT2 handgrip will let you enjoy longer recording times in 4K mode (approximately 30 min. instead of 10 min.) and increased continuous recording time with a total of 3 batteries (one in camera plus two in the grip). Last but not least, it allows you to monitor the recorded audio, as the headphone jack is located on that grip. Jun Watanabe presenting the new Fujifilm X-T2 I must say that the people at FUJIFILM were very humble yet confident about their new creation. If you take a moment to look at the interview we did with Jun Watanabe, a manager at FUJIFILM corporation, you will clearly understand that the X-T2 is just the beginning for FUJIFILM when it comes to video-enabled mirrorless cameras. Now that they have acknowledged the need for a video function in their cameras, they will continue to improve and perfect this filming tool. Maybe the biggest news coming out of this interview is the likelihood of a firmware update that allows implementing Fuji’s F-log function in-camera, and not just through recording with an external device. In order to do so, FUJIFILM needs to be assured it is a highly requested feature. I truly urge anyone who watches this interview or reads this article to contribute by writing a short line and let FUJIFILM know it is indeed an important request. Please take into account that, while this implementation is certainly possible, it is still recommended to use the grip and record externally to achieve the highest recorded picture quality: uncompressed 4:2:2 8 bit externally, vs. compressed 4:2:0 8 bit internally. Another matter to point out is the subject of lenses. Apparently, the XF optics are designed by the same team in charge of Fujinon’s professional line of lenses. It is worth pointing out that FUJIFILM will consider expanding their selection of video zoom lenses according to market demand. Other topics discussed in the interview are FUJIFILM’s take on creating tools for professional filmmakers, and an answer to my question if we will ever see a full frame sensor size X camera. Stay tuned for more fresh content about Fuji’s new X-T2 camera, and please don’t forget to raise your voice and ask for in-camera F-log. Many thanks to Jun Watanabe, Kiyoshi Inoue and Fabian Chaundy for helping conducting and translating this interview. 

Are you a creator, a filmmaker or camera enthusiast? Are you looking for the ingredients it takes to master a creative life and be successful with your craft? Then you are either one of the people depicted in this film, or one of the many creatives that struggle on a daily basis just like them. I recently watched the newly released documentary “MAKE” on Vimeo and I truly enjoyed it. I felt both understood in my endeavour to work in media and also fascinated after being confronted with the reality of my situation as a creator in this industry. Several filmmakers, artists and designers have received a voice in this feature-length documentary and they speak for all of us. It’s no secret that “MAKE” is an elaborate marketing effort by the successful music licensing platform musicbed. And while they might remind us of their existence yet again, this film certainly has much more value than being a mere promo stunt. In its own language, you could say that it could even teach us a lesson about how to create something inspiring and meaningful that transcends its initial purpose. It’s much more interesting to talk about the grey area of things than it is to talk about what you’ve decided is right. Sylvan Esso (Pop Duo)   “Musicbed has a unique perspective in the creative industry. Working with both Filmmakers and Musicians, we’ve seen firsthand the traps that artists can fall into when they’re driven by something other than their passion to create. It’s so easy to be blinded by dollars, followers and awards. It’s a pitfall that is more evident in today’s culture than ever, but it’s also an issue as old as time itself.” – The Musicbed (Production) While the merit of the storytelling style of “MAKE” can be debated, there is no question that the philosophical approach they’ve taken gives us a lot to think about. With barely any pauses, its 75 minutes of deep questions, ideas and inspiring thoughts could make a difference for an ambitious artist. If nothing else, the film is definitely worth the discussion about the questions surrounding a creative life path, whether you debate those only in your head or in the comment section of this article. It’s easy to do the right stuff for a lot of the wrong reasons Danny Yount (Title Designer) At times, “MAKE” might be taken as being a little bit too ambitious when it borders the reflection of questions about life itself, laying it on thick with emotional music and slow motion images. I’d say it follows the current popular filmmaking style, and many will probably like that. You could also say the film certainly has the musicbed language written all over it, but it’s enjoyable to watch and the video and sound quality is excellent. If no one ever looked, I’d still be making cool shit with my buddies. You know what I mean? It’s as honest as I can be. Before anyone was interested, that’s what I was doing. I had a great life. Aaron Draplin (Designer) By now you’ve probably guessed that personally I thought this film is really worth watching. It’s a unique piece of documentary filmmaking that goes to the bottom of what it takes to be a “MAKE”R, and listening to the struggles and resulting wisdom of a diversity of successful filmmakers, musicians and designers is inspiring for my own path in this field. It is honest, passionate and true to the questions it takes about. I liked it. You can watch it on Vimeo HERE. No one is going to do it for you. You have to go out and do it yourself. Reed Morano (Director) What drives you to create? If you’ve watched “MAKE”, let us know in the comments.

Unless you’ve been hiding from the Internet recently, you’ll have noticed that Keith Loutit is back, and he’s done it again. Lion City II is a piece of timelapse mastery, a homage to the fast developing city of Singapore and the people living in it. If you haven’t heard of seen any of Keith’s work, I suggest checking out his website and Vimeo page. He’s a corner pin of the tilt-shift timelapse filmmaking movement, with movies such as The Lion City offering up an incredibly unique perspective on storytelling through timelapse photography. I was fortunate enough to get Keith on the phone to talk about his latest project. Here’s a paraphrased version of our chat on his latest project: Lion City II. Congratulations on an amazing piece in Lion City II. How long did this project take? Thanks very much! The project took over 3 years in total. Much of the early days were spent scouting and development work. There’s so much that goes into something like this aside from actually shooting. Lots of planning and establishing a style through story and technique. Since your work has grown in popularity, so has the genre of timelapse/tilt shift/hyperlapse filming. Has this made things more difficult to make original and compelling content? It has actually been the best thing for me. Once the market became saturated, it really forced me to not rest on my laurels and made me think more creatively. I still have the same goals I want to achieve, I’ve just had to change the technique. In order to create that sense of otherworldliness, to make people see things in a different way, things have to be new and unique. How do you go about planning a project like this? Was there initially a type of technique you wanted to use? What aspect of the film came first? For me, story always comes first. Singapore is a fantastic place and has been my home for over 12 years, and is a city that is developing so fast. The premise of Lion City II (the film is set exclusively in Singapore) lent itself nicely to change and growth, but it would have been meaningless if I hadn’t referenced the people of the city also. There’s actually a really cool analogy that relates to what I was going for, and it is that of the elephant and mouse. They’re unaware of each other’s existence because they perceive time differently. That said, this particular project did have some help from a technical point. I was doing some commercial construction work and one wide shot just stood out to me. I decided to try and match it up with a few other shots and the technical aspect of this aligned with my initial feelings of wanting to make another Singapore based project. That was the initial idea, people moving around a city and the city is growing around them. The technical side of things comes second: once the story is there, it’s just a case of working out the best way to capture it technically. There are some mighty impressive hyperlapse shots in Lion City II. Can you tell us how you achieved these? They’re a bit of a trade secret! It’s much more organic and simple than some would think, and 90% of shots are just me with a camera and tripod. I use the same system for aligning repeat construction shots that I do for hyperlapses. The vertical shot involved physically climbing a 40-story building floor by floor and shooting through a window, but I can’t tell you much more. People like my films because their unique, so I like to respect that. And what about the developing construction shots, can you tell us a little bit about these? Yeah, these were a result of revisiting the same locations repeatedly over a few years. It was a great experience for learning the speeds of certain types of projects; commercial buildings develop at much different speeds than, say, residential buildings. To capture these, I did look at permanent camera solutions, WiFi-enabled devices and so on. But I found a workflow I was happy with that enabled me to take the camera away with me. It took more time and effort than other methods, but that’s something I had plenty of for this project. The system I’ve developed enables me to achieve the exact same framing of a shot from the same spot, whether it’s 15 seconds after the initial image or 3 years. It’s fast too: under the right circumstances I can to be in and out of a location in 10 minutes. You get some great vantage points for your frames. How do you go about achieving these? When you’re scouting a location, you’re actually scouting two main things: what the shot will be of and where your vantage point will be. Fortunately, there is a lot of public housing in Singapore, so many of the view points were readily accessible.  For some construction sites there was a bit of negotiating with nearby towering building blocks so that I could get access and film from there. On top of that, you then have to work out best time to shoot. Initial testing had some horrific results. Singapore resides close to the Equator, meaning that for half of the year the sun will position itself in the Southern Hemisphere, and the other half in the Northern Hemisphere. Initial tests showed discrepancies in the weather that would just ruin shots, so I had to revisit locations at the right time. Also, the wet season didn’t help: I like to shoot with nice blue skies as a personal preference, but in the wet season you’re likely to get stormy weather around 2pm . So there was a strict amount of planning and scheduling for each shot? Oh, yes! I’d map the movements of the sun at every location, note the weather changes and set a schedule with windows of time during which I could revisit a location to get the right look that combined construction development, sun direction and weather. It was quite a task keeping up with all schedules; there were times when I’d have up to 30 going at the same time! I actually lost a few shots through the Indonesia forest fires. We had long spells of hazy weather sweep into Singapore, and it meant I was unable to reach certain locations. That was a shame. What was your camera setup of choice? I still use relatively lightweight setups. I shoot on the Nikon D4 with old manual Nikon and Zeiss lenses, Gitzo series 5 tripod, Lee Filters and a cheap wireless trigger to eliminate camera shake. Can you tell me about why you chose the Nikon D4 and old manual lenses? I used to shoot on 4 Nikon D3 bodies, but with the amount of shutter actuations I generate, I was regularly breaking the shutter. Even after forming a good working relationship with Nikon in order to get them fixed quickly, it was still down time I couldn’t afford to have. So, the Nikon D4 was an obvious choice with the durable Kevlar/carbon fibre shutter. I shoot on old AI and AIS Nikon, as well old Zeiss manual primes as I like to have the aperture diaphragm pins removed so that I can completely eliminate aperture twitches during my timelapses. These old primes have worked well for me, they’re relatively cheap and easy to get hold of, as well as modify and fix or replace if they go wrong in the field. The Nikon 55mm f/1.2 and Zeiss 18mm F/3.5 are particular favourites. Talk me through the post production, there must be a lot of data and edit time? The project was over 10TB of data. I wanted a reliable backup system and one that was easy to catalogue. I used a G-Technology G-Studio for local backup, and due to the fast upload speeds (1GB up and down) here in Singapore, I was able to zip everything up and back it up on the cloud service Google Drive. This meant my project was backed up on separate servers and I could access it remotely. And due ti Google’s search engines, it was actually much easier to search for my files than it was on my local drives. I would date and keyword everything before uploading so that it was easy to find at a later date. Were you editing your clips as they were happening? What was your workflow for them? Yes. If I had left all the editing until after all the filming, it would’ve added another year to the entire process. It was very much a progressive project. The same can be said about the soundtrack: Michael (composer) and I were in touch throughout the project on how the final piece would sound. Back to the workflow, I processed as I went, harmonizing the footage (aligning footage and correcting the grade), and mastering the DPX files in DaVinci Resolve. That’s great, and lastly can you offer any advice for filmmakers looking to develop in timelapse filmmaking? I’ll go back to what I said at the start, and that is to put story first. I’ve always been one to never give out technical advice as there’s so much content on the Internet nowadays that already provides this. Get your story right first, the rest will follow. If something unique appeals to you, it’s likely to appeal to somebody else. Great advice, what’s next for you? I have a few things in the pipeline, but there’s still so much content from this project. Only 25% of my construction filming was used for the final piece and it looks fantastic slowed down, so I’m considering an exhibition to further present this.

Watch previous episodes of ON THE COUCH & ON THE GO by clicking here! Visit our Vimeo and YouTube playlists, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Friedrich Moser – ON THE COUCH On this second part of our interview with Austrian filmmaker Friedrich Moser, we discuss the more abstract questions of filmmaking, as well as the technical aspects of his film “A Good American”. Click here if you missed the first part of the interview.  When it comes to documentary filmmaking, objectivity is a key aspect. On the one hand, viewers expect a certain level of knowledge and insight into the subject at hand when they choose to watch a documentary. On the other, this medium is still within the realm of filmmaking, aiming to convey powerful emotions and, above all, tell a compelling story. So, how do you conciliate both sides? Marking a clear difference between meaning and information, Friedrich shares his point of view on this question during the first half of the conversation. For the geeks among us, there is a healthy dose of gear-talk as well. Friedrich Moser talks about his love of RED cameras, his choice of lenses for this project, and the importance of shooting RAW for documentaries. Another ON THE COUCH packed full of valuable insights, and one certainly not to be missed! “A Good American” director Friedrich Moser at Cinema5D HQ in Vienna Please visit our sponsors’ websites to keep new episodes of ON THE COUCH coming! Thanks to G-Technology and Rode Microphones.

Watch previous episodes of ON THE COUCH & ON THE GO by clicking here! Visit our Vimeo and YouTube playlists, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Friedrich Moser – ON THE COUCH On our first edition of ON THE COUCH from Cinema5D Headquarters in Vienna, we wanted to bring you something truly special. We spent an afternoon talking to Austrian documentary filmmaker Friedrich Moser about his new documentary thriller “A Good American.” For the first part of our meeting, Friedrich shared with us the conception of the idea for the film, arising from an interest in population surveillance and the intelligence community that first came to his attention with the rise of WikiLeaks. With an inquiring mind and a background in contemporary history, he set out to look into the NSA’s ThinThread surveillance software program. Friedrich shares with us the process and challenges inherent in turning the data and characters that he discovered through his research into a compelling narrative. For example, due to the understandable lack of archive footage of the NSA agents featured in the film, Friedrich had to rely on reenactments, as well as existing journalism coverage of terror attacks. He shares with us how his work with “story doctors” helped him use these elements to create an emotional journey, and strike the greatest possible impact on his audience. Stay tuned for part 2 of our On the Couch interview with Friedrich Moser. “A Good American” director Friedrich Moser at Cinema5D HQ in Vienna Please visit our sponsors’ websites to keep new episodes of ON THE COUCH coming! Thanks to G-Technology and Rode Microphones.