Cool bit of news to share. Segments of video that I produced for the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center will be airing nationwide tomorrow morning (5/29/15) at 7:30am on Discovery Channel. Though my footage was used primarily as b-roll, a significant amount of the Innovations show features work I did for NDPTC. The footage spanned from Indonesia to Wisconsin to Puna and even my very own driveway where my hands make a brief cameo flying a DJI Phantom. Mahalo to NDPTC for the opportunity!
I had the honor of supporting today's Gubernatorial Inauguration program. Though not officially on a photo assignment, I couldn't help but bring a camera to create a brief visual journal of the day. This was a great opportunity to test out new equipment with amazing access to the venue throughout the event.
























We were asked to shoot and edit an overview video for the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium earlier this year. Primary filming took place during one of their quarterly meetings in Portland, OR. Despite this being a very busy week for the hotel (all the rooms were sold out, so we had to stay at another hotel several blocks away), we got a great rate for this small conference room. It was just big enough to set up our green screen backdrop and lights. The interviewer is barely out of frame and had to be careful not to move during while the camera was rolling.
While a decent green screen shoot requires a lot more gear and time to set up, the effort pays back dividends in the edit suite where we have greater flexibility and creative opportunities to include supporting visual content like photos, graphics and b-roll. A green screen shoot lets us set up in an otherwise unattractive location. The conference room wasn't ugly, but it also was not a particularly inspiring scene. Also, setting up near the meeting rooms, we had better access to the interviewees - the easier we could make it for the interviewees, the better our chances of maximizing participation. Having the right tools made this possible.
While our mobile studio is relatively compact, it did require some logistical planning and additional costs to pull off properly. Our main lighting case was just under 100 lbs. So, we planned for excess baggage fees in advance. Pricing out rental equipment in the area (plus the cost of renting a car to transport it), bringing our own gear was still the most cost effective option.