"Elephants"

Early this summer, Peter Fernberger and I were asked to go shoot an ambitious music video for Casey Shea.

The video for "Elephants" involved A LOT of green screen work and it had to be completely shot over one weekend. Ultimately, we decided to shoot the entire project with my Sony EX3 camera, the Letus Ultimate DOF adapter, and my Nikon prime lenses.

The project was conceived and directed by Ryan Stober. He envisioned a video where Casey would play both himself and a sleazy coffin dealer.




The only other talent on set was a "trained" black cat.

Alongside Ryan was an extremely talented Visual FX Supervisor named Robert Morris. It would be his responsibility in post production to combine all the footage that we shot with Maya generated environments and props. For anyone familiar with Maya, this was no feat.

It took several months to finally put it all together, but you can view the finished product HERE. (For fluid playback, you should give it a minute for the buffer bar to fully load)

Music videos can sometimes be torture to work on. After dozens of music playbacks, you can never get the song out of your head. However, I came away really liking this song. More importantly, I though that Casey Shea was one of the nicest and most professional musians I have ever met.

I sincerely hope that this music video does wonders for the careers of Casey, Robert and Ryan.

Tastemaker Series

I have always wanted to work with Robert Redford.




For the moment, these one minute spots that we shot for the Sundance Channel will have to suffice.

Tastemaker - Lisa Phillips

Tastemaker - Stephen Starr

Obama-Wan-Kenobi

Yesterday, President Barack Obama tried his hand at fencing outside of the White House. The planned photo op was held to boost his hometown Chicago's prospects of hosting the 2016 Olympic Games.

As a impromptu gag, Obama picked up a nearby toy light saber and struck a confident battle pose.




Everyone had a good laugh.

Personally, I thought the guy in the background was much funnier.

Most people could wait their whole life and never be photographed with the President of the United States. This guy picked the exact wrong moment to pick his nose.

Jennings, LA

We arrived in Jennings, Louisiana late Wednesday evening.




We are here to investigate the recent killings of eight innocent young women. The latest victim, Necole Guillory, was arrogantly dumped on the westbound shoulder of Interstate 10.




Regardless of what this story eventually becomes, there is something very wrong in this town.




The decent residents of Jennings will not be able to fully relax until the killer ... or killers ... is finally brought to justice.

All work and no play ...

I have now worked every single day (Including weekends) for almost a month. My camera and I are booked solid through August 24th.

At this rate, my entire camera system will be paid off by my birthday.

God, I need some rest.

I thought I would include this postcard from the edge.

Even thought the title of this post comes from another Kubrick film, when I look at this on-set still, it reminds me of Clockwork Orange.




As you can see, when you work with my Sony EX3, you need to be flexible.

Sainte-Mère-Église

My grandfather was Lt. Col Edwin J. Ostberg. During WWII, he served as the 1st Battalion commander of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment.




I have always wanted to retrace his steps during the war, and this was going to be the year.

After spending several days in Paris, we rented a black Volkswagen Passat and drove the 200 kilometers out to Normandy, France.

Every year, in early June, people travel from across the globe to celebrate the success of the D-Day invasion. This year was somewhat special since it was the 65th anniversary.

Leading up to June 6th, many of the smaller towns have their own celebrations and commemorations. The Disney Land of these small towns in Sainte-Mère-Église. It was one of the first towns to be liberated in the allied invasion. Tourism now supports much of Sainte-Mère-Église’s economy, and it is filled with many small museums and World War II-related antique shops.

The village was a pivotal point in Operation Overlord, because it sits on one of the main routes to the Normandy landing beaches. It was imperative that the town be taken quickly, and held, to prevent the Germans from counter attacking once the invasion had begun.




The great responsibility of holding this town was left to the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions of the US army.




One of Sainte-Mère-Église’s main attractions is its centrally located church. It sits in the middle of a large town square. Paratrooper John Steele made the church famous when his parachute got tangled up on the church spire. German soldiers still occupied the town, so he hung there all night pretending to be dead until his men could cut him down. In memory of that story, a dummy paratrooper still hangs from the church spire.




The town center erupts with celebration each June and the air is filled with laughter and liquor fueled singing. At least one out of every two people walking the streets was dressed in period uniforms.




I don’t have too many pictures from this town, since my left hand was often occupied by a grilled sausage and my right hand with a French beer.

One of the great things I experienced here was the C-47 plane that circled the town. Every now and then the pilot would unexpectedly fly right over the town about 200 feet off the ground. You could never see it coming, and as a result I was only able to get this picture on a banked approach.




When a plane that size flies right over your head, it is really an amazing experience. During my entire trip to retrace my grandfather’s footsteps, and all of the commemorative services that I attended, I found that I rarely got emotional. However, every time that giant plane buzzed us my eyes would fill with tears.

Next stop … La Fière Bridge and Chef du Pont.

Happy Meal

HELP WANTED:

Advertising agency seeking to fill the position of Creative Director.





If you are going to go this direction, you need to be:

A) David Droga and B) In another country ... like England