Another major factor in my decision to expand the Documentaries content is that I am stunned by how many “Things” have been invented here in Australia!There are so many incredible innovations in the field of Electronics & Computing that to not include them would be a major mistake. To name just a few items, I have compiled a simplified list:
1877 – Louis Brennan patents a wire-guided and wire-driven torpedo for harbour defences.

1878/79 – Henry Sutton of Ballarat invents the carbon filament lamp 16 days after Edison demonstrates his!

1885 – the Telephane – precursor to television is invented by Henry Sutton of Ballarat!

1889 – Arthur James Arnot invents the Electric Drill in Melbourne and Patents it.

1890 – Professor Richard Threlfall of Sydney University is the first person in the world to suggest publicly (at a meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science) that ‘Hertzian waves’ might be used for Telegraphy — Which would be commonly known as Radio!

1926 – The first Cardiac Pacemaker in the world is used to revive a new-born baby!

1929 – Alfred Traeger develops the first pedal wireless transceiver for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

1932 – George Julius invents a Totalisator with an automatic odds-calculating device.

1934 – The first Car Radio is fitted to a car made by Kelly’s Motors in NSW.

1939 – Degaussing of Ships to help protect them from magnetic mines was patented by Frankin Barnes of Scoresby Victoria.

1947 – A team at CSIR (the fore-runner of the CSIRO) built CSIRAC, the world’s fifth computer, and the first to play ‘computer music’.

1950 – The Flying Doctor’s radio service is adapted to operate the School of the Air.

1952 – Alan Walsh (CSIRO) develops the Atomic Absorption Spectrometer.

1958 – David Warren develops the prototype of the Black Box flight recorder.

1961 – Ultrasound – David Robinson and George Kossoff’s work at the Australian Department of Health, resulted in the first commercially practical water path ultrasonic scanner.

1975 – Interscan – An aircraft approach and landing guidance system using microwaves was successfully tested at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne.

1976 – Electronic Ignition System. A silicon-chip ignition system for small engines in lawnmowers and chainsaws was developed by the Notarus brothers in Sydney.

1978 – The first Bionic Ear was fitted to an Australian patient.

1979 – Geoff Healey invents the Race-Cam.

1981 – The Earth Leakage Circuit breaker is developed in Adelaide by Gerard Industries.

1993 – Australia invents the first Underwater Computer – Bruce Macdonald at the Australian Institute of Marine Science developed the world’s first underwater computer with a multi-button hand-held keypad that mimics a conventional keyboard.

1997 – Neil H. E. Weste and David Skellern were the first to invent WiFi – they invented the first 802.11a chip.

1998 – The Aurora solar car achieves a world record speed of 100.9 km per hour over one hour, running on commercial solar cells and lead-acid batteries

So to be able to tell the “History” of an Industry and how it shaped todays industry, is vitally important I feel. The Documentary will be split into three sections now. Episode 1 will deal with the early days, and is essentially a recount of important innovations in Australia from 1854 (the first telegraph pole) through to the (US) Invention of the Transistor in 1947. Episode 2 will be the start of the “Current” doco which deals with the early experiences from Dick Smith, Owen Hill, Leo Simpson, Andy Gelme and anybody involved in electronics before 1982. Although the PC was introduced really in 1975-77 (Sphere1, Apple, Commodore PET & others) it isn’t really until many of the “Micro Computers” are commercialised (IBM, Microbee, TRS80, other Z80 based Computers) in 1981/82. So Episode 2 ends with the introduction of the PC in 1982 in Australia, with the first Australian designed & manufactured PC the Microbee. Episode 3 takes us through from 1982 until the present day. It’s a huge task I have set myself but one that I’m keen to see to the end. If you think you may be able to help with the Documentary, please feel free to contact me through this website.

I have two other Posts on this project now. You can reach them both here: the Beginning and “State of Electronics” Trailer is now Online

Another thing I should mention is the extraordinary response my initial trailer has had. It’s been linked on so many Blog sites, referred on Twitter and Facebook. There are many comments on Youtube, Vimeo, the EEVBlog and many, many more which have been very encouraging. Thank you to all. Just yesterday it was spoken about on the Amp Hour Podcast Episode16 (a podcast for electronic enthusiast & engineers). If you don’t know the Amp Hour and you are interested in Electronics I highly recommend it. David L Jones, who appears in my Doco co-hosts with Chris Gammell – Check it out!

Until the next update – Enjoy!

The discussion is focused initially on the world of Hobby Electronics and how it’s decline could effect the Electronics Industry in the future. The Documentary then discusses many issues that face industry including the issue of “Repair and Recycle”, “Education”, “Surface Mount Technology”, “Globalisation”, “Opportunities” and many many more off the cuff & candid comments from Industry professionals.

The Documentary features interviews with famous Australians and Industry professionals including Dick Smith, Dave L Jones, Doug Ford, Leo Simpson, Grant Petty, Matthew Pryor, Jonathan Oxer, Andy Gelme, Andrew Griffiths, Eugene Ruffolo & Bill Petreski. In the future, I am planning to interview just a few more before the final release of the Documentary soon.

Shot completely on the Canon 5DMK2, using the Zoom H4N Audio recorder, the Documentary was a massive undertaking by yours truly. I have to admit I did it completely on my own, with no assistance from anyone along the way. It was an experiment in filmmaking that I was keen to try as well as put modern DSLR cameras through the riggers of serious production filmmaking. By that I mean, to have them recording for hours at a time. In reality that’s not possible because the FAT32 file system on the cameras prevent a recording larger then 12 minutes on the 5DMK2. However, as I regularly shoot with 35mm Film cameras, where the maximum recording time is roughly 10 minutes per magazine, I’m well disciplined in taking a breather for a second or so while I press “Stop” and “Start” on the camera! So I never found this to be a limitation of DSLR cameras.

This project started when one day I realised that many of my favourite electronic stores had started to disappear. I also realised that much of the “culture” of hobby electronics was fast disappearing also. With the advent of Online resources, many schools, magazines and swap meets appeared to fade with time. As a kid, I enjoyed playing around with electronics and while I never got serious, I did go through 1st year Swinburne (Electronics) Engineering, after graduating from high school! Trouble was I looked out the window and watched crazy long haired louts running around with movie cameras, making films and was subsequently lured into their world. The passion for technology has stayed with me constantly. So making a documentary on “Electronics” was really a natural progression. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking at length with so many fascinating people, who appear to have the same disease as myself! Once bitten with the bug, you can’t help yourself but be interested in electronics. That’s why it is a great shame to me that young kids aren’t able to get into electronics as easily as perhaps my generation was able to. With the complexity of “Electronic Systems” today, how is anyone expected to start to learn? For Australia, I believe this to be a major problem of the future.

This documentary is as far as I’m aware of, the only documentary of it’s kind in Australia. There are no records like books, films etc which document the history of the profession of electronics! Many of it’s founders are fast moving on and I really felt like this story should be preserved as a Film to highlight how entrepreneurial & sophisticated Australians can be. My final version of the documentary is about 2 hours long and the exact format is yet to be decided. Stay tuned for more. Meanwhile enjoy the trailer!

For the last couple of months, I have been working hard on a new project, tentatively called “State of Electronics”. It’s basically concerned with the history, development and future of the Australian Electronics Design and Manufacturing Industry. Partly fuelled by my own interests in Electronics, the documentary hopes to investigate the life cycle of an industry – how an industry is born, how it develops and then how it goes into decline. It’s a subject that can apply to many forms of industries including my own industry – the film industry.

Filming has begun and over the last couple of weeks and I have interviewed many people who helped create the Electronics Design & Manufacturing industry in Australia as well as those who are very active within it still today. The documentary will highlight many of the individuals who tinker in their back sheds designing and building innovative electronic devices, large & small scale manufacturers, Repairers, Component Suppliers, Design houses, Technicians, Businessmen and Woman, futurists, Hackers and Organisations with the sole purpose of showing a worldwide audience the state of the Australian Electronics Industry.

The format is driven by interviews that are mostly like “Discussions”. The topics vary from how people became involved with electronics as a child, how they developed their careers and then how they changed the world around them with innovation, good business sense etc. However, as with any good story, there is a darker side also. The Documentary is investigating the decline of the industry also. Through both economic and political change, the Electronics Industry is constantly undergoing change. World economic problems as well as technological advancements have meant the end of an era in certain sectors of the Industry, leaving jobs at risk or making them extinct! However, not everything is of doom and gloom. The documentary will also highlight individuals and companies that have been able to break through the difficulties and find their feet on a worldwide platform, delivering state of the art products and innovation.

As the project progresses I will update this blog with further information. For now, I can tantalise you with just a few images already shot on the 5DMKII. Perhaps this is an appropriate moment to describe the shooting process. The entire documentary is being filmed on Canon’s 5DMKII using L series glass. Audio is recorded using a Zoom H4N digital recorder and the video and audio are combined in Post Production, using Final Cut Pro. Because this is such a small gear package, I am largely able to handle most of the production needs by myself. When it’s all said and done, I will write up my feelings on going solo on such a big project, however for now I can say that it is incredibly liberating, somewhat demanding but very efficient! I’m also using my iPad as my “questions note pad” and also to carry out research on the fly (even while asking questions). I’ve had the opportunity to include “others” very quickly into the Documentary by being quick to research and write new questions for them. The iPad has made this possible. It’s an amazing tool used in this manner! The last thing I should mention is the overall size of the gear package i’m using, is so small that I can  (using a Defence Force term)  ”deploy” very quickly by air or road to carry out interviews. On the 19th of July, I flew to Sydney for two days of interviews with just two pieces of luggage!

More to come!

After finally making it back home for a couple of weeks, back in Melbourne, I have been able to catchup with family and friends but also process many of the images I have captured around the world.

When ever I get the time, I try to do some time lapse photography. I’m not entirely sure why, I just felt that it would be a good idea to do a little here and there to form a collection of sequences that could be used on commercial projects etc. Lately I have been thinking that it’s a shame these images aren’t out in the open for people to see. So I started to collate them onto a timeline in Final Cut Pro. With no real theme or purpose, I started to formulate an edit based on a music video style approach and realised that a theme did exist – The World in Motion. For what it’s worth, here is my short film, made entirely out of time lapse I shot on my 5DMKII, using a 24mm Shift & Tilt Lens, 50mm f1.4 Canon Lens, 24-105mm Canon zoom & a 15mm Canon wide angle lens. I used a Canon TC-80N3 Intervalometer to control the camera. The camera was nearly always mounted to my Manfrotto Tripod. I say nearly always because rarely I did do some time lapse with the camera sitting on a box or chair etc.

I use MPEG Streamclip by Squared 5 to assemble the images into a Quicktime movie. Generally I use Apple Prores 422(HQ) as the codec. I then edit the footage inside Apples Final Cut Pro. I will make a note though, when ever possible, I try to shoot with a ND8 filter on so that I can set my exposure time to something close to half a second. It depends what the subject is but generally I try to shoot some where between 1/8th – 3/4′s of a second. This is because I generally don’t like the crisp, sharp time lapse that creates a very rigid staccato movement. This video unfortunately has quite a lot of this which works OK but generally I prefer the softer look of the blurred movement. Knowing what level of blur is acceptable is really the key to doing great Time Lapse work.

This is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the footage I’ve shot, however in the future I might consider editing the rest into another short. Incidentally, the music is composed in Garageband by yours truly. Mostly loops with a smattering of Midi instruments. Finally, all the images you see in this edit were shot in 2010 from January through to March. Hope you enjoy it.

To watch the movie see it on Vimeo.com here or click any of the above images.

Packing for any job for me is a huge deal. Most of my work involves travel on airlines not only internally in Australia but quite regularly Internationally. I thought I’d start blogging about my new project “Machette Maidens Unleashed” by talking about the logistics of travelling and working.

The project is uber cool! Directed by Mark Hartley, the project reunites almost all the team who participated in Mark’s other documentary “Not Quite Hollywood”. I return to my former role as Cinematographer. I don’t usually shoot these days for other people but Mark and I are old friends now. Beside “Not Quite Hollywood” was such an amazing experience, I often say “It’s the film school I never had”! So I couldn’t pass on “Machette Maidens” simply because it will be another amazing “film school I never had” experience.

Here is the official blurb on what the project is about:

“Machete Maidens Unleashed! is a fast moving odyssey into the subterranean world of the rarely explored province of Filipino genre filmmaking.

It is the new feature film from Mark Hartley, the director of the award-winning documentary Not Quite Hollywood.

Machete Maidens Unleashed! is the first detailed examination and celebration of Filipino genre films and the undervalued auteurs and actors who brought them to life in such an explosive way.

From the early ’70s well into the ’90s the Philippines was a back-lot for a bevy of B-movie mavericks and cinema visionaries alike. The country was utilized for its inexpensive labour, exotic locations and distinct lack of rules. A large body of genre work emerged that somehow managed to capture the raw, chaotic energy of contemporary Filipino culture. These productions (a cavalcade of monster movies, jungle prison movies, blaxploitation and kung fu hybrids) were miraculously made at a time when the country’s political situation was repressive at best.

Machete Maidens Unleashed! begins with the partnership of acclaimed local filmmakers Gerry de Leon and Eddie Romero whose BLOOD ISLAND trilogy found large and enthusiastic drive-in audiences across America. When legendary maverick producer Roger Corman was introduced to Romero and de Leon he instantly discovered the Philippines was economically suited to low- budget filming. Corman quickly set up camp and produced a number of “Woman In Prison” films starring genre favourites Pam Grier and Sid Haig.

Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s the appetites of thrill-hungry cinemagoers around the globe continued to be satisfied by prolific local auteurs Cirio H. Santiago (TNT JACKSON) and Bobby A. Suarez (CLEOPATRA WONG).

In the late 1970’s Francis Ford Coppola re-invigorated a whole new epoch of filmmaking by choosing to shoot APOCALYPSE NOW in the Philippines – leaving the jungle full of discarded sets to be used repeatedly by a host of low budget productions over the next couple of decades.

Our journey climaxes in 1981 when this country fights back and reclaims its very own special national identity via the inaugural Manila International Film Festival and accompanying Film Market. Conceived to showcase the Philippine’s glorious screen culture, the market’s biggest success was FOR Y’UR HEIGHT ONLY, a low budget, home-grown James Bond spoof starring an 83cm primordial dwarf named Weng Weng. The film sold to countless international territories and is now arguably the most well known exemplar of the Filipino genre film abroad.

Machete Maidens Unleashed! is the ultimate insiders’ account of genre filmmaking in the Philippines. A role call of local and international survivors from this period will be interviewed all adding their distinct and honest account of this Devil-may-care school of filmmaking. Sitting alongside the talking heads will be a dazzling array of outrageous film clips from key Filipino titles.

Machete Maidens Unleashed! is produced by Fury Productions and Bionic Boy Productions. It has been financed by Screen Australia, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Screen Queensland, Film Victoria, ABC Commercial and The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) Premiere Fund.

It will be completed in July 2010.”

Gear

Mostly we are carrying everything we need for the production. Gear has to be light. Here is some of the gear I’m taking with me on this trip and I generally take on every trip:

• My trusty Canon 5DMKII which is still only shooting 30P at the time of writing. I’m hoping a firmware update will see this camera shoot 24/25P.
• Manfrotto 190CXPro4 Carbon Fibre Legs with a 128RC Pan/Tilt Head.
• 100-400mm Canon Zoom
• 50mm f1.4 Prime
• 15mm f2.8mm Prime
• 24-105mm Zoom
• Gorilla Pod
• 9 CF Cards most of which are 16Gig Sand Disk
• Zacuto Z-Finder
• Apature GigTube Viewfinder
• 2 x 580EX Flashes
• 2 x Pocket Wizard Radios + Trigger
• Remote/Intervelometer  controller
• IR Cut Filters
• IR (very dark) filter
• ND8 Filters
• Polar
• UV/Sky Filters

Additionally for the production, we are shooting on a Sony HVR-Z7P HDV based camera, recording sound via a mixer & pro mikes. The decision to shoot on this old school style camera platform has more to do with logistics. Because we are filming for 22 days straight, with little time between interviews, we don’t wont to carry raided drives to download flash based cards to. Instead, we tested several Tape based cameras for sharpness, dynamic range and build quality and arrived on the Sony HVR-Z7P. This was after a full blown lighting test and then grading it on Melbourne Based Lab, By Deluxe’s Scratch system, before printing it back to 35MM film. The tests were so conclusive it actually shocked me. I tested a Canon HDV camcorder and several other systems including the 5dMKII. It looked amazing printed back to film and will be our backup system should the “A” Camera go down. The 5DMKII shoots 30P so it’s not a great option at this stage for that reason alone!

We’re carrying our immediate lighting kit which includes a 1×1 LED litepanel, a Dedo for a backlight and stands. Mostly we will run things off battery (except for the Dedo which we will use a 120V & 240V supply) because we are filming in so many countries with different power systems. On “Not Quite Hollywood” I used a Chimera Ball light as our main key.

The problem with this is that we move so quickly, the 500W globe takes 30 minutes to cool down. This time the Key will be the LED light. It stays cool all the time so we should be able to pack up much quicker then last time. It’s also a bit more hard wearing then a fragile globe. All these kits will be stored in Pelican cases for security. There are some other things like a white bed sheet as a cheap & light weight bounce board, Flexifill’s, Batteries, Adapters & Power boards. That’s actually a major point. I always carry an Australian power board to connect all my chargers & accessories, via one OS adapter, to the local power supply. Seems simple but often forgotten. I also carry an Airport Express base station to create a WiFi zone in my hotel room. There are still many places that offer cable access only so having both my Macbook Pro and my iPhone connect to the internet is important.

Finally everything that doesn’t fit into Pelican cases and my onboard Lowepro All Weather Trekker, goes into a hard shelled suit case. Because we fly domestically and internationally all the time, the cases cannot exceed 20kg per bag. This figure varies with each airline but that’s the general rule. The problem this time is that we are traveling to the Northern Hemisphere for a good portion of the project and then ending at the equator where the temperature is +31ºC all the time with humidity reaching 90%! At the moment, New York is experiencing -9ºC and so is the UK and France! This makes packing for your own personal comfort really hard, while maintaining that 20KG limit! I’m taking a single ski jacket (onboard) a leather jacket and jumper, 2 pairs of jeans, some shirts and a reasonable supply of under garments. The rest is a good set of thermals, 2 pairs of shoes and toiletries! My suitcase is also carrying my Tripod, extra lens bag and flashes, so I’m full! I can’t afford any T-shirts or other clothing and have decided that I’m going to have to buy stuff along the way. We don’t have a lot of time off on the job so I’ve made sure I have enough to cover me for 9 days straight at any given time.

So as you can see, a great deal of thought has gone into the packing process. For me this is actually compounded even further as I will be leaving the production in Singapore and staying on to complete a Canon TVC there. That’s for another 7 days. I then fly to Jakarta Indonesia to shoot another TVC there also before Posting it in Singapore. So I’m actually gone for nearly 2 months.

So Monday 1st of February, we kick off the Doco! We fly to LA and then on to Las Vegas for the first round of interviews. I will do my best to update the blog as I go, but there may be large portions of inactivity due to lack of time or internet access. Cheers!

On the 22nd of January, I flew to Jakarta via Denpasar Bali! My Garuda flight from Melbourne terminated there and from there in, I had to clear customs and collect my luggage. Next a one and a half hour wait ensued, before my domestic flight to Jakarta. Slightly bored by this stage I jumped onto Twitter & asked the Community what I should do! A quick Bintang beer later and five minutes later, some one tweeted that I should take a cab ride to Kuta Beach! So I did!

Finally I arrived in Jakarta & caught up with Producer David Hewitt from Kemistry. It’s always a pleasure catching up with both David & his wife, Producer Rini Susanti. After a few drinks and an awesome Indonesian meal at a restaurant in Kemang called Payon, I finally hit the sack!

Next day was a huge day spent at the Office at Kemistry, performing hair and make-up tests on our Cast. They are all “real” people who have won a competition through our Client, a beauty product manufacturer! My make-up artist is a Malaysian named Fendi, and he’s really good! He was able to design several looks for each winner. I shot over 22Gig of photos which is not normal for me. However the girls looked amazing, transformed into models, and I took advantage of the moment to breakdown their apprehension towards the camera! By doing this we got to know each other, and I think that when I come back in March to shoot the commercial, we will be in a great shape.

Sunday was spent with good friend & Driver at Kemistry, Fais. He drove me out to the “Old Dutch Port” in Jakarta again. I wanted to shoot video this time, and the weather was sunny! I can’t express strongly enough how incredible this place is for any photographer. We then drove to Mangga Dua, an electronics mega centre in Jakarta’s CBD.

After some shopping, I asked Fais to drive me to see the Railway Station. It’s old and rundown which I’ve already photographed once before. This time I was more interested in the rear, closed off section. We finally found a way in, and I think both of us were amazed at the size of the community that lived along the tracks! We played with kids on a home made trolley that ran on bearings along the tracks! A marvel of invention, it was so smooth that I used it as a Camera Dolly for a shot along the tracks!

Note the bent over nails holding the bearings onto the timber axle!

I’m going to post a video of the days adventures when I get the opportunity to edit the footage. To see images I shot of the Old Dutch Port in Jakarta from my last trip, here is the link.

Today is my last full day in Jakarta and for the most part it will be filled with meetings & presentations for both Agency and Client. I’m sitting here in the Kemistry Office drawing storyboards with an Artist, finalising everything with our team, so they can work on their own for the next few weeks.

For now though, this will be it, until I return in March. More preparations will take pace between then and now but I will be jumping to another project for 22 days straight in the mean time. More to come on that soon!

Here is a photo Gallery of yesterdays pics! Enjoy

]]> http://www.karlvonmoller.com/blog/2010/01/26/a-quick-trip-to-jakarta-indonesia/feed/ 0 http://www.karlvonmoller.com/blog/2010/01/20/a-little-night-music/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://www.karlvonmoller.com/blog/2010/01/20/a-little-night-music/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:55:49 +0000 Karl von Moller http://www.karlvonmoller.com/blog/?p=2691

I wanted to do something with the 5DMKII footage I shot in Hong Kong over New Years Eve and decided earlier to sit down and edit it. However, like all creative processes, the job always seems easier at first and then grows exponentially! Copyright free music was my problem. So I launched Logic and started composing a piece of music especially for this short video. But what genre of music? Which instruments would sound right? Luckily I had recently bought a few discs worth of samples so I spent the next few hours creating a soundtrack for my short film. Finally I could actually start editing. I knew already that I wanted to edit in a Music Video Clip style, so I began to cut the images to the beat of the music. The footage I had shot was all shot in one night – New Years Eve 2009/2010, in Central, Hong Kong. I didn’t actually know where the fireworks was going to take place and had taken a MTR to Causeway Bay. There I walked along the shoreline towards Central, where I chanced upon the perfect spot to film the event! There were easily half a million people around the Harbour, maybe even more as the fireworks exploded overhead. Although the fireworks display was quite short (around 15 minutes), the display was spectacular!

The 5D MKII’s strength is definitely it’s low light capabilities when shooting HD Video. It’s still recording in 30FPS which is annoying to me, however hopefully in February we may see a firmware update that will solve this. I also used my brand new 50mm f1.4 lens, which afforded me 2 more stops of light I wouldn’t have had otherwise! This lens is amazing. Very sharp and and at f1.4, produces the most perfect Bokeh. As well as shooting HD Video at 1920 x 1080, I shot quite a lot of stills in RAW mode. Later I combined these stills using QuickTime7 (on Mac OSX 10.6, it’s buried in the Utilities folder for some reason). I also shot several Time Lapse sequences using a Canon TC-80N3 controller. All the sequences including the 5D HD Video footage was converted to the XDCam (1920 x 1080, 30fps 35mb/sec VBR) codec. This made editing a lot more pleasant in Final Cut Pro. I didn’t spend any time on a Grade, so the final images you see in the video (minus the effects of re-compression) are as they were shot! In a perfect world, I would spend more time with my setups when shooting, but given I only had a few hours to film the event, I’m happy with the result. Enjoy! The video is uploaded to my Vimeo account. You can access it by clicking on the image above or navigating to http://vimeo.com/user735977

My updates to this blog slowed while I was working in Thailand recently. I found that when I wasn’t working, I was catching up with very good friends in Bangkok or touring the many Temples, Buddha’s and Palaces!! I have worked in Bangkok quite a few times, and every time with new people so I’m beginning to formulate a well rounded view on life working in Bangkok I think. In any case, I love working in Thailand because the people there are genuinely happy and nice.

While I can’t reveal why I’m filming in Thailand just yet, I can say that we looked at locations all over Bangkok. I spent several days driving from one side to the other, searching for places so I did get to see more of everyday Bangkok then most. As before, I was put up in the Nana district, in a very nice hotel. For some reason, I almost always get put up in this regions – I think this is because it’s close to the Production Houses, however the region is infamous for it’s nightlife and plentiful bars and pubs! I don’t mind but it does seem like a cliche to be constantly put up here!

Despite various coup attempts and “Airport lock downs”, Bangkok hasn’t changed at all. It’s a massive city with over 11 million people in it – so it’s dirty, exciting and fun! I caught up with my good friends Mike Parsons and his Wife, who have permanently moved to Thailand and they love it. On the photographic front, Bangkok is a treasure trove of opportunities. I packed my 5D MKII with all the lenses I could carry and walked for miles around the streets, alleyways and markets of Bangkok. For me, the biggest problem always is in deciding what gear I will take and what stays behind. It seems unfair that only 20KG of equipment can come along but their the airline rules …After our 2 day shoot had concluded, I spent a day traveling to Bangkok’s more tourist destinations. I have never actually done this before but this time I felt I should see something touristy! So I went by Skytrain (a rail service also known as BTS) to Central. Central is a very popular modern shopping district which I wasn’t that interested in. Just a side note, we actually filmed part of the TVC here. I then traveled to Wat Arun by Taxi and then on by Tuk Tuk to the Grand Palace, a famous temple with a 40 foot upright buddha and finally to the banks of the main river in Bangkok.I boarded a long boat here, and traveled al the way down the river back to Central, where I caught the Skytrain back to Nana! In a nutshell that was it! A huge day of walking around and seeing the sites! I have to say, it was amazing and I can highly recommend everyone visiting Bangkok should see at least the Grand Palace and Wat Arun. Probably the only trap for young players are the Tuk Tuk drivers. They work like Mafia controlled robots so watch out! Mostly they will offer you a very cheap deal – 10 baht to see x amount of places which is “like nothing”! This is because they are being paid also to take you to various store outlets etc around town. I suggest if you don’t want to spend your valuable time looking around for new Suits and Jewelry, then offer the driver 100 – 300 baht and he will take you only where you want to go. It’s not entirely a scam but they really should explain their situation before you get it!

For now, this is it. I will blog more later. Cheers!

As a Cinematographer, I have spent many hours exploring new technology, evaluating new camera systems and asking questions – “Can this be done with this piece of kit?” However, mostly these “camera technological advancements” have been at odds with the Producers budget or at loggerheads with the creative team’s pursuit of the “Look”. I don’t know how many times someone has approached me with the desire to shoot on a new format and after intensive testing, I have found it to be substandard to what our ultimate aim is. HDV is a good example of this. A simply awful intermediate technology that bridged the gap between mini DV/DV production and HD video recording. Great for the budget but basically crap for the “Look”!

As a Director of Television Commercials, I also have been on the prowl for equipment that is affordable and also delivers an aesthetic quality that is pleasing firstly to me – then the rest of the world! As the world economy shrinks, advertising budgets for mainstream outlets such as Print, Radio and Television have suffered. While “New Digital Mediums” such as Web, DVD and other digital forms of communications have increased their advertising spend. This would at first look like it evens itself out but unfortunately this is not the case. The Internet and other Digital content delivery systems do not provide Production Houses with the same resources as mainstream advertising. The general perception is that these outlets are cheaper, leaner and quicker! As a result, “Web Production Houses”, who provide content exclusively for the Web, often find themselves as the Ad Agency, The Production House, The Post Production House and the Media Outlet all wrapped into one mess! In my experience, most of these places provide a less then satisfactory experience for their Clients because they have to spread their abilities & resources too far. Savvy Clients then use this to broker better deals with “Mainstream Ad Agencies” to further squeeze their budgets while retaining better creative campaigns. It’s an uneasy system that in Australia is reeking havoc with Production Company survival rates. Ultimately, when I see a budget for a Television Commercial, there isn’t much to play with. The old days of having a full crew onset are long gone and shooting film is certainly not a given! In fact, now days, I rarely get to see film at all. Overseas, in Asia, I still shoot mostly 35mm film but even that is now changing. Since RED arrived on the scene, there is an expectation due to budget, to shoot digitally. That’s fine by me if it isn’t in conflict with the creative process.

I believe that the legacy of the “Film Look” is mostly the issue. Film was and still is an incredible medium. Over the years, the “Film Look” has been the holy grail of Videographers. As we all (Cinematographers, Video Camera and Lighting Personnel, Directors and Others) become Digital Cinematographers, the quest for a film like feel is still very strong. Manufacturers like P+S Technik have produced devices that provide a simulated way of recording the “Depth of Field” of film via an intermediate optical block. I myself have used these devices to shoot Australian Television Commercials, Music Videos and the Feature Film “Storm Warning“. In all cases, the recording format was video tape. However, while these devices did in fact augment the look of video, they still lacked a real ability to reproduce the true aesthetic of film in my opinion. They were techniques to solve a budgetary issue while minimising the impact to the creative process.

Enter the world “Digital Acquisition”. I need to distinguish this from traditional video tape recording. “Digital Acquisition” is tapeless. It exceeds the ability of tape recording mechanisms in quality, size and resolution. The revolution of camera systems like RED One, Phantom, Arri’s D21, Silicon Imaging SI-2K and many others is that they record direct to disc. The real revolution is that they have made video tape redundant completely! Most of these systems use Cinema style lenses and mounts, with Sensors that approach the same size as 35mm film. The result is that they reproduce the same optical focal conditions as film, providing the shallow “depth of field” we all crave. Most of these systems provide a much better “RAW” digital negative then videotape ever could also. Many record images twice that of HD video tape with future variants exceeding 4 times that of what’s possible from a video tape recording! You would think that I would be happy?! However I’m not! Nearly all these cameras, as good as they are, once built up to full production standards, are simply too heavy. They are often victims of their own technological heritage and crash! Driven by what amounts to a pretty powerful computer, they are susceptible to heat, wet, shock, dust and sand to a much greater extent then film ever was! Not to mention, that every different manufacturer has their own guidelines for system design, integration and menu structure. This makes learning a new Digital Camera System a massive undertaking for every Digital Cinematographer. What’s more, with the added element of a thing called a “firmware update”, new capabilities can be injected into existing designs, totally modifying that cameras handling and recording abilities. That’s like “pulling the carpet out from under your feet” for a Cinematographer! The look and feel of various brands of 35mm film was a key decision process for Cinematographers and was a vital part of every Cinematographers training, to become familiar by trial and error, with the various “Looks” provided by each type of film. The constant stream of firmware updates means that Digital Cinematographers have to re-familiarise themselves each time they pick up a camera. This is very time consuming.

Enter a new era again. The DSLR (digital single-lens reflex camera) changes the way Stills Photographers shoot completely. It’s fair to say now, that most Professional Photographers have adopted “Digital” as their main form of photography. Nikon, Canon and Panasonic (to name a few) release DSLR’s that are capable of shooting “Video”. Suddenly we have a new kind of revolution taking place. Traditional Video cameras are starting to blend with Photographic stills cameras producing a hybrid camera system that don’t utilise video tape either. Canon in-particular, adds this functionality into their new 5D MKII full sensor Stills camera as a result of a request from Associated Press,Reuters. The reason – so that Field Reporters/ Photographers could shoot Video and Stills with the same light weight camera system and lenses whilst on assignment. I have to qualify that I have shot and Directed Commercials for Canon, including one which features the 5D MKII. However I’m speaking here as an owner and a User and not as a Reseller. Other cameras exist that also can do what the 5D MKII is capable of, I’m simply concentrating on what I know best. For Digital Cinematographers, these type of cameras are also subject to a constant stream of “Firmware Updates” but are much simpler in overall design.

At NAB 2009, James Mathers (President of the Digital Cinema Society in the USA) interviewed Tim Smith from Canon USA and Tim revealed that Canon hadn’t expected that the camera would be “Dragged” over into the Cinema world as it has. The 5D MKII has become a center point to a new kind of filmmaking movement. Many different manufactures produce complete Cinema style accessories for the 5DMKII including RedrockMicro, DVCity, Indi Systems, chrosziel and Zacuto just to mention a few. There are also professional audio interfaces available like those from Beachtek. Other Inventors are providing monitoring ideas like Dirk Fletcher, while Professional Monitoring solutions are now available from Marshall. On the Web, the new media outlet of the future, there are hundreds of would be Filmmakers and Professionals alike producing stunning short films. Just visit vimeo.com, a popular video sharing web host. Search 5D MKII (or anyway you would like to spell it) and see the hundreds of videos the search engine returns. The same is true on Youtube. There are also many blogs and forums that specialise in 5DMKII Cinematography and filmmaking such as cinema5d.com, canon5dtips.com, and planet5d.com. Many Stills Photographers are also seeing the possibilities of merging Photography with Video. For wedding Photographers that also shoot video for their Clients, this type of unison in camera equipment is incredibly handy. Most importantly it provides a rich visual and photographic style of capturing motion. Famous photographers like Vincent La Forethave actively embraced the new style of cameras, and now shoot Stills and Motion for their Clients. Many are now even shooting Television Commercials as well as the Print requirements. Cameras like the 5D MKII and Nikons D3 are game changers! Yes these cameras are still expensive for the ordinary folk but if you consider that the equivalent HD Video camera used to cost $250,000AU not so long ago, it’s not expensive at all. Not to mention high quality interchangeable lenses – something many prosumer camcorders never delivered. A set of Cinema style lenses used on 35mm motion picture cameras can cost as much as $250,000 also. So the ability for photographers who already own good quality glass, to shoot stunning motion video on these DSLR’s is a massive price advantage.

This Redrock Micro tutorial details the setup and basic configuration of the DSLR Cinema Bundle and Field Cinema Bundle

Where will it all end? No doubt there are other forms of Photography and Cinematography that are being developed. There is a large push for feature films to be shot in 3D at the moment for instance. These early DSLR’s, that shoot HD video, are not perfect. The 5D MKII currently shoots 1920 x 1080 at 30P only. It has no manual control for setting iris and shutter speed etc. A firmware upgrade is likely, and will see it perhaps achieving some of our wishes but ultimately the physical design is not optimum for filmmaking. However, I believe the next generation of DSLR’s will have a much more focused mandate. This will almost certainly include both Filmmakers and traditional Stills photographers wishes. What excites me is that these cameras are being designed with direct participation from the end user, are much lighter in weight then the current crop of Digital Filmmaking tools, and cost much , much less. These cameras will not be a sacrifice on quality, usability and aesthetics like Cinematographers from the “Film Era” have come to expect. In conclusion, I’m very optimistic that we are all heading for a very bright future in the world of Digital Acquisition that will hopefully once again promote ideas and artistry.

Other references see Wikipedia and Canon USA

Interesting reads include: Interview Vincent LaForet and How to use the Auto Exposure Lock