
After
USC film school I graduated into the two extremes of my
real world education. The Corman and Cameron School's
of filmmaking. From Roger I learned how a movie can be
shot in twelve days, from Jim I learned why it shouldn't
be.

Shooting a film is the act of one person willing their
vision into reality.
I got my award-winning
short REQUIEM in the can by selling a group of Japanese
karaoke video producers on my futuristic vision. While
I shot my 35mm short I brought in a second crew to simultaneously
shoot the 16mm karaoke. By piggybacking productions the
investors got a great video and I got my film in the can.
A textbook win-win situation.
Ninety
percent of REQUIEM was shot with Jim Cameron's Arri IIC
camera which I am still not sure if he knows I borrowed.
A 25mm lens is what the camera had so I made it work.
I learned cinematography in the old school where you didn't
zoom in for the close up you moved the camera.
Every
lens focal length has a unique psychological perspective
and if you pick one and move your camera to get coverage
instead of changing lenses then you not only maintain
continuity of perspective but also stimulate the audience
with new visual information on every setup. The bottom
line is that I was flat broke and the 25mm was free.
The
lighting in REQUIEM was very simple, usually just a single
source on the actors with accents to define the background
textures and give separation. For the execution chair
room I shot a Xenon light through a fan gag and into a
mirror angled down onto the prisoner from above. Where
ever the light hit was incredibly bright leaving the shadows
a dark rich black. Anytime I felt like I was letting things
go too far I knew I was headed the right direction. If
you don't push the envelope you'll never find the edge.

Anytime
I felt like I was letting things go too far I
knew
I
was headed the right direction.

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