Robert Penn - Digital Content Production

(Video) Shooter for Hire

A colleague raised seed money to shoot footage for a proof of concept reel.  He took me as DP/cinematographer on the location shoot.  Only problem, no production assistant or sound recordist.  One stop production here!  Get your one man production crew!

I planned as much as I could and got smacked with airline overweight charges for my thoroughness.  However, I am happy to report that I used almost each microphone and every bit of lighting gear with the exception of the light reflecting panel and clamps.

Did I suggest there was only one problem?  In a manner of speaking.  The shoot took place over several days in remote locations in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Electricity is rare.  When a business or residence has electricity, it is supplied by gasoline- or diesel-powered generator.  Each generator sounds like a tractor and smells like an idling motorbike - not good when you are recording audio.  We found inventive solutions.  Some night scenes were shot in the afternoon.  A very long extension cord to a portable generator re-located far, far away from the set made documenting a critical night event possible.

The highways were more tracks than roads.  However, the drivers were well-seasoned.  One had to navigate deep, water-filled ruts and drive up - climb - slick rock faced hills.  He really had to use "the force."  Hydroplaning does not fully describe the situation.  He got us through with only a little rocking, careening and swerving.  Each time he got us over what seemed to be the impossible stretch of road, we cheered him from the bottom of our hearts!

If you are thinking of visiting Sierra Leone, by all means go!  The war ended five years ago - Blood Diamond depicts history not news.  Everyone I met was friendly and accommodating of my American ways while gently educating me about local customs and realities.  The Freetown beach I visited is great.

If you dislike rain - do NOT go between June and August.  On July 2, 2007, the day I returned to NYC, the rain in Freetown fell at the rate of one inch per hour - over the entire city!  That's like standing under a million garden hoses bundled together - with unlimited water pressure!

Shooter for Hire II

I completed a very exciting assignment night before last, but I cannot talk about it. That's right. The footage belongs to the client. Furthermore, the content has not been edited so there isn't much to say? I followed some people around and documented four days of their lives. Interesting lives. Interesting footage.

One afternoon, I had to change white balance about 5 times because we went from store to outdoors to the next store and back into the sunlight again. What do you do when there isn't enough time to take a white card out and reset white balance? Use a wall or someone's white t-shirt. It worked. One time, no one had on white clothing and the walls were covered with merchandise. So I set the camera to the white balance from a previous location that had similar lighting. I guess I'll get a call from the client if my light-mix memory (flourescent, natural, incandescent) did not work on that occasion. LOL

I love what I do.

The Plan

A new client called me this week with a date and location for a shoot. I knew I could move some things around in order to take the job. So I accepted pending a little planning. Certain things are essential: lighting, sound/ambient noise, number of cameras, purpose of the shoot. A few short e-mails and one telephone conversation defined the shoot: one-camera, candid documentation of interactions between sponsors and potential customers with a sensitive microphone to pick up their conversations.

A boom microphone would do the job best. However, the budget did not allow for an assistant to hold that shoulder-muscle-building graphite pole and mic above people's heads so the best audio solution was not possible. Since the shots are candid, the next best audio solution - lapel mics - would not fly. I'll take a directional microphone, which should handle the job better than average. I'm also taking a less sensitive microphone just in case. The event is taking place in a mall. I just hope the mall management does not decide to pipe in any music. That will make it hard to pick up the voices and could blow out the sensitive microphone. (Been there, done that!)

Special Fx

I am a science fiction enthusiast. I have never attended a Star Trek convention, but I do love that franchise. I miss Uhura. Captain Janeway astounds me. Don't get me wrong, some of the men are great, too. Of course, Kirk is the legend, but Sisko and Worf come very close. Finally, how could one not mention Spock? I wouldn't leave him out for less than $10 million.

You can imagine how I felt when I heard about ziddio.com's video upload topic "Join the Jedi Order." For me, Star Wars did for the big screen what Star Trek had done for the small one. My resources for this project were a little time, a couple of friends, Final Cut Pro, my camera and no budget. I decided to go basic: a woman sends her application via intergalactic secure video transmission. Interstellar static plays havoc with it, but her application arrives anyway.

Check out Join the Jedi Order on http://www.ziddio.com and enjoy the fx and fun. Look for Abica Tenon and rate it at least three stars, please.