I once spent four hours on a corporate shoot in a windowless boardroom, watching a kid half my age try to “fix” a muddy, flickering image by swapping out a cinema camera for the third time that morning. He had a sensor that could probably see into the next dimension, but he hadn’t even bothered…
I remember sitting in a damp basement in South Wales, staring at a monitor that looked like it was filming through a bowl of oatmeal, praying that the single, flickering fluorescent tube overhead wouldn’t kill the interview. I didn’t have a lighting kit, a stabilizer, or a prayer, but I had a story that needed…
I spent three hours last Tuesday watching a kid on YouTube explain how a $5,000 lighting kit is the secret to a professional interview, only to see him film a subject who looked like they were being interrogated in a basement. It’s the same old story: people think they can buy their way out of…
I remember standing on a street corner in South London, the sun finally hitting the brickwork exactly where I needed it, only to have a local council officer walk into the frame and shut us down in thirty seconds flat. We had the best lenses money could buy and a lighting setup that would make…
I remember standing in a beautiful, high-ceilinged loft in East London, watching a young director get misty-eyed over the “vibe” of the space, while I was busy staring at a massive, unmovable radiator and a window that faced a brick wall. He saw a masterpiece; I saw a nightmare of shadows and a total lack…
I once spent six hours on a documentary set in a damp basement in Bristol, watching a director scramble through a pile of disorganized notes while the sun went down and our only light source vanished. We had the best sensor money could buy, but we had no plan for how the scenes would actually…
I once spent four hours on a documentary set in a damp basement in Leeds, watching a kid half my age stare at a $50,000 sensor readout like it was going to tell him how to fix a muddy, flat image. He had the most expensive kit in the county, but he hadn’t even looked…