kevinAfraser

Obituary.

2011-08-05T18:06:00.002-03:00

I should have written this well over a year ago when this blog ran it's course, while working on my current blog, "Willow & Fred" I noticed that this blog was still getting a fair amount of traffic. I just thought I should write a note to say that although I'm not contributing to this project any more. I am honored that people find the content interestring and valuable. I will leave it here as long as people keep looking.

When I decided to do this project as a personal challenge of 30 straight days of motion picture shooting in turned into so much more. I learned tonnes, made some wonderful new friends and also gained a surprising amount of new work in the following months. Thank you for reading, watching and inspiring me.

Back from Plaster Rock & Five interviews.

2010-02-17T21:17:00.005-04:00

Back from Plaster Rock where we shot the World Pond Hockey Championship. Pond hockey is pretty cool, it was a fun shoot. On Monday I worked on a job where we shot five interviews before noon. It was high pace but with a good group of people. Above are screen grabs. I've recently shot both an ISO induced noise test and a focus test. Someday soon I'll share results.

Plaster Rock

2010-02-11T13:50:00.002-04:00

Was offered a last minute gig shooting in Plaster Rock, NB. It's really a RED shoot but I'm tagging along as a b-cam shooting pick ups. Back late Sunday night.

January Project Overview.

2010-02-09T11:23:00.002-04:00

Here is a recap of the videos that went up last month. New compilation video of footage that did not make it on coming soon.

Day 001. Driving with Dave. from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Day 002. Bridge Commission Doc from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Day 003. Ice Melting Timelapse from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Day 004. Mongoose Interview one from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Video snipits from Days 5-9. from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Day 011. Breakdancing from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Day 012. Ballsy B-Roll. from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Days 15, 16 & 17 from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Day 022. Part One. Richard Zurawski from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Polar Bear Clip. from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Day 031. Devil's Island B-roll from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Entry #034

2010-02-08T19:35:00.002-04:00

The firetruck did not work out this weekend. Apparently, if you take a firetruck out and don't use it to spray water, the pump freezes, which is not good. So I won't get to do that shot until it warms up a little bit.

In the meantime there are lots of cools shoots coming up. I'm hoping they all go through. I'm was asked by Picnicface to shoot one of their upcoming sketches which I can say with complete honesty is one of the funniest things I've ever read. Stuart Cresswell of Simple Films has expressed interest in having me shoot an upcoming short, and I've been speaking with John Davies about a wild Halicentric film he is hoping to pull off as well there are a few commercial days on the horizon.

I'll keep updating this blog as I shoot new content and I'll put up another compilation video of footage I shot over the last 30ish days I've not yet posted. Please check back from time to time to see the new stuff.

Entry #033

2010-02-05T19:05:00.003-04:00

Just wrapped the Cousins video and brought all the gear back. My car is so happy to finally have more than a centimeter clearance between the back tires and the wheel wells. Now Angela and I are taking off to my parent's house for the weekend. I'm hoping my Dad can hook it up so I get to put the suction mount on a fire truck.... Then I'm going to take a few days off. Happy Friday everyone.

http://vimeo.com/channels/kevinafraser

Entry #032

2010-02-04T21:59:00.000-04:00

Jan 4th - Feb 4th Mission shoot motion picture everyday, complete!

Entry #031

2010-02-04T13:36:00.003-04:00

Day 031. Devil's Island B-roll from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Here is some video from yesterday's Devil's Island shoot. It could use a smooth-cam filter and some colour correction, but for now, here it is. Does it play choppy for you? I use the Polar Bear song for this cut, not because this shoot is related to that video, just because I really love the song.

Entry #030

2010-02-04T11:30:00.002-04:00

I'm going to make it. Today is day #32 and the last scheduled day of this endeavor. I have two small shoots planed for later today and when they are completed, I've accomplished my goal. Thanks to everyone who followed the blog and kept me on track the whole way through. I've decided to extend the project for two more days to allow for a few left over shoots that did not fit within the allotted time frame. After that, I'll take a few days off and start getting around to processing all the footage I was not able to put up while shooting everyday.

Since I last posted I've done a few shoots including a RED-ONE/Canon 5D side by side comparison test with Christopher Ball CSC for Evan Kelly's upcoming feature film "Corridor". I also shot the sunrise over Devils Island for Courtney Kelsey & Zac Barkhouse's documentary about the island. (The video is exporting as I type). Last night I shot a dinner scene which marked the third collaboration of the month with Eric Duncan. It was a challenging exercise in lighting continuity. I'm looking forward to having a bit of downtime to look at the footage. This afternoon Jason Levangie and I start shooting a music video for Cousins which will also take place tomorrow. Tonight, I'll finally get a chance to try my super experimental exposure / lighting push the limits super fun test....

Although my days of consecutive shooting are nearing an end, I still owe you guys a bunch of stuff so stay tuned for footage that has not made it online yet, green screen test results and edits of the months highlights. Also, I have a few more camera tests planed, for example I've come to understand that lower ISO settings with the 5D do not necessarily equate to less noise. Test soon.

Thanks for helping me reach my goal, if you keep checking back there will be new content every few days at least for the next month or so. After that, who knows if I will have the discipline to continue a blog for the long term. Only time will tell.

Entry #029

2010-02-01T23:59:00.007-04:00

It's February! Only three more days until I have fulfilled my goal of shooting everyday from Jan 4th to Feb 4th (32 straight days).

We ended up shooting the music video for Judge Bitch with the Sony EX3. It was a real light hog but since the non-existent budget did not allow for RED, I think it was the right choice overall. I'll put a clip up as soon as I learn how to deal with the Sony footage.

Today, I canceled an afternoon shoot with Glen Matthews so I could prepare for a more involved evening shoot. Unfortunately, my evening shoot ended up getting canceled leaving me to come up with something on the spot to shoot today. I called in a favor with my friend Jared and had Angela come out to work the dimmer, we got a shot despite the sub zero temperature.

There is lots of exciting stuff left to do over the last few days including a two Music videos, one for the band Cousins to be directed by Jason Levangie and another for Mary Stewart who has a much more dedicated blog project underway. She is writing a song every single day for a YEAR!!!! Check it out here, follow her blog and cheer her on!

Earlier in the month I sent the link to this blog to Brendan Stacey, a Toronto based DP whom I really look up to. I asked him where my shooting could improve and he gave me really great advice. He said that since this was a self driven project where I don't have a client, agency or studio to impress, and the stakes are generally low, I should be pushing myself to really test the boundaries of what is possible and acceptable. He challenged me to shoot something I've never seen before. Which scared me good, but I've come up with an idea. I'm convinced it might be a colossal failure, but I'm excited to try. I'm shooting it tomorrow night and will give an update with how it goes.

When I wrap up this project, I'm planning on posting a video of highlights from the month. I've had a couple editors express interest in putting that video together. If you are an editor and you would like some footage to play with, let me know. The more the merrier. I'm going to make a folder of selects and if you'd like to have some fun I'll give you the footage then I'll post your cut here on my blog. Any takers? image@kevinAfraser.com

If you'd like to watch videos but do not wish to browse through all of the previous pages, here is that Vimeo link again: http://vimeo.com/channels/kevinafraser

Thanks for reading.

Entry #028

2010-01-30T22:19:00.014-04:00

I figured since I could not put up much video I should at least put up enough stills that if you scroll through really fast it might look like motion picture. These two photos are an example of why you only see video every once and a while now, All those things in the picture are hard drives that all have something in common; minimum allowable free space (or worse). The screen-grab shows the state of my main storage workhorse, the Drobo. Somehow three months ago, 5tb seemed like a lot of space. My next task is to look through all of my footage take by take and delete all of the non-printables once and for all.

The next is a photo of a 5D and the 7D. This is the second time I've gotten to use the 7D, it's similar to the 5D but with many of the main buttons in slightly different places. I always feel a bit slow when I'm working with it because I am now proficiently programed to the layout of the 5D. Today was my first time processing and working with the 60P slow-mo from the 7D. It adds another step to the already process heavy work-flow of these cameras, but it's worth it. The variable frame firmware Canon promised for the 5D can't make it here soon enough.

This is the set up for a camera test Scott Thorne and I performed today. Everybody knows any camera test worth doing requires you to move the furniture out of your living room and hang grid pipe!

We wanted to look at the Sony EX 3 VS the Canon 7D in regards to slow motion. We shot tests with both cameras at 500th, 1000th and 2000th of a shutter. Then continued to shoot 3200th and 4000th with the 7D (The EX3 maxes out at 2000th). Both cameras were set to 1280 X 720 60P. The Sony was set to 0db gain and the aperture ring used to set exposure. The 7D was outfitted with a relatively slow f4 lens, the ISO was used to set exposure. Scott stood in the beam from a Source four providing 480 foot candles which is about the maximum I'll have to work with on the music video tomorrow.

7D slow mo test. 60 to 120FPS 001 from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

002 7D Slow-mo Test. 60 to 120fps. from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Above are two videos from the 7D slowed even further in post from 60fps to 120fps. One was shot at 500th shutter ISO 320, the other shot at 4000th of a shutter and ISO 2000. Can you tell which is which?

There is no footage available from the EX3, because I'm still figuring out how to work with it. I'm not an advocate of lower end Sony cameras, but the footage from the test looks ok, it seems to have a flatter (better for color grading) image with noticeably more dynamic range than the 7D. Also, because our video tomorrow involves people in a black void, there is no real need for the shallow depth of field provided by the Canon. At this point, I'm leaning toward the EX3 but I have NOT been able to view the test footage in slow motion yet. Any Sony fans out there wanna get in touch to fill me in? image@kevinAfraser.com

Polar Bear Clip. from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Finally, here is a clip of raw footage from the Acres & Acres video. Sure, it's not very exciting now, but imagine what it will look like once Jacob replaces that green screen with an arctic night sky! Check out his site to see the kind of work he does. It's truly incredible.

Entry #027

2010-01-29T09:52:00.002-04:00

Things have ramped up to the point where I literally have not had a moment to blog over the last day or so. Aram and I are shooting Day and night for the Polar Bear Video. With a stoke of luck, we will be done the ice portion of the shoot sometime tonight.

In other news, I have the chance tomorrow to stack up a Sony EX3 against a 7D. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the "Judge Bitch" music video we are doing involves a lot of slowmotion that needs to be shot at 60fps and then slowed to 120fps or beyond in post. I shot a quick test with the EX3 on Wednesday to determine how much light would be necessary for both 1000th and 2000th of a shutter at 60FPS. Turns out, to no surprise, to require a lot of light. So, I'm very interested to test it against the 7D which is more light sensitive and offers even faster shutters as a possibility. Also, I think I have a lead on finding a follow focus system for the 7D, But not for the EX3. On the flip side the EX3 offers tighter lensing options than I currently have available with the Canon and would be easier to rig and use a production monitor. Either way I'll post the slow-mo tests on here as soon as I can.

Entry #027

2010-01-27T10:53:00.007-04:00

Hey everyone,

Not interested in reading? Videos here.

My wrist is starting to feel better. I'd say that most of the day it's back to about 80% usefulness, although three or four times a day I'll pick up something the wrong way or use the computer for too long and get set back a bit. Otherwise shooting is going well, I had a chance to look at the footage from the Ghost Trick shoot on Sunday and found a very embarrassing ghost C-stand in one of the shots that had some how gone unnoticed during shooting, a rookie mistake. Despite this, I can't wait to do this trick again, with a custom built set or a very large location with lots of black material, flags and high ceilings. With more space, more flexibility to rig and a dimmer board you could have so much fun with this. If anyone has access to some flats, a studio, 2-3 big pieces of lexan and wants to do a more polished ghost trick effect, be sure to let me know. Earlier that the day Paul came out and operated steadicam for some running shots I'll probably cut a couple of them into the next compilation video I put up.

I also shot another Mongoose interview since I last posted. This was the second last one, I've been having quite a bit of fun with these interviews so far. It's nice because there is both freedom and restriction. Sean is very easy going and trusts me to light to my taste, yet we decided early on to always use a kitchen backdrop which has been challenging at some of the locations. Also, these interviews are meant to take place in the summer rather than January, as a result, I may have pushed the last two interviews (Chisholm and Zurawski) too warm in camera. Usually I always shoot neutral to save for the color correct, but this time I went for it in camera and learned my lesson. This last interview with Matt Chisholm was shot in Angela & my apartment at night. It's my attempt at creating a day interior with only small fixtures. How did I do? (See screen grab)

Yesterday Aram and I officially started rolling on the music video for Acres & Acres "the polar bear song". We shot both video and timelapse of some melting ice blocks against green screen. While they were clicking away, Aram, Louisa (a very cool art department person I just met) and myself went outside and constructed a large, snowy, mountainous landscape we plan to shoot on Thursday. There are concerns about it melting during the day today if the temperature stays warm, also there are concerns of getting into Aram's living room, which we completely ransacked in the name of this project. Finally there are concerns about it taking several days to melt. Based on our tests, it seems hard to believe that we will be able to melt the landscape in any less than 48 hours. Despite all this, we will succeed and it will look awesome! Promise.

This Sunday Eric Duncan and I are collaborating on a music video for "Judge Bitch". It's a fairly ambitious project especially when you consider the the non existing budget we are hoping to work within VS what we hope to achieve. It looks like we will be able to pull it off due to the help and generosity of many many people. Which is exactly why I love working in Halifax. One of the main ideas of this video it that it takes place in slow motion. The look Eric wants is that of 120fps. Of course due to the pre-mentioned non-existent budget, it is unlikely we will be able to obtain a camera capable of 120fps. So today my shooting assignment is to test a few cameras at different shutter speeds to see how we can achieve the sharpest and most crisp edges possible in camera so when we slow it down in post, it holds up the best it can. This will of course require a silly amount of light. My goal for today is to see what is the highest shutter speed and frame rate we can achieve with the resources at hand.

PS. We need people to be in this video. Do you want to be one of these people? image@kevinAfraser.com.

Entry #026

2010-01-25T14:39:00.004-04:00

Above is a screen grab from the Mongoose Interview with Richard Zurawski. When we went to do the shoot, I thought that Richard might be pressed for time and only devote a very short window of time for us to shoot. It turned out that he was extremely welcoming, patient and a great sport. You can see a short video clip below.

2010-01-25T14:38:00.001-04:00

Day 022. Part One. Richard Zurawski from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Entry #025

2010-01-25T01:09:00.007-04:00

Apologies to the loyal blog checkers. The posts lately have been a little lackluster, I've been spending a lot of time shooting and not a lot of time writing. Recently, Angela and our friend Matt Carleton hooked it up so I now have google analytics and can see how many people visit, where they are from, how long they stay on the site and which content they view. It is very neat and a little addictive. The analytics results really surprised me, although I only have 21 "followers'" at the present time, there are over 100 unique hits every day from all over the Maritimes, NY, California, BC, Toronto and elsewhere. The best part is most of these people come EVERY DAY. So I wanted to say thank you! You guys are providing exactly the type of motivation I need to keep waking up and shooting everyday. This post will be one of the more lengthy ones that will get you up to speed on all things related to this project. If you're not interested in reading and only come for the videos, here is the link to the Vimeo channel so you don't have to search the blog looking for the spread out videos on various pages.

Canon SLR Video.
A lot of people have been asking about the camera I've been shooting most of the content for this project on which is the Canon 5D mkII. Over the last 16 months an incredible amount of interest in this format that has developed. Which makes sense, these cameras have the best low light imaging I have ever seen, they have huge sensors with beautiful depth of field characteristics. They weigh basically nothing and are (relatively) super cheap bodies. These characteristics sold me on the camera and after testing the first generation of the 5D when it camera out in 2008 I used it off and on for commercial work until I bought my own kit in August 2009. Since then I've been shooting with it a lot. I've done commercials for broadcast, Music videos, lots of work for the internet and a few projects destin for digital projection. Since January 4th I've been shooting with the camera every single day and also dealing with the work flow on my home computer. I have a lot of thoughts about these exciting new SLR video tools, both good and bad but I am nothing less then ecstatic about what these cameras will become in the near future. I don't want to turn this into a technical blog, because there are others that have this subject well covered,but I am very open to learning, sharing and talking more about these cameras and their work flow. If you've been shooting with Canon SLRs, or you'd like to, email me, lets get together to chat and learn together. There are two feature film projects about to go to camera in Halifax that are considering taking Canon SLR footage to a 35mm film print finish. I cannot wait to see these results!

Green Screen Test
(warning this section is probably only interesting to fellow filmmakers) As regular readers know, I just completed a green screen test this past Friday. The test was to determine two things. When lighting green screen, what color temperature bulbs pull the best key and how much does a fast shutter help for a cleaner key? Answers to these questions are of particular interest to a cinematographer. Ultimately we are responsible to deliver the most workable footage possible to VFX but we are also the people who have to submit equipment requests to the Producers and justify the sometimes high rental cost of these items. This test is an attempt to find the best comprise between budget and quality.

Shutter speed: Traditional wisdom is that the higher of a shutter you shoot, the better. However the higher the shutter the more light you need which costs on rental fees, power consumption and labour costs. So what shutter do you need to pull a great key. We shot tests at shutter speeds at 50th, 100th, 250th, 500th and one at 1000th for fun.

Color Temp: Most digital based capture tests indicate that daylight color temperature fixtures are best for croma-key work, but kino recently released new "super green" bulbs specially designed for green screen work. To my knowledge this is the first time these bulbs have been in Halifax, I feel lucky to have gotten my hands on them for this test. We shot each of the shutters mentioned above with Daylight, tungsten and supergreen fixtures. *Note, one exciting thing I noticed about the super green kino tube right away is that they offer a full stop more light than the daylight bulbs but draw the same 75 watts per bulb. Bonus!

Results, the results are coming soon, the footage will be keyed by two compositors, Animation and effects superstar Jacob Owens who heads the animation department at Hatch Post and Hardworking, talented up and comer, Jon Brayer. These guys will receive files unlabeled as to the color temp and shutter, they will pull a quick key of each one and report back on which ones were easy (if any) and which ones were messy (if any) I'll post the results here and we will all know a bit more about lighting green screen, especially if you plan to use the Canon 5D mkII as your capture device.

Morale and project updates
I'm over halfway through the project, I'm getting tired my wrist is still messed up, but I'm really excited for the upcoming projects of which there are lots of exciting ones. With only 11 shooting days left there is a pretty full schedule of shooting. Upcoming highlights include: "Broga" Directed by Cory Bowels, Aram Kouyoumdjian and I are shooting ice melting timelapses for an Acres & Acres music video most of next week, You loyal followers might remember the test video I did in my basement on day 003. Several projects with Eric Duncan Including a music video for Judge Bitch.

Today I shot two things, another interview for my Operation Mongoose friends, this time the subject was meteorologist and all around genius Richard Zurawski. I also shot a short video with Eric Duncan that involved my first attempt at an old-school ghost effect similar to but much less refined than in this Michel Gondry video for Everybody gonna dance tonight. Who thinks I could get away with cutting my new reel to that song?

That's it for now, as always thanks for checking up on my project and stay tuned for exciting things yet to come. Some of the video from the last couple days tomorrow, I promise.

Here are a couple of photos as well, One is a still from the green screen test, the other is my calender for the month. Despite it being a desk calender, I've taken to carrying it in my back pocket. Take that iCal!

Entry #024

2010-01-22T22:23:00.002-04:00

Green screen test complete! Results soon.

Entry #023

2010-01-21T17:39:00.003-04:00

Greetings, Here is a quick video of some of the stuff I've been working on over the last few days. Now, I'm getting ready to shoot a rather extensive green screen test tonight. I'm setting up now but probably won't roll until after I take a break to go watch a 35mm print of Peter Jackson's Dead Alive and Bloodshed, a film Directed by Jason Shipley which I was a camera operator on a couple years ago. I've not yet seen the movie but I know it's going to be crazy!

Days 15, 16 & 17 from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Entry #022

2010-01-20T22:11:00.001-04:00

Shot two things today. Video tomorrow.

Entry #021

2010-01-19T23:09:00.003-04:00

Tonight we shot the last of the B-roll for "Ballsy" before Thomas heads back to NY. It was a studio shoot, mostly close ups and silhouette to lay under narration. I'll probably cut a few shots into the next edit I put up. I'm going to save up a few more days and then make another compilation video like I did with days 5-9. My wrist is still gimped, but Paul, Thomas and Richard helped tonnes.

Entry #020

2010-01-19T18:07:00.003-04:00

Did a shoot yesterday where we made a short web video for a promotion company in NY. It was pretty rushed but went ok. I'm told that it worked for them. It was shots of people using phones and computers shot in a "youtube" sort of style. I need to apologize to our to actors who came out with no notice to help, I said I'd have the video online here but it's not. If you email me (image@kevinAfraser.com) I'll get the video to you. Now I'm about to eat food, load the car and take off to Sackville for tonights shoot. Which might be tough because yesterday I hurt my wrist pretty bad. I can't even work my computer mouse with my right hand so it's been really tough to edit last nights footage and even type this post. Luckily I have some friends coming to help tonight.

Entry #019

2010-01-18T09:18:00.005-04:00

Greetings. Thanks for reading the posts and watching the videos. I'm off to another busy shooting day today. This time I have a shooting assignment with an edit due tomorrow morning. I'll try to post it up here for you guys sometime tomorrow.

Here is a screen grab from yesterdays Operation Mongoose interview. I think this is the 5th one so far with one or two more to go. It's always a blast working with these guys, they're always relaxed yet never waste anyone's time. Everyone helps with gear and the interviews themselves have been going well.

Tomorrow will mark the longest number of days in a row I've ever shot without having a day off. I love it.

2010-01-17T12:00:00.001-04:00

Day 012. Ballsy B-Roll. from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Entry #018

2010-01-16T23:07:00.003-04:00

Since shooting the Freedom March today I've been trying to get some clips of yesterdays footage online. It's been quite a struggle, my computer is really chugging with the footage. I'm asking it to work with large files and running extremely low on storage space. To give you an idea, my "January Project" folder has already climbed to one terabyte over the last 13 days. With 19 more days to go until Feb 4th, I'm in really big trouble. My friend Paul has lent me another external drive but it's a temporary fix. Who knew that shooting everyday would become such an expensive hobby? Long story short, my computer is saying "About 2 hours" until it's ready for export. Generally exports take 10-20 minutes plus internet upload time. Please expect this video tomorrow.

Entry #017

2010-01-15T22:17:00.005-04:00

Hey everyone,
More driving stuff today, this time I'm going for a more low contrast washed look. Clips coming tomorrow. I was shooting for my new found friend Thomas Cantley's new Documentary "Ballsy". It's a great story and a film you will all someday see.

Tomorrow is the Gaza Freedom March. I'm covering the event and shooting a few interviews afterward for Director & Editor Alan Collins. He cut Degrassi Junior High! How awesome is that?

Day eleven footage is here.

Day 011. Breakdancing from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Entry #016

2010-01-14T23:43:00.003-04:00

Lots of people helped out tonight and I think we gained some good images out of the deal. The footage is processing now and I'll throw a couple clips up here tomorrow.

I do need to say that the people at the Halifax Westin Hotel were incredible. Not only did they let us shoot in their parking lot on short notice and use their power for free, they even brought us hot chocolate during the shoot. I've shot on the Westin's property a few times now and they have always been cool. When we shot this a couple of years ago, bellhops brought the gear from the door to the set for us on carts. I didn't have to carry a thing! Thanks Westin for a good day eleven & generally being cool.

Aside from the Westin some other stars from tonight's shoot were, Jon Brayer, Richard Donovan, Dan Buchanan, Chris MacIsaac, The breakdance crew, Shawn Beckwith, Matt Lynds, Mark Kenny, Pat Holland, Paul McCurdy and those other people I forgot because it's been a long day.

Entry #015

2010-01-14T00:07:00.003-04:00

Hooray I made it to double digits!

Tonight I shot the first half of a promo video for a breakdance show, tomorrow night we shoot the rest. Tomorrow is all exterior and I'm hoping the weather will cooperate. My new ball-leveling head came in the mail from B&H today. I don't think I'll ever understand brokerage fees.

Entry #014

2010-01-13T03:06:00.003-04:00

Hey friends, With this video I'm finally caught up. Although it may not be an editing masterpiece, it does show a clip or two from each of the days from which I have not yet posted video. It feels good to be caught up especially because there are some bigger projects coming up this week. Including: break dancing, Gaza peace march, Tattoos & more interviews.

Video snipits from Days 5-9. from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Entry #013

2010-01-12T23:18:00.000-04:00

video soon...

Entry #012

2010-01-11T22:32:00.002-04:00

I know, I know. It's been days since video has been posted, but I assure you the delay is only because I'm shooting so much I have not had time to edit anything together. Honestly. I just got on for the night now after a long day of 3 different shoots. I'm having so much fun working on lots of different projects and I'll post clips of everything as I can.

Entry #011

2010-01-10T10:18:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was a long day, so long in fact it is just ending now at 10:20am. Shot an interview and a rap video now its time to sleep before the next interview at 5:00pm. I'll set my computer up to process but I'm not sure if I'll get around to putting up yesterdays or today's footage until tomorrow. For your entertainment in the meantime, here is a still photo I took recently.

Entry #010

2010-01-09T00:41:00.004-04:00

Today I started working on a project that my girlfriend, Angela, and I have been talking about for a little while. The plan is to make a book and a short documentary about Halifax barbers. We both really dig on the classic barbershop style. I will visit barbershops taking photos and shooting short interviews then Angela will employ her super fantastic graphic design skills (see here) to create the book. Today I met two extremely funny and interesting barbers, I am genuinely excited to meet more and hear their stories. The only problem so far is that they are so damn busy, it's hard to find enough time to set a light or get a mic on them in between customers. I might have to find a way to convince them to stay after hours to get less rushed interviews with better sound.

Big day tomorrow, I'm shooting two things. In the morning another interview for Operation Mongoose and then a rap video for Littles The General into the evening. Might be a long day but should be a fun one. Oh, and below is a clip from Sean Grady's "Operation Mongoose" with Jason Eisener shot on day four.

Day 004. Mongoose Interview one from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Now on vimeo

2010-01-08T02:10:00.001-04:00

Day 003. Ice Melting Timelapse from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Now on vimeo

2010-01-08T02:08:00.000-04:00

Day 002. Bridge Commission Doc from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Now on vimeo

2010-01-08T02:07:00.000-04:00

Day 001. Driving with Dave. from kevinAfraser on Vimeo.

Entry #009

2010-01-07T22:26:00.004-04:00

Wow, this timelapse took a long time shoot and a long time to process, but here it is. It was a valuable test and I've learned a lot about how to do it better next time. At the present moment I am also processing interview footage that I shot earlier of Dartmouth Warrior Jason Eisener. Also, I'm creating a vimeo account to show the videos in higher quality. I will provide the link to the channel as soon as it's up and running. I'm not 100% sure about what I'm shooting tomorrow but I know it will not be a timelapse. Thanks for watching.

Entry #008

2010-01-07T09:07:00.001-04:00

Believe it or not, the ice has still not melted completely. It's 18 deg Celsius in the basement and it's still hanging on. I'll probably call it quits at noon.

Entry #007

2010-01-06T22:10:00.002-04:00

I've been shooting a timelapse in my basement of melting ice for just over four hours now. The only trouble seems to be that the ice is not really melting at all. Who would have thought my basement would be so cold. Anybody want to deliver a space heater?

I've accepted the fact that the timelapse will be going all night and I've taken preemptive measures and blocked off the basement window in preparation for sunrise. My poor retired neighbor, who I share the basement with, won't know what to think when she goes down to do her laundry and is met with taped off light switch, an eerie blue glow, no natural light and an incessant clicking. Do you think I should leave a note?

The reason for the melting ice test is because my friend and wonderfully creative music video director Aram Kouyoumdjian and I are hoping to pull off the melting ice gag on a larger scale. Now I know, you've gotta do it somewhere really warm and use tungsten lights or plan to make a long weekend out of it.

While the timelapse was clicking away downstairs I was upstairs having a tea with Matt Chisholm and my new found friend Sean Grady. We were chatting about the last few interviews they need to wrap up a feature mocumentary they have been labouring over for quite sometime. We shoot the first one tomorrow evening and the others in the days to come.

Entry #006

2010-01-06T10:49:00.003-04:00

Hey guys, here are a couple of the shots from lastnight. The timelapses took forever to process but I think they are decent.

Today I'm gearing up to do a test for an ice melting timelapse. I might need some luck, and some more freezer space. Anyone have a Canon tilt-shift they want to loan me...?

Entry #005

2010-01-05T22:33:00.006-04:00

Made it through day two. Shot some time-lapses and four passes across the MacDonald bridge. I've been driving across the bridges so much over the last two days they should be able to build the third bridge with my Macpass fare. In the past I've been pulled over by the police twice while shooting with a car mount luckily both yesterday and today went very smooth without incident. Hopefully it's a good sign. The footage is on my drobo and Mpeg Streamclip is working away. Tomorrow I will put up a video sample.

I also took some stills tonight. I was inspired by two great local guys Riley Smith and Yassine Ouhilal who photographed the Dartmouth oil refinery a few months ago while testing the new Canon 7D. I was driving Zac home to Eastern Passage and decided to stop and grab some stills. If you like this type of stuff, try to check out Riley and Yazzy's refinery photos. They did it better.

Goodnight and thanks for coming back.

Entry #004

2010-01-05T14:11:00.004-04:00

Here are some of the selects from last nights shoot. It still needs a color grade and having learned from watching this stuff, I'd like to do it again. However, for the little effort of spending an evening driving around with a friend, it's pretty cool.

This morning I took a few lock off shots of the bridge during rush hour. In an hour or so I'm off to find a spot to do a timelapse of evening rush hour, Then Zac and I will do some driving shots after dark.

Entry #003

2010-01-04T22:09:00.000-04:00

Today went ok. I struck a fair deal with the rental house and picked up a few small items. Then I met with my friend Dave and we rigged a makeshift car mount. It would have been nice to have a hostess tray but we made it work with what we had after adding a few new scratches to my Subaru. There is something to be said for grips who know what they're doing. Thanks Paul for lending me your suction mount!

By the time we had it rigged and lit we pretty much missed our magic hour light. But we made some adjustments and shot night time city driving stuff. I'll put a shot up in the morning, right now it's all being encoded by Mpeg stream-clip and is about 9% done.

Overall it would have been helpful to have a third person and a remote on/off for the camera. Lesson learned for next time. I must go and put the batteries on charge for tomorrow. The plan is to do some more driving stuff for Zac Barkhouse's new documentary about the Halifax Bridge Commission.

Entry #002

2010-01-03T19:10:00.000-04:00

Back from holidays away, I'm ready to buckle down and start shooting away for the next month. I've borrowed some extra pieces of gear from friends and will hopefully grab a couple more lights and stands tomorrow. All my batteries are on charge and the memory cards are ready to go. The shoot for tomorrow is short and reasonably straight forward involving only one actor a car mount and the hope of some Christmas lights around town still being up. I have two back-up plans so unless something goes horribly wrong I should not miss the first day of my self-driven assignment. Most of the days are shaping up as far as content to shoot but for some of the days I still have no plans, if you are reading this and need a cinematographer for an idea you have, get in touch with me. Thanks for checking out my blog, be sure to follow me and add pressure for me to do a good job. Happy New Year

Entry #001

2009-12-17T12:35:00.000-04:00

Here it is, my very first entry in my very first blog. I always figured I would undoubtedly grow lazy and neglect updating my blog for extended periods of time once the novelty wore off. Surely this blog will fall victim to that fate at some point, but for now I may have discovered a way to postpone the inevitable. The main purpose of this blog is to help me stick to plan and stay disciplined for one month. From Jan 4th 2010 to Feb 4th 2010, I plan to shoot moving images every single day.

I work as a freelance cinematographer based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, which basically means from Christmas until the end of February, I wear pajama pants, read technical forums on the internet and watch box set television. This year I'm going to try to shed my lazy habits for one month and go out and shoot every single day. I've been talking with a lot of people about various projects we want to shoot, but between waiting for funding and schedules not fitting together I have zero days of work booked for January.

As such, I've decided to take on January myself. I'm going to shoot at minimum one short scene or interview every single day for 30 days. With bad weather and my ability to hole up in my house for days at a time, it would be all too easy for me to fall off the wagon and skip some days or give up halfway through. Hence this blog. The thought of people like you checking up on my progress will hopefully add enough outside pressure and fear of going back on my word for me to actually execute this plan.

After February 4th, if the blog fades away, it will have served its purpose. In the meantime, if you’re a director, actor or writer and wish to have me shoot a short scene for you for free, send me an email. (image@kevinAfraser.com) Offer of shooting for free stands only for short projects where nobody benefits financially. Sorry producers of commercial, corporate and series work, you guys still have to pay me.