All survey participants will receive a 20% off coupon for 1 Hurlbut Visuals DSLR Rental. We are accepting entries through 11:59pm December 5, 2011. Thank you in advance for your feedback and time. We are looking forward to an awesome 2012 with all of you!

Lydia Hurlbut

Lydia

This 60: commercial was filmed over 5 weeks on 3 continents. My Elite Team members and I brought to life a public service announcement for the Marine Corp that humanizes the warrior. Three and four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan have weighed on the American public.  The concept is a story called FOR US ALL that was to show what the Marines do for us every day. While we have our hot cup of coffee, the Marines are defending us in Iraq. While we tend to our livestock, they patrol the mountains of Afghanistan. While we go to work, they protect our freedom abroad.

This was such an ambitious concept. I knew that we could do it using our Hybrid Film and HDSLR HV Moviemaker, my Elite Team, great forward thinking production company Bandito Brothers, and an amazing producer, Greg Haggart (who can draw money from a stone). This was our cocktail for success.  I took my 1^st A.C. and B Camera Operator Marc Margulies, my 2^nd A.C. and C Camera Operator Bodie Orman, my Key Grip Dave Knudson, and my media manager Julien Lasseur.

The first curveball thrown to our budget was that the commercial had to shoot over 5 weeks time period to fit with the Marines operations schedule.  That always makes budgets soar because you have to keep a crew on for that amount of time.  Greg and I knew we had to keep our crew footprint small. The other curve ball was 7 states and 3 continents.

Montana's version of a Chapman Apollo crane supplied by Filmlites

15 Lite 6K Par Musco light brought in from Montana when the sun would not come out of the clouds

RC Helicopter "Flying Cam" brought in from Belgium to shoot at the Prague U.S. Embassy

Greg Haggart would have to make this budget work for 4.5 weeks of shooting.  The first question was, what could I not live without to tell the story and give this commercial scope. Not the Elite Team that makes me shine, not the make shift Montana version of the Chapman Apollo crane in the mountains of Montana, not the 50’ Technocrane brought down from NYC by Panavision Remote Systems to film at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington D.C., the 30’ Technocrane brought up from Miami by Cinemoves to Parris Island South Carolina to shoot the morning colors at sunrise, not the 15 light 6K Par Musco light brought in from Idaho to Parris Island when we did not get a sunrise, and not the RC Flying Cam brought in from Belgium for the U.S. Embassy shot in Prague when the government told us that we could not fly helicopters in and around the embassy.  The power of the platform is seen in every frame.  This is why as a director/cameraman I feel the Canon 5D is one of the most powerful brushes that I have ever used.  Expanding your vision, pushing the boundaries, and setting your sites on the unachievable.

We thought it would be fun to do another contest.  See if you can figure out which is the 5D, 7D  and 1D footage and which is the film footage above. Give us a break down shot by shot using the form below (there are 28 frames total). The most accurate entries will be named winners. First place wins Adobe CS5 Production Premium. Contest entries will be accepted up until Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 11:59pm. Full contest rules and additional details can be read here.

Charles Wins Twitter Ticket To Hurlbut Visuals HDSLR Bootcamp

Charles majored in Art and Film at The Art Institute of Seattle where he studied video production and landed several internships on local films.  After college he returned home to Tulsa where he started his career editing training and educational videos for childrens ministries. He excelled in his work and continued working in film production using 16mm film.

In 2001, Charles and an associate entered a contest held by Tommy Hilfiger to function as Directors and DPs for a 40 second commercial depicting their interpretation of the
spirit of Tommy Hilfiger and patriotism. They won runner up in the Tommy Hilfiger contest and received a $10,000 cash prize! www.youtube.com/watch?v=l82KuF-5KpA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Charles left his editing job in 2003 and now works as a freelance editor and videographer. Since 2003 he has added several short films, music videos, local work, and
documentaries in Fiji and Haiti to his repertoire.

He directed his own feature-length film in 2009 that is in the audio post phase and will soon be ready for festival submission. www.facebook.com/pages/CLEVERREEL-Films/45064790405. He has worked to form a collective of editors, directors, and writers that meet on a regular basis to collaborate and shoot. Most recently, Charles works as a Creative Services Producer at his local NBC station.

Charles is very excited for HDSLR Boot Camp and is most looking forward to working side by side with an ASC cinematographer and learning more about the process and work
flow of cinematography as opposed to simply technical work. He is also VERY excited about “getting the opportunity to look at sweet prime lenses.” The Boot Camp will feature a variety of lenses: Roberto Schaefer, ASC www.imdb.com/name/nm0769656/ is donating his Dalsa 4K Leica Primes; The Camera House www.thecamerahouse.com/ is supplying Arri Ultra Primes; Richard from Zeiss www.zeiss.com/c12567a8003b58b9/Contents-Frame/858dbbbbd2fb78a6c125711800592377 will bring the Zeiss Compact Primes and Primo Primes will be there as well!

The event will be held in a way to give players of all skill levels an opportunity to win a few awesome prizes. You can absolutely stink at poker and still win a prize worth hundreds of dollars! This is about meeting up with some fun people and giving out great prizes.

The current prize list (which keeps growing) is as follows:

-1 Steadicam Merlin
-1 Letus Mantis System
-1 Redrock Micro Ultraport DSLR Bundle
-1 Blackmagic Designs Intensity Pro
-1 Cinevate UNO DSLR Rig
-1 Zacuto Z-finder
-2 Zacuto Z-grips
-4 SmallHD monitors
-1 Schneider Optics 5-filter 4×4 pack
-1 Jag35 DSLR Cage
-1 Jag35 Follow Focus
-1 Glidetrack HDm1
-1 Kessler CineSlider
-15 CRAM Compressor plug-in licenses
-15 Schneider Optics Lens Cleaning Kits

See you in Vegas!

Here is an excerpt from Vincent:

“There is A LOT OF POTENTIAL here for something very special to come out at the end…  each video chapter will start with and end with a still image… you need to interpret the previous photographer/filmmaker’s still to start the (your) subsequent chapter (those are pretty much the ONLY rules/guidelines (outside of the obvious))… should make for a pretty unique series of chapters in the end!

So watch the video above and find out more!  I’m on vacation with family and I’ll get rolling with regular updates and much much more information early next week!  For now – start charging those batteries… it’s your turn!

The Story Beyond the Still – Behind The Scenes from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

Judges for the contest include:

Philip Bloom - Director/DP

Russell Carpenter - DP – “Titanic”

Rodney Charters – Director/DP – “24”

Nick Childs – Director/Producer /VP Grey Advertising

Shane Hurlbut – DP – “Terminator Salvation”

Stu Maschwitz – Senior Visual FX Supervisor – “The Spirit”

Rick McCallum – Producer – “Star Wars”

Blake Whitman – Director/Editor – Mr. Vimeo himself.

I’ll be a judge as well of course.”

Tim checking out the lights used on "Terminator:Salvation"

The day started out with Tim meeting Scotty Waugh, one of the directors of the untitled Navy SEAL movie. Then, Tim and I viewed a variety of scenes from the movie that have not yet been color corrected and we analyzed the shots for lighting and how well the Canon 5D held up to big screen projection. The footage held up very well!

Tim and Shane screen scenes from the movie

Then, we discussed the difference between the sensors in the Canon 5D and 7D cameras, as well as the depth of field. Tim is a huge fan of the 5D and I share his love of the big sensor.

Tim and Shane discussing the Canon 5D Mark II

Tim and I also discussed the nuances of lighting. He was shocked to learn that most of my films are practically lit with lights that come from Home Depot and Grainger.

Shane talks about the power of a 1500 watt metal hallide fixture from Grainger

The day ended with Tim examining our Hurlbut Visuals “Movie Maker in a Pelican” that will be available for rent in early 2010. He was there when our equipment came back from a Marine commercial and helped with the checking in process and organizing. Tim even offered to do lens testing over the holidays!

Tim checking out the pelican

Shane and Tim discuss lens choice

Thank-you Tim for spending the day with us and for your valuable contribution.

Josh behind the camera making movie magic.

In the morning, we lit a late afternoon day interior and talked about the different lighting options. Then, we moved to the cemetery to set up 9 cameras for the funeral shot. Josh operated a 5D with a 70-200 Canon zoom for the close-up shots of the Navy SEALS at a funeral. He also stayed on the same camera with the zoom to shoot a profile shot of the F18 flyover.

Josh in the zone feeling the shot.

Setting up for the next shot.

Josh and one of the Elite Team getting ready.

Josh surveying the next shot.

Making magic happen!

It was great to have Josh on the set with us and to get to know him better. Josh sent me a thank-you note which sums it all up in his words.

“Hi Shane,
I just wanted to say thanks again for having me on the set yesterday. I had
a great time, and it was cool to see a movie making such innovative use of
affordable new technology. I didn’t get to see that new 5d sizzle reel you
mentioned, but I’m sure I will be seeing it soon on your blog. I look
forward to seeing the film in the theater and trying to spot any footage
that came from the camera I was operating. Anyway, good luck with the rest
of the shoot, and let me know if you ever need anyone to help out again on
anything you do. I’m pretty much up for anything. Thanks again.”
Sincerely,
Josh

Where's the 5D winner announced!

We decided to add a runner up prize for Tim because he just only missed 2 shots of the entire sequence. Tim will have one hour of phone time to ask me any questions he would like.

Congratulations to both Josh and Tim!

A huge thank-you to everyone that participated for taking the time, giving your expertise in breaking down this sequence and making the contest so competitive.  Don’t be discouraged if you didn’t win this time because we will have more contests in the future. I want to know your ideas for the grand prize!

Now, here are the answers:

Where’s the 5D?

00:00:00 – 00:00:14 // Wide shots of Yacht//  Sony F950

00:00:15 – 00:1:00 // Girls on Yacht, underwater, girl next bell, girl walking down stairs with drink outside, girl walking down stairs in side yacht, girl walking into salon in yacht, guy getting shot from inside POV // Arri 235-Film

00:01:00 – 00:01:04  //Seals shoot bad guy from boat// Canon 5D MK II

00:01:04 – 00:01:06 //Wide shot of assault/ Overhead Helo//  Sony F-950

00:01:06 – 00:01:10 //Seals assault yacht on boats// Canon 5D MK II

00:01:10 – 00:01:11 // Wide shot of Yacht and all the boats// Sony F950

00:01:11 – 00:01:18 // Seals approach yacht on boats and Helo// Canon 5D MK II

00:01:18 – 00:01:21 // Profile shot of Mark V going by Yacht// Sony F-950

00:01:21 – 00:01:24 //Seals in Boat, in Helo pushing rope out// Canon 5D MK II

00:01:24 – 00:01:25 // Helo to Helo shot of Seals fast roping// Sony F-950

00:01:25 – 00:01:27 // Looking up at Seal fast roping onto Yacht// Canon 5D MK II

00:01:27 – 00:01:30 // Wide shot from Helo watching Seals fast roping// Sony F950

00:01:30 – 00:01:31 //Seal lands on Yacht from Helo// Canon 5D MK II

00:01:31 – 00:01:32 //Profile of Mark V boat tracking on water// Sony F-950

00:01:32 – 00:01:38 // Seals move onto Yacht, moving with them// Canon 5D MK II

00:01:38 – 00:01:40 // Overhead shot of Zodiac off loading Seals// Sony F-950

00:01:40 – 00:01:50 // Seals assault the Yacht, they head down the side// Canon 5D MK II

00:01:50 – 00:01:51 // Wide Helo shot of 3 Seals heading down side of boat// Sony F-950

00:01:51 – 00:01:58 // Seals track down side of boat and shoot bad guy in head// Canon 5D MK II

MIO

In this Mio sequence from our current Navy SEAL film project, we used two HD cameras the Canon 5D Mark II and the Sony 950. We also shot some of it with the Arri 235. There are subtle differences between 10 Bit HD with the Sony 950 and 8 Bit color space with the Canon 5D!

The Navy asked as to scrub the footage, so the contest is now over. However, the person who guessed it correctly will receive a prize from Hurlbut Visuals.

We will announce the winner on Monday November 2, 2009. Thank-you for participating!