John and I used to be gaffers together in the late 1980′s and early 1990′s. We have reunited as cinematographer and gaffer extraordinaire on this untitled Navy SEAL project. He brings 30 plus years of lighting experience to the HDSLR platform.

John is a writer and an illuminating genius. Lighting with the Canon 5D Mark II is a whole new game. The sensor is so sensitive that the style and execution for film lighting is thrown out and replaced by a smaller, sleeker approach.

On the Navy SEAL movie, we have to light 360 degrees with mood. John and his team do that by carefully placing practicals and strategically choose when to imbed certain lights into a given location. He makes Home Depot runs instead of passing that off to production and packs our truck with lights that do not resemble any form of a movie light.

John is calm under pressure and leads a unique team. They work harder than anyone I have ever seen and are all natural filmmakers. When John needs to push his crew, it is always done in a way that is motivational and inspiring. They also collaborate well with production to keep costs down. I can always count on John to show up each day with a schoolboy excitement to venture into uncharted waters.