After working with Chris for 8 months on "Terminator: Salvation", I quickly understood the power behind this man. It was his instinct, insight and vast experience that led him to be a member of the Elite Team. There are not many blockbuster films that Chris has not been associated with. His credit list includes: "Lost", "Dreamgirls", "X-Men", "Spiderman 2", "Terminator 3", "The Matrix", "Gone in Sixty Seconds", "True Lies", and "Heat" just to name a few. We just finished the Visa Go spots together for the Super Bowl and he has been embracing the 5D technology ever since. Chris is a filmmaker to the core and a talented Director o f Photography is his own right with 2nd Unit DP credits on Race to Witch Mountain and Slipstream. His personality is that of a surfer dude, never gets flustered and always sees a solution.

Derek and I have been working on features together for about 10 years now. He started off as a 2nd A.C. with me on many commercials and music videos and has now moved into the Hurlbut Visuals Elite Team with grace and expertise. Derek has an "All in" attitude and is very supportive. He has Zen focus abilities and has a snake charmer always nearby for guidance when the 5D gets down in the 2.0 range. He never fails and always comes in with a smile. Derek has fully embraced this technology in going back to school to understand the still menu and platform to best educate and inspire young filmmakers.

Tim and I met though my blog. He was the runner-up on the "Where's the 5D contest." I had the privilege sitting down with Tim over lunch at Bandito Brothers and instantly knew he had to be on the HV Elite Team. Tim has a brilliant mind that not only researches, blogs and designs hardware for the DSLR platform, but understands the technical side of the Canon camera platform as well. He has been one of the go to resources for technical knowledge and is an incredible Filmmaker in his own right. Tim has just directed, photographed, and edited the Behind the Scenes portion of "The Last 3 Minutes." Having him on-board has helped me bridge the gap with still photographers.

Rudy and Shane have worked together since 2002 after originally meeting on the film “11:14” starring Hillary Swank. Rudy is a director of photography in his own right and has an intuitive sense for composition, camera movement and creative ideas that gel with the Canon 5D platform. With the small footprint work style of the elite team, Rudy has the expertise to splinter off to increase set up count.

Rudy was born and raised in France and brings a European flare to the group. He is passionate, even-tempered, hardworking and never gets flustered when doing an “impossible” day.

Mikey, as he is known, has been working with Shane since 2006 where they met on the film “Semi-Pro” when he was a loader. Mike has a phenomenal eye and passion for filmmaking. He received the Emerging Cinematographer Award from the International Cinematographer’s Guild in 2008 for a short film, “Noisemaker” shot on 35mm.

Mike and Shane have worked closely together to continue to fine-tune the Canon 5D into a movie capturing machine. He routinely does the job of 7 people with accuracy. Mike has been known to pull focus, operate, adjust his own exposures, download the data, give a tutorial on camera operations, clean the gear and do 2nd AC duty by prepping for the following day. He has boundless energy, enthusiasm, a giant smile and the heart to see each task at hand as a new adventure.

Darin lives up to his surname. Even though he is the newest member of the team, Darin is absolutely essential to ensure the success of any project. One example is when the team put the Canon 5D on a Technocrane for the first time, there was a dilemma of how to turn the camera on and off. It has no remote switch. Darin quickly engineered a remote on/off switch for the Canon 5D by using a fiz unit. With every new obstacle that arises while shooting, the squad collaborates and innovates to increase the production value exponentially.

Darin has a positive attitude and experience of a true filmmaker. He is incredibly hard working, goes to the end of the earth for every project, manages to stay cool under pressure and loves what he does.

Marc met Shane as a 1st A.C. in 2005, on the film “Waist Deep.” Marc has been surrounded by the film industry since birth as his father was a director-cameraman. He brings experienced film knowledge, innovative thinking and a desire to be on the visual cutting-edge.

Marc worked with Mikey to design the follow focus system and a cine-tape focusing system in a backpack design as well as a lighter weight system that attaches to the Canon 5D. On the team’s current feature project “Act of Valor,” directed by Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy for Bandito Brothers, and Legendary Pictures, Marc has worked closely with Panavision to design a new crash cam system for the Canon 5D. It is so lightweight and small that it gets you into places that have never been achievable before.

Marc brings wisdom and grace to the elite team. He operates, pulls focus, designs and brings new ideas to this “game changing” technology. His positive attitude along with a mountain man common sense approach is exactly what is required to make movies in this format.

Bodie is the newest member of our elite team. He grew up in Alaska where his favorite meal was grilled otter. Then, he moved to Hollywood and started as a prep tech at Panavision/Hollywood with the ultimate goal of becoming a cinematographer. Bodie shot music videos on his days off to hone his craft. Now, Bodie is the 5D conversion master and behind the scenes still photographer. Running and doing 4 to 5 jobs on the set is his specialty. He has amazing energy, always smiles and comes to work everyday with a positive attitude.

Bodie is instrumental in increasing our speed and accuracy with the HDSLR platform. He wears multiple hats as a film loader, 2nd assistant cameraman, and still assistant. Keeping the 5D’s clean and well tuned is a very big job, especially when your camera package now consists of 15 5D Mark II bodies!

Dave and I have worked together for 12 years. We started in commercials together before the transition into features. Dave was the Key Grip on “11:14,” “Waist Deep,” “Semi-Pro,” and “Terminator:Salvation.” He is an experienced photographer in his own right which is a perfect fit with the HDSLR platform.

Dave is incredibly intelligent and brings ingenuity to his camera rigs. It is not about speed rail and cheese plates but little grip heads and baby pins with 1/4 -20 screws that insert into the bottom of the 5D, which he is able to put anywhere. Screw rigs for trees, tent stake rigs for low angles, and small still photography heads that give even more maneuverability.

Dave has a small footprint crew size that enables us to be lean and efficient. He owns a grip company and has designed it to be small and nimble. Instead of a 48’ truck he has embraced a 28’ box and 3-ton Stake bed that it tricked out like Jed Clampet. It allows us to be fast and make company moves in a blink of an eye.

Dave has an amazing work ethic and positive “never say die” attitude. His crew posses a pioneering spirit that motivates them to blaze new trails into unknown territory. They care deeply about every project and are moviemakers at heart.

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.