Show Category: Cinematography

• Wave – Sobriety is Tough

  Episode 4 of Wave shows Bung trying to turn over a new leaf without a great deal of success. We shot for the most part again at Hamilton High School. I fear I butchered the lighting for one sequence (and you ought to be able to tell which one) as I lit with the expectation… Read more »

• Real Scares – TJ

  This was a little series where real people tell stories of their own personal ghost sightings. There were several camera operators there, each with a Canon 7D or 5D. If memory serves, my camera was the medium shot. I have slightly greater faith that the story in this one may have had some basis in… Read more »

• Real Scares – Jean-Pierre

  This was a little series where real people tell stories of their own personal ghost sightings. There were several camera operators there, each with a Canon 7D or 5D. If memory serves, my camera was the medium shot. I rather suspect the guy in this video was narrating a work of fiction…and a rather silly… Read more »

• The Claus Residence

  Mike Hammari wrote and directed this sketch the third season of Christmas Barrel. It’s from our ongoing “North Pole Secrets” series. Shot on green screen with my Sony FS700. Episode Guide Episode 1 Quality Control Room Episode 2 Shipping Room Episode 3 Santa’s Warehouse Episode 4 The Garage Episode 5 Research & Development Episode 6… Read more »

• Jeremey Lappert – Hark the Herald Angels Sing

  For this Christmas Barrel video, we took a stab at entering the world of 360° virtual reality. We shot using my Sony FS700 and Odyssey 7Q at 4K. We had to attach a special parabolic mirror to the front of the lens that was made by a company called EyeSee360 called a “360 One VR.”… Read more »

• Gary, Ted & Bob Meet Santa

  This was my favorite film from the 2015 season of Christmas Barrel. We had a very limited crew on this one, and were lucky that friends let us shoot late into the night in their living room. We shot on my Sony FS700 with my Odyssey 7Q, and lit with my LED fresnels. The moving… Read more »

• Skinny Santa

  Another Christmas Barrel green screen bonanza.

• Christmas Socks – All the Bells

  We made this cute little Christmas Barrel video in a small studio with a cyclorama wall where we had already been shooting some green screen videos. We simply had some of our actors from other shows don ridiculous Christmas socks and dance about. The song was provided by a group called the Banana Splits. You… Read more »

• Mike’s Bad Dream #73

  We shot this cute little movie in my apartment in the middle of the night with a wall of LED fresnels shooting through silk to make it appear like daytime. Shot on the Sony FS700 with Odyssey 7Q, which made some of that extreme slow motion possible.

• Roadside Assistance

  Here’s another sketch from the third season of Christmas Barrel, and from the “North Pole Secrets” series. Shot on green screen with my Sony FS700. Episode Guide Episode 1 Quality Control Room Episode 2 Shipping Room Episode 3 Santa’s Warehouse Episode 4 The Garage Episode 5 Research & Development Episode 6 Roadside Assistance Episode 7… Read more »

• How to Make Candy Canes

  Logan’s Candies, in Ontario, California, does live demonstrations while they make their various confections. We caught up with them during their run up to Christmas 2015, and were able to film the way they make candy canes. Shot on the Sony FS700 with Odyssey 7Q.

• Christmas Time Hacks

  We shot this Christmas Barrel video over the course of a couple of days at several locations and with a lot of props. We never did get the sluice of candy falling through the stocking to work properly, so Mike had to do it in post, but otherwise, we were fairly happy with the results…. Read more »

• Jew in Choctaw Country – Episode 7 & 8

  This is one of my favorite collaborations with Ian Skorodin. Jew in Choctaw Country is another one of Ian’s black comedy web series, but this one has portions set in the present day, and other parts set a generation ago. His vision called for a good bit of hand-held camera work, but also required us… Read more »

• Wave – Piss Jumpers

  Episode 3 of Wave saw us bringing a live band to play in what was actually the lunch room at Hamilton High School. We suspended LED panel lights from the ceiling using scissor clamps, and shot Kino Divas in from the side. Our lead actor, Noah Watts, is a fantastic guitar player (check out his… Read more »

• Intrusion

  This short won the Los Angeles YSA/MSA Film Festival in 2015. I shot it at the home of the lead actress, Julie Hinton over four or five evenings starting when darkness had fallen and ending when we grew too tired to keep going. The camera was a Sony FS700 with an Odyssey 7Q. The lights… Read more »

• Wave – The Turn Around

  This was the second episode in the Wave series for Skinsplex.com (a far more scandalous sounding name than it actually is…it’s a Native American movie website). We shot a great deal of this (and the previous episode for that matter) inside a film school that had its own sound stage and several sets. Other locations… Read more »

• I’m So So Sorry, Santa

  Considered by many to be one of our more warped videos on Christmas Barrel, this music video features music and a head from a guy called Dan Riley, and the body of a little girl named Lux. Mike Hammari provided the sometimes rudimentary compositing, and suddenly we have a very creepy little boy apologizing to… Read more »

• Feast of St. Thomas Uncovered

  This is one of my favorite Christmas Barrel movies. It’s the second of our “On Point with Todd Zestermann” episodes, and it deals with a traditional European holiday that falls into the Christmas season. We shot on my Sony FS700 at multiple locations and with substantially more cast than our productions usually involve.

• Santa’s Pimps & Hos

  A slightly less wholesome Christmas sketch I shot for Rick James Productions. The camera was my Sony FS700. Car interiors were shot in a tiny garage with a Kino Diva shooting down on the actors. We used the same light for the exteriors when possible.

• I’m Going to be Mad

  Here’s a Christmas Barrel video devoted to the notion that while not everyone always gets what they want for Christmas, it’s best to avoid ingratitude. The song was “I’m Gonna Be Mad” was written and recorded by Physics Club. The video was shot on the Sony FS700 to make 240fps possible, with lighting coming from… Read more »