Tri-C Blood Brother Screening and Q&A
This friday, I’ll be doing a Q&A at Tri-C in Cleveland for Blood Brother. Starts at 6pm…
Freefly System’s MoVI M10 – Not Just a New Tool, A New Craft
I was first intrigued by the MoVI while in pre-pro for principle photography for Gennadiy, an upcoming documentary with Blood Brother’s Steve Hoover & Danny Yourd. The first thought in my mind was how amazing this tool would be for the story we were about to shoot in Ukraine. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in full on production at the time and we didn’t have the cash to bring the freefly crew out. However, it’s impression didn’t leave me for one second….
I decided to make the full investment in November 2013 and started working with it right away. First thing that I realized was that the M10 is not a grab and go tool. It’s precision mechanics that requires time & understanding of how to utilize it. This is a good thing in my mind because it’s a CRAFT, not a toy. There’s a freedom with the MoVI unlike anything I have experienced. Being able to improvise on the fly with cinematic, complex movements and blocking fires me up! Especially for documentary work or small crews on commercials. In my circles of collaboration, I knew it would be a hit.
After putting it through the test on a slew of jobs of various sizes, crew, budgets, cameras and traveling across the world with it, I’ve learned a thing or two about effectively and efficiently using the MoVI…
the day it arrived….
For starters…the MoVI really is a two man minimum operation. I am fortunate to know and work with Tyson VanSkiver in Pittsburgh. Wouldn’t want to be on a job without him. My experience with it so far has been acting as both the DP and the operator on set. Tyson takes the responsibility of tuning, balancing and maintaining the MoVI throughout the day. On top of that, he’s a killer focus puller if we’re in majestic mode. When the controller is needed, we’ll have an AC pull focus.
The MoVI is quite the technical orchestration. On top of the 3 axis stabilization, there’s wireless video, power distribution, remote focus pulling, camera maintenance, lens changing, balancing, tuning, operator technique, as well as controller pan & tilt skills (I’ll go into technical details on individual pieces of gear in near future blog posts but we’ll stay at birds eye view for now). These are all things to take into consideration when wanting “fast, cheap and good” all at once. I’ve learned the hard way a few times when people are staring at you because camera isn’t ready or malfunctioning 🙂 Treat it with respect, have a thoroughly tested set up & plan of execution, know how to troubleshoot it quickly and MAYBE allot time for a little bit of blocking.
For my next blog post, I’ll break down a few jobs we did recently and talk about the positives of my experience with the MoVI as well as the challenges we’ve learned from.
Exciting time to be a cinematographer and MoVI owner! More to come…
FYI…currently for hire (inquire for rates)
- MoVI M10 (owner operator only at this time)
- Hocus Focus Axis 1 Wireless FF
- Paralinx Wireless Video System w/ 3 receiver units
- Atomos HDMI to HD-SDI converter kit
- Custom Controller bag & harness
- SmallHD Monitors
- Red Epic Run Cable for Wireless FF Control
- Canon C300 Run Cable for Wireless FF Control
- Red Epic, Scarlet, C300 & Canon DSLR’s
- Experience with Canon Cinema Primes & EOS primes, zooms
Blood Brother Cinematography Nomination Cameraimage Fest 2013
I’m excited to announce that Blood Brother has been nominated for a cinematography award at Cameraimage Fest in Poland! I’ll be heading to Gdansk next week to represent the film.
Huge thank you to Max Rivera ( Rocky’s Bratt’s brother ) and his crew for putting together a screening of Blood Brother in North Canton, OH. It was an opportunity to not only share with friends and family but to also meet new people. Thank you kindly for your continued support!
For those of you who don’t know, Blood Brother received the highest honors this year at Sundance by taking home both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the US Documentary Category. There are no words to describe how humbled I am to be a part of a story that has moved many hearts and minds across the world.
Much more to come.
End of An Era. Exciting Beginning Of Another.
Hello friends & colleagues,
Last job together as fellow StoneKap-ians. Derek Lee Urey and I, Acadia National Park, ME
The “Thank You Screening” of Blood Brother for friends & family was an overwhelming, incredibly humbling success. It’s only the beginning for the film’s potential to make a sustainable, thought-provoking impact on audiences around the world. Off to the film festivals…
“Thank You” Screening – Sept. 20th, 2012
Along with the screening came the release of Rocky’s book “I Was Always Beautiful”. It contains Rocky’s stunning photography of his journey over the past few years as well his journal entries that are brutally honest and heart-wrenchingly real. It is currently available at Animal Media Group.
There’s a new trailer that has been cut as well. Check it out. Don’t forget to hit up the official IMDB page to see the new movie poster / illustration by Court Miller. Looks fantastic!
The Saxman of Cleveland is still moving along. We reached our kickstarter goal thanks to all of the wonderful supporters of the film. The crew recently 
shot a pick up day of interviews and b-roll last week and will be tackling the remaining principle photography throughout the rest of the year. Stayed tuned for more updates
Lastly, I’m excited to share some recent brand films that I shot with the one and only Kevin DeOliveira as Director of both projects. One was for an independent clothing company out of Braddock, PA called Dead Bury Dead. Love the company and the people behind it. Both the 60 sec & 2 min version are close to heading into the color suite so stay tuned.
There are a few other rad things on the horizon that I will share as soon as the time is right.
Exciting times folks. Thanks for your attention.
Stripped down Epic. Pick Up Truck. Braddock PA. Beautiful Day.
John Pope ||| Cinematographer 