Get to the Chopper!!

Our illustrious colleague Ryan Horner, owner and director of PegLeg Pictures, recently purchased a DJI Phantom Vision 2+ Quadcopter with a Gimbal action camera – and he let us play with it!

Holy moly. What a fun toy.

Capable of taking 14MB stills and 190×1080 HD video, this winged dragon can soar as high as 1,000 feet up and as far as a mile away – so long as you have a GPS satellite connection. Should you lose the connection, it will come right back to it’s base.

The Phantom communicates directly to your smartphone with no delay in the feed. It also has a unique straight downward bird’s eye perspective that is not recommended for those suffering from vertigo, but is breathtaking for everyone else.

A cool way to grab footage you can’t get using conventional photography – and you don’t have to mortgage an arm and a leg to rent a chopper.

Here’s a couple of snaps for you. Video to come.

Captain Ryan Horner flies the Phantom.

Captain Ryan Horner flies the Phantom.

Phantom menace? Or Phantom Quadcopter? You decide.

Phantom Menace? Or Phantom Quadcopter? You decide.

 

 

Mo’ MōVI, less problems

Yesterday’s shoot at Cellnetix Laboratories was filled with enough science to totally bring out the nerd in us.

We filmed some fluorescent DNA, checked out a genetic sequencing machine and analyzed whether a human body can absorb a burrito the size of its head.

It can.

The coolest moment of the day however, was watching Jeff operate the MōVI in the lab.  Unlike the complex setup of a Steadicam, Jeff had the whole apparatus up and balanced in under 15 minutes! We took beautiful moving shots around the lab – giving some idea of the flow of the workplace. These shots will be featured in the upcoming Cellnetix movie.

Enjoy these snaps for now and keep your eyes peeled for the final piece.

Action shot!

All right, mr. red jet, I’m ready for my close up.

Reviewing the footage....

Reviewing the footage….

 

*Shot with a Canon 6D with a Canon 24 mm Cineprime lens. We shot in Cinema Look for an easier color grading match to our Sony F-55.

Travels with Jim Compton: Ethiopia

Link

We lost a friend last week – Jim Compton.

I worked with Jim at KING TV for many years. In 1999 Jim traveled with Janda Black and myself to Ethiopia to shoot a piece for the Packard Foundation.  Our task was to show the challenges the country was facing with family planning programs.  It was my first trip to Africa – Jim had been there before during his years as a correspondent for NBC. It was a long trip, three weeks as I recall. We covered a lot of ground, talked to a lot of people and got pretty sunburned, especially Jim.  I will admit that your first trip to a place like that is a pretty eye opening experience. I probably kept my eye on the ball only because of Jim’s gentle nature.  In the worst of moments, he just made it all seem like it would work out. I also totally trusted his ability to tell the story even if I could only pay attention to the pictures.

He saved me on our last night there. We were the Minister of Health’s guests at this lavish dinner, along with the “special dancers”. The Deputy Minister asked me to dance – all of the guys in Ethiopia dance together. We were the first ones on the floor. That poor little guy had never seen such bad moves. I must have looked like a frog in a blender; I just could not get into the groove of that funky Ethiopian tune. Jim cut in and ended what could have been an international incident. The best part is he never mentioned it again.

This is the story we made for the Lehrer News Hour on PBS. It’s a classic example of Jim’s writing and delivery. We’re going to miss him.

Will the real red jet please stand up?

Just recently, red jet films had the pleasure of visiting our friends at the Seattle Museum of Flight!

We got to do a little 4K filming with our new Sony F-55. We had an “up close and personal” with some of the most beautifully restored planes we have ever seen, including a couple of REAL red jets!  A big round of applause to the curators and volunteer staff for the new exhibits. Everything was stunning.

Keep your eyes peeled here for a sneak preview of our short film for the Museum of Flight. Coming soon to a blog near you …

F-55 in action at the Museum of Flight

F-55 in action at the Museum of Flight

mr. red jet films hard at play

mr. red jet – hard at play

 

MōVI M10 in Action

The MōVI M10 is a handheld 3-axis digital stabilized camera gimbal, so advanced it redefines the possibilities for camera movement. We are excited to have this new tool in our arsenal. It is the very first bit of test footage we made using the MōVI. This example was shot by a single operator using a Canon 6D and a Canon 24 mm Cine Prime lens.

In the future, a Canon C300 with a 24 Prime lens will be our standard set up.

The MōVI M10 has arrived!!!

POP QUIZ:

What can you run, jump, ride or gallop with that will produce a flawless, impeccably smooth shot?

ANSWER:

The MōVI M10 – a handheld 3-axis digital stabilized camera gimbal, so advanced, it redefines the possibilities for camera movement.

1385729_10201464147399676_1780588149_nAfter months of waiting, red jet is happy to announce that our newest baby has arrived! Oh, who are we kidding…we all know who was like a kid on Christmas morning this week – Mr. Jeff Erwin. He hasn’t had a chance to test drive this bad boy yet, but will be attending the training course soon.

We can’t wait to debut our newest Pelican Case of joy. To check out the production value that’s possible with the MōVI M10, view both of these videos. We can’t wait for you to meet red jet MōVI!


CMA Music Festival with World Vision

We were incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to attend the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, TN. The World Vision Experience Truck was stationed at the event and our task was to make a marketing video.

We watched as hundreds of people “experienced” the truck and heard firsthand what their impressions were. Good news – lots of positive feedback!

We also spent a day shooting beauty shots of the truck out on the open roads of Tennessee. Despite thunderstorms and tornado warnings, we were able to get the job done. Of course Jeff’s ability to strap GoPro™ cameras to anything at any given moment with his MacGuyver moves and contraptions made it all possible!

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The truck on display at the CMA Fan Fest

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“Jeffayetu” using Babayetu’s stick as a camera mount that people wouldn’t notice as they walked through the truck!

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Scouting locations for the driving shots!

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The truck out and about on the Tennessee roads!

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Jeff & Carly sport fashionable traffic stopping vests during their mission!

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Waiting for the truck to drive by….

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Jeff attaching 1 of the 5 GoPro’s to the truck

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Working his magic!

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One moment the sky looked like this! The next it looked like…

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THIS!

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…and THAT’s a wrap Nashville!!

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