Narrative Thread

Recently, I had a good friend of mine ask me to take some photos of her daughter's birthday party. I was a little worried that I would end up feeling like Martin Scorsese from the American Express commercial, and lose the narrative thread. 

Two old rules in filmmaking, don't work with kids or dogs. But for some reason, they are the most fun. Here are some of my favorite shots.

 I am also available for Weddings and Bah Mitzvahs:)

Visuals Reel

A compilation of some of my recent commercial, motion graphics and visual effects work.

Ashes

A song by Dawnee Frinta

A film by MIchael Eggert

Shot on a two hacked Panasonic GH1's at 23.976 fps, with a Kiron 28mm f 2.0, Canon FL 35mm f2.5, Canon FL 55mm f1.2.

Edited in Final Cut Pro.

Color Graded in After Effects and DaVinci Resolve.

ASHES

Well I planted a garden in your backyard
Everyday I loved it more
And I gave it everything I had to give
Never asking myself what for
I prayed it wouldn't wither and waste away
All your flowers die these days

So won't you lay me in the garden if I must go
Let my sins melt away like fire in the snow
Should my heart break leave me there I've got to know
They say from ashes, flowers grow

Then I planted a garden of my own
I didn't see it as fancy or fine
But I gave it everything I had to give
Good or bad well, I knew it was mine
I was sure that it would wither and waste away
All my flowers are fine these days

So won't you lay me in the garden if I must go
Let my sins melt away like fire in the snow
Should my heart break leave me there I've got to know
They say from ashes, flowers grow

I need to know that if I break down
If I gave in
If I made a sound
If I break apart
If I rise above
I need to know

So won't you lay me in the garden if I must go
Let my sins melt away like fire in the snow
Should my heart break leave me there I've got to know
They say from ashes, flowers grow
From ashes, flowers grow
From ashes, flowers grow

From Stark Raving Calm, released October 12, 2012.

Vocals, Bass, Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion - Lil' Dawnee
Drums, Percussion, Ambient Guitars - Mr. John Wells
Nashville Guitar - Jonathan Chi
Violins - Mike Starr
Cellos - Ken Oak
Additional Percussion - Greg Berella
String arrangements - Lil' Dawnee and Mr. John Wells

ldfrinta.bandcamp.com

Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout Results

After a month of waiting, the results are finally in, and boy are they interesting.

• Camera A - Sony F3
• Camera B - Panasonic GH2
• Camera C - RED Epic
• Camera D - Apple iPhone 4S
• Camera E - Canon C300
• Camera F - Arri Alexa
• Camera G - Canon 7D
• Camera H - Sony F65
• Camera I - Sony FS100

My top three from the blind taste test last month turned out to be the Sony F65 (H), Arri Alexa (F) and the Panasonic GH2 (B).  Super stoked to see the little GH2 holding it's own against the big boy cameras.  Even more happy, that I did not pick the RED Epic.

Some food for thought, both the Sony F65 and the Arri Alexa retail somewhere between $60,000 to $85,000.  The Panasonic GH2, lists for under a thousand bucks. 

That should save you enough money for some really kick ass craft services:)

Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012

The much anticipated first part of "The Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012" is now live on Zacuto's site.

 Featuring a blind taste test between the following cameras:

• Apple iPhone 4S 
• Arri Alexa 
• Canon C300 
• Canon 7D 
• Panasonic GH2 Un-Hacked
• Panasonic GH2 Hacked
• RED Epic
• Sony FS100
• Sony F3 
• Sony F65 

This test really shows that it is no longer about what camera you use, but how you use it. In the hands of a talented DP, any of these cameras (with the possible exception of the iPhone) can produce cinematic quality images.

Can you tell which image belongs to which camera?  Click on any image to see a higher quality 1920 x 1080 frame grab.  Keep in mind that these images are compressed frame grabs from an already compressed online video and do not reflect the total quality of the original image.

My favorite image rendering belongs to that of Camera H, with second place going to that of Camera F, and third place to Camera B. I think Camera H does the best job representing the dynamic range of the scene while maintaing pleasing skin tones.  Did I pick the Arri Alexa? The RED Epic? Or the Hacked Panasonic GH2? Only Zacuto knows for sure, so I guess we will have to wait and see.

Kudos to Steve Weiss and all the talented people that contributed their time and expertise in making this a great resource for filmmakers.

Stay tuned for Part Two coming in July!

P.S. If Camera D wasn't the iPhone 4S, I will eat my shorts:)
 

Compositing Reel

I took some time off from working on commercials and decided to focus more on compositing, my first true love:)

Dedicated to Laurie & Aslan.

Break-Downs:
Ice Queen - Shot by Hollywood Camera Work
Matte Painting, Particle Simulation, Compositing, Grading

Knight Templar - Shot by Brad Haskell, Sean Isom & Michael Eggert
Rotoscoping, Particle Simulation, 3D Tracking, Compositing, Grading

Tanker Walker - Shot by Nicolas Germon & Michael Eggert
Rotoscoping, Motion Tracking, Compositing, Grading

Clones - Shot by Michael Eggert
Rotoscoping, Compositing, Grading

Disney Hall - Shot by Michael Eggert
Rotoscoping, Planar Tracking, Paint, Compositing, Grading

Hanging Man - Shot by Michael Eggert
Rotoscoping, Motion Tracking, Compositing, Grading

Software:
After Effects, Nuke, Mocha, Boujou, Silhouette, Resolve, FInal Cut Pro, Photoshop

Check it out in full HD on Vimeo.

Gravity - Color Grading & Visual Effects

I had a lot of people asking about the color grading and visual effects for my spot "Gravity". So here is a shot by shot comparison of the original raw footage and the finished shots with final color grading and visual effects.

"Gravity" was filmed on two hacked GH1's and was recorded as flat as possible and underexposed by one stop to preserve highlight detail and to provide a little more latitude during grading.

AVCHD FHD
1920x1080
23.976fps
1/50 Sec.
100 ISO
Nostalgic Mode
-2 -2 0 0

Edited in Final Cut Pro.

Composited in After Effects.

Color Graded in Color.

Video Contest News Picks Gravity for Top 25!

Looks like Beardy at Video Contest News still doesn't quite grasp the gravitas of our commercial, but it still made his Top 25!

Suck it Beardy:)

The Colorist - Coming Soon!

I will be launching a new site devoted entirely to the art and science of Color Grading for television and feature films. The Colorist will feature in depth HD training for Apple Color, DaVinci Resolve, Assimilate Scratch, Autodesk Smoke and RedCine-X.

Coming first quarter of 2012! Stay tuned for updates!

Gravity and the Girl Website!

Our new website for our Doritos commercial "Gravity", is now live at gravityandthegirl.wordpress.com! Check it out for all things "Gravity"!

Pug Attack Sound Designer Likes Gravity!

I got a nice email from Patrick Knipe, the sound designer on last year's million dollar winning spot, "Pug Attack". He was cool enough to wish me luck and said, "Your commercial is really good, great job, it had me laughing". Thanks Patrick!

Video Contest News Says Gravity is Top Twenty!

Beardy over at Video Contest News was nice enough to review "Gravity".

Here is what he said, "This one is a really strong submission. The effects and photography are great and it was very well cast and acted and good call on having your actress wear those shorts. Right now I’d say your spot is one of the 20 best I’ve seen so far."

Thanks Beardy! Keep up the great work you are doing for the video contest community.

Fifth Graders Love Gravity!

Here is an email we recieved from a fifth grade teacher in San Diego.

"So, I showed the "new" Doritos spec to all 3 grps. today...they are completely entranced, and if you, Lauren and Luis ever wanted to boost your ego/day, you could come to speak to all my classes. They are all completely into this commercial (Look at the way she's standing! Notice how she sighs...and Luis, that impish grin--they can all relate!) If my students could vote, you all would WIN in a heartbeat. Thanks, as always, for keeping us updated. I know Doritos sales are soaring in Southcrest." - Terry

Those are some smart kids, I still have no idea what impish means:) Thanks Terry!

Doritos® - Gravity - 15,000 Hits & Still Climbing!

We now have over 15,000 views of "Gravity" on Vimeo! Which is a great honor, since Vimeo is the place for video professionals to share their work. Thanks guys!

Doritos® - Gravity - Rock Climbing/ Bouldering Reviews - Part 4

Just like the voices in Kevin Costner's head, "If you build it, they will come", my voices said, "If you film it, they will watch." And they have, and they continue to do so in great numbers. "Gravity" continues to be a big hit with climbers the world over and is now featured on the The Northeast Climbing Magazine, climberism.com, as well as the russian version of Facebook, vkontakte.ru.

Gravity is also featured on the blog for touchstoneclimbing.com, where they compare our commercial against a spot from Citibank and Sector Watches. Here is what they said, "Doritos has their own view on rock climbing. This one may be the most accurate of the three. I've certainly had this happen a few times, but my belayer is usually reaching for a piece of pie."

It's a great compliment to have our commercial compared to professionally produced spots. I think Touchstone Climbing thought ours was a real commercial. Shhhh, don't tell them, just let them enjoy it:)

Doritos® - Gravity Alternate Ending - Crash the Super Bowl 2012

This is the alternate ending version of "Gravity". This one is for all of you who were worried about what happens to the girl. Now you know:) Hope you like it as much as the original version. Cheers!

Click here to see the original version on Vimeo.

A commercial for Doritos.

Three friends experience the highs and lows of rock climbing.

Starring: Luis Galindo, Thomas Meaney and Lauren Johnson
Written, Directed, Edited, Composited and Graded by: Michael Eggert
Assistant Director: Laurie Shishino
Sound Design by: Marty Vites
Key Grip: Albert Salazar
Rigger: Patrick Meaney
Music by: Gioachino Rossini - Overture to "Barber of Seville"

Shot on location at Stoney Point.

Shot on a two hacked Panasonic GH1's at ISO 100, 23.976 fps, with a Vivitar 17mm f3.5, Canon FD 20mm f2.8, Canon FL 35mm f2.5, Canon FL 55mm f1.2, Rainbow Imaging FL/FD Adapter and LightCraft Workshop Fader ND.

Sansdisk Extreme Class 10 SDHC Card.

Rode Video Mic Pro.

Tascam DR-07.

Edited in Final Cut Pro.

Sound Designed and Mixed in Garage Band.

Composited in After Effects.

Color Graded in Color.

Check out the original version on the Dortos "Crash The Superbowl" website

Check it out on YouTube.

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Follow me on Twitter.

Check out my free HD tutorials on iTunes and at pixelphile.tv

Doritos® - Gravity - Rock Climbing/ Bouldering Reviews - Part 3

It now looks like "Gravity" has made it all the way to the Netherlands and Slovenia! We are now featured on the Slovenian site Gore-ljudje.net, where they said "Pazljivo izberite soplezalca", which loosely translates to "Carefully select the climber." And we are on the Dutch site sloper.climbing.nl where they entitled "Gravity" as "Flaw filmpje" which might mean "Light movie", at this point I can't really be sure anymore:)

Proost!

Doritos® - Gravity - 5 Stars!

Our Doritos commercial "Gravity", has a five star rating over on rockclimbing.com!

Thanks guys!

Doritos® - Gravity - 10,000 Hits & Climbing!

Thanks everybody for helping making "Gravity" such a success! We just passed over 10,000 views on Vimeo!

For those of you who have wondered what happens to the girl after the climber lands on her? That question will be answered soon in our forthcoming alternate ending version of "Gravity".

Spoiler Alert! The girl is doing just fine:)

Doritos® - Gravity - Rock Climbing/ Bouldering Reviews - Part 2

It looks like our Doritos commercial "Gravity", is a worldwide hit amongst rock climbers and bouldering aficionados. I had no idea when I shot this spot, that so many people would like it. I guess since there is very little dialog, it makes for a perfect international commercial, which anybody can understand and enjoy.

Above, you can see that we are featured on Germany's "Berg Leben" website, which translates to "Moutain Life". "Gravity" is a featured video of the week. Vielen Dank meine Freunde!

It looks like Jerry Lewis is not the only American who is big in France. We are featured on French Photographer Rogier van Rijn's blog, as well as Kairn.com, a French adventurers site. Here is what Kairn said, "Voici la dernière pub pour les chips Doritos. Attention à bien choisir vos assureurs!", which translates to "Here is the latest ad for Doritos chips. Make sure you choose your insurance!" Merci beaucoup d'amis!

And finally, our comrades in Russia at mountain.ru have been nice enough to help promote our capitalist ways. They called our commercial "Сила притяжения". which I think translates to "Attractive Power". They must have been talking about Lauren. Sorry Luis and Thomas:)

More reviews to come! Stay tuned!