FRC 2011
Once more into the Breach. Three days to shoot and cut a piece and deliver it to a live event at 2:30 pm of the third day. Shooting on the Canons adds an extra dimension to the post process as the transcoding takes up a lot of time.
We added in location shots to the mix this year too, which meant running out solo with the Dolly and hoping for one clear evening to shoot the St. Louis Arch before it rained.
I only had time to use the Dolly for about an hour during the event before I had to pack it and get back to running between handheld, Media Managing and editing.
The lighting of the space was another huge challenge as it was a constantly changing mixture of flourescent, sodium vapor, tungsten and what ever else was around. Add in 38,000 kids running around with Parents and mentors, celebrities and everything else that a world Championship robotics competition entails and you get a tough moving tableau to work with - not to mention some very specific requirements from my clients.
We over shoot this project as well as it becomes the official resource for the US FIRST organization to use for PSA's, short films and other documentary work for the rest of the year.
I struggled with this one a bit as I am trying to make changes to how we shoot while still keeping true to telling the entire story and keeping within the desired format. Im beginning to feel like it was somewhat special, but it was a tough slog to the line in such a short time.
Oh and I cut a 10 minute loop for video wallpaper to play on a 60 foot LED screen during the opening to the Black Eyed Peas concert, if getting this project done wasn't enough.
In the end, the clients were happy and hopefully the footage does some good later on.
For more information on FIRST Robotics visit usfirst.org
Director: Peter Nicoll
Additional Photography: David Lyman
Composer: Greg Kuehn
Executive Producer: Steve Sargent
Gear List: Canon 7D and 5D, 24-105 L, 70-200L II, 17-55 EF-S, Tokina 11-16 2.8, Zeiss 50mm 1.4, SmallHD DP6, Ikan VX-7, Red Rock Micro parts, GoPro HD, home made egg timer, Mathews Clamps, CineArms, Gorilla Pod, Film Tools Rigging Hardware, Satchler SB8 with Carbon Fiber Speedlegs, MicroDolly, Macbook Pro, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Nattress effects, CalDigit Vr Mini