I’m very excited to announce an upcoming workshop in April with Director of Photography Polly Morgan.   As some of you may remember was the DP on our short film Mobius that we shot for the introduction of the Canon C300 .    She’s fantastic at what she does and has just recently been inducted into Local 600 (The DP’s union.)   We’ll be teaching at the Palm Springs Photo Festival in a 2-day course  (April 5 and 6) where we discuss lighting for the silver screen.

Here is a link to the workshop (Click Here) and here is  a course description and registration details:

In this two day workshop Director and Photographer Vincent Laforet and Director of Photography Polly Morgan will lead a workshop focused on lighting for cinema. Vincent will discuss the transition from lighting for still photography to the world of motion with Polly. Vincent and Polly recently collaborated on the short film “Mobius.” Students will be introduced to key concepts of lighting in the world of motion. Students will explore the different lighting tools available to cinematographers and shoot a variety of small scenes with different lighting approaches.

 There is no need to bring any equipment to this class.

 Thursday, April 5, and Friday, April 6, 2012

Register Now

With Support from: Canon USA – Explorers of Light Program / HDVideoPRO / Digital Photo Pro

How to Do Push Pull Moves Using Kessler Gear – Full Length from Preston Kanak on Vimeo.

For all of my productions that involve time-lapse, I have always utilized Kessler gear.  Because these rigs are motorized and have built in controls that allow you to execute a certain move over a specific amount of time, they are perfect for time-lapse.  However, they are also incredibly useful for push and pull moves in real time, which can add a ton of production to your piece. The above video was put together by Preston Kanak from "3 Minute Shorts".  He does a great job of explaining how to use Kessler systems in this manner, and how to best work around the issues these types of moves present, such as seeing the track in your shot.  It’s an enlightening video for those of you who have seen me talk about Kessler Gear, but not been a time-lapse shooter.  You can check out all out all of this gear on the Motion Control portion of my gear page.

Huge thanks to Preston Kanak for such a great video and his pretty incredible BTS video work at Masters in Motion late last year in Austin – the man clearly subscribes to the adage:  "I’ll sleep when I die!"

Open Your Eyes to the New Vimeo from Vimeo Staff on Vimeo.

I have long found that Vimeo is the best video hosting site out there.    Unlike YouTube, the focus has always been on great, user-generated content, and creating a supportive community of like-minded filmmakers.  This has meant better content to consume and more constructive talkback on pages – not to mention real world connections and collaborations made.  And in recent months, Vimeo has really made strides to engage the community with education (and I have lent a hand – you can check out my appearance in their Video School series: Behind The Glass).  And Tuesday, Vimeo announced on their blog that they are going to be implementing a new design on their site soon.

It’s always nice to see things change up a bit, as it been years since Vimeo did any upgrade to their site design, and according to their post it seems they are making changes in all of the right places, placing more emphasis on the things that have already set them apart from other Video sharing sites.  According to the post, the biggest change to be coming to the site is a greater emphasis on the videos.  This includes a resign of the video page that includes a larger video player, less distractions within the page, and more a more streamlined toolset for finding and browsing videos.  This is great, as the video player has room to grow, and the scrolling bar to the right of the player has never been the easiest to navigate.  And the second big change? A revamp of the social side of the site, with your inbox now a feed (as it is on most social media sites), as well as following features and browsing feature, all geared to better help you connect with content and filmmakers you like.  For me this is perhaps the most exciting, because Vimeo’s video quality has always been great – but what has really set it apart is its community.  The opportunity to better connect with that community is a definite plus. I’ve met quite a few good friend thru Vimeo and gotten to know their and other’s work…  it can truly be a good marketing vehicle if you will.Of course there are a whole host of other small features being updated that you can read about HERE.

 If you are interested in checking out the new design, head over to their site and sign up to be one of the beta testers.