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Indy Film Geeks connecting Technology with Local Community

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Browsing Category Lumix G 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8

Tests and films with the Panasonic Lumix G Vario HD 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8 lens

Aloha Winter indiSYSTEM Bulldog Panasonic 14-140 lens GH13

indiSYSTEM Bulldog and GH2 ETC test from Snow Storm to California Dreaming

Snow Film Test Challenges with GH2 and indiSYSTEM Bulldog and BallGrip

Most of my short films come out of making something out of nothing. This instance is no exception. This past weekend it had snowed in Philadelphia and I thought it would be a great opportunity to shoot a test with the Panasonic GH2 camera and indiSYSTEM Bulldog and BallGrip rig using a few of my legacy zoom lenses. I first set up my Schneider Variogon 18-90mm c-mount lens with GH2 and indiSYSTEM Bulldog rig. I tested everything indoors pulling focus with my Chrosziel follow focus and 80mm SNAP! Gear fitted snugly on the lens and felt pretty good to go but as soon as I stepped out the door it was a different story. I could barely see the GH2 LCD screen with the snow falling everywhere and white brightness all around and I had forgotten my variable ND filter so I was getting utter crap. The camera and rig were getting icy and wet and I was just about to call it quits when I remembered I brought Tim Ovel's hacked GH13 with me in my bag as a backup. It had the Panasonic 14-140mm lens and I set the lens to autofocus and kept trudging onward. Since my gear was wet anyway I set the GH2 and Bulldog rig in the fresh heap of snow and took a few quick snow pics of the gear. I then gave the GH13 and Panasonic 14-140mm a quick spin on the Bulldog as I walked back through the falling snow. The 14-140mm lens in AF mode allowed me to press record with out worrying about looking at my snow filled LCD screen leaving me with at least some usable footage.

When the snow finally stopped I decided to go back out to give my legacy lenses one more try on the Bulldog rig. This time I wanted to shoot with the Angenieux 8-64mm c-mount lens which was the first legacy zoom lens that I purchased for the GH1. It's not a perfect lens by any means and is riddled with some of the problems that many c-mount zooms have on the m4/3 system but I was thrilled by the character of the lens and the ability to see it in action with the new GH2 ETC mode. It really shines with it's sharpness, contrast and color around the 20mm to 50mm focal range. The 8mm wide end has heavy vignetting and edge distortion and at 62mm, the longest reach of the lens, you'll see a couple metal edges of the interior of the lens in your shot. Despite these issues, I was just thrilled to finally use this lens with the new GH2 Extended Tele Conversion mode. The GH2's ETC is really bringing to life many of these smaller c-mount zoom lenses and primes because you can finally fill most of the frame of the sensor and record using the full resolution of the camera. Another nice feature of the Angenieux 8-64mm c-mount lens on the GH2 is that it gives the indiSYSTEM Bulldog that steadicam feel because the rig is so light weight. I'll talk a little bit more about this lens in more detail in a separate post. You can pick out the Angenieux 8-64mm footage pretty easily. It's all the Philly footage shot right after the snow storm.

Aloha Winter Notes

With the challenges of the snow and with footage that was varied and shot with different lenses I decided I would have to go back to the drawing board and figure out how I can put this all together. To help me in the process I decided to look over some test footage I shot with the GH2 over the holidays. I was in Southern California and spent some time with family in Oceanside, CA. Oceanside is a small beach town just on the outskirts of San Diego and home to an eclectic mix of of surfers, folks who love the beach and military personel who live and work near Camp Pendelton. There's a beautiful pier at Oceanside and I did a few tests with the GH2 and Contax G 28mm lens using the indiSYSTEM Bulldog and BallGrip. Looking at this warm beach footage and the joy of seeing my nephew and his love for his "Aunty Gayle" as he dragged her around the beach pier just made me think of the Hawaiian song "Ku'u Lei 'Awapuhi". It is just the song that comes to mind that always makes me long for home especially during a Philadelphia snow fall. The song was written in 1951 for the remake of the movie "Bird of Paradise". I thought it would be a perfect song to connect these two winter stories together. One of my favorite versions of this song is by Tia Carrere and Daniel Ho whom I admire greatly. Their version of "Ku'u Lei 'Awapuhi" with Tia's beautiful voice and Daniel's wonderful counterpoint with ukulele is quite evocative and filled with a childlike innocense and spirit of longing and reminescense. Their newest collaboration `ikena won them both a Grammy for best Contemporary Hawaiian album.

Here are the words to this beautiful piece.

Ku`u Lei Awapuhi
- Words & music by Emily Kekahaloa Namau`u Taylor

E ku`u aloha e (e o)    I call, my beloved (answer)
`Auhea la `oe (e ia no au)   Where are you (Here I am)
A huli aku au ia `oe    Return to me

Auhea la `oe e ke aloha   Where are you, my love
‘Awapuhi pala o ka ua noe   Like the ginger, covered in the misty rain
A eia no me au     Here, I am with you
I ka poli o ke aloha    In love’s sweet embrace

E ku`u aloha e (e o)    I call, my beloved (answer)
`Auhea la `oe (e ia no au)   Where are you (Here I am)
A huli aku au ia `oe    Return to me

Aloha Winter
a gary san angel film test

Cameras:
Panasonic GH2
Panasonic GH13

Lenses:
Panasonic 14-140 f/4.0-5.8 lens
Contax G 28mm f/2.8 lens
Angenieux 8-64mm f/1.9 lens
Schneider Variogon 18-90mm f/2.0 lens

Rig:
indiSYSTEM Bulldog
indiSYSTEM BallGrip

Music:
Ku'u Lei 'Awapuhi
Tia Carrere & Daniel Ho
Hawaiiana

Location:
University City, Philadelphia
Oceanside, CA

Mary Seng & Barney Seng with photo of their mom at Love Park

Inside Lovely to Me

Taiyo Na in front of “Colors of Light” Chinatown Mural by Josh Sarantitis

To commemorate this Thanksgiving weekend. I thought it would be appropriate to send this beautiful music video out to the world called "Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother)" by New York based artist Taiyo Na from his debut album Love is Growth. I completed the final cut of the music video version of the piece on Thanksgiving day and thought it would be nice to share my reflections and process as it relates to working with communities. I'll also be sharing some of the technical aspects of the process and a few reviews of some Studio 4 Production and Wondlan gear that helped us greatly with the production of the piece. I thought I'd first start off by sharing some of my reflections on how this piece was created.

Loc Nguyen's Mom and Brother at their home in Northeast Philadelphia

Last April of 2009 for the grand opening of the Asian Arts Initiative we had a number of amazing artists bless the new space with their artistry and community spirit. Taiyo Na was one of those amazing artists. When he got on stage with just his voice and guitar he moved me to tears with his song Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother) from his debut album Love is Growth. For weeks after I had an idea of trying to do a community arts project that would combine both documentary and music video elements together with this beautiful song and to set it in Philadelphia's Chinatown and Love Park.

Mary Seng & Barney Seng holding an old photo of their mom at Love Park

We were fortunate enough to have Taiyo perform again for the Asian Arts Initiative banquet and fundraiser later that month and I mustered up a bit of courage and asked Taiyo if he had anyone put visuals to this song. He tried but it didn't pan out at the time so I talked to Taiyo about the possibility of creating something special and Philly based for this song and that it would be shot using the Panasonic GH1. I told Taiyo as soon as that little camera comes in we'll shoot it. A few months passed as I waited ever so patiently for the GH1 to arrive. It wouldn't come until mid summer so everything was on a holding pattern. As we waited, I was concurrently working on another project with David Lin, an artist and director friend of mine from Los Angeles. We were in the process of collecting stories for a short documentary on Jook Songs , an Asian American writing and performing troupe at Yale University that David began over ten years ago. Because of time and funding issues, I had the idea of passing around the GH1 camera to members of the group around the country and filming a day in their lives. I wanted to test this concept out locally here in Philly and thought it would be great to have community members from the Asian Arts Initiative film their mothers and grandmothers for the Lovely to Me music video. I wanted to just put the camera in the hands of the community, allow each person to film the everyday moments of their moms from washing dishes, to doing laundry, to cooking traditional foods, working a local mom and pop restaurant or shop in Chinatown or just sitting, resting and being.

Lai Har Cheung with camera captures her grandma Lau Fong in Chinatown's On Lok House 

I approached David with the idea of being a producer on Lovely to Me because of the community element that is both shared with the Jook Songs documentary that we were working on and he was all for sharing his resources to create this new piece. With our GH1 and gear in place, I approached Taiyo again at the end of the summer in order to deepen the concept of the piece.

Eric Law captures his mom Wai Man Ip in front of their store, Chinese Culture and Arts Inc. in Philly Chinatown

I wanted to bring that feeling for me growing up looking at old 8mm film footage of my family when they first came to Los Angeles from the Philippines. It was that faded slightly dirty look with those tints of green and deeper saturated blues and red that I remember from those old pictures and film reels that captured a distinct memory of family and our own immigrant stories.

Here are some of the pictures I used for the inspiration for the look and feel of the film:

My Uncle Meng, Auntie Lina, & Auntie Welma (1970s)

Me and My Dad (Isagani) & Mom (Fe) with my Auntie Lina who helped raise me

You know some things are just meant to be.

I wanted to find an old camera to use for the piece so I went on craigslist and found a Cine-Kodak Magazine 16 camera for sale on a listing out in Orange County, CA.

Taiyo Na with Cine-Kodak Magazine 16 prop camera still works!

I called up the owner who said it was his father's old camera and he had held on to the camera in it's original box for a few years after his father passed away. His father was a camera collector and loved photography and filmmaking. He sold many of his old lenses and gear but this was one of his fathers last pieces from his camera collection. Though he was hesitant at first to do a cross country sale, he loved the idea of the project and sold me the camera because it would be used in this film and go back to the East Coast where his dad was originally from. The idea of passing the camera from one person to the next, is the idea of passing on our individual histories in order to create a collective story, this is a touch point of the piece and why Taiyo at the end passes the camera to the next generation. This idea for the film was inspired by this cross country craigslist sale.

Al Robles with manong from Curtis Choys Manilatown is in the Heart

Manong Al Robles with elder manong from Curtis Choy's Manilatown Is In the Heart

Another subtle but important aspect of the film is that it honors the people who came before us. I thought it would be an interesting twist to have Taiyo open the sequence of the film as a sort of homage to Al Robles with this old Kodak camera. Al was a gifted Filipino American community poet and community activist based in the Bay area who was instrumental in the political fight against the city of San Francisco to stop the demolition of the I-Hotel.

Manong Al Robles back in the day

He loved to hear stories of the "Old Country" and honored the Filipino elders (manongs) in much of his life and work. Definitely Curtis Choy's old footage of Al at the I-Hotel from "Manilatown Is In the Heart" is such a huge inspiration for the look of this piece. I thought it would be a nice tribute to pay homage to Al Robles by having Taiyo as a kind of community filmmaker who carries his camera in his guitar case. And begins, the community story telling process with the opening of his guitar and filming through the lens of his camera.

Aleyamma Mathew holds a picture of her father Mathew Varughese & mother Annamma Mathew

In our conversations about how to deepen and push the concept of this piece Taiyo expressed to me that it was important that the piece begin in Chinatown and start from a personal Asian American experience but that by the end of the music video it should be a song for everybody. That upon ending in Love Park that this personal immigrant mother tribute not just be for Asians but for all peoples.

Kaitlin S Dugan with her mom Lynne T. Dugan at Love Park

And this is where the Asian Arts Initiative comes in. A call was made for people to come to Philly's Love Park, to bring your mother, grandma, or person who raised you. If not in person, you could bring an old photo of your mom or even a picture of your mom in a cherished picture frame. 

Asian Arts Initiative community members at Love Park

So many people came out. Just filming each person standing in front of the Love Park sign with their old photo of their mom or with their mom in person was so moving, simple, and real.

Jes Vu holding a picture of her mother Hao Vu Le

Taiyo Na holding a picture of his mom on his birthday

There was one moment at Love Park that I knew was going to be an ending moment for the film. One of the Asian Arts Initiative's youth, Kaitlin Dugan was holding her mother so lovingly. Unrehearsed and in the moment she closes her eyes and hugs her mom deeply and says, "I love you mom." In the film we don't hear her say it. It is just the way they held each other in that moment that said it all to me. It was beautiful.

I think this was not just a music video it was a community coming together to reflect, share, and pay tribute to all our mothers. In a way, Taiyo's song brought a community of people together to create a living breathing piece of art. It gave us all an excuse to have permission to break away from the everyday routine of our lives and to take a deeper moment to remember where we all came from. Our mothers. To bring different folks together, asian, black, young, old, mixed heritage, buddhist, muslim, and everything in between, to share both our love and our struggle is rare and a powerful act of courage and hope. I hope this film captures a Philadelphia that is here and now, growing, loving and always ever changing.

Asian Arts Initiative community members wrapping up the Love Park shoot with a group pic.

This was a community arts endeavor that I nor Taiyo could not have done with out the support of the Asian Arts Initiative and the Chinatown community. I am so grateful to them and could not have done it with out them. Please take the time after you see the piece to look at the credits below and see that so many people were involved in making this piece possible and then make a contribution to support the Asian Arts Initiative and the local businesses in Philly's Chinatown. 

Loc Nguyen's Grandma picking tomatoes in her Northeast Philadelphia garden

And lastly, I hope that everyone who sees this piece can appreciate and reflect on our own mothers, grandmothers, aunts, or that special someone who raised you. I hope that you share this with your closest friends and people who you have disconnected with over time. I think it is my hope that this song and this film can touch people's lives in the same way that this song first touched me. 

"Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother)"

Artist: Taiyo Na

Album: Love Is Growth

Label: Issilah Productions

Director: Gary San Angel

Additional Credits:

Featuring the Asian Arts Initiative and the larger Philadelphia Community.

Additional Vocals: Vudoo

Violins: Jason Kao Hwang

Electric Bass: Mas Yamagata

Additional Instrumentation: Taiyo Na

Producer: David Lin

Co-Producer: Asian Arts Initiative, Gary San Angel

Chinatown & Love Park, Philadelphia

First Assistant Director: Jeff “Slope” Cylkowski

Second Assistant Director: Eric Law

Camera Operators: Kaitlin S. Dugan, Loc Nguyen

Mom & Grandma Everyday Life Movie Clips

Camera Operator – Mom / Grandma

Victoria Chau – Anna Hang

Lai Har Cheung – Lau Fong

Lo Eric Law – Wai Man Ip

Loc Nguyen – Loc's Mom – Loc's Grandma

Linda Saroeun – Linda's Mom

Love Park Community Participants

Aditi Vilayphonh & Catzie Vilayphonh

Aleyamma Mathew & Annamma Mathew and Mathew Varughese

Asdy Wan & Viola Kung

Andrea Pien

Barney Seng & Mary Seng & Sangvuth Ly

Betty Nguyen & Tina Huong Nguyen

Charles Ramirez & Cornelia K. Ramirez

Cheryl Tse

Chon Phoeuk & La Phoeuk

Eric Law

Gary San Angel & Fe San Angel

Gayle Isa & Hazel Isa

Jes Vu & Hao Vu Le

Jordan Coates & Inja Coates

Kaitlin S Dugan & Lynne T. Dugan

Keiko Kubo

Lai Har Cheung & Yuk Kan Lo

Lauren Harris & Nya Harris & Cathy Harris & Mildred Carter

Linda Saroeun & Linda's Mom

Loc Nguyen

Michael Lu

Myong Pok McCloud & Vanessa McCloud & Victor McCloud & Michelle Myers & Myong Pok Myers

Husayn al-Jamil & Sham-e-Ali al-Jamil & Juhi Nayeem

Sovansuny Uy

Ratha Chea & Sarin Sek

Taiyo Na & Taiyo's Mom

Toni Dang & Can La

Chinatown, Philadelphia

Chinese Culture and Arts Inc.

Wai Man Ip

QT Vietnamese Sandwich

Karen Tha & Mai Phan

Annie Tran & Trieu Le

Philly Chinatown Murals

“Furious Style” by Jeff Cylkowski

1219 Vine St. at Asian Arts Initiative

“History of Chinatown” by Arturo Ho, Giz, N. Phung, H. Tran

10th and Winter St.

“Colors of Light” by Josh Sarantitis

12th and Vine Street

Caterer

QT Vietnamese Sandwich

Special Thanks

Tim Ovel, Studio 4 Productions

Frederic Cheung, Wondlan

Steve Serota, Classic Camera Workshop

Asian Arts Initiative

Chinese Culture and Arts Inc.

Eric Law & Wai Man Ip

QT Vietnamese Sandwich

Karen Thai & Annie Tran

Gayle Isa

Toni Dang

Randy Hecht

Lai Har Cheung

DVXUser

Yellow Rage

© 2009 Taiyo Na & Gary San Angel
www.taiyona.com

www.componentgeek.com

www.asianartsinitiative.org

Taiyo Na Immigrant Mother Philadelphia

Singin’ and Slidin’ with Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother) Chinatown Arch

 
The indiSLIDERmini Deluxe is basically a scaled down mini version of the indiSYSTEMpro. I have the larger slider and it was a workhorse for my needs especially when I was using a 35mm adapter, rails, lens, and camera setup. It still is a great tool in my kit giving simple smooth reliability, stability and indestructible heft.
 
As the market has shifted with the advent of the DSLR there has been a growing need to have a slider that will be more compact and work well with smaller DSLR cameras. 
 
Enter the indiSLIDERmini Deluxe.
 
At just over $100 for the mini version and $169 for the Deluxe it's really a no brainer. The indiSLIDER is a must have in any kit.
 
The Deluxe has rubber mounted table legs for use on a fat surface. It also comes with a pistol grip ball socket head with a quick-release plate that allows you to rotate and lock the head with the squeeze of a trigger.
 
Right off the bat, the material of the slider is very lightweight and extra durable. When I talked to Tim Ovel from indiSYSTEM on the phone about the unit he said you could throw it around in the mud and toss it in your dishwasher and it would hold up with out a sweat. I don't have a dishwasher to try that test but I believe he and his team have tried this at home and stand behind the durability of their mini slider and for good reason.
 
One of the biggest pluses with using the inidiSLIDERmini is that you can toss the slider in with your tripod bag and drag it around with you where ever you go. Gone are the days where you stop and think, should I take my slider, nah.. it's too heavy. There are no excuses anymore because it'll always be there in your bag no matter what.
 
 
We used the indiSLIDERmini Deluxe on our shoot for Taiyo Na's Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother). Because of the need to be stealthy and not to draw too much attention it was really a treat to set up, roll and run around town with out a sweat.
 
 
 
When we got to Love Park we used both the larger indiSLIDER and the indiSLIDERmini. As you can see, pairing the mini with the GH1 was really a nice fit compared to the larger pro version which has the added weight and setup time.
 
(+)
  1. Perfect for the new DSLRs like the GH1 and Canon 7D and T2i.
  2. It's small and compact can fit where ever you go.
  3. The Deluxe pistol grip is a nice feature and allows for steady and smooth control
  4. Very lightweight (compared to the heavy duty pro version, I take this where ever I go)
  5. Durable if needed you can get this dirty and throw it in your dishwasher!
(>)
 
Couple things I would hope that Tim could solve in my tests with the indiSLIDERmini to make it even better:
 
  1. There is a little looseness with my unit so as you push-in and stop there is a slight tilt back. During the shoot to counter that issue I merely used one hand on the grip head and and other head on the base of the carriage and that seemed to smooth the shot out. Later, I also unscrewed the carriage and put just a little bit of felt between the carriage and the rail so that the carriage was situated more firmly with out the chance of tilting forward or back because of the camera weight and head.
  2. Though it may not fit in my camera bag, I would love to have a longer version. I think 24" is nice when you are shooting close but having 36" would be even to do some more creative moves. I don't know how that would effect the weight and the possible tilt factor but with a solid tripod locked down it may not be much of a problem to have that extra bit of length.
  3. One thing I noticed is that when you use wide lenses like a 14mm or 24mm you can see the rails in your frame as you move along the track. One possible solution is on the deluxe version to have the pistol grip have the ability to rotate away from the track so as not to see the track in the frame on a wide shot. Currently, when you place the pistol grip in a horizontal position (camera is now vertical) you can move the camera so it's not seeing the track. Only thing is that your image is vertical and you would need a small ball head to connect to the quick release plate of the pistol grip and to the camera in order to move your camera back into a horizontal position. The other possibility would be to use a noga arm to get the camera higher. I'll have to try that and see if that provides an alternative solution.

Overall, theses are really minor inconveniences on the wish list and for the price you pay for a mini slider it's really a non issue to me. I've been able to resolve and make my own fixes as mentioned here.

Here is a one sample of the indiSLIDERmini Deluxe in action from Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother). Though the use of the slider here is more subtle in terms of movement what it allowed us to do more importantly is frame our shot without having to move the tripod around since the slider rail allowed us quick flexibility to move our camera to frame up our shots quickly and with little adjustment. So crazy cool slider moves are not in these samples, it's more subtle.

This outtake from Taiyo Na's Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother) was shot in front of the famous Chinatown Arch in Philadelphia and a few shots in front of the "History of Chinatown" mural on 10th and Winter St. created by Arturo Ho, Giz, N. Phung, and H. Tran. Again, this clip shows a subtle example of the use of the indiSLIDERmini with the Panasonic GH1 and stock 14-140mm lens. I needed subtle movement here because the final version would inter cut with the community footage which is what I wanted folks to think about as they watched the piece.

Pegasus BBoy

Pegasus II First Impressions

It was a sweltering hot humid day in Philadelphia, not the kind of day to be shooting outside not unless you want to be dripping wet with sweat. Because of the heat factor, I was forced to do my first tests indoors at a local community arts center called the Asian Arts Initiative. I'm the Technical Director and work part time with adults and youth teaching theater and video programs.

Today, they had a youth lounge where youth have open space to focus on their craft. I was fortunate enough to be able to sit in on the youth B-Boy (Break dancers) crew, The Dreamers as they honed their b-boy skills and I thought this would also be a perfect opportunity to see the Pegasus II in action with the GH1.

For this preliminary test, I wanted to use the lowest common denominator and set the GH1 on its (iA) auto settings using the stock 14-140 lens because I knew the camera and Pegasus II would be in the hands of other youth who have never used a steadicam or a camera like the GH1. In that way, we could test if put in the hands of a complete novice is the Pegasus II and GH1 easy to use and can you still get some decent footage even when using default automatic settings? All the footage was shot at 1080/24P AVCHD with pull down removed via NeoScene.

It was important for me to just keep things raw including the audio in order to see what's working well and what's not.

Here are my initial observations of the Pegasus II with the GH1:

(+) Plus Side

Over all I have to say the Pegasus II and the GH1 make a nice pair. To shoot a B-boy crew you have to be able to move the camera at different levels and move out of the way if necessary. And you have to be unobtrusive. If you had a large rig then I think they would feel the pressure of feeling like they had to be “on” and perform well and in most cases what usually happens is that they are not as relaxed and won't do as good of a job.

For the small size of the Pegasus II and the GH1 there were only a couple times when the guys looked at the camera with the awareness of “oh, I’m being filmed!” but for the most part The Dreamers could be themselves. I think this is a key factor in doing documentary work and the low profile attributes of the GH1 and Pegasus II help in that regard. In fact, since the Pegasus II can easily breakdown and is compact I threw it into my messenger bag rather than using the case provided. It’s always a big plus for me to not have to worry about lugging around another piece of gear that may potentially get lost.

Overall, the nice thing I noticed was that it did not feel heavy and you were able to shoot for longer periods of time with out getting tired. It still takes some getting used to and there’s still weight on it so you will get tired. But I think for the hour and a half that I shot, it was very nice to know that at the end of the day my unfit body didn’t feel strained in any way from the shoot.

The quality of the Pegasus II is very good. When I looked at the gear it reminded me of the kind of quality and machine work that I received with my previous Letus gear. It seems that little by little the Chinese manufactures are getting better at creating quality products. Even the gimbal system was a nice surprise. It was one of the functions of the unit that in pictures gave me a little pause because the design looked like it was made with a threaded bolt going into a metal joint but in use, at least with the GH1, it seemed to work surprisingly well.

(>) Challenges

Using any kind of video stabilizer definitely needs some getting used to and this is no exception.

Partly do to this was Wondlan’s first units to have English instructions, the translations still need to be worked on to so I had to follow the visual cues from the DVD that was provided. It did take me a little longer than I had expected to get started but hopefully I can provide a few tips for those who do pick up the Pegasus II when using the GH1.
I'm still working on optimizing the balance of the GH1 unit and it seems to me that when using the Pegasus II you are constantly adjusting and optimizing the balance of the camera depending on what you are shooting. And in my case, where we were shooting a group of dancers that were dancing low to the ground, I needed to use the front and back adjusting knob many times to move the position of the GH1 to get better ground coverage. But the front-back locking lever which releases the plate is awkwardly placed just below where the GH1 sits and the left-right fine adjusting knobs get in the way of unlocking and locking the plate.

Making right to left adjustments is easy on the fly but getting that front and back adjustment on the fly, you have to stop shooting. I think Wondlan can easily resolve this by changing the position of the right and left adjusting levers and making the front-back adjusting knob and locking knobs bigger and more durable so that you don’t have to stop shooting to make a front to back plate adjustment.

Also, it may be just my unit, but if you don’t loosen the front to back locking wrench all the way then it’s a little tricky to slide the plate into place. I actually don’t mind this too much because it’s a nice safety precaution. There were a few times where I was making a front to back adjustment and released the locking mechanism too far so the plate just tipped far forward and in that moment I thought, “There goes my new GH1 camera!!!” But the locking lever saved me because it has to be released almost completely out before the plate can slide freely.

As you all probably know using a stabilizer, you are reduced to not touching the lens, if you do then you will notice camera shake big time, making your footage a little buoyant looking like you were a ship lost at sea. The Pegasis II gimbal system is rather sensitive probably because the GH1 is a pretty small camera. You have to use your other hand to guide the camera ever so slightly so that your movements don’t send the camera pointing to the wrong direction. Placing a hand on the GH1 fold out viewfinder actually helps in that regard as well as obviously not creating any fast jerky movements.

(?) Keep it or Sell it

From my initial first tests with the GH1 the Pegasus II is definitely a keeper. I've used a steadicam and with a steadicam you have much more control and ability to finesse your shot but you literally have to be rigged up which takes time not to mention it can get heavy after a while. Obviously, there's a huge price difference and if you want true steadicam footage then get a real steadicam or merlin but for roughly about a little over $300 when you add shipping costs from China you have a really great low profile, stick in your small backpack, “mini steadicam”.

As a documentary filmmaker, this is a great tool for stealthy situations and for those narrative movies where you are shooting in public spaces it doesn’t draw too much attention. And for event shooting well it’s one thing you can throw and fit in your tripod bag and may be a nice option if you don’t like the monopod and like to be roaming about.
Again, these are initial tests I’ll be doing a few more tests with the unit but all in all its a pretty impressive piece of gear especially for the price. Thanks for looking and hope this information is giving folks some options and things to consider when shooting with new DSLRs like the GH1.

Notes on 1080/24P AVCHD-

So some of you may have seen the earlier versions of this footage. It looked like crap! Lot's of macroblocking and compression issues. After hours of testing with the Cineform (422) MOV container I noticed that FCP was seeing the clips as having a framerate of 59.94 as if the pulldown was never removed. So instead, I used the Prores MOV container and FCP sees the clips as 23.98 and the footage is so much cleaner. Seeing the H.264 footage even compressed looks clean. I'm still trying to figure out what the problem is with the Cineform (422) MOV container footage but for those who are using the GH1 and filming dancers with lots of movement I think despite the file size the quality of the Prores MOV container is much better.

Pegasus Jump Test

Pegasus II Jump Test

One of the members over at DVXUser asked me to do a simple test with the Pegasus II, a jump test as well as a test to show some simple panning left to right with the Pegasus rebalanced with more weights I thought I'd show the results here. I also added a brisk back and forth walk test. This was shot on the upstairs Mezzanine level of the Asian Arts Initiative. The safety railing looks a little off and one might think the camera was not properly balanced but the building is old and the floor is not exactly level. Just thought I'd let you know that in case you were wondering.

I have not found the ideal balance of the weights of the Pegasus II system yet but I am getting close. My feeling over all is that if you are shooting and doing simple to moderate tracking movements you should be able to capture some real nice results using the Pegasus II. As I stated in my previous post, practice and a little anticipation will help capture more intricate movements but overall you will get the bobbing head of the camera effect as it tries to move back into position from a quick move. Unless you are able to use your free hand to guide the camera, running or even fast walking does not seem like a reality with this unit as you can see from the clip. Still though, with the new weights it is much more fluid and has a significant amount of control.

As with any piece of gear, my feeling is that there are some limitations using the Pegasus II. You just have to work within these limitations in order to get consistent results. Also, something that I think all GH1 users have to deal with is using the stock lens and autofocus when using a video stabilizer. As you can see from the clip, the auto focus kicks in and out especially in low light situations or fast movement.

Tremayne Skater

Pegasus II on GH1 More Weight

With the help of a few folks at DVXUser and also from Frederick Cheung distributor for Wondlan products, I was able to balance the Pegasus II unit better by adding some additional weights. I still don't think I have it right exactly because when doing the push-front pull-back test that Wondlan recommends the camera still dips down and back up. But rather than spend all day figuring out the best setting I readjusted the weight as best as I could and quickly went to shoot the opening reception of "Furious Style!" involving New York based visual artist Jeff Cylkowski.

This first set of clips was part B of the initial test of the Pegasus II DV Stabilizer which includes some tracking shots and skater footage.

Pegasus II DV Stabilizer with the GH1 – Tracking & Skate Test – 1080/24P AVCHD from Gary San Angel

You'll notice in the footage that the The Pegasus II unit was not weighted down enough so it does sway side to side or up and down a bit and unfortunately because of this problem the skater footage was really bad so what I have attached on the tail end of this footage are just the usable shots.

All this footage was shot at the Asian Arts Initiative, a community arts center in Philadelphia and the youth are participating in the Youth Lounge where students can come on a Tuesday or Thursday to hang out and develop their own skills in their own discipline or to learn something new.

The footage was shot at 1080/24P and for days I was having tremendous problems getting NeoScene to transcode the footage on a MAC using the Cineform (422) MOV quicktime container. I've figured out some possible workarounds. For now, I'd say when you use the cineform container always set it to best and don't work from a preset there seems to be a bug where sometimes the clips transcode without changing the framerate to 23.98.

This is test shoot #2 using the Pegasus II with the GH1.

Pegasus II DV Stabilizer with the GH1 – More Weights! – 1080/24P AVCHD from Gary San Angel

As I said, I had to shoot some B-roll and document "Furious Style!," a youth-centered exhibition led by NYC based artist Jeff Cylkowski at the Asian Arts Initiative.
Kaitin Dugan, who is one of my students in our Tech Apprenticeship program guides us on a tour of the artwork and theater space in this clip. You'll see some artwork, very enthusiastic youth who love to be on camera and Jeff the artist and instructor as he talks a little bit about the work.

These clips are all raw. Again, this is just for the purposes of showing the Pegasus II at work in a typical event type shoot. The audio was recorded from the camera. It sucks. Actually, when the subject is close to the camera and there is no competing noise it's usable but when we went into the gallery space with the crowd and DJ music playing, the voice gets lost.

At least for those who are looking at using the GH1 as a documentary type camera or event camera you can see what is usable camera audio and what is clearly not.
Also, I Ieft the clip long so you can shuttle threw it and see the Pegasus II and it's use over a period of time. Walking though a crowd, walking up stairs, it did pretty well.
There were a few spots with a fast turn or so that gravity made the camera sway but for the most part the extra weight helped. I still think I can get some better settings and tweak the weights a little more.

For the most part the Pegasus II will sway from right to left or up and down if the movement is sudden or jerky. As long as it's not that, the Pegasus II was was much better and the camera was able to move to where I needed it to go. The nice thing I noticed this time around is that I could move and track Kaitlin's movement as she walked though the gallery and the crowd with out having to use my other hand to turn the camera.

There is definitely a way where if you work with the gimbal long enough you can counter balance and move the handle to the right place before the camera head starts to turn or sway. Practice and anticipation is the name of the game here.

I think on the second shoot with the Pegasus II I'm still pretty happy with the results especially with the price point. Sure a steadicam has a lot more control, steadyness, and flexibility. There's no question. If you really need a steadicam shot that requires you to be doing sudden changes and moves this unit will take time to learn in order to achieve that level of precision. If you need a steadicam type unit that is compact and can give you some great stability with out a lot of fatigue I think this unit delivers that.
Personally, I'm glad to be able to have some test shoots with the unit before doing a real shoot. I think the Pegasus II does need practice so that you can create your own workarounds for shots that may require the operator to move quickly.

Jeff-Skater

Jeff Cylkowski – Skater Shot

So after my first test with the GH1 I realized that there was a lot of sway and I needed to correctly balance the camera with the appropriate amount of weights on the Pegasus II.
Now with the Pegasus II optimized with the appropriate weights and with me practicing with the unit for like an hour a day for a week, I decided to give it another go and see if it would be possible to do use the Pegasus II on the GH1 for skate footage. I had done a previous test with some brisk walking and jumping the night before and there was still some sway to the footage so I adjusted my weights again and this is the new results so far.

Jeff Cylkowski, visual artist in residence at the Asian Arts Initiative, was kind enough to let me film him doing a couple skate board runs this past week one very hot and humid Philly evening as the sun was coming down. The first tracking shot of Jeff heading toward the sun, I was following him with a slight jog. The camera did have a little dip here and there but overall much much better than the first skater footage that I posted earlier. The second tracking shot of Jeff was just an all out let's just see what happens if I run with the Pegasus II and GH1 on the street along side of him. I honestly was not expecting much but when reviewing the tape I was really shocked at how well the Pegasus II did with the new weight system and me being more comfortable with the unit. Again, I was doing my best to balance the camera and run and keep up with Jeff all at the same time. I think if we had a few more tries we may have been able to get a good solid take but it was so hot out there we had to call it. Only downside was that the AF on the camera could not track Jeff. He was moving pretty fast and so the AF clearly loses focus especially toward the end of the run.

Overall, the Pegasus II really has a lot going for it and even with its limitations is a pretty great tool to have in your arsenal. Already for me its so necessary to shoot with the Pegasus II because any camera shake is just magnified on the GH1 so even a little sway here and there from the Pegasus II is so much better than shooting hand held.
If you look at the second run, you'll see my shadow and reflection in the store windows. I'm pretty much running! It's crazy!

Chao-chang-Lee-Buddha

Filming Environmental Art

Going Green
New Environmental Art from Taiwan

Sponsored by
Council for Cultural Affairs, Taiwan
Taipei Cultural Center of TECO, New York

Presented in Partnership by
The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
and Asian Arts Initiative, Philadelphia

Recently, I met two very talented installation artists named Chao-chang Lee and Ping-yu Pan who both create art in environmental settings in Taiwan. These two very humble and amazing artists were invited to the U.S. to create installation works at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education for the "Going Green New Environmental Art from Taiwan" Exhibition which has works at the Schuylkill Center and also the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia. I thought this would be a great opportunity to test my new Metabones Contax G SNAP! Gear setup so I volunteered to document some of the performances they were both having at their installations. Because we would be out in the woods, I decided to really be low profile so I took only my indiRAILSpro MP which has a built-in follow focus and monopod. I also brought just two lenses, my Contax G 90mm and 28mm lenses. Because I was afraid the 28mm was not going to give me the full coverage I needed I also decided to be adventurous and I attached a Raynox HD-6600PRO55 .66 wide angle adapter to the 28mm making the lens approximately an 18mm lens.

One of the great things about using Contax G glass is that they are very sharp lenses and one of the challenges is that they are also very sharp lenses.

So with the GH1 this can be a problem. The screen is just not good enough to find critical focus especially in some outdoor environments like a wooded setting. Since I started to notice that I was having trouble with critical focus, I decided to play it safe and I opened up to f/4 through f/8 in order to get more depth of field in the hopes of covering myself and getting more in focus than out of focus shots. In many cases, the documentation shows some of the challenges when you have such sharp lenses. You'll see a few out of focus shots here and there so its always a learning process. Having said that when the exposure and focus was on these lenses really do now how to shine.

Most of the shots I've seen with Contax G glass have been from still photographers so seeing moving images with Contax G glass is really wonderful and very exciting. I was also just floored at how well the Raynox HD-6600PRO55 wide angle adapter did. I basically had the adapter on the 28mm lens most of the time and it was still fairly sharp with a little vignetting and softening on the corners. I've used the Raynox on a few different lenses and the vignetting and softness is much more pronounced on my other lenses. I'd say using the Raynox wide angle adapter on Contax G glass produces some very good usable footage. Overall, I really see a lot of potential for Contax G glass especially in narrative filmmaking where you have much more control over your shots. I still want to see if I can get more comfortable and use them in more of a documentary run and gun style setting but for the second time at using these lenses I think this was not a bad effort.

I'd like to thank Chao-chang Lee and Ping-yu Pan for the opportunity to meet them and to film their work.

Here is one of the pieces:

Chao-chang Lee's installation, "Everything is Buddha" uses found natural materials near the grounds of the Schuylkill Center to create a large earth drawing of a seated Buddha figure.

This film captures Chao-chang Lee's live interactive performance where visitors are invited to place their own natural objects as offerings in his installation.

For more information on the exhibition please visit:

schuylkillcenter.org
asianartsinitiative.org

Filming details:

Panasonic GH13
Contax G 28mm f/2.8
w/Raynox HD-6600PRO55 .66 wide angle adapter
Contax G 90mm f/2 lens
Metabones Contax G adapter and indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear 

Makoto Hirano Shoes

Makoto Hirano – Elemental Dance Take 1 & 2

I've been very fortunate to know Makoto Hirano over the years and to see his work grow. When I approached him about doing some tests with the GH1 and the Pegasus II I thought it would be a wonderful way to collaborate and to help him document and explore his newest solo creation "Boom Bap Tourism" which he recently performed at the Asian Arts Initiative. Actually for many years, I've seen Makoto perform with his own company of dancers, OMNiBUS, as well as with Bill Irwin, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Kate Watson-Wallace, and others. This was the first time in a long while that I saw Makoto perform solo and it is truly an amazing treat to see live and in person and I wanted to investigate and see whether we could capture some of the essence of his live work within a film context.

Years ago, I used to do a lot of physical theater and abstract movement when my body was agile and I was physically fit so it was nice to bring some of those sensibilities with me in this shoot. Joseph Santarromana, a well known California based installation and video artist, once told me that he would tell his students when filming dance to move with the camera and to have that camera be an extension of your body. When filming Makoto, I found myself taking Joe's advice and really dancing with Makoto and feeling out his emotional journey in each piece. Each time Makoto performed it was different and unique. We never scripted or talked about the shots we just sort of rode the moment. Each take is sort of a living memory of that experience and it will never be performed in that way again and I think that is why I wanted to post the process to show not only the technical use of the Pegasus II and GH1 but also how we as filmmakers must throw out the technical aspects and limitations and just allow for that organic process of collaboration between subject and viewer to naturally unfold. Obviously in doing these types of shoots, you got to practice and learn the plusses and minuses of your gear so that when it comes to that real take it's already in your body and not your head.

In the documentation of dance, usually, dancers and choreographers want to see the whole movement and space and prefer a much wider shot. I find that most filmmakers, including myself, like that tighter look to see the emotion and facial expression as well as to capture strong intimate movement. So in many respects, the clips in this test capture more of a tighter feel and what I was also feeling in the moment as the viewer of the piece. If I were recording the work for Makoto to view and study, I would definitely have gone for wider shots. But since we also had the Pegasus II to test out it was my goal to see how we can use it well and push it to see what it could do.
Clearly Makoto's influences as a B-Boy, break dancer are present especially in "Elemental Dance" where he merges B-Boy elements with everyday pedestrian-like body movements as well as organic abstraction.

Here is a version that mixes segments from Take 1 and Take 2.

One of the challenges of course was that each take was a little different and "Elemental Dance" had very specific movements that were coordinated with the beat of the sound track so it was tricky to keep the continuity. Overall, it's interesting how each take and even this mix takes the piece to a different place. In looking at the footage, you'll notice that it does sway and bounce a little definitely much less than when I first started shooting. The nice thing is when you have someone like Makoto who really pulls you in, the slight sways and bounces are not going to be noticeable to the everyday viewer. To us DPs and gear heads that's the first thing our eye goes to. Everyone else was pretty drawn into watching Makoto's intensity and movement. Overall, it's really nice to see how the Pegasus II can be used for many types of shooting situations and it is definitely a go to piece of gear not just for the "steadicam" look but also for just everyday stabilization with the GH1.

If and when Wondlan creates a Pegasus III geared for the DSLR market here are a few things that I hope they could integrate for the future.

Wondlan Pegasus III Wish List:

  • I definitely would want to be able to turn the handle from a vertical position to a completely horizontal position. Currently, you can only turn the gimbal handle half way between a vertical and horizontal position. In order to get lower body movement or a subject that is low to the ground you need to physically bend down pretty low to the ground which is really difficult to do. Also, when you place the handle in that slightly horizonal position the handle completely rests on the gimbal system frame and not the spring and you lose it's steadicam abilities.
  • I wish there was a way to adjust the tension of the gimbal in terms of it's side to side and up and down movement. If there was some king of tension screw that you could tighten or loosen it would help with the use of the Pegasus II in different shooting scenarios. If you need to move a round a bit, a feature like this would help keep the camera head from drifting to the right or the left all the time.
  • As I said in an earlier review, I think the unit needs to be slightly modified to work with DSLRs, possibly having a longer plate to set the balance as well as a little bit of a space cushion between the plate and the camera. Currently, the stock lens sits pretty darn close to the plate. One user on DVXuser forum used metal washers from Home Depot to give a little cushion between the camera and the plate.
  • I've used a little chopstick to wedge between the plate if I need to move the camera or if I need to just stabilize the shot better. It would be nice to have a very tiny grip handle that we could connect to the back of the plate in case you need that extra bit of guidance. I find that touching the camera creates a little more camera shake.
  • The front to back locking knob sits right above the left-right fine adjusting knob and one of these knobs needs to move to a different spot. Currently, I have to move the left-right adjusting knob all the way to the left before I can loosen the front to back locking knob before mounting the unit and it's a little bit of a pain.
Makoto Hirano Elemental Dance

Makoto Hirano – Elemental Dance Take 2

I've been very fortunate to know Makoto Hirano over the years and to see his work grow. When I approached him about doing some tests with the GH1 and the Pegasus II I thought it would be a wonderful way to collaborate and to help him document and explore his newest solo creation "Boom Bap Tourism" which he recently performed at the Asian Arts Initiative. Actually for many years, I've seen Makoto perform with his own company of dancers, OMNiBUS, as well as with Bill Irwin, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Kate Watson-Wallace, and others. This was the first time in a long while that I saw Makoto perform solo and it is truly an amazing treat to see live and in person and I wanted to investigate and see whether we could capture some of the essence of his live work within a film context.

Years ago, I used to do a lot of physical theater and abstract movement when my body was agile and I was physically fit so it was nice to bring some of those sensibilities with me in this shoot. Joseph Santarromana, a well known California based installation and video artist, once told me that he would tell his students when filming dance to move with the camera and to have that camera be an extension of your body. When filming Makoto, I found myself taking Joe's advice and really dancing with Makoto and feeling out his emotional journey in each piece. Each time Makoto performed it was different and unique. We never scripted or talked about the shots we just sort of rode the moment. Each take is sort of a living memory of that experience and it will never be performed in that way again and I think that is why I wanted to post the process to show not only the technical use of the Pegasus II and GH1 but also how we as filmmakers must throw out the technical aspects and limitations and just allow for that organic process of collaboration between subject and viewer to naturally unfold. Obviously in doing these types of shoots, you got to practice and learn the plusses and minuses of your gear so that when it comes to that real take it's already in your body and not your head.

In the documentation of dance, usually, dancers and choreographers want to see the whole movement and space and prefer a much wider shot. I find that most filmmakers, including myself, like that tighter look to see the emotion and facial expression as well as to capture strong intimate movement. So in many respects, the clips in this test capture more of a tighter feel and what I was also feeling in the moment as the viewer of the piece. If I were recording the work for Makoto to view and study, I would definitely have gone for wider shots. But since we also had the Pegasus II to test out it was my goal to see how we can use it well and push it to see what it could do.
Clearly Makoto's influences as a B-Boy, break dancer are present especially in "Elemental Dance" where he merges B-Boy elements with everyday pedestrian-like body movements as well as organic abstraction.

I think I personally was stronger as a camera operator on Take 2. I definitely got a better handle on how to really work the Pegasus II on that take. As I said many, many times before it takes a lot of practice to know how to balance the camera so that you can move and get the camera to go in the direction that you want with as little bounce as possible. Especially when filming dance with a Pegasus II unit you need to be moving all the time. Over all, on both takes I tried as little as possible to guide my camera with my free hand and to just balance and move the camera with my hand holding the gimbal.

Here is Take 2 of Makoto Hirano's "Elemental Dance"

Makoto Hirano Elemental Dance Take1

Makoto Hirano – Elemental Dance Take 1

I've been very fortunate to know Makoto Hirano over the years and to see his work grow. When I approached him about doing some tests with the GH1 and the Pegasus II I thought it would be a wonderful way to collaborate and to help him document and explore his newest solo creation "Boom Bap Tourism" which he recently performed at the Asian Arts Initiative. Actually for many years, I've seen Makoto perform with his own company of dancers, OMNiBUS, as well as with Bill Irwin, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Kate Watson-Wallace, and others. This was the first time in a long while that I saw Makoto perform solo and it is truly an amazing treat to see live and in person and I wanted to investigate and see whether we could capture some of the essence of his live work within a film context.

Years ago, I used to do a lot of physical theater and abstract movement when my body was agile and I was physically fit so it was nice to bring some of those sensibilities with me in this shoot. Joseph Santarromana, a well known California based installation and video artist, once told me that he would tell his students when filming dance to move with the camera and to have that camera be an extension of your body. When filming Makoto, I found myself taking Joe's advice and really dancing with Makoto and feeling out his emotional journey in each piece. Each time Makoto performed it was different and unique. We never scripted or talked about the shots we just sort of rode the moment. Each take is sort of a living memory of that experience and it will never be performed in that way again and I think that is why I wanted to post the process to show not only the technical use of the Pegasus II and GH1 but also how we as filmmakers must throw out the technical aspects and limitations and just allow for that organic process of collaboration between subject and viewer to naturally unfold. Obviously in doing these types of shoots, you got to practice and learn the plusses and minuses of your gear so that when it comes to that real take it's already in your body and not your head.

In the documentation of dance, usually, dancers and choreographers want to see the whole movement and space and prefer a much wider shot. I find that most filmmakers, including myself, like that tighter look to see the emotion and facial expression as well as to capture strong intimate movement. So in many respects, the clips in this test capture more of a tighter feel and what I was also feeling in the moment as the viewer of the piece. If I were recording the work for Makoto to view and study, I would definitely have gone for wider shots. But since we also had the Pegasus II to test out it was my goal to see how we can use it well and push it to see what it could do.
Clearly Makoto's influences as a B-Boy, break dancer are present especially in "Elemental Dance" where he merges B-Boy elements with everyday pedestrian-like body movements as well as organic abstraction.

Here is Take 1 of Makoto Hirano's "Elemental Dance"

Makoto-Life-Dance-Final

Makoto Hirano – Life Dance Take 1 & 2

This is an edited version of "Life Dance" by dancer / choreographer Makoto Hirano shot with the Pansasonic GH1 and the Pegasus II DV stabilizer using the stock 14-140 lens in (iA) mode.

This version of "Life Dance" combines both takes that we did at the Asian Arts Initiative theater. The 2nd Take was better as a whole and I kept it in it's entirety. The 1st take I was a little tentative at first and also accidentally brushed up against Makoto so the camera spun but as the piece went a long I got my momentum and still captured some interesting and powerful moments of this very simple and amazing piece. I shot with the Variable ND filter and so I set the filter so that the image is a tad darker on the 1st take than on the 2nd Take. That's how you'll know which take it was. In retrospect, I should not have adjusted the Variable ND filter so that both takes would match up. Also, you'll notice that at 14mm my lens hood starts to show on the edge of the frame. Just something to be aware about. It seems that at 17mm the lens hood doesn't show but I felt I needed the shorter focal length to capture as much full body movement as possible. It would be really nice to have that 7-14mm Panasonic m4/3 lens it would really help to capture the full body movement but I don't know it's abilities to have full functionality with all the auto features in the GH1. I think that will definitely be my next lens to try out. Especially, when moving using the Pegasus II you need that extra bit of coverage and it helps to mask that slight bit of camera sway that is still inevitable using any camera stabilizer.

Overall, I combined the best moments from each take and in some small way we get a sense of Makoto's struggle a bit more especially when he starts to fall to the ground during the later half of the piece. Many of those shots are from the 1st take and it's nice to get that perspective and to give it an almost two camera shoot feel.

This version of "Life Dance" was from the "Boom Bap Tourism" performed at the Asian Arts Initiative on August 7, 2009.

Creator/Performer: Makoto Hirano

Project Mentor: Hellmut Gottschild

Dramaturg: Andrew Simonet

Sound Designer: Mikaal Sulaiman with additional engineering and composition by Dan Giraldo

Videographer: Gary San Angel

BBT is made possible through an Independence Foundation Fellowship

Co-production support from the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater,

Yoga Sutra Philadelphia, and Asian Arts Initiative.

Makoto-Life-Dance-Take1

Makoto Hirano – Life Dance Take 2

I am very grateful to dancer/choreographer Makoto Hirano for being open to filming an excerpt of his new solo work, "Boom Bap Tourism" which he performed a workshop presentation recently at the Asian Arts Initiative and is one of the best solo performance pieces I have seen in years. It's a personal autobiographical journey through dance, performance, spoken word, and a few elements of spontaneous neofuturist unpredictability.

"Life Dance" is an excerpt of that work and this is the second take that we did using the Pegasus II and the GH1. This test was to see how well the Pegasus II and the GH1 would be in the documentation of dance, performance, and theater events. Obviously in this particular case, we were documenting the piece intimately not as live theater but as dance performance for film. So my goal as DP/Camera operator was to really dance with Makoto and ride the journey that he was on. We didn't script where he was going to stand but since this was our second take I had a better sense of anticipating his movement. It was still rather organic and it was really nice to be able to have the Pegasus II and the GH1 work in concert together.

There were a few bounces, slight sways, and a few auto focus tracking issues but the stability of the Pegasus II is much better now that it is weighted properly. I'm just really happy with the results despite the few flaws. So it's exciting results and I think many people will be able to use this little mini Pegasus II steadicam device for so many kinds of shoots. I hope this is just an example of one of the many possibilities.

By the way, the sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman is so integral to this piece and is just amazing. 

This version of "Life Dance" was from the "Boom Bap Tourism" performed at the Asian Arts Initiative on August 7, 2009.

Creator/Performer: Makoto Hirano

Project Mentor: Hellmut Gottschild

Dramaturg: Andrew Simonet

Sound Designer: Mikaal Sulaiman with additional engineering and composition by Dan Giraldo

Videographer: Gary San Angel

BBT is made possible through an Independence Foundation Fellowship

Co-production support from the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater,

Yoga Sutra Philadelphia, and Asian Arts Initiative.

QT-Mom Immigrant Mother

Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother) Mothers Day Version

I think there are just some projects that you do in life where all the stars are aligned and the vision for what is created is not only shared by you but by a whole community. This was one of those projects that I will be proud of for the rest of my life.

Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother) was a reminder to me of the power of the creative process and that the art of filmmaking at its core and at its very best thrives in a community based process.

This was a key core value to our process. Whenever I talked to Taiyo he would always say, "This is not about me. It's about the community."

Working with community can be challenging but I have been doing it for a very long time and I know that part of making a successful process is by having a simple structure that is engaging and where you listen more than you speak and where you can foster and encourage individual voices.

One of the things that we did is we gave an HD camera to individual community members from the Asian Arts Initiative so that they could film their own moms and grandmas from their own point of view as a son or daughter. My direction was simple. Just be. Be with your mom. Be with your grandmother. Film the moment as it is happening. Nothing is too small or mundane. Just be present and real and let the camera and your creativity peel away the layers within.

In the process, these filmmakers with very little training revealed their own moms and grandmas as they truly are showing their love, their strength, their weariness, their laughter, and vulnerability. Nothing was sugar coated. This was the real deal.

The "mom" footage became part of the backbone that has made Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother) a special kind of music video.  A music video with heart.

Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother) has had more than 17,000 viewers with postings on many community blogs and has been very well received at the Los Angles Asian Pacific Film Festival and DisOrient Film Festival in Eugene, Oregon. We have been floored and moved by the response as it continues to garner attention.

It had always been my hope to create a variation of the music video as a short film version and to get it in time for Mothers Day.

Back in the day, when you would go to your mom and pop record shop and purchase a new single sometimes you would have a b-side with a different cut of the song. I always found little surprises and often times found new meaning from the song with the new variation of that single. In some small way I hope that you can find the Mothers Day version of Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother) as a variation on that theme. It's an experiment to fuse documentary and music video together as short film. I had always wanted to figure a way to make it work and I think after months of trying and then giving up I finally found something that I'm really proud of. I think this is a start in the right direction in what I hope will be an exciting ongoing exploration of this form.

The initial release of the music video fell on the Thanksgiving holiday and I only thought it was appropriate to book end that with the final short film release of the Mothers Day version of Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother). (We are a little late of course. But its coming to you Filipino Time!)

I want to give my whole hearted love and thanks to Taiyo Na for taking a chance on me and letting this song touch the lives of so many people from our neighborhoods to the world wide web. I want to give a special shout out to our producer David Lin who has been a long time friend and collaborator from the Peeling the Banana years in NYC and has helped greatly to make this project a reality. I want to also honor and thank Gayle Isa and the Asian Arts Initiative community who have really been the core inspiration and the visual voice for this beautiful song.

Happy belated Mothers Day! May we always honor our mothers each and everyday!

With that I say, "Love you Mom!" And enjoy the Mothers Day version of Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother).

For more credits and info please visit:

Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother)

© 2010 Taiyo Na & Gary San Angel

taiyona.com
componentgeek.com
asianartsinitiative.org

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