This is the first installment of our new blog segment Behind the Scenez, in which fellow filmmakers share the raw stats, logistics and otherwise break down how they pulled off a project. Our first guest is producer, Axuan Vrolijk, breaking down a one-take spec Coca-Cola commercial directed by HB n...read more
I love it when people think outside of the box to come up with simple low-budget solutions to complex filmmaking problems. For example, say you want to shoot some cool surreal slo-mo footage like the infamous Matrix bullet-time effect. The Complex Problem: You ain't got no no Matrix special FX so...read more
Back in January I dropped a post and put up a trailer for this film that originally screened at Sundance and now it's starting it's official U.S. theatrical tour. If you are in N.Y.C this week then you are fortunate enough to be in the city that's premiering the theatrical release of Terence Na...read more
If you're like me, there are probably still a handful of very well-known, popular and classic films that you've simply never seen for whatever reason- maybe it's not your favorite genre, you've never caught it from the beginning on tv, the original is dated and you already saw the remake (gasp!), ...read more
Y'all know the grind never stops at Down and Dirty DV, so if you don't see any blog posts for a minute, know that I'm working on something ELSE to educate and motivate aspiring filmmakers. And for the last few months that something else has been the 2nd edition of my first book, The Shut Up and S...read more
I am saddened that for yet another year, I'm unable to attend the annual NAB Show in Vegas. It truly is a production guy/gals ultimate toystore, tech school and playground. (If you've never been, think of the NAB Show as the B&H Superstore in NYC x 1000... Yes, it's that BIG of a show.) Ne...read more
Gotta say, I think this is by far the coolest piece of new gear I've seen in a long time. It's a new camera stabilizer system called the Movi that looks to be considerably easier to use and more versatile than most of the the Steadicam and Glidecam-style stabilizer rigs. It can smoothly capture s...read more
Documentary and Corporate Video peeps check out my latest course on lynda.com "Video Interview Techniques". This is a full 2 hour course on all the technical, practical and logistical aspects of shooting and conducting interviews on camera. In this course I share with you many tips that I personal...read more
Here's a very intriguing new KickStarter project that could shake a few things up in the world of film lighting. LED's have slowly, but surely been working their way onto more and more film sets. LED lighting units have become popular for their high light output relative to their low power consumpti...read more
Here's a very cool production tip from the good (and extremely creatively generous) people at Vimeo.com and Candy Glass Productions. It's a pretty straight forward, but very innovative and creative technique for using still photos to create a 360 degree spinning shot of any building. It takes a ...read more