Documentary Film Producer | Director of Photography | Cinematographer of the Oscar-winning, 'Music By Prudence,' and Sundance-winning, 'American Promise'
Los Angeles, CA
Joined February 2019
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Want to see how far AI has advanced over the past few months? I gave each AI the same prompt to make this watercolor sketch look like a realistic photograph.
Image 1 is the watercolor drawing
Image 2 is @Photoshop + @Google @NanoBanana
Image 3 is @ChatGPTapp
Image 4 is @Grok
I then asked @ChatGPTapp the following prompt:
Are you able to push it to twilight, like 10 minutes after the sun has dipped below the horizon? It'll get completely dark in about 25 minutes.
This is what it generated. Incredible!
Then I pushed @ChatGPTapp even further and asked:
OK, now let's see what that house would look like in the winter, with a few inches of snow on the ground and on the house, frosted windows, evening, almost night sky, barren trees with no leaves, and light snow falling with soft blurry bokeh of snow in foreground as well.
And this is the dreamy winter scene it came up with. It all started with that watercolor sketch.
Nine years ago, I filmed a #MannequinChallenge at the 2016 American Film Market in Santa Monica. Fun times! #AFM
On the same day, we had 4 camera releases... that I know of:
@CanonUSA C50
@RED_Cinema V-Raptor XE
@NikonUSA ZR
@Apple iPhone 17 Pro
What a time to be a filmmaker! All four serve a different existing cinema customer, but likely doesn't get a person to jump ship and switch brands altogether, unless they're at the end of their use cycle with their existing set of film equipment.
I'm a Canon user since 2004, and just bought two of the Canon R5 Mark II cameras and a set of RF VCM primes in August, to shoot DCI 8K RAW for my upcoming documentary films.
And since I tend to not use gimbals, and I'm currently using the Canon RF 35mm and 50mm VCM lenses - which are not image stabilized - I rely on the camera's IBIS, which, in real-world use, is incredibly rock-solid steady when I go handheld, even without a gimbal.
The RED V-Raptor XE, even with it's stripped down specs compared to the V-Raptor X, while it would work with my existing RF glass, is still not the best suited camera for my workflow because, the way I shoot with a very compact rig, I would need some form of image stabilization without rigging to a gimbal.
The Nikon ZR is the first cinema-oriented camera from Nikon since the acquisition of RED, and looks like a promising camera for those already on the Nikon system, with it's 12-bit 6K RAW, and want to transition from photography equipment to cinema equipment.
I really wanted the iPhone 17 Pro to have 8K video... but the new 4X and 8X optical telephoto lenses may come in clutch in situations where I can't easily break out the Canon camera rig, and I have to keep my filming minimalist or discreet.
Which recent camera suits your workflows?
This is the most American thing you'll ever see. THIS is Americana. 🇺🇸
Bro felt that pop of the gun, and started applying for citizenship. 🇺🇸
I saw a video of this kid, Jude, on Instagram a few weeks ago, and was just amazed. Self-taught!
“American people are some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet in your life.”
People from the UK are shocked at how nice the United States is.
“While I was growing up, the media coverage of the US was always bad, saying that the people are rude, that it's not a nice place to go, that it's dangerous…”
“All of that stuff could not be further from the truth.”
"This is a very special flight for me."
When airline captain Justin Shurtz learned his grandmother was flying out to visit him he decided to pull some strings and surprise her by piloting her flight.
