S106 Directors Blog

This week I have treated myself to an upgrade to our follow focus. We currently have the Redrock unit and are very happy with it. One of the nice things about Redrock is that they always release upgrades to the current line up when releasing new products. Here is my mini review.

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I have recently bought a set of IDX endura elite batteries and a Zacuto plate for the v-mount. I added a weight of 1,3 kg in de back and all was balanced. So I basically had a proper handheld camera in terms of weight and balance. This helps a lot in weight displacement and on one of these batteries I can shoot two full days!

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It seems Africa is starting to become a chapter in my life… I keep finding excuses to go back there! We just came back from a 2 week shooting period. The excuse this time is a documentary about a Dutch municipality that gives development aid to Emfuleni, located just beneath Johannesburg.

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After visiting the US this December I brought back a Zylight Z90 with me! A very nice light that dims, doesn’t need filters or gels and has long battery life. All in all I’m very pleased with the light and it’s build quality.

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My 35mm setup has been used in the 48hrs project. I would have loved to be there but there was no time, however I do want you to see the outcome! A very nice short that shows the quality of the camera and the crew. It’s in Dutch but worth a look for you international people.

After lowlands 2007 I couldn’t wait to get back in there. And this year I was directing for the VPRO. The above picture is me and my crew; Daan Nieuwenhuis (camera) and Gijs Stollman (sound) relaxing after some hard field work. My job was to portrait the festival and it’s visitors and show what was happening beside the music. A great job with a great crew! We had our own golf car and had a great time working together! Take a look at the gallery for some shots.

Yesterday at 08:50 I yelled “start!” and we went live. A show that would cover an entire stock trading day! We pulled the plug at 18:00 after the dutch markets where closed. It was a tough but fun day! The day entailed the grande finale between the 9 best day traders in Holland presented by Jort Kerlder. It was called “De Slimste Belleger van Nederland” initiated by none other than ABN ARMO. You can still watch a recap here. One of the people in my crew was kind enough to take some working shots, you can check these out in the gallery.

…and in to Africa! Kenya to be axact, 8 days of shooting for a short documentary. Our mission was to show how people live in Nairobi, thru the eyes of a European; Leon van der Zanden. We went to an orphanage, children’s hospital, slums, a dance school and finally to the Sawa Sawa Festival featuring Beef and Black Uhuru. The festival is organised by the Sarakasi trust. And it is very impressive to see what they have accomplished in Nairobi Kenya over the past few years. Rudy van Dijck (Chairman & Founder) is an amazing person whom has inspired and helped alot of young people.

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After two weeks of editing and proofing I can finally show you an excerpt of the 2 hour live show I directed for the Dutch band DI-RECT. The concert dvd was produced by Double 2 one of my regular clients, a great company that has one of the biggest music production track records in the Netherlands. The band is under management at EMI Music. The show was shot on 5 cameras with two tracks and a jib. Using a multicam ob van. In total the crew contained about 40 people and it worked out great! Take a look at the gallery for some shots. The clip above is also the current single release and is now airing on MTV. Tell me what you think!

After taking a hard look at all the available cases that could fit my EX1 with the Letus Extreme, follow focus, lens and matte box fitted I went for the Portabrace PC-3B.

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