This is a product review on the LanParte V-mount pinch DSLR power system that I purchased from www.OziRigPro.com In Australia. I had been looking for a flexible, cost-effective power system that would work from industry-standard batteries (comes in V-Mount or gold-mount options), and function as a counter balance when mounted on a hand-held DSLR configuration. Not only does it do all that, it also has an HDMI splitter built in too! Since making this video review, I’ve used the system in the field and it all works great. All the other options I looked into were either incomplete, ridiculously expensive, or both. This shipped from China and arrived in 3 days to the US, which was crazy fast. I want to shout out to Joshua Burke at OziRigPro who was extremely helpful and responsive. I highly recommend this power system!

FYI – I shot this on my Panasonic HPX-170 quick and dirty. I know this is a bit on the lengthy side, but I wanted to cover all the key points I could think of. Plus it’s the first gear review I’ve done!

Jon Grimson directing Pinnacle Bank Titans shoot

I was brought into this in collaboration with the fine team at Locomotion Creative . They already had a concept and script together, which revolved around Titans fans who are banking customers in quasi-sports settings. It was a fun idea and Pinnacle Bank loved the concept! On a project of this scope, there are many phases and creative people involved to execute and plan. The key to success is having a great plan that covers all the contingencies and possible obstacles, so that you are creating solutions, not getting stuck with problems. All areas of Locomotion’s capabilities were brought in on this: branding, design, illustration, scriptwriting, casting, pre-production, production and post-production. I also ended up creating this “Behind The Scenes” (BTS) video that takes viewers through the process and shows what’s involved.

At the pre-production stage, I came into the mix and we discussed logistics, budgets, locations and shoot schedule. This was a series of 3 different spots, each with 20sec. of video content. I determined that we could shoot the spots over 1.5 days in 2 locations. The first day would be a Sunday shoot in the Brentwood, TN Pinnacle branch office. It was necessary to shoot when the bank was closed and we were able to utilize many of the branch staff as extras. We needed to operate a commercial smoke machine in the bank which meant that the sprinkler system needed to be bypassed. Glad I pointed that one out. Imagine a soaked bank lobby with ruined artwork, computers and video gear. Not good! The other location was a residential kitchen and that was going to be the following morning with a noon wrap time. The kitchen shoot was fairly simple compared to the bank.

Storyboards were prepped and I proceeded to block out a shot list based on most efficient setup from scene to scene and likely lens choices to use. Next came a casting call day at Locomotion attended by Pinnacle Bank executives and the Loco creative team. I shot the casting sessions quick and dirty. We had a great bunch of talented actors to choose from and it was hard to decide among several qualified people. It came down to a particular look and type that best fit the scripting, but they were all pros who knew what they were doing.

Next, I planned out what gear I would need and what my crew needs would be. The gear I decided on was the Sony PMW-F3, with Zeiss CP.2 prime lenses, recording externally as 10bit ProRes422 to a PIX240 recorder. For this shoot I knew I could really use the wide dynamic range afforded by the S-log mode in the Sony F3. The bank lobby is all glass and balancing the contrast would be challenging. Fortunately I had a talented gaffer, Shannon Gamble, to help with lighting and grip, and on a 2nd scouting trip he and I mapped out what we would need.

The shoot days themselves went very well and stayed on schedule and according to plan. But the reason that happened was because we HAD a plan, two scouting trips, and a half day of camera testing that caught a few tech issues in workflow and equipment. Everyone was prepared, on-time and fun to work with! I know that sometimes clients think they can save time and money by cutting corners, but I can assure you that every minute and $ spent on the front end made a successful outcome in the finished pieces.

Next came editing, color grading, audio mixing, sound design and outputs: which are all phases that I handled. Voiceover was recorded outside and the 3 – :30′s, also with 3- :15 versions, were edited and posted in about a week’s time. There were just very minor changes from the client, since we matched the storyboards and scripts very closely. Yet another reason that a good plan insures success: no surprises or unknowns for clients to discover after production.

So if you tune into the Titans games this season, check out the spots and enjoy!

One of them is “Some Comfort” which turned out to be the title track. Kevin had the guitar and vocal worked up but still had yet to write a 3rd verse. But he had John Hobbs coming in on piano so he needed to get John’s recording down right then since he’s extremely busy playing with Vince Gill, etc. I shot these sessions in a very basic, yet elegant way that I felt suited the music. I used my Canon 7D with my favorite lens, Leica-Summicron-R 1:2/50mm, a vintage manual lens that I go back to time and time again. I did not have much flexibility in how I framed the shots, but I do like what I had on John at the piano especially. So after shooting all this basically years passed. I heard from Kevin in March 2012, that the album was finally coming out and he remembered that I’d shot this footage, still sitting in the can. So now, it was time to edit and create a video around the song from what I shot. But I then discovered a problem. Kevin had not recorded the 3rd verse until after I shot at the session and now there was no footage covering the critical last verse! So we decided we had to shoot some new footage that was not performance video from the actual session and come up with a concept that fit. Kevin told me about his first video from 20 years ago (“Red Blooded American Boy“) and how he had kept in touch with the lead female actress in it, Cory Oliver.

So now the idea was, what if we could montage a few clips from the old video into new footage with Kevin and Cory 20 years later? An actual flashback-forward with the same actors 20 years apart. To my knowledge this has never been done before. So we lined up Cory to do it and headed to Los Angeles with a somewhat sketchy plan to shoot new footage. We planned to shoot a glorious sunset at the beach but the weather did not cooperate so we had to improvise. What you see in the video is very last minute setups, scrambling before we lost light, and fighting time and traffic to get the shots we needed.

I really like what we ended up with at the beach. A very cool, gray look that could easily be Seattle, but that’s what we had. The dancing shots were all on location at our host Doug’s place; actually a perfect setting for these. I shot with the Canon 7D, Leica-Summicron-R 1:2/50mm for the beach shots, all handheld and over-cranked. The sunset dancing was with a Lensbaby. I think the 20 year time span is really effective to see Kevin and Cory; both looking great now! Also Kevin’s very same guitar. Brand new long ago with some nice wear and age today. Somehow, with weather and travel obstacles, we came up with something very cool. Certainly Doug and Ed were invaluable in assisting us, and Cory was fabulous to work with. Sometimes the best result comes from the solutions to the obstacles that come about.

Glen Campbell, is such a rare artist with real, tangible talent. That’s why it’s so poignant that upon the release of his new masterpiece, “Ghost On The Canvas” he has announced his Alzheimer’s onset and that this is his final album. Of all the great artists I was fortunate enough to have as in-studio guests on “This Week in AMERICANA”, Glen was surely a standout. This is the full interview with Rusty Miller, host of TWIA, and it’s a great conversation covering his work in the studios as a member of the legendary Wrecking Crew; recording thousands of hits in the 60′s-70′s, as well as his own amazing recording career, TV show, acting, etc. No one comes close these days that I can think of.

When Glen Campbell released this latest and last album, it reminded my of the great interview we had when he came in as a guest. And the most special part was asking him to play “Galveston”. At first he was reluctant, “I just play the lead break in my shows now”, is what he said. But he’d been noodling with Rusty’s guitar and was willing to give it a shot. This recording is simply amazing; 1 take, 2 mikes; and he nails this very difficult song!! So, last night I dug out the archives and quickly comped together the full interview (only 10 minutes or so made it into the original broadcast from 2003). Please listen to the whole great interview with an exclusive acoustic version of “Galveston” as the grand finale.

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/22857116"]

In the opening he is playing strictly on the bass register while muting the strings with his palm, a great tonality. He then moves into a “Chet Atkins” type of thumb-bass/four finger-picking that looks like a crab crawling around. Then when he moves up to the highest register strings he still needed to catch some notes on the middle-guitar neck during some challenging chromatic sections. This song also required Keith to carefully figure out a tuning that would even allow this song to be played! And then there is the every increasing tempo followed by fierce strumming and full-range sweeps. Must be seen to be believed!!

My job was simple by comparison. I used my Canon 7D system on a ZazaSlider which allows me to dolly lateral moves. On this one I used my new 2.8/17-55mm Canon zoom lens and really like how it turned out. I edited in Final Cut Pro and color-graded in Color as always.

This song may also be familiar to those of you who have seen the recent David Fincher film, “The Social Network” which featured Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ version of the song. If you watch the bonus features on the BluRay, Reznor talks about how composing the music was relatively easy for the film since Fincher liked everything he turned in. But “The Hall Of The Mountain King” was a special request from Fincher, and Reznor & Ross really struggled with it, doing multiple versions over weeks and weeks. So knowing that, it is all the more impressive what Keith has accomplished here with his version.

Since today’s Keith’s birthday take a look! Enjoy!

A big congratulations to them, on their first hit song, “Are You Going To Kiss Me Or Not” and their label Stoney Creek and all the affiliate folks at Broken Bow Records as well.

Before they were “Big Stars”, just last summer I made a trip out to their house one afternoon to see what life is really like at La Casa T2. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson make every attempt to keep their personal and professional lives in balance, but there are moments, shall we say! I shot what ended up to be a 5-part web series of episodes that day and both Keifer and Shawna had a blast doing it. We basically “runned and gunned” around their house and could have kept on going but they had laundry to do so… It was also a lot of fun to edit these and basically give them a quasi-”Cribs” approach but also crafting a style that is unique to their personalities. The resulting “Married To The Music” video series proved to be instrumental in helping launch their career by telling entertaining stories and that really ended up connecting with their fans. The road may be rocky at times but the rockin’ is just beginning for Keifer and Shawna!

Marty, reveres the players, places, sounds and styles of what country music is really all about. This album, “Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions”, originates from RCA Studio B. Ground zero for landmark recordings by everyone from Elvis to Orbison, The Everlys, Willie, Waylon and on and on. Marty came here, to “the scene of the crime”, to make this record in a completely authentic way. One of the several themes running through the album is steel guitar, and he hosts a who’s who of largely unknown, yet historically important players on this album. Shooting in this space was really a treat, especially having Marty walk around pointing out significant spots in the studio that he remembers back from his very first recording session with the great Lester Flatt at age 13.

“Creative Spirit” – a film about Keith Medley and his 27-string guitar

Visit Kickstarter for much more, please copy link and share!

http://kck.st/27stringGUITARaFILM

Keith Medley is a creative spirit in numerous ways and a master of several artistic disciplines. But he remains a modest and humble, yet charismatic person who possesses a drive and determination to fulfill his dreams regardless of the obstacles and challenges he encounters. He is a master craftsman and woodworker, a skilled luthier who designs acoustic and electric instruments, a talented guitarist on any variation of stringed instruments, as well as an accomplished composer and performer. Many artists possess only one of these skill-sets. Keith is indeed a rare individual.

But this film is not intended to be another music bio-pic, although music is the core and foundation of this project. This is a film primarily about the creative process and how Keith’s examples and accomplishments can translate to anyone and everyone; even those who think they are not at all artistically inclined. Keith is an inspiring and articulate force and his lifelong journey to master numerous artistic disciplines are only a means to realize his dreams. His journey offers much for the viewer to learn from as he constantly designs and creates original art as tangible objects and pieces of music, with the process and journey towards completion equally fulfilling creatively as the end result.

Specifically in this film, we will document Keith’s performance’s on his existing, original Medley 27-string acoustic guitar as well as follow the building of his next creation; an electric 27-string Medley guitar. We will follow the intricate steps from design throughout assembly, and observe how Keith solves problems as he hand-crafts this work of art. The form of his instruments are about function and visual esthetics equally. All of this takes place at the custom work bench (itself a work of art) that he built years ago, early in his self-guided apprenticeship to be the master craftsman he has become. We will learn that the music Keith already hears in his head drives the design of these instruments, the new techniques he ultimately will need to learn to play them, in addition to the physical implications of mastering an instrument that does not yet exist.

This film, “Creative Spirit”, will follow Keith’s creative process with detailed documentary of the guitar building process, 3 performance music videos conveying the sights and sounds that result, as well as an ongoing narrative and conversations with Keith. Viewers will understand how Keith’s creativity manifests itself, his philosophy and his optimistic attitude to achieve these goals as he literally invents new instruments and playing techniques. Questions of what motivates his creativity, who and what inspires him, how limits and parameters must be imposed in order to reach completion, what are his most difficult challenges, are all topics that will be covered in depth. And most importantly, how does this all translate to viewers in ways that can help them learn and achieve in their lives?

Your support of this project will help cover production costs planned to take place in several locations in Tennessee, Kentucky and elsewhere, as well as the post-production and editing phases that will follow. Certain material costs used in Keith’s electric Medley 27-string will be covered with a portion of this funding. Additional costs to create artwork and packaging will also come from this budget. The final result is intended to be a 60min. or more, broadcast-ready HD deliverable as well as DVD and Blu-ray final release.

“Creative Spirit” – a film about Keith Medley and his 27-string guitar

Visit Kickstarter for much more, please copy link and share!

http://kck.st/27stringGUITARaFILM