32 Bullets to Paris
Role: Director of Photography & Colourist

This project was a short film in the Western genre. The decision was made to shoot this film on a classic, 50 year old 16mm film camera ​to complement the feel of the film. As Director of Photography and Colourist on this short film, I was responsible for the overall look and feel of the film.

 

​Short Fashion Film
Role: Director, Director of Photography, Editor

I was intending to only shoot stills for this shoot, but once the lights were all set up I couldn't resist switching to video mode. Footage was shot with a D7000 and primarily an old, manual focus 105mm f/4 macro (amazing lens) which I had borrowed from the photo store at uni, and a little bit of footage was shot with my 50mm f/1.8. I treated this more as an exercise than a serious project, so apologies for the roughness in some of the editing, and the lack of any real content. I just recently purchased the D7000 and I haven't shot much video before, so I was using this as an opportunity to learn a bit about what works and what doesn't work when shooting video footage, and to figure out how to use Final Cut Pro and identify any issues and differences in workflow between shooting stills and video. I was thinking about trying to talk about the shoot and make it a proper Behind the Scenes video, but at this point I don't have an external microphone or anything to acquire decent quality audio. If I can get my hands on a decent mic soon, I might shoot a bit more footage to explain what the purpose of the shoot was, our lighting setup (which was super simple), etc., but it may be that by the time I get my hands on a mic I'll be moving on to the next project... Thanks for taking the time to view this, constructive feedback is welcome. --- Lessons learned: - Don't shoot handheld with the D7000, unless you have some kind of stabiliser (I discarded all of my handheld footage because it was so shaky) - Invest in a good pan/tilt tripod head - Invest in some other stabilisation gear - Macro lenses are amazing (!) - Broncolor modelling lights make really nice video lights - Final Cut isn't actually that complicated (as long as I'm learning it when I'm not under pressure to complete a project on a strict time frame) - Pro Res is my friend (and ProRes 422 LT is probably sufficient for working with DSLR footage) - Video workflow is a lot different to stills workflow... - I need a mic. Really, really soon. Things that I've identified to myself to learn more about/look into further: - Audio (!!) - Gear for achieving different kinds of camera movements apart from panning/tilting (Steadicam, sliders, etc. ... ? If anyone has any suggestions throw them in here.) - I think I'll be looking at Cinevate and RedRockMicro's websites pretty closely in the coming weeks... - Editing in a way that is not just a series of pretty clips set to music... - [???] Thanks for watching :) --- The music is LCD Soundsystem - 45:33 [III] Find me on twitter: http://twitter.com/davidlrphoto

This was a short fashion film, shot in a very short amount of time, and devised to showcase my lighting and editing expertise.​

 

Short Documentary: Consolation with Colour
Role: Director of Photography, Sound, Editor

Uploaded by belsmall1 on 2011-07-27.

This was another no-budget project. This project was a collaboration with a friend who asked for my help to create a documentary about a Vietnamese refugee.

The director had very little film experience, and I ended up taking over multiple roles to see this short documentary to completion.​

We only had a tripod, a camera, a microphone and a single afternoon to shoot all of the footage for this short documentary. 

The director was originally intending to edit this film, but due to her lack of experience and time constraints, asked me to take over this role.

The director then uploaded the film (in 4:3 when it should have been 16:9, please excuse the crushed aspect ratio...)​

 

Music Video: The F Bots
Role:​ Director of Photography

I was approached by local band The F Bots​ to shoot the music video for their song "Firewall".​

​This was a no budget project which was assembled by the seat of our collective pants.

I turned up to a room full of music equipment, two hardware store flood lights, a fog machine and a laser machine.​

​I quickly knew that the flood lights were not going to suit the look of this film, and dipped into my bag of tricks by grabbing two flashlights to light the majority of this music video.

The footage was then handed over and cut by an external editor.​

 

Music Video: Mr. Hill & Rahjconkas - Find My Way Feat. Joyride
Role: Director of Photography / Steadicam Operator

http://www.facebook.com/mrhilly http://www.facebook.com/Rahjconkas The Feedback: http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/urban-grooves/feedback-the/661452 http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/the-feedback/id498907211 Writer/Producer/Director: Oliver Lofgren Director of Photography: David La Roche Editor: Sebastien Carew-Reid Stunts: Chris Hannam

In similar form to The F Bots'​ music video, I was brought onto this project with very little notice and very little time to prepare and no budget.

A Steadicam Merlin was hired by the producer, which I had very little time to balance and familiarise myself with, and only natural light was used do to the various restrictions on set.

A timelapse sequence was shot the day before the main shoot, which I assembled and provided along with the rest of the footage, which was all handed to the editor for cutting.​