LAST PRODUCTION DAYS FOR THE NEW DOCUMENTARY

It’s been a hot summer which we almost completely spent working on a new film. It would be premature to disclose the subject, but as always there’s a bit of geopolitics involved. Gear wise we are now happily expanding our arsenal with such killer-machines as A7S and GH4. One is a low-light monster enabling you to shoot in super dark environments, another is the first 4K mirrorless interchangeable mount camera on the market. And here’s me shooting in India with Aviator Jib.

TRADITIONAL POTTERY IN DAGESTAN

A brief compilation from my December shoot in Dagestan for “Biochemistry Of Treason”. Locals told me this craft of pottery is 2000 years old (or even more), is practiced by women — young and old — and passed down from generation to generation. I spent in Balkhar roughly 3 hours as I had to get back to Makhachkala before dawn. Gear wise it was a combination of Sony FS700 and Nikon D800 which I adore for their dynamic range. Sadly, the once flourishing production is in decline now due to the lack of support from the state.

ГОНЧАРНОЕ ПРОИЗВОДСТВО В СЕЛЕ БАЛХАР (Р.ДАГЕСТАН) from GOOD EMPIRE on Vimeo.

TESTING BLACMAGIC POCKET CINEMA CAMERA

The most exciting news of course is that we miraculously grabbed the BMPCC from Adorama. Many people are still on the wait list and the camera (along with batteries and even SD cards) is nowhere to be found. We just walked in and were lucky to sneak out with it.
There are definitely many ways this camera may be improved, and the battery’s life is indeed very short, but the overall impression so far is absolutely positive. Below I’m attaching a few screenshots from the 1st shoot. One very inspiring addition is that the RAW update to BMCC is said to be released by Blackmagic very soon. Another interesting acquisition for us is the new Sony FS700 super35mm video camera. We’ve been shooting with it for the last two weeks, and I can’t describe how happy I am with the results. Actually at this point I think we reached the perfect production condition gear wise: GH3/GH2/BMPCC (which share the same line of M4/3 lenses) and Nikon D800/FS700 (which also share the same Nikon lenses via the Metabones adaptor). On the final note I need to mention that we are in the 2nd month of work on the new documentary project for TV RUSSIA. It’s topic is too sensitive to be exposed until we’re in the editing stage.

NEW DOC 90% READY

It might be a little premature to announce that but my new film called “PLANET OF BABEL” is in the final stage of production. I’ve just showed the final cut to our channel’s executives and hopefully after some minor revisions it will be aired by RUSSIA-1. We keep our fingers crossed. The film (as it was mentioned in earlier posts) is telling the story of the Great Recession through the eyes of ordinary people all across the globe. It is raising questions of moral and ethical degradation caused by our today’s obsession with material wealth and institutionalized individualism.

We’ve been shooting this doc in collaboration with talented people from Europe, US and Asia. Everywhere we were met with open arms and people’s willingness to contribute. It would’ve been impossible to accomplish such a task traveling as a fully equipped tv-crew (given all the associated expenses), so this was the time when our DSLR techniques paid off well. I switched to Nikon D800 completely while my assistant Oleg Segeev was mostly operating the beautiful tiny (hacked) GH2. In my further posts I hope to share some experience as of how to produce a film comprising over 10 countries (from Greece and US to China and Syria) with only a lightweight bagpack and a tripod.