Commercial for Alice Hyde Medical Center

This was a fun spot to make for one of my oldest clients, Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, NY! The little boy in it is the son of a woman who works with my wife. They were over one day at our place and when he saw all my gear and learned what I did he said "I want to be in a TV commercial!" Usually its difficult in a local TV spot to have "non-actors" try to "act", but he had such an outgoing personality I knew he would do just fine! My niece was home from college for the holidays so while a little young for the part, was excited to give it a try as well.

We decided to do a more generic feel good spot for the hospital rather then one on any particular branch of it. The script practically wrote itself and I think they all did a great job!

SUNY Plattsburgh Men's Soccer

Here is a highlite video I made for the Cardinal Classic Soccer Tournament 2011! It had a very dramatic overtime win. I enjoy editing sports videos and at the college level, there is some great action to capture!

Jill and Derek-Coming Soon!

This is the coming soon preview for the wedding of Jill and Derek in Lake Placid, NY on 10/1/11. They were such a fun and happy couple and couldn't stop smiling all day! The music is "Chevaliers de Sangreal" from the DaVinci Code soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. He's one of my favorite composers and this song is available on iTunes!

View on ExposureRoom

My most personal film yet!

"Return to Moose Pond"

I usually do non-narrative short films. This one is different! My wife, son and I love to go wilderness camping. Where you canoe in with a tent, food and all you need to a remote site. The last several years we have not found the time to go, however our son is getting older and soon won't be able to go with us, so we made sure to get away this summer.

It was a special trip and one that I felt needed some narration to explain how I was feeling about it all. This is ultimately about spending as much quality time as possible with your kids while you can! Most of the music is by a friend of mine, Scott B. Adams from the CD "Listening to the Adirondacks". Check him out on iTunes!

I hope you enjoy what is surely my most personal film to date.

On the technical side, I used a SONY EX1 and a Canon 7D along with a Konova slider. Only had room in the canoe for a real junky tripod, hence not much panning or titling! I shot the 7D footage with the Technicolor cinestyle preset and graded with Magic Bullet Looks.

Let me know what you think of this departure from my normal videos.

Technicolor Dreams

View on ExposureRoom

This is a video I made to test the Technicolor Cinestyle preset for my Canon 7D. It basically is a free download for Canon DSLRs that greatly opens up the shadow areas of the image. The picture as shot will look very washed out, (MANY examples of uncorrected technicolor cine footage on VIMEO) so it needs to be color corrected in post production to dial in the correct black and white and color saturation settings. But once you do.....WOW! It adds more dynamic range to the image, and it doesn't have that DSLR, super contrasted look as much. I also feel the moire is reduced quite a bit!

To really test things out, I shot what I consider a contrast range torture test! A mountain stream on a bright sunny day, with lots of dappled light. Bright, bright highlights and deep, dark shadows!

I then transcoded all the footage into ProRes LT, imported and edited in Final Cut Pro and then used Magic Bullet Looks to color grade all the shots. Basically I used lift/gamma/gain and then color saturation. I did not use curves as I found it crushed the blacks and blew out the whites a bit too much. Actually I had issues getting the LUT (Look up table) Technicolor supplies to load into Magic Bullet Look Up Buddy (I think my system- a G5 PPC-is too old to properly use it!). I felt using Lift/gamma/gain gave me the best tonal gradations anyway, especially for nature subjects where a real cine tone isn't as needed.

I mostly used my Tamron lenses. My trusty 17-55 F2.8 and the super zoom 18-270 F3.5-6.3. Kept shutter speed at 60 at all times, using ND filters when needed to expose properly.

Remember, this is shot using Technicolor cinestyle, but then color corrected in post. Your footage MUST be worked on after you shoot it, it does not look like this out of the camera. It amounts to alot more work in post production, is it worth it? I think so! I found this to make the 7D footage look quite stunning, especially considering what I usually get shooting such a contrasty subject.

Music is from Stock20.com, an excellent source for buyout music.

Enjoy!

Arrival of Winter

Finally had the chance to make a new scenic video with the few shots I was able to get this past fall! I've been real busy (a good thing!) doing paying gigs and thus have not had the chance to shoot much new scenic video. I chose a song from a great movie called "Road to Perdition", if you haven't seen it you should, it's a great gangster movie but told much differently then most.

Arrival of Winter from Paul Frederick on Vimeo.

TV Commercial I was DP on

Here is a spot I shot (DP- Director of Photography) for Adworkshop. They are the marketing agency for Canton Potsdam Hospital. Its a great concept that was a fun time to shoot. Kari Hoffman was Producer and Anne Rast was the Director/Art Director. They did a great job of finding all the 1950's props and also in hiring the 2 kid actors. Anne also made those cool looking baseball cards of regular people to look like 1950's baseball cards!

Stacia and Michael wedding preview

Here is another wedding preview! I shot this one on October 2nd in Lake Placid. Stacia and Michael were great to work with. And it was fun also working with Kristin Parker (the wedding planner at Whiteface Club, and whose wedding I did in June!).

This one features some pretty epic movie trailer music! It's called "An Epic Age" by Immediate from their Trailerhead album. If you like big, epic sounding movie music, this is the stuff to download from iTunes!

Been wicked busy this summer/fall, no new scenic videos, but will get some made soon!

Thanks for watching!

View on ExposureRoom

Kristin and Adam Wedding preview

Its been quite a while since I shot a wedding video for someone. I have done quite a few in the past but not any since switching to HD cameras. Kristin contacted me last year about shooting her wedding. She's a wedding planner in Lake Placid. I wanted to try and do one, all on my own, with several cameras to see if I could pull it off. She knew I was going to be "experimenting" and still wanted to have me do it! It was an AMAZING wedding! Everything was beautiful and there were many locations throughout the day so it turned into a perfect challenge to try and do this all on my own. In this day and age of dwindling budgets for corporate videos and TV shows, I figure it couldn't hurt to diversify! While I think I'll only do a few of these a year (they are actually quite stressful to do!), it's nice to have a sample like this in the 'ol portfolio!

I put this wedding preview video together for Kristin and Adam and they love it! It really makes my day to hear that from them. All the hard work pays off when they sit there and wipe away a few tears. They even asked to see it 3 more times! Hope you enjoy it too.

View on ExposureRoom

Nature's Serenity

It's a wonderful time of year. Birds are chirping and the air is fresh and clean in the mountains! I find it very serene and peaceful. This is a collection of images I have shot in the past few weeks in Upstate New York here in the US.

It's my first attempt at presenting a video in a panavison, or cinemascope widescreen format! The 2.35 aspect ratio works well for these shots, especially in HD on a BIG screen. I used my Sony EX1 and also a Canon 7D camera. Lenses used were my Tamron 17-55mm 2.8, and the 28-135mm kit lens.

Enjoy and I hope the wide format is OK with everyone, it really is fun to compose for it! It's much more epic this way! Let me know what you think.

View on ExposureRoom

Chazy Peewee hockey State Championships!

This is the video I made for my son's hockey team. They won the sectionals for our area and earned a birth into the NY State championships! A big deal for our little town of 2000 people! We played teams from all over the state. Here is what the weekend was like! They played their hearts out and gave us all some great memories. We are orange & white and orange & black jerseys.

View on ExposureRoom

Ashes to Ashes

This is a collection of images I recently shot with the Canon 7D. I always try and make a short have some kind of storyline or meaning. This one isn't so clear as some of my others! I guess it's up to you to interpret what it means or is about. The title refers to the saying "ashes to ashes and dust to dust" which is said at funerals. The imagery of cemeteries sort of works in that context, as does the falling snow which looks like it could be ashes. Anyway, it's meant to be a peaceful relaxing video of some of my favorite clips of this past winter. Let me know what you think!

The matched dissolves to autumn where all done manually by eye, just returned to the same spot months later and put the slider in the same spot, framed similarly (no reference to the other shots on hand) and shot away. It actually wasn't until I returned to the edit suite that I realized they matched pretty close!

Sorry it has been so long since I updated!

View on ExposureRoom

November Gray

Another short that I shot with the Canon 7D. Its a dreary time of year here in Upstate New York. Not much light or color. Very short days. I went to a waterfall not too far from my house that has an old abandoned mill next to it.

I used the indiSlider in a lot of these shots to add some interest. I call this piece NOVEMBER GRAY, though in reality, the 7D captured alot of color in these scenes! It continues to amaze me. I also shot this one at 1080 24p. I also used the stock lens that cvame in the kit for some of the closeups of the waterfall. Its the 28-135 f.3.5-5.8 IS Canon Lens. Its tack sharp and the depth of field is quite nice when you are zoomed in, even though it's only a f5.8 lens at that point.

I did some color correction, mainly to adjust white balance, I was shooting so early after sun up that the color temperature was changing quite rapidly.

The music is from Digital Juice. Vol. 50 the song is called MOVING FORWARD.

View on ExposureRoom

The Last Days of Autumn - A Canon 7D film

My first short using the Canon 7D camera! It arrived too late for me to capture the full colors of fall, so this is the tail end of the season here in Upstate New York. All the particulars are at the end of the video but I'll mention them here too:

Camera: Canon EOS 7D in 1080 30p.
Lens: Tamron SP AF17-50mm F 2.8 XR LD ASPHERICAL (IF)
Highlite Tone Priority - OFF (To access 100 ISO)
Picture Style- Standard
All Shutter/WB/Aperture settings in Manual Mode
Tracking shots using the 36" indiSlider Pro
All color is straight from the camera, no post color correction.
Shot in 1080 30p transcoded to XDCAM EX 35mbs VBR using MPEG STREAMCLIP.

I LOVE this camera! I've been using my XDCAM EX1 and a Letus Extreme 35mm adapter. As I shoot scenics in nature, the small lightweight form factor of the 7D is incredible. While this was all shot in one loction in a couple hours, I can't wait to go on a serious hike with this thing. It'll be soooo light weight to carry compared to my other rig. The small size is also a treat for using on the indiSlider. I was pushing the weight limits of it before with my 20lb EX/Letus combo. I have an older MAC edit system, so I need to transcode all the H.264 files before I can edit, that is a time consuming process and a drag, but the footage is just lovely and worth the effort.

Finally the music is from Digital Juice Stack Tracks buy out library. Volume #50, "The Country".

I'll be shooting more with this camera soon as I'm still learning it. I need a Vari-ND filter for my lenses in order to shoot at F2.8 (when needed) and still keep the shutter at 60. Some of these shots used a higher shutter since I was using 100 ISO and F2.8. Without ND filters I had to increase shutter to obtain proper exposure. I only used 1 lens for this. The Tamron 17-50mm is perfect for most situations and I leave it on the camera all the time! If you can only get one lens, I highly recommend this one to start with.

Enjoy!

View on ExposureRoom

And now for something completely different....

My son and nieces and nephews wanted to make an action movie this summer. We even had a few extra kids from the neighborhood join in. This is what resulted from nearly 2 months of on again, off again shooting (tough to get everyone back together!). It is all in good fun and I hope everyone can see the "violence" is tongue and cheek! Its a little long, (8 Minutes) but the bloopers during the credits show how challenging this actually was to shoot! Its quite a departure from the usual videos that I post. Enjoy!

View on ExposureRoom

High Peaks Dental

This is a recruitment video for High Peaks Dental with offices in Lake Placid and Plattsburgh. They are in search of a new Dentist but this could also be used for recruiting other employees. Tim Kramer from Northway Productions and I made this for them. The voice over was done by Katie Ballard.

High Peaks Dental By Paul Frederick
View in HD  Download 720p HD Version  Visit Paul Frederick's ExposureRoom Videos Page

Where the Clear Waters Flow

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since my last post. I guess I'm not sure that many people are coming here so I may not be updating as often as possible. I always do a new update when I have a new video however, and I just finished this one.

I love shooting water, especially the clear mountain streams of the Adirondacks. This is a collection of clips from the last few years, mostly very recent but a few of my old favorites to round things out. I'm not sure if anyone really wants to hear the details as far as gear used, etc. If so, add a comment and I'll fill you in! Or visit Exposure Room or VIMEO, search my name and those entries have that info. Also you can view this and all my short films in full HD there!

Have a great summer and get out there and enjoy the weather!

Where the Clear Waters Flow By Paul Frederick
View in HD  Download 720p HD Version  Visit Paul Frederick's ExposureRoom Videos Page

Leaves of Fire

Wow, has it been over a month since I added anything to the blog? Time flies and I've been quite busy, so my apologies, in these economic times, that's a good thing! This is a video of some images I got last fall. The color here in upstate New York was some of the best ever. I wanted to make a video that showed the spectacular shades the leaves can turn as well as capture the feeling of the crisp autumn air.

I know we are on the verge of Spring here, and I'll be out shooting all the buds and blooming when I can for a future video, in the meantime enjoy the colors of fall. Search down on the blog for last years spring video entitled "After the Thaw".

Leaves of Fire By Paul Frederick
View in HD  Download 720p HD Version  Visit Paul Frederick's ExposureRoom Videos Page

The Rising Sun

Is it me or does this winter seem like a l-o-n-g one! I was going through some older footage the other day and decided I would make a new video. I'm longing for some warmer weather so my family and I can go camping on a secluded Adirondack pond. This footage is from 3 different camping trips, 2 to lower Saranac Lake and 1 to Moose Pond. In late August, at dawn, the air is colder then the water, so mist forms quite easily. It can also be quite dramatic, but you need to get up at 5am to see it since it only lasts for about 30 minutes! This is a long video, close to 8 minutes, but sit back, turn the heat up and dream of warmer days.

The music is called "Passion" by Peter Gabriel. It's from the soundtrack to "The Last Temptation of Christ" by Martin Scorsese that came out in the 1980's. It's GREAT music that hasn't aged a bit.

The Rising Sun By Paul Frederick
View in HD  Download 720p HD Version  Visit Paul Frederick's ExposureRoom Videos Page

Silent Winter

It's already been quite a winter here in the North Country! Today we are getting hit with 12-18" of fresh snow. Last Friday I managed to get out for a few hours to shoot some new winter stuff at Pt. Au Roche State park here in Upstate NY. It was an especially quiet afternoon. No wind. 20 degree temps and very still! It was a wonderful time, 3 hours flew by in no time at all. This is the short film I made with the footage I shot that day. I added all the dark corners in post, I know some try real hard to keep vignetting out, but to me it enhances these shorts. Focusing peoples attention on the main frame while breaking up the flat expanses, especially in these winter ones. I guess some like it, some don't. I have given up years ago trying to please everyone! So take it for what you will.

The music is by Bill Douglas. A tune called "Earth Prayer".

Enjoy and spring is coming...sometime!

Silent Winter By Paul Frederick
View in HD  Download 720p HD Version  Visit Paul Frederick's ExposureRoom Videos Page