My Story from Justin Smith on Vimeo.

Here is a recent piece of PFP for Hawaii based band Gatsby Stamp entirely shot on a Canon XHA1 camera. I have to say that I really liked everything about the camera except for one thing, the LCD screen is tiny and if you are like me and hate looking through the eyepiece then the LCD screen means a lot. Overall it is a versatile camera with a great picture. This footage was color corrected using Magic Bullet Looks. I have found a few techniques in filming that really help to make your shot pop. One such technique is using depth of field to make your focus really stand out. In this case the singer really stands out in his side profile shots. I found that filming with consumer cameras that don’t have the real film look to them is difficult. You need to step outside the box and really be creative . The way I tried to create the depth in these shots was to stand a considerable distance away maybe even 30 to 40 feet and zoom almost all the way in that way you create some serious space between the focus and the background. Another technique is to find high contrast natural lighting. Find an area that is relatively dark with a light source that is strong enough to light your character. In these shots we had no lighting other then the natural light coming through the window. We found that early morning gave us the best natural light to light our talent.

1. beginning and ending titles

2. best stuff in front and at the end.

3. awesomeness

Garrett Smith Showreel 09 from Justin Smith on Vimeo.

Cinema 4D Text Into After Effects from Justin Smith on Vimeo.