Stories

I shot some nice atmospheric work yesterday for Hospice Buffalo on my Scarlet-X camera with director Eric Frick at the helm. The pros at DPost will be carving it up tomorrow.

One thing is for sure. I’m gonna miss Stella.

We spent the day in the sprawling studio space of WNED shooting a bit of work for New Era Cap with JR Kraus on the jib-cam. One of the highlights of the day for me? The turkey club sandwich from Globe Market for lunch. Yeahthat’sright!

Is it me, or are those cubes getting bigger?

A :30 spot cut down from a long form video I shot for New Era Cap aired on ESPN yesterday during the Pinstripe Bowl. And Syracuse won!

Director Rich Wafer and the gang returned to Buffalo a few days ago to brave the near winter cold in picturesque East Aurora, New York for M&T Bank’s latest TV spot “A Day in the Life.” DP Jaron Presant was in the house and I operated a 2nd camera as well as keeping both camera rigs well oiled.

DPost will be crafting another sweet commercial for the Buffalo market from the day of footage we shot and I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

Produced/directed/edited by Cumbo, Inc.

Cinematography/color grading: Chris Santucci

Performance: Jimmy Hawkins

Choreography: Mike Burton

After spending most of a day in a cold warehouse in Buffalo with our crew and an actor, all of us with one goal in mind – to create some compelling footage to use in conjuring up a scene from 1920(ish), it seems we succeeded (if even with a mix of slightly more modern set dressing).

And this was the easy part because of what came after – a step motion fast forward through time of 92 years of caps – whoa!

One thing I’ve strived to achieve since I became a self-employed freelancer in 1995 is the ability to work with people I like. There’s nothing better than working with people you like, and having a good time while you produce great work. Just the fact that you’re part of something like that and getting paid is pretty much where it’s at as far as I’m concerned.

I was employed as gaffer, camera operator, and technical consultant on the recent Buffalo News commercials project with Rhea Anna and I have to say – it just doesn’t get any better.

Buffalo News commercials (behind the scenes)

We just completed day 4 of 4 for the Western New York AAA barely scraping by on a day starting with torrential downpours (100% chance of rain!), and finishing with a few setups featuring perfect late day light.

This project was a big departure for the WNY AAA as all their prior spots featured AAA members giving testimonials on a plain background.

We utilized my Red One digital cinema camera for most setups and this project marks the last one for Red One 1268 which is being replaced with Red’s Scarlet-X (shipping soon!)

I just survived 3 shoot days gaffing for Rhea Anna on the new Buffalo News spots directed by Chris King. She seemed to enjoy my Phaze 7even camera rig almost as much as I do!

And now… I get to sleep again.