2008 Demo Reel

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

I've been working on my 08 reel, filling it with the little stuff I shot this year. I'm hoping to perfect it in the new year and finally get off my ass and start this cinematography thing full time.

 

720p

480p

360p

 

Critique please!

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Definitally some very nice shooting in there and nice version of the Imogen (spelling?) Heap song.

I especially loved the shot of the girl on the swing (camera attached) in fact the only thing I didn't like was the opening cloud dissolve; but hey, that's just me. Top notch reel.

[Steven Dempsey]

Hey Chayse, great to see you here...it's been a long time. Your reel continues to get better. The one shot that stood out as odd to me was the moon. It's very grainy and it just looks like bad quality instead of gritty or whatever you might have been going for. I also felt like there was not enough variety to my eye to sustain it for as long as you did. Seems like it would be way more effective at around 2 minutes. Basically, at the end of it, I felt like I didn't want to see more but if you shortened it, I think I would have been more intrigued. Does that make sense?

 

Your shots and framing are beautiful and you have a great skill in conveying powerful emotions with your camera movements and compositions.

 

Good luck.

 

Steven

Edited November 29, 2007 by Steven Dempsey

[Edgar Dubrovskiy]

You love smoke, don't you ;) Nice shots.

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

Thanks for the critiques guys. I've adjusted the reel quite a bit. Took one some of the smoking shots and replaced the moon shot for another. I'm also having the song remixed again, but it wont be finished till after monday.

[Alexander Disenhof]

The reel looks great - I visited your website and am very interested in the snowboarding film. (I am an avid snowboarder who was actually inspired to be a cinematographer originally by the 16mm snowboard films that I have watched my whole life.) Is there anywhere I could go to see this film?

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

Thanks Alex. The film isn't out yet. Last I heard it was trying to premier at next years Toronto film fest.

 

I've updated the reel so check it on the same links. All thats left is to finish up the remix to the song.

Edited December 5, 2007 by Chayse Irvin

[Kevin Harrington]

Loved your reel. I gotta question about your bonfire scene, because it looks so natural. Was that just available light from the fire or did you punch it up at all?

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

Thanks Kevin. To the left of the screen was a 6x6 ultra bounce with 2 mini 9 light maxi's w/ 1/2 CTS and Chocolate on a flicker generator. As the shot starts on the fire I have a grip flopping the light coming from the bounce off the actors to hide the source and just had the fire lighting them, as the camera travels away from the fire he slowly removes the flop. For the rest of the coverage I used a 6x6 ultra bounce with the two mini9's and added a 6x6 bleach muslin frame in front; I moved it in to compensate for the stop loss.

[Dory Breaux DP]

That was one of the most inspiring reels I have EVER seen Chayse. I would LOVE to et to work with you someday.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Chase,

Questions looking at the hydraulic car scene: what stock? and also did you do the scratches in camera or in post? I'm just curious because it's so saturated and grainy!

[Timo Klages]

I've been working on my 08 reel, filling it with the little stuff I shot this year. I'm hoping to perfect it in the new year and finally get off my ass and start this cinematography thing full time.

 

720p

480p

360p

 

Critique please!

 

i really like your reel!

i am not so much into the hip-hop music video scenes but i like how you play with the light (and the sun to be more precise)! the snowboard scenes and so on... very well done!

 

a little question: what is the name of the song/band you chose for your reel? i like that one a lot :)

 

keep up the good work!

 

timo

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

That was one of the most inspiring reels I have EVER seen Chayse. I would LOVE to et to work with you someday.

 

THANKS DORY! Thats the most inspiring complement i have ever received!

 

Chase,

Questions looking at the hydraulic car scene: what stock? and also did you do the scratches in camera or in post? I'm just curious because it's so saturated and grainy!

 

That was 7201. The scratches and burns were done in the camera changing bag. I reached in there, crumpled up some film and then pulled a bit out of the bag. I had no idea what it would look like, but the results were great. It only worked on the first 150ft or so of film. Perfect for the feeling of the video. The saturation mainly showed up in the red and yellow channels. Some of the footage has a huge red burn on the side for the image that dances around and any flesh tone that enters the burn would turn into a blown out yellow. Looked really good.

 

i really like your reel!

i am not so much into the hip-hop music video scenes but i like how you play with the light (and the sun to be more precise)! the snowboard scenes and so on... very well done!

 

a little question: what is the name of the song/band you chose for your reel? i like that one a lot :)

 

keep up the good work!

 

timo

 

Thanks Timo. Was there anything in particular you didn't like about the hip hop stuff?

The song is imogen heap "Hide and Seek". The beat was put on by a buddy of mine and same with the guitar at the end.

Edited December 8, 2007 by Chayse Irvin

[Andrew White]

Chayse,

 

Wow, man, some good looking stuff there. There's something about the style you have that I find really inspiring - each piece had its own distinct flavor and it all was beautiful. You are a great example of the next generation of cinematographers that continue to take film and video to new places. Really nice work.

 

Andrew

[Adrian Sierkowski]

That's definitely a really cool effect from the film-crumpling; though I dunno if I'd ever have the. . . gusto. . to try it!

[Timo Klages]

Thanks Timo. Was there anything in particular you didn't like about the hip hop stuff?

The song is imogen heap "Hide and Seek". The beat was put on by a buddy of mine and same with the guitar at the end.

 

hey chasey,

 

after the girl on the playground scene, there is this guy "rapping" into the camera. it´t not bad at all but it´s not so breathtaking as most of your other shots. the breakdance scene are great!

 

so, the original tune doesn´t have the beat? damn :) it fits pretty well to your reel!

 

greets,

timo

[JK Mohr]

Really impressed, everything flows perfectly in my eyes. I also think the song is perfect for this, so good choice on that, haha.

 

And this is completely off topic, but do you have a link or the like that could instruct me on how to stream HD video with quicktime like that? I've been looking around but can't find anything. Thanks!

[David Regan]

Very inspiring, makes me determined to work even harder now. Really very nice, one of my favorite shots was early, after a shot of the snowboarder, it is of the older man talking to a girl, the camera is looking over the wooden railing/fence. The framing of that shot was really pleasing to me, and the lighting reminded me to some degree of Michael Cain's house in Children of Men, a look I particularily enjoy.

 

Thanks for posting it, keep up the excellent work.

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

Chayse,

 

Wow, man, some good looking stuff there. There's something about the style you have that I find really inspiring - each piece had its own distinct flavor and it all was beautiful. You are a great example of the next generation of cinematographers that continue to take film and video to new places. Really nice work.

 

Andrew

 

Thanks a bunch Andrew.

 

That's definitely a really cool effect from the film-crumpling; though I dunno if I'd ever have the. . . gusto. . to try it!

 

Heh, it was risky, but it worked out. I not as confident in my risk taking as i used to be. But when I shot that years ago I had much bigger cahonese. There was a time where I felt anything I did would look good.

 

hey chasey,

 

after the girl on the playground scene, there is this guy "rapping" into the camera. it´t not bad at all but it´s not so breathtaking as most of your other shots. the breakdance scene are great!

 

so, the original tune doesn´t have the beat? damn :) it fits pretty well to your reel!

 

greets,

timo

 

Oh ya. I agree its not the best shot in the reel. I wanted to let Music Video directors know I've done performance stuff so I through it in there. After my next project it will probably get replaced.

 

Really impressed, everything flows perfectly in my eyes. I also think the song is perfect for this, so good choice on that, haha.

 

And this is completely off topic, but do you have a link or the like that could instruct me on how to stream HD video with quicktime like that? I've been looking around but can't find anything. Thanks!

 

Thanks JK. The compression is H264 done through compressor right off the sequence. I've found that there is a colour shift, more prevalent aliasing, and compression artifacts when I compress off a Uncompressed 4:2:2 quicktime of the sequence. When I go right from the sequence none of those problems occur. I do a slight gamma correction during the compression because the compression itself boosts the gamma up just a tad, so I correct for that during the compression. Here are the specs that I've made from doing this over and over again over the last few years:

 

Name: 2.40 H264 Medium

Description: H.264

File Extension: mov

Estimated file size: 1.43 GB/hour of source

Time remapping:

source frames play at output rate

Audio Encoder

AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz

Video Encoder

Format: QT

Width: 720

Height: 306

Pixel aspect ratio: Square

Crop to: Letterbox area of source

(L: 0, T: 86, R: 0, B: 86)

Padding: None

Frame rate: (100% of source)

Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off

Codec Type: H.264

Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On

Pixel depth: 24

Spatial quality: 75

Min. Spatial quality: 50

Temporal quality: 50

Min. temporal quality: 50

Average data rate: 3.413 (Mbps)

Maximum data rate: 3.413 (Mbps)

Fast Start: on

Gamma Correction

Gamma: 1.100

 

 

Very inspiring, makes me determined to work even harder now. Really very nice, one of my favorite shots was early, after a shot of the snowboarder, it is of the older man talking to a girl, the camera is looking over the wooden railing/fence. The framing of that shot was really pleasing to me, and the lighting reminded me to some degree of Michael Cain's house in Children of Men, a look I particularily enjoy.

 

Thanks for posting it, keep up the excellent work.

 

Thanks David. That shot was done off a jib into a tree house. I lit it with a bounce just off screen. I think we draped a 6x6 ultra bounce off the wall and then through a mini 9 light maxi with 1/2 CTS into it. On the ground of the 17ft tree house I put a 8x8 ultra bounce and that back through a 8x8 Muslin, that had a mini 9 in it too. It was 2 stops underexposed. You cant feel it in that part of the shot... but the character walks around the girl and looks over the edge of the tree house while talking about the end of the world. The source at the bottom was so soft all it did was create highlights under his eyes and since it was so underexposed it made for a really reddish flesh tone highlight; it was perfect for the mood of the scene. Thanks for the complement. Children of Men is one of my favorite films and Emmanuel Lubezki is my favorite cinematographer.

 

 

 

I uploaded a final version of the song and reel last night. I want to thank everyone who commented and critiqued the reel. Anyone know what I'm supposed to do next? hehe

[Andrew Wheeler]

Hey Chayse I commented on your reel when you posted 6 months back or so. It still looks really nice and the additions work well. Also you nailed the remix of the Imogen Heap song. Great Job.

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

Thanks Andrew. Lots of hard work this time around. I hope it pays off.

[Kevin Harrington]

Thanks Kevin. To the left of the screen was a 6x6 ultra bounce with 2 mini 9 light maxi's w/ 1/2 CTS and Chocolate on a flicker generator. As the shot starts on the fire I have a grip flopping the light coming from the bounce off the actors to hide the source and just had the fire lighting them, as the camera travels away from the fire he slowly removes the flop. For the rest of the coverage I used a 6x6 ultra bounce with the two mini9's and added a 6x6 bleach muslin frame in front; I moved it in to compensate for the stop loss.

 

Thanks for the response Chase. I'm doing a similar sequence in a few weeks, but in a smaller town without 6X6 ultra bounces. They seem to have every other overhead available (from silver lame to 1/2 soft frost). Is there anything close to an ultra bounce that would help me achieve the incredibly natural lighting you got in your fire scene?

 

And is there a reason why you didn't backlight any of the talent? I actually like the look better, because I was racking my brain to come up with motivated backlight to pop them out from the BG, but all I could up with is the highly overused moonlight CTB on an HMI or the like. Thanks for the responses, the reel was seriously great.

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

Thanks for the response Chase. I'm doing a similar sequence in a few weeks, but in a smaller town without 6X6 ultra bounces. They seem to have every other overhead available (from silver lame to 1/2 soft frost). Is there anything close to an ultra bounce that would help me achieve the incredibly natural lighting you got in your fire scene?

B&W Griff would work too. But you could also bounce off Muslin. But you would lose probably 30% of your bouncing light because it would throw right through muslin.

 

And is there a reason why you didn't backlight any of the talent? I actually like the look better, because I was racking my brain to come up with motivated backlight to pop them out from the BG, but all I could up with is the highly overused moonlight CTB on an HMI or the like. Thanks for the responses, the reel was seriously great.

 

I didn't do any backlighting the whole film. It was one of the rules I gave myself when conjuring the look and it was something that I could easily keep continuity with. The only time I did back lighting was day exterior scenes where we would stage the scene to be backlit by the sun. However for that scene I really wanted all the characters surrounded by darkness and the only light coming from the fire because of the context of the scene. One of the characters dies and the scene opens with his friends tossing his snowboard in the fire. I wanted the burning snowboard to be the light source for the whole scene. I agree, the hard backlight is overused in some sense, but also appropriate and practical for a lot of shoots.