New Wedding Package, Upgrading gear, 2014 Plans

As some of you may already know, I'm changing a few things about Daniel Rutter Films next year... including the name. I've been warned that this could potentially end up doing me more harm than good... I want to put a fresh name to the company.

Daniel Rutter Films over the last 3 years of my life has been growing into a very extensive body of work that I'm really proud of. The work I've done with weddings alone (7 by my count, with an 8th coming this weekend!) is work I'm forever proud to have done... and the music videos I wrapped about a month ago are some of my favorite parts of 2013's work alone.

Daniel Rutter Films will most likely relaunch next year under the name "The Faded Fedora". I am naming it after my signature piece of clothing that I pretty much live in. It will launch with a new take on wedding films, music videos... and make a move into quality promotional material for businesses in the region. There are a few films I am working on putting together next year as well (more on that later).

New Wedding package

A few days ago I wrapped editing on a highlights reel for a project I've been working on with Nathan Walsh and Allira Bourke which was my first foray into a new wedding package I'm offering. The idea is to add a whole new level to the humble wedding film by making it a lot more personal and have more emotional impact. Click the image above to check out the video, and you'll see what I mean.

Nathan & Allira were an amazing couple to work with... and I thank them for allowing me to test this new product with them. I'm really happy with how it came out, and I hope they are too.

More info on the wedding package can be obtained by making an enquiry via Facebook or Email.

New equipment/Upgrading Gear

A few months back I had made mention of purchasing the Black Magic Pocket Cinema camera... but upon further review, I have decided that this camera isn't really in my price range (with all extras needed) and doesn't suit me as a videographer. I will not dispute it's quality, but I don't find it appealing for my work style.

I have instead been looking to retire two cameras that have been a mainstay in my kit bag for a while now... including my fairly recent purchase the LX7. I'm also retiring my GH1. I will be replacing both of these with either a second GH2 body, or the new and improved Panasonic G6. I'm also adding a GoPro Hero Black Edition+ to my gear bag as well. These will be a part of my wedding shooter kit next year. Also on the cards are some new lighting equipment, a green/blue/black/white screen and stand kit and possibly a few lens upgrades depending on workload.


 




With this new equipment, it is my hope that I will be improving the overall image quality of my work... and it will allow me as a videographer to shoot a uniform video quality.

2014 Plans

2014 is already shaping up to be a pretty kickin' year for me. I am in the process of writing a new script for a thriller short film that I will be working alongside my long time collaborator Bart Riley. My hope is to take this film, and (excuse the profanity) 'shit' all over my previous short film work.
I'm also in negotiations with a Dubbo based script writer about collaborating on his short film script. There will be more info on that sometime in the future once things are locked down. This will mark my second time ever working on someone elses script instead of writing and shooting my own.

I've already mentioned the company name change, the new promotional video offerings and the new equipment. This is just the stuff I have planned ahead with. You just never know what will come along though!

And that's all folks. If you read this far along, cheers! Stick around... new info comes out every so often :)

- Dan

New projects, busy end of year, confidence boost!

Hey guys!

So much news to tell you today, that I don't even know where to start.

First up, I have a documentary shoot that I am currently working on. I can't tell you much more than that, but it's going to be great... and I'm working with a brilliant team who seem to be doing all the leg work while I focus on filming and editing. The documentary wasn't my idea... I was brought on to help "make it a reality". We should see a finished product by March 2014, but I'll keep you posted as things happen.

Secondly, today I just confirmed booking for yet another wedding. That's 5 weddings before years end... 5! Ok, not that many in the grand scheme of things... but that's 5 weddings with less than 3 months left in the year. On top of that, I have 3 possible music videos (one confirmed, with Dubbo local band "Trollgasm"). So, it's safe to say I'm run off my feet. To be honest, it's nerve racking to have so much going on at once... but I like the idea of being busy. After spending a few months doing nothing really at all, it's a great change of pace.

Third... I can't give too many details out about this, but I will say... Daniel Rutter Films will be changing it's face and name come 2014. Along with the new face, will be a new logo, new website, and some new products and projects. One of our projects will involve a complete overhaul to how we do wedding videos. I'm working closely with a couple who are my "test subjects" for this project to see if it's viable... and so far, I think we're going to make something very unique that isn't done around here. Gotta have an edge on the competition eh? :)

Lastly... and this I believe is tied in with the notion of being busy: I have found a new take on life. For the last two weeks I've been working on making a better "me". A happier, more motivated person. I have a lot of people to thank, but I'd like to thank those who are bringing me all this work... my family, who don't even realise how much they inspire me... and of course, my lovely girlfriend Mel. Without her, I'd not have survived the last 10 months of my life quite as well as I did. Thanks to all our clients over the last 10 months for their patience as well.

Lets make the last 3 months of 2013 rock!

Dan, out!

EDIT:

I can't believe I forgot this. It seem it's flown under the radar of most, but I recently did a short skit with my best mate Bart from Forgotten Walrus Entertainment. It's got a few little production issues... but it was still a fun shoot, once again proving why I'm better as a videographer and camera operator... and not an actor :)

Check out Forgotton Walrus Entertainment on Facebook, and click play on the video below to see the film.

Filming a Music Video with the LX7 - Jon O Nicholson - "Hallelujah"

Yesterday was an interesting day.

I started off the morning double checking my gear, after a 5 hour nap. I repacked my gear bags and prepared for an afternoon of filming with talented Wellington-based performer Jon O Nicholson. We had planned to do a very quick and simple music video shoot in his recording studio.

I had originally planned to shoot this video with my Panasonic GH2, and all on sticks... but recently I added the Lumix LX7 (I've raved about this camera a LOT) and a new Dolly/Slider that I wanted to try out. I saw this music video as an opportunity to test out the LX7 in a film making-type environment.

I wanted the video to suit the song in the sense of feeling the singer was alone in a dark room/warehouse with only minimal light around him. I felt it fitted well with the reverb of the audio track. I borrowed the idea of shooting it in black and white, with Jono in a suit and emulating and old 50's/60's style, from a photo shoot I did with Jon O a few months ago. The idea was simplistic, required little to no planning... and very minimal equipment and setup time.

Right off the bat I knew I'd have trouble with the lighting. I knew I wanted a spotlight/hairlight setup, and the LX7 may not hold up well if I have to push ISO to brighten the image. Both my lights were low budget, a $20 Bunnings worklight with an energy saving globe rated at around 40w, and my LED Video ring light worth $40. The light you see leaking through the black background is light from a window with tarp over the outside. This actually worked quite well in giving us a "backlight" of sorts. The ring light was set up on Jon O to seperate him from the background. For the most part it worked well.

I set these up, bumped up the ISO to 500, and shot the video in black and white (which was what the final product was to be edited as anyway). The reason I shot B/W in camera is simply because in my tests, there was enough dynamic range to give the subject a flattering presence (balancing the highlights with the mids, letting shadows fall off nicely into the blacks) without crushing the image completely.

We shot with the LX7 mostly on the slider attached to my Weifeng 717 and got some really nice fluid dolly shots.

Unedited stills from the footage are below. Click to open the 'originals' (Picasa web still compresses images unfortuntely).

My final thoughts, both on the shoot and the use of the camera, are as such:

The shoot was indeed a success. We did a bloody good job with the lighting setup we had, which although limited in use and very frugal... we did good with it. Jon O was an absolute legend about the shoot, and very patient with me. I've worked with him in the past for photo shoots, and for a live performance video. He's a genuinely funny guy, and even funnier when you let him have a guitar in his hand. I especially chuckled at him making up lyrics on the spot whilst waiting for me to set up one of my shots, and watched as he followed his comedic ditty with a guitar solo straight out of the 50's!

The LX7 was an absolute joy to work with. I expected the footage to look much worse than it did, but it held up well. Most of my issues came with focusing, but that is mostly because I wasn't manually focusing during most of my slider movements. When focus was nailed, the image was brilliant. If I had shot this in colour, granted... it wouldn't have looked as nice... but the quality of the inbuilt monochrome preset just blows me away. Battery power was my only other problem, but this is what happens when you rely on a camera to allow you to film for 4 hours and not having a spare battery.

 

The video is currently uploading to Youtube as I type this, so I will edit the post and include the video link when it's finished. If you enjoy the video, please head over to Jono's Facebook page and give him a thumbs up!

Maquarie Theatre Documentary - PrePro!

Daniel Rutter Films today has begun pre-production on a potential documentary series based on the history and futre of the Maquarie Theatre/former Rugby Club in Wellington.

We'll begin more thorough Pre-Production over the coming weeks, as we locate various former employees of the original Theatre built in 1938. We'll be looking for individuals who have interesting stories regarding the building, not just as the original Theatre of Wellington, but also as the local watering hole for Wellington's Rugby supporters.

This will be my first official foray into "documentary" film making, if you don't include my TAFE short-doco which I did on a friend of mine.

Looking forward to the hours of research ahead of me... I really enjoy digging into history!