This is me, Patrick, at work this past Friday directing a BBQ commercial. The rushes look amazing- the RED MX upgrade was utterly worth the expense. The latitude that we have with this upgraded camera is stunning, and that’s important, since I tend to do a lot of work in post production, changing and enhancing what we shot on set.

Speaking of the camera, RED Digital Cinema really knocked my socks off on these shoots- I’ve been a RED fan for years, and their cameras are used to shoot movies like The Hobbit (upcoming Peter Jackson), Spiderman (the new one being shot now), and the latest Pirates movie from Disney. But they really care about us smaller, indie guys, too. My RED Rocket, which is a special computer card I need on set to decode and look at the RED footage my camera’s shooting, broke right before the shoot. After talking to RED and explaining the bind I was in, they lent me a RED Rocket card for these shoots while mine’s in the shop. Did I mention I was a fan of RED? Now I’m flat out evangelistic about them. No other camera company would have helped me out like they did, and I will not forget it. Thanks, RED.

Of course, a great camera is nothing without great lighting. And a great eye for exactly where to put the camera. And above all, it doesn’t matter how beautiful the picture is if the actors’ performances aren’t excellent. In both of our shoots last week, everything came together and everyone did a great job.

I also directed a very cool and slightly weird Kubrick-esque commercial last week, and we cleared out the studio to let our amazing production designer- Pam Chien- create a sultry bedroom set for the edgy but cool UK lingerie company spot. The BBQ one was more of a comedy, along the lines of our show Couch Cases… this one was a sexy but not dirty, fun commercial that let me do some cool dramatic lighting, interesting jib arm and dolly moves, and so forth. With a wicked awesome visual effects shot at the end that’ll be a shocker and a laugh.

I’d like to give a great big thanks to everyone who was a part of these productions- I had a lot of fun, you were all wonderful, and I can’t wait to show off the finals in about a month. These two shoots were a huge deal for me and the company, thank you all. But a special thanks to my gaffer and girl friday, Katie Ferraro.