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Shutter Speed, Shutter Angle, and the Film Look That Actually Works Three years ago, I screwed up a crucial scene on “Married & Isolated.” Shot it on an iPhone 12 Pro with Filmic Pro—tight close-ups, natural window light, the works. Everything looked beautiful on the monitor. Then I got to the edit suite and realized … Read more
What is a Key Grip in the Movie Industry? The grip truck showed up two hours late to our location shoot in the Vancouver rain. I was directing “Going Home,” and we had maybe three hours of usable light left. Our key grip, a quiet veteran named Doug, stepped out, assessed the muddy hillside where … Read more
Why Video Sound Quality Matters More Than You Think I learned this the hard way on “Going Home.” We’d spent three days shooting this short film. The lighting looked cinematic. The camera work was smooth. The performances? Incredible. But when I sat down to edit, I heard it—that low hum underneath everything. The refrigerator. We … Read more
How to film an interview like a pro Last month, I wrapped a six-hour interview shoot for a short film called “Silence in the Spotlight.” The subject—a 72-year-old woman sharing her experience with early-onset dementia—sat under our lights for what felt like forever. Halfway through, I realized we were losing her. Not because she was … Read more
The Night I Almost Lost Everything in Prague Three years ago, I was shooting B-roll for a travel documentary in Prague’s Old Town. My camera bag sat next to me at an outdoor café—right next to me—while I reviewed footage on my laptop. I looked down for maybe thirty seconds to adjust a color grade. … Read more
My First Film Was Unwatchable (Here’s What I Learned) I still remember the first short film I tried to make after film school. It was called “Wasted Lives,” and it was a disaster. The audio sounded like it was recorded inside a tin can. Half my shots were out of focus because I didn’t understand … Read more
The Gear Paradox Three years ago, I was on set shooting “Going Home” with a borrowed camera and the wrong lens. We’d framed this beautiful wide shot of our lead actor walking through a doorway—except the 85mm I’d grabbed made the hallway look like a cramped closet. My DP looked at me. I looked at … Read more
Hook: The 2 AM Problem We were shooting Return of the Raven in a parking garage at 2 AM. No permits, no lights—just me, my DP, and whatever ambient glow the fluorescent overheads gave us. I had a rented camera that claimed “exceptional low-light performance.” The footage looked like someone smeared Vaseline on the lens and … Read more
Hook I was halfway through shooting Going Home in a remote coastal town when my gimbal died. No backup. No plan B. Just me, a shaky handheld shot, and a sinking feeling that I’d have to reshoot everything. That’s when I learned the hard way: nomad filmmaking isn’t about having the most expensive gear—it’s about … Read more
The Best Documentary Cinema Cameras in 2025 (From Someone Who Actually Uses Them) I still remember the first time I tried shooting a documentary interview with the wrong camera. It was 2014, and I thought my DSLR would handle everything. Thirty minutes in, the battery died mid-sentence. No warning. Just… gone. The subject—a 90-year-old war … Read more