DSLR

Light Is My Friend

By
Light Is My Friend

I generally find harsh sunlight to be the ugliest light of all, but this morning, for some reason, it was amazing. Perhaps because it was early and there was just enough humidity in the air to allow a little filtration in the air. I shot these while walking the dogs around the neighborhood. I normally keep my Nikon Coolpix pocket camera in with me for grabbing pictures on-the-go, but for some reason I felt compelled to hang the Canon 7D around my neck with the super-wide Tokina 11-16 f2.8 lens. The distortion that the sideness of the lens creates...

Read more »

Ed Burns makes “Newlyweds” for $9,000 with a Canon 5D

By
Ed Burns makes “Newlyweds” for $9,000 with a Canon 5D

How long have I been saying to aspiring & first-time independent filmmakers that theatrical distribution is not only dead, it is nonexistent? Filmmaker Ed Burns became one of the Sundance stars and indie filmmaker poster childred with his $20,000 16mm feature The Brothers McMullen — a great film with some of the best performances I’ve scene in films. The DVD has one of the...

Read more »

Jimmy Ennett – Australian Naked Filmmaker

By
Jimmy Ennett – Australian Naked Filmmaker

A few months ago I was reviewing my Youtube account and saw a mile of comments left on my videos. A few of them were from a young filmmaker in Australia named Jimmy Ennett who said that he was a one-man filmmaker, too, and that he’d even bought my book Naked Filmmaking. This was very personally uplifting for me to learn that not only was Naked Filmmaking reaching beyond U.S. borders, but that it was also spreading out into new hemispheres. I quickly sent this young compatriot a thank you e-mail and we began corresponding. I wanted to know...

Read more »

Matthew Modine – KCRA Common Ground Profile – Part 2 of 3

By
Matthew Modine – KCRA Common Ground Profile – Part 2 of 3

Every now and then in the business of TV news you get a chance to meet and do a story on someone who’s work you admire and who had been a part of something historic. Matthew Modine is an actor and filmmaker who has been working in films for almost the same length of time that I’ve been working in TV news. His most well-known work is quite possibly in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. It was a film an an experience that left a lasting impression on Modine. Kubrick’s independent style in filmmaking went much deeper than in...

Read more »

Matthew Modine – From Joker to Jesus – Part 1 0f 3

By
Matthew Modine – From Joker to Jesus – Part 1 0f 3

Several weeks ago I received an e-mail from a friend and former co-worker at KCRA asking if I could help out a filmmaker friend of hers. Her friend had a short film and wanted to know more about some of the northern California film festivals. Of course, I was glad to share my knowledge and experiences. Then I was told that her filmmaker friend was Matthew Modine. Cutting to the chase, I am a total Stanley Kubrick fan. And to learn that I was being asked to share some film festival knowledge with a lead actor who spent two...

Read more »

David duChemin – Photographing the Life Journey

By
David duChemin – Photographing the Life Journey

I’m constantly following links to articles on the net and listening to podcasts in search of somebody or something new that grabs my interest. It’s rare and doesn’t come along that often. But when it does it’s like a 10K lighting up a street in the night. I had one of those eye-opening – and, more importantly, mind-opening – experiences last week. Listening to Carl Olson’s 16×9 Digital Cinema Convergence podcast, which I subscribe free on iTunes, with guest David duChemin. duChemin is a photographer, author and life traveler, who hosts and blogs at his website Pixilated Image. He...

Read more »

Salton Sea on KCRA-TV

By
Salton Sea on KCRA-TV

This is our vacation home movie. Most people put some videos together, post them on Youtube or burn DVDs and mail them to family. I write up a script, edit my videos and have them broadcast on a network affiliate. Yes, I put my vacation photos and videos out on the news. This story aired on KCRA-TV’s Common Ground at 6:30 PM on Sunday, May 15, 2011. hb129 from Mike Carroll on Vimeo. As a continuation from the two earlier posts about our trip to Southern California and the Salton Sea: Just over a month ago Bonnie, Alex, Ava...

Read more »

On The Road – Part Two, The Salton Sea

By
On The Road – Part Two, The Salton Sea

The Salton Sea is a photographer’s Disneyland. A desert lake. Barren, harsh and beautiful. Not so much natural as unnatural. Located thirty miles south of Indio, which is just next to Palm Springs, the Salton Sea is 229 feet below sea level. (Technical Note: I’m going to go into greater detail on the shooting of these photos in a few weeks. Later in the morning I started shooting from a tripod and shooting both stills and video of the same thing. I have an idea for what I’m going to do with it, but am going to go into...

Read more »

The Good Cameras Behind Goodwill

By
The Good Cameras Behind Goodwill

KCRA Common Ground – Goodwill Stores Get A Facelift from Mike Carroll on Vimeo. Canon 7D in 1080 60p Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 lens JVC GY-HD100U camcorder in 720 HDV Adobe Premier CS5 FINDING THE STORY: A few months ago I was in a fairly upwardly-mobile community of Sacramento covering a blood drive that KCRA, the TV station I work at, was sponsoring, when I noticed a Goodwill Industries store just a few doors down. Goodwill is a nationwide organization of thrift stores that has been around since the Thirties and benefits people with handicaps and other special needs. I...

Read more »

Anthony D’Juan Wraps Filming of “Untitled”

By
Anthony D’Juan Wraps Filming of “Untitled”

This is the second night I spent on the set of Anthony D’Juan’s one-man film Untitled. Footage shot on the Canon 7D using the Sigma 28mm f/1.8 for the interiors. Anthony wrote a detailed blog on his Facebook page that sums up his experience at Naked Filmmaking better than I can,  so here is a reprint from his page. Anthony D’Juan behind the scenes of “Untitled” – Shot on Canon 7D from Mike Carroll on Vimeo. This is reprinted from Anthony D’Juan’s Facebook page from August 21, 2010. Naked Filmmaking (passing the buck) by Anthony D’Juan Shelton on Saturday,...

Read more »