Author: markmorrisdp

At his palatial Hollywood Hills mansion (built in the 20’s for William Randolph Hearst) I spent most of a day shooting an interview with cult film producer-director Larry Cohen. He is a highly original and resilient talent whose credits also include screenplay writing during the past 40 years and include more than 40 films. His creative versatility has enabled him to produce films outside the studio system for decades resulting in highly admired, well crafted works created with budgets that wouldn’t cover the craft services costs of a studio picture.

His observations on the state of the industry and how it has evolved during his long career are fascinating, and will be included in the feature-length documentary being produced by La-La Land Records.

Larry created the hit TV series “The Invaders” and “Branded”(starring Chuck Connors) in the 60’s. His film credits include Phone Booth, It’s Alive, Daddy’s Gone A Hunting, The Stuff and a whole myriad of sci-fi, horror and action films.

In the world of video cameras it is absolutely fascinating that the fastest cameras only operate at the extreme ends of the visible light-gathering universe. At one end you have your Miros and Phantoms, Photrons and For-A VFC’s — all of which suck up vast quantities of light to achieve high frame rates. At the other extreme you have awesomely light sensitive cameras that see beautifully in very low light at ISO speeds of 25,000, 64,000 and even 102,000. Both of these vastly different types of cameras are FAST.

But EXTREME just got way bigger. Now welcome THE 800 POUND GORILLA OF FAST!

Recently I shot parts of a documentary in Atlanta at the Swan Mansion on the grounds of the Atlanta History Center that serves as the location for the “Governor’s Mansion” in the HUNGER GAMES movies.

The documentary chronicles the colorful life of an unusual photographer, Fred Parrish, who was David O. Selznick’s still photographer on Gone With The Wind.  We spent several days shooting historic sites that were connected with Gone With The Wind, including author Margaret Mitchell’s house, where she wrote the epic best-seller.

Fred Parrish, The Man Behind the Camera will be a one-hour doc that will feature never- before-seen production stills of the making of the movie that some critics have dubbed the greatest of all time.

The latest weapon in my shooting arsenal is the Blackmagic Cinema Camera (MFT model).  It features the popular DSLR form factor (5D, 7D, etc) but with vastly superior resolution and imaging capabilities. Its Raw or Pro-Res output allows more digital information to be recorded—making better than HD pictures.

Beyond HD – instead of 1920 x 1080 how about 2592 x 2192! Its a 2.5K camera.

Lenses                                                     
Nikon 10-24mm 3.5
Canon 28mm 2.8
Canon 55mm 1.2
Canon 135mm 3.5
Canon 200mm 2.8

Recording Media
Sandisk Extreme 480gb

SPECS
13 stops of exposure latitude (like Red and Alexa)
Sensor Resolution 2592 x 2192
Raw Resolution 12-bit RAW files recorded at 2432 x 1366
Shooting Resolutions 2.5K RAW at 2432 x 1366, Pro-Res HQ at 1920 x 1080
Frame Rates 23.98p, 24p, 25p, 29.97p, 30p
Sensor Size 16.64 mm x 14.04 mm

$150/day camera
$125/day lenses
$40/day SSD card
$100/day Small HD OLED 7” monitor
$50/day Cavision Matte Box/follow focus

Most of you know me as a cinematographer.  Well, I am still shooting shows for Discovery, ESPN, etc. and for the Web…and the occasional feature film.  But now I am also dividing my time with a new venture that will interest you!

Flixhouse.com is an online streaming network that offers movies you can stream to your TV, computer or mobile device.  There are FREE MOVIES, hard-to-find titles, and independent films to enjoy.  No subscription fee, just a small a la carte cost per title.

I was looking for a way to release a documentary and an old feature film that I co-produced into the growing new media marketplace, and I found that a good friend, Tony Kandah, who has 12 years of distribution and film marketing expertise has started Flixhouse.   So I added my films to his library, and I’m working with him to grow the venture.

Since DVD’s are phasing out and digital download is the new frontier, this looks like a great place to be!

Call it a “mini-Netflix” if you like.  It is the perfect place to see and discover new movies.  And it’s a danged less-expensive alternative than cable/satellite.

FILMMAKERS: Check out this new site!  We want your movie!

 Flixhouse helps filmmakers connect, share and keep in touch with other filmmakers around the world.

We market movies from independent filmmakers like you!

-Generate revenues, place your movie on our pay-per-view network

-Multiple marketing strategies to insure maximum exposure

– Discover new filmmakers and get discovered

Please show your support for independent filmmakers.  It’s FREE, so register and be a part of the independent film community.  Tell your filmmaker friends about us, and Like us on Facebook.

Check it out now at WWW.flixhouse.com We appreciate your support. See you at the movies!

Please keep in mind that Netflix and Hulu took years to grow into their present form, so don’t expect us to compare…yet!  We’re still growing, searching for, and constantly adding cool, new films.  So check back with us often to see the new additions to the library.

I recently completed shooting six stories for Biography Channel’s “My Haunted House” series featuring actors re-enacting case histories of people’s experiences in haunted houses.  Shooting with the Canon C-300 as the A-camera, it was a joy to use Small HD’s new OLED monitor.  Its got great color and contrast, and proved a big help in evaluating the really dark, scary scenes–and there was no lack of those!  At each of the six houses we featured night-establishing jib shots using only available garden-and-street-lighting. As dark and scary as possible was the word from Co-Directors Rob Dorfmann and Chris Voos, as well as EP Jim Casey at Painless Prods.

We’ve all heard of movie stars getting killed on the highway, like sex symbol Jayne Mansfield who died on Highway 90 in Louisiana, and some of us know where the memorials are…like James Dean’s roadside monument in Central California.  Well, I learned a bit of history on a recent shoot for the Documentary, “Celluloid Cowboys” for producer Ross Hawkins.

The most popular Western movie star of the silent era was Tom Mix, who was killed in a freak accident on Highway 79 twenty miles South of Florence, Arizona in 1940.  There is a touching monument there topped with a small metal figure of Mix’s amazing trained horse, Tony…riderless and sad.

It seems Mix was able to stop in time to avoid hitting the road crew.  But when the car lurched to a halt, a metal suitcase banged into the back of his head, and broke his neck.  he died in seconds.  It marks the end of the first chapter of “Celluloid Cowboys,” soon to be available to audiences.

                                                    Photos by Jon Gerdemann
Recently I spent two days on a Nerf action toys commercial, titled “Evolution.”  The shoot involved a day of in studio work  and a location day.  Veteran Nick Tramontano manned a 2nd camera. Gaston Carrizo was on jib, and Drew Lauer of Hollywood Special Ops brought his fabulous Phantom Miro to shoot 1500fps of teens in action with a variety of paintball style guns shooting high speed foam darts. Agency was Uproar, with Annie Tang directing for Base Productions.