David Tausik has worked in Hollywood for over 20 years as a director, producer and writer. He started his career working under Roger Corman. He is now preparing a feature he wrote and will be directing, to be set in Cuba.

1. You started quite young, and I am guessing that your first crews were quite young, and now some have gone on to win Oscars. How did you go about chosing the DPs you worked with?

I chose my DPs in what I imagine are the usual ways, first looking at the work of people who were available to me at my low budgets and singling out those whose look I liked for the project, then asking people who had worked with those DPs if they were fast (since our shooting schedules were very short) and worked well with others, and finally interviewing my top candidate to make sure our ideas and personalities meshed.

Because each film I directed was shot in a different part of the world and we didn’t have the money to fly in and house a DP from L.A., I had to find someone new each time. That was a drag, but the upside was that I learned something from each of the DPs I worked with.

One of the first films I worked on as a writer and 2nd unit director, back in 1990, which was directed by someone else, was an $800,000 comedy that was shot by Phedon Papamichael, Wally Pfister, and Janusz Kaminski. I think Mauro Fiore gaffed a few scenes since he was working with Janusz at the time. It’s not the fault of those incredibly talented shooters that the film doesn’t look particularly good — talent is important but you also need resources.

Janusz Kaminski shot the first film I directed, a very low-budget erotic thriller for Roger Corman. During filming he was hired to shoot Schindler’s List and so, for very good reasons, he took his name off the credits. He did a beautiful job, though, and also worked very fast which enabled us complete on our brutally short 16-day schedule. On the day Janusz had his big interview with Spielberg, Mauro Fiore, who was the gaffer, stepped in as D.P.

Talented people like that were looking for work and were available to anyone who had the ability to see how good they were. And that’s still the case.

2. What was it like working under Roger Corman, and do you see any similarities to what is happening with the DSLR revolution in Hollywood?

It was both wonderful and frustrating to work under Roger’s system in the ’90s. Wonderful because things came together fast, and there weren’t a lot of committees to meddle in your creative decisions. The place was a factory to churn out product for the video market, and if you could figure out how to keep your project contained enough to fit through their chute, you could get it done. Certainly, though, no one would lift a finger to help you make your film better — that was entirely up to you and whoever on your crew you could marshall to your cause.

Typically, people would bust their butts on their first few Corman films and then realize that their efforts were kind of wasted. People who stayed there longer than that were generally making garbage just to pick up a few bucks or because they didn’t know what else to do.

I think the DSLR revolution is an entirely different beast. Roger had a market for his films. The digital revolution means we no longer need Roger’s lumber yard full of old cameras, lights, C-stands, Moviolas, and Nagras, but we’re still desperately in need of an audience.

DSLRs are like the portable equipment that appeared in the early 60s allowing the Nouvelle Vague and the Cinema Verite movements to happen. I believe some great things will come, due to the accessibility and portability of these new instruments. They’ll come from independent, self-starting artists, and not from a factory like Corman’s.

3. When you are writing, are you also thinking about who the actors will be, and how you will direct them, or is that a separate process?

When I’m writing, I’m imagining the entire movie in my head, but I know if the film is made it won’t exactly match what I had in mind, because every collaborator will bring something different. Actors, especially, put their own stamp on scenes. I always have an idea of how I’d like a scene done, but once the actors start working that idea might fly out the window because the characters have to belong to the actors. So, in that way, yes, it’s a separate process. Of course, there’s always the opportunity to re-write scenes to fit the actors — that’s one of the advantages of writing and directing.

4. What is your method of working with editors? Are you in there every day, or do you let them do their thing for a while, and then you look at it?

I always want to hang around and edit the film with the editor. But after a while I get the hint that I’m not really needed, and I’ll usually take a break — perhaps my first break away from the film in a year’s time. It’s valuable because I can come back with slightly fresh eyes and it gives the editor a chance to find his/her own voice in the project. So, yes, I like to let the editor surprise me and I try not to micro-manage.

5. I know that sound and music are very important to you. At what point in the process do you start to bring them in? Do you have a thought on that before you start shooting?

I bring them in as early as possible, especially if they are a part of the fictional world you’re creating. Although sounds can always be substituted later, you can take something away from the authenticity of an actor’s performance that way. It’s better to do your work early, so that the cast and crew can benefit from your choices, rather than trying to slide it all it in during post.

Introducing Dan Chapman, AKA Dante. Dan is the newest member of the team here at DHS. Dan is working as a camera operator on all our motion projects, and helping out with post/media management. He comes to us from Orlando,Fl and Full Sail University. We love working with Dan, and we really love having a camera operator that we can call Dante.

Here is a link to my interview in Pop Photo this month I am incredably excited to be part of this and deeply humbled that they chose me to be interviewed.

What I really hope is that from this more people will be making movies. So many people are intimidated by the process, and it really does not have to be that hard. Yes, once you get into splitting feeds, video villages, follow focus motors and the lot, it can be complex. But you can make a very nice professional quality movie with these little cameras with out all that. This is my message in the interview, just point the camera and shoot. Its not so hard. Isn’t that how we started taking photos?

There is a huge amount of information out there. For me, my day starts each and every morning with an email from Planet 5D. Mitch does a great job of searching the web for interesting developments and videos. I am happy to support them. If you are only going to look at one site, it is Planet 5D. They collect information from all over the world and post it. From there, if I see anything interesting, directors, gear, or videos, I drill down to find out more. I can honestly say, that if not for that site and for Shane’s site, I would not being doing what I do today.

Next comes my RSS feed: A Photo Editor, Canon Rumors, PDN pulse, Shane Hurlbut, ProLost, The Creators Project, Heather Morton Art buyer, Chase Jarvis, Philip Bloom, Nowness, Gizmodo, Vincent LaForet. These sites and the people who write have all been my teachers. They put their hearts into letting all of us know what they do, and I am deeply grateful to them. If there is anything that needs more investigation, I do it. The RSS list is constantly changing. I want to keep changing the people I read so that I don’t get too much of any one persons KoolAid. Because, we all have our own special KoolAid if you know what I mean.

If there is something that I want to know even more about, I send an email to the person. Almost never has someone not returned one of my questions. I love connecting to other creators. These connections are fantastic resource. I now have a pretty good network of professionals out there that I can send a question to.

I also read American Cinematographer. I highly recommend reading every word and save every issue. This is a magazine about the real giants. Even though I probably won’t have a 100 strong camera dept any time soon, it is great to read exactly how movies are made by people who are the best in the world at it. My copies look like porcupines with post-it notes sticking out all over them.

Books: In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch. DV Rebels Guide by Stu Maschwitz, Apple Pro Training Series on Final Cut and Color are the basics. Every book I read, I make notes in. My memory may not be so great, but I have an annotated library to back it up.

To me this is not work. In the words of my friend Jeff Hirsch at FotoCare ” It’s like springtime all over again”. I mean, how many chance in life do you get to re-invent yourself?

Today we are working on the edit of the video for The Skateboard Diaries. The process is, we take a bunch of sub clips and dump them randomly into a FC time line so that we can start to get an idea of what they will feel like. Right away I am thinking about what the sound treatment will be. We go through about 100 stock music clips, and this is always the case, I end up screaming that they are all awful. Yuk. Stock music is like stock photography, I don’t get it. Right now we have some real music tracks selected that we really like, and now I have contact the bands to make sure they are cool with us using them. Almost always this works out fine. And it is real music vs whatever that stuff called “emo tracks” etc.

But then I came across the video below by Brit photog Kalpesh Lathigra. It is silent. Wow, what a revelation. And there is a power to it, it is compelling maybe because it is silent. It is an entirely visually experience, so I don’t want to look away. It is the anti John Williams approach. Ok, John may be a great guy, but it makes me insane when I see a movie he has scored. It is like he thinks I am so dumb, I can’t get the story feeling from the movie, he has to bludgeon me with the soundtrack. Arghhhhhhh.

Which brings us to Vimeo and YouTube. I guess people put bad music on their videos because they think they have to have some music. I am just as much at fault here as anyone else. I mean, if I don’t have music, it will be boring right? But there are so many more options out there. Record street sounds, static, silence, breathing, animal sounds, whale sounds, whatever. Of course, you can always find some $1.99 stock music for your work, but try to make it better. Or try silence, that maybe fantastic, who knows. I know I have become a huge fan Kalpesh Lathigra now. Check out the surfers. Love the wave sounds, and only wave sounds.

We create a lot of content over here at DHS. At the moment we are finishing up retouching on a complex 8 image global ad campaign. On the personal side, we are crunching through the video of The SkateBoard Diaries on one station, while the station next to it is working on the thousands of stills. Yesterday we shot all day: video and stills personal project of an artist and her process. Tomorrow we go to Oregon where I will do a motion piece staring my mom. Everyday that I am not on a commercial job, we are either shooting, planning or editing a personal project.

This leads to a couple of things. First, a small fortune in digital backups. Second, image indigestion. This is a good problem, as far as problems go. It means that we are creating content faster than we are editing/retouching/publishing. Of all the problems for someone in the image production business to have, this is a great one. There will always be downtime at some point to work through the backlog. We are on a roll right now, and having been here before, I know these things don’t go on indefinitely. When you are in the flow, dive further in. You can always take time off, but you can’t always turn the dial back up on creativity.

If you read this blog, you know my rap is always the same. Less is better. Don’t let technology stand in your way. Here is a picture of my cameraman Dante with our new rig working yesterday on a film we are doing. This is the deal: flag pole carry belt for a huge cost of 29 buckaroos. Small consumer monopod for another 30 big ones. It works great, and he is walking in sand, which ain’t easy.

I have a whole box of RedRock tinker toys. Yes they are useful for certain things, but this rig works better than any shoulder mount, chest mount that we have ever used. Something about the way it is tied into the body makes the movement super natural. Yes all you gear babies out there, we have used it with 4 inch rails and a follow focus. Works fine.

Hey Eagle Mountain Flag, could we do this thing in another color?

We get a lot of email here from people who are interested in becoming professional photographers/film makers, or who just want to know how to improve their game. I always tell people the same thing: shoot your way out.

There is a story I remember hearing about Andrea Blanche, the big time 80s photographer and Avedon, whom she earlier assisted for. Sorry Andrea if I have the name wrong here, it was a long time go that I read this story. The essence of it was that she went to Avedon saying she was stuck in her professional work, and didn’t quite know what to do. He told he to get out of her studio, take a 35mm camera and some TRIX and spend the summer at Coney Island taking photographs. Essentially, get back to basics and shoot your way out of the problem. My recollection is that it worked out very well for her.

In an effort to further share what goes on here, and how we deal with the constant challange of making better and better images, here is what my summer projects look like:

-Started making a film project of the skaters down at the Venice Skate park. Slow mo with the 7D of the exhibitionist style avengers at the worlds most gorgeous skate park. Along with this I am doing stills with my H3D. Loving this project.

-Doing a series of studio portraits of young people 17-23 dealing with a moment when something unkown is about to happen.

-A short film of my artist friend Kat. Terrifically talented classical painter. Still working on getting a handle on the look for this one.

-Food. ok, this is a total disconnect, but i love eating, and have been taking snap shots of my dinner plate for years. I want to try something simple, long lens, back lit, of some of the things that i like to eat.

-Mom. Going to visit mom in a few weeks and think it would be very interestig to do something with the 5D and her in her world. She is the worlds healthiest most active senior. An absolute model for how to be happy and older.

Its a lot, but I am obsessed. NOW what are you doing this summer?

Having had 2 cups of coffee this morning, I have decided that the new Beyonce video is genius. Actually, we here at the studio have been mezmerized by a whole series of music videos on line. (Who says that the music videos don’t matter anymore?). The Beck/Charllotte Gainsbourg “Heaven Can wait”, the much hyped MIA video by the current bad boy of video Romain Gravis, anything from the new creative director of Polaroid Special Products Ms Gaga, and our new favorite: Beyonce’s Why Don’t You Love Me. I can’t get over how much fun this is to watch, and am thinking how much fun they must have had making it. Know what I mean?

For everyone who has been following this blog, I want to thank you for your support. I hope I have been helpful to you. Here is something really special, something that if you are a photographer, film maker, or want to be one, is just too good to be true.

The American Society of Cinematographers is offering a Friends of ASC membership for $100. I get no benefit from this, I am letting everyone know because I think this is by far and way the deal of the century for people who are interested in learning about cinematography. Truthfully, I debated with myself if I should keep this one to myself, it is that good of a find. The bennies are unreal, like you have direct email access to the ASC members to ask them lighting questions. How great is that? There are also online videos about lighting, discounts on gear. I sort of can’t believe what they are doing here. This is the real deal, with the people who are the best in the world at what they do, offering to show us exactly what they do. Isn’t that something you would want to know? There is plenty of info and instructionals out there from novice HDSLR film makers, like me, but wouldn’t it be great to hear from the titans of the film world about how they do their thing?

Enjoy and learn. Share the love.

I just posted the Asia Mon Amour Video, which has been getting a lot of attention. Here is exactly what you need to know so you can make your own video:

Here is what I used: Canon 5DII for the normal speed work done at 30p. Canon 7D for the slow mo shot at 60p. I had 4 x 16 gigs UDMA CF cards. A single Zacuto Z finder with a mount on each body. Lenses: 24-70 Canon, 35 1.4 Canon, 50 1.2 Nikon with Fotodiosc adapter, 85 1.2. , Zeiss 21 2.8. I brought other glass, but that is what I used. There was an H4N Zoom recorder used to for drum track recorded live in Bali. I had 2,3,4 stop B+W ND filters, and a SingRay filter (which I will never use again). The only rig I used was for the Tokyo subway and the Monkey Forrest a Fig Rig. Otherwise all hand held.

YOU CAN DO THIS!

The kids in the park clips were done with a with a 7D and the Zeiss 2.8 shot at 5.6 and 1/125 with me litterally holding the camera in the palm of my hand at knee level and chasing those kids. How is that for simple? Got no Zeiss? A Canon zoom would work fine.

YOU SHOULD BE DOING THIS!

There is so much racket out there about all the gear and all the crap we are suppose to need in order to make motion pieces, and I temporarily drank that Kool Aid, but now I am off. Keep it super simple. You will be happier. You will do more videos.

This is the super simple scoop on what to do:

1. Set picture style to Neutral, then Sharpen to 0, Sat -1, Contrast -1, Color tone 0
2. Use only these ASAs: 160,320, 640, 800, 1250
3. If you are using 24p, set the shutter at 50, if you are using 30p set the shutter at 50, If you are using 60p then Shutter at 125. ( unless you are shooting night in a country with 50HZ electric, like Europe, then alway shutter at 50 or 100)
4. The color in the LCD is the color you are going to have to live with. Set the Color Temp to something you like.
5. Point camera, turn on Live View, focus using the 5x and 10x magnifier button
6. For day light, try to keep the lens at 5.6, too high and it gets videoee and too low and it is tough to hold focus. Use the NDs. Night time is easy, because you don’t need any ND.
7. Steady yourself, and Record clip.

YOU JUST MADE A MOVIE! FANTASTIC!

OK, so there is a lot more to learn than this, that whole Final Cut bear, but these are the basics to get you going. You can do something really great with just this. You really can. Questions? I’ll answer everything I can, and if I don’t know the answers, I probably know someone who does.

DON’T DFELAY, MAKE A MOVIE TODAY!