June 4, 2009
We’ve just tied the ribbons on “1100 to Roxbury”, a 27:42 production featuring a round-trip from Arkville, NY to Roxbury NY in the heart of the Catskill Mountains.
If we do say so ourselves, it turned out wonderfully. The colors on the crisp bright days was outstanding as the remains of a passing cold front cleared the air (with just a trace of a spritz of a shower) and the humidity was low.
The Canon stereo shotgun mic performed without a flaw, we doubled up on the wind sox as the zephyr’s were blowing a bit, but we didn’t have to add any audio sweetening (low cut filter) to the mix.
We’ll be submitting this production for network approval and we’ll let you know what the outcome is.
Roll ‘em Harvey
May 25, 2009
Saturday, Memorial Day 2009 weekend: What a weather and video perfect day deep in the heart of the Catskills.
Severe clear, CAVU (Clear Air, Visibility Unlimited) trains (lots of them) and pretty girls. What more could a cinematographer ask for.
We were very graciously treated to a great time by Jim LaBarre and Don Bishop of the D and U RR in Arkville and even got a cab ride in a classic ALCO locomotive, courtesy of Engineer Vic. We’re incorporating B-roll in the segment of Catskill Mountain Showcase that we’re doing highlighting the 3 tourist RR’s in the area. More on this later. In the meantime, enjoy this clip. 2minutes 11 sec. file size: 11 mb.
April 13, 2009
Microphones –there’s a love-hate thing going in the biz about mic’s. There are very very expensive ones, and very cheap ones. And yet, for us, the midpriced ones seem to work, technically (and wallet-ly) the best.
STUDIO MIC’S
The studio blowhard Prima Donna type announcer will insist upon ‘his special’ mic, or even bring his own into the studio in it’s own velvet bag. It’s possibly a high end condenser mic, or, a ribbon-velocity mic, by Neuman, Blue, Uher, or others costing thousands.
We’ve tried the lot of them, and have chosen for voice-over studio work the MXL 990 ribbon by Marshall (of the Marshall Amplifier fame). This world-class company has opened and oversees a huge factory in China where the best affordable mic’s are now made. This fine ribbon transducer costs under $100 and compares to the ones costing 2 grand from Germany. This is the mic the famed voice-over artist Don LaFontaine used in the Geico commercial. This is the one you need in the studio –not only for vocals, but instrument and overhead.
SEE MORE ABOUT: INTERVIEW MICS, SHOTGUN MICS, WIRELESS MICS, STUDIO MICS IN THE MIC PAGE…
April 13, 2009
Whenever we’re on a shoot, we inevitably encounter the amateur, serious amateur, and the simply curious who want to talk about the gear we are using.
Having been in the business at the professional network level, we’ve worked with all sorts of pricey and fragile cameras, mic’s, mixers and such. Some of the lenses alone cost over $100,000.
But that doesn’t mean that independent production companies can’t make excellent shows with top-notch equipment for far less.
Click on the pages above for detailed discussions, pics, and prices of the gear that we own and how we use the advanced technology of today to make our shows.
For example, the Canon XL1s is a camera that was designed for and went on Space Shuttle missions. It’s available in used but excellent condition for under $2,000. This camera has shot many feature-length films, SD and 16×9 formats, and its successor, the XL2, is fully HD capable (it’s new for $4,000) . It’s my favorite so far. See the CAMERA page above for full details and specifications.
We’ll be posting to this category as time allows.
Roll ‘em, Harvey.
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April 3, 2009
Catskill Mountain Showcase DVD art
Here’s the cover art for the DVD of the first “Catskill Mountain Showcase” program. This one’s the “Maple Time” episode. Click pic to enlarge.
April 1, 2009
Here’s a brief teaser video of our “Maple” show for the series “Catskill Mountain Showcase”. CLICK HERE.
March 26, 2009
We’ll be shooting all day at the Maple Fest in Marathon, NY Saturday. The weather now calls for partly cloudy and 60 degrees — perfect! There will be a pancake eating contest, a battle of the bands, a quilt show, a sugaring off demonstration at a for-real evaporator, and a train ride to 
Cortland .
We’ve been to this fest a number of years back, and it’s packed with people. You’re sure to have a great time. Look for us and wave. Who knows, you just might get your mug on TV.
Roll ‘em Harvey (let me know when you’ve got speed)
DR
March 21, 2009
It’s a March morning, severe clear, a lovely cerulean blue sky, temperature just above freezing, the red buds of the sugar maples just emerging, and the sap’s starting to flow at sugarbushes all over New York and New England. That means it’s time for work and celebration, as the crop looks extraordinarily good this year.
We enjoyed a pancake breakfast at the Shaver-Hill farm in Harpersfield, NY. In attendence were: New York State’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Patrick Hooker, andthe New York State Maple Producer’s Association President, Mary Jean Packer. Hundreds of other maple-lovers also turned out. We enjoyed the cakes, home made sausage and applesauce, and then we got to work shooting the “Maple” segment of Catskill Mountain Showcase.
Here are a few stills from the raw footage. You-Tube clip will follow in a week or so.
Roll em’, Harvey.
DR
New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker checks sap flow….
Commissioner Hooker and maple farmer Dwayne Hill enjoying a joke….
The Percherons are hitched and waiting to haul visitors…
The flow off the evaporator is a gallon per minute — steaming hot syrup…
Here’s the finished product flowing into stainless 55-gallon drums..
This young lady is making maple cotton candy. Note her safety glasses–that syrup is hot and a drop or two sometimes flies out of the rapidly rotating candy machine…
March 13, 2009
Today we’re pleased to announce the production of a pilot for submission to RFD-TV re: maple syrup/sugar production in the Catskills and New York State. The new address is: seventhfleetfilms {at}usa.com. Remove of course the [at] and substitute the asterisk. We’ll be shooting at the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown and other maple events in the very near future. Roll ‘em Harvey. DR.
March 6, 2009
We’re very please to announce our affiliation with Seventh Fleet Films. Please see their website for further information.
COMING SOON: It’s maple time in the sugarbush of Catskill Country. We visit The Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown for an in-depth look at how was done in the Early Days, and is done still to this day. A possible pilot for RFD-TV…. Mmmmmm….
Roll ‘em Harvey –
DR
