The process is taking longer than I had hoped, but that’s par for a no budget, all volunteer short film. It’s also taking longer than I’d anticipated because school’s out, people are going on vacation (myself included, YAY!), and I decided to start my own film production business at the same time (WTF was I thinking!)

Something else I’ve decided to do is write about, blog about, shoot about the WHOLE process…the good, bad, sad and joyous. After all, I started this blog to write about and explore the creative process.

Here are a couple of thoughts form the very first audition night. We shot each actor’s read so Mikey and I could review them later. I made sure I had the camera set properly, I put up a seamless background, decided to record dual system audio for better sound and to test out some new gear. I set up a video assist monitor for Mikey and his Dad, had a nice place for them to sit and we were all ready to go. The first actor started his read and about 30 seconds in, something happened, something totally unexpected, I hadn’t even thought about it. No, I wasn’t recording over important footage from another shoot, yes the lens cap was was off the lens, no I wasn’t on the last barely charged battery, and I hadn’t left the gas stove running with no flame burning. What I realized was that what I was hearing from the actor, the words he was so expressively delivering were ones I HAD WRITTEN! It was a first. I had never heard anyone read aloud anything I had written and they sounded so different and had a different meaning than what I had in mind when I wrote them. It was one of those moments when I thank God. It may seem small but it was a first for me. It was very similar to the first time I shot moving pictures and edited the footage to discover another story in the edit that I hadn’t seen while shooting.

Something else I’ve been impressed by is the many people who are willing to volunteer their time for nothing more than food, their name at the end of the film and a fun time. Their love for the craft and art of film making, on any scale, is something that inspires and motivates me. When I see something cool in a film or the success of another colleague, no longer do I say “Holy *&9hfU#@! I wish I could do that”. Rather, I say “Holy mother of pearl, I’m gonna learn how to do that!” It motivates me to take a risk, step outside of my warm and fuzzy comfort zone, possibly even expose my soft underbelly to the perils of the dog eat dog world out there (ok, sorry…enough of the hyperbole). But really, the committed, creative, and humble people I meet make the assholes worth bearing.

So stay logged on and follow the progress of “This Is For Josephine Brown”. Who knows, maybe next time I’ll be writing about an asshole:)

Shot Blocking and Location Scouting for “This Is For Josephine Brown” from DavePerryCinematographerLLC on Vimeo.

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Dave Perry is an award winning Roanoke Virginia digital film producer.

His sideburns are only a hobby.

Find me on Vimeo

The post Holy Mother Of Pearl! appeared first on DavePerryProject - A Blog.

Dave Perry and Director Michael Boyd held the first round of auditions for “This Is For Josephine Brown” tonight. Actors are needed for four roles as well as a yet to be determined small group of extras. For more information contact:

Michael Boyd – Director
theworldofmichaelb@gmail.com
540.977.8161

Dave Perry – Director of Photography
dave@daveperry.net
540.915.2752

Here are some photos from tonight’s auditions.

Director Michael Boyd and Father/A.D. Phil Boyd.

Bob reads for the part of “Jack”.

Script Supervisor Brittny Deskins.

Phil Boyd auditions part of “Mr. Brown”.

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Dave Perry is an award winning Roanoke Virginia digital film producer.

His sideburns are only a hobby.

Find me on Vimeo

The post Auditions Begin for “This Is For Josephine Brown” – A Short Film appeared first on DavePerryProject - A Blog.

What area would that be?

Well…I’ve been busy making a huge career shift. It seems that as I entered my tenth year of employment with Carter Media, I also decided to start my own business.

WTF was I thinking!

“Mavis” – She’s a beauty, and for sale!

As if being a 50-something single dad with a mortgage and car payment wasn’t enough, I decided to give up a steady paycheck, take on more debt with a business loan, increase my administrative and bureaucratic bull shit workload, give up benefits (whoops…didn’t have those to begin with), sell my Harley (by the way, here’s the CL listing if you’re interested), take on jobs at all hours of the day and all days of the week, call on people I’ve never met to ask to do business with me… Dang! I Better stop before I talk myself out of it.

Wait…I CAN’T talk myself out of it. I’m already listed with the City of Roanoke as a business, joined the Chamber of Commerce, enrolled as a client with the SBDC, paid the Commonwealth of Virginia SCC for articles of organization to form an LLC, and quit my day job…

Here’s what I’m thinking.

I’m a 50-something single dad with two teenaged boys that teach me something every day. I’m blessed with a nice home to raise them in and a kick ASS Subaru to drive them to and fro and satisfies the curvy road, speed demon in me (as well as cart camera, grip, and electric around), and I’m stable enough that a bank sees me as low risk. I’m a 50-something middle aged man who has the desire of a young buck half my age to learn new things (thought I was gonna use the F-word didncha), meet new people, collaborate and create…and check it…I have the life experience that no young buck can learn in film school or college. I have the freedom to travel to new locations for new clients and new opportunities, call on new people I’ve never met to see what we can create, and if I ever get so attached to a motorcycle, guitar, car, or camera that I just can’t bear to let it go, then I didn’t deserve it in the first place.

Things come and go.

I’ve got the ability to create and inspire. I know this because you, my colleagues tell me so. Every one of you that I’ve told I was starting my own business has said “What’s taken you so long?”, “You deserve it!”, “I’m excited for you!” (PLEASE remind me of these things when the going gets tough).

Add to this the fact that as a 50-something middle aged man, I’m running short on time to “think about it for a while”, “sleep on it”, or “pray about it for a few days”. I’m all prayed up right NOW and God said He’d guide me but I’d better get ready to work my ass off!

The name of the business is Dave Perry • Cinematographer, LLC.

Dave Perry • Cinematographer, LLC

When I’m looking through the lens of a camera I’m in the moment and life is live and turned on! It’s like years ago when I was a working musician and there were times when we would perform and play music that we could never reproduce again but inspired us to continue to search for that sound. I’m always in search of the next amazing series of images and motion that I may never compose again, but motivates me to keep on keepin on.

I love doing pre-production for a shoot, visualizing the shoot, and when it finally gets to production time, seeing an actor deliver a line or perform an action better than I had imagined. It’s like a jam session…music and imagery are so close to each other…I see things when I hear certain music and hear things when I see inspiring images (no…I’m not on acid either). I’m not alone. I think that many of you reading this know exactly what I’m talking about.

I think I just talked my self into it.

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Dave Perry is an award winning Roanoke Virginia digital film producer.

His sideburns are only a hobby.

Find me on Vimeo

The post WTF Was I thinking? appeared first on DavePerryProject - A Blog.

In the coming months I’ll be updating it again a with footage from the short that I have in re-production right now. If all goes well, I’ll also be adding 4K footage!

It’s funny how 1080P HD is now the new Standard Def

You can also see this and more work on my Vimeo Site.

DavePerryProject Demo Reel from DavePerryProject on Vimeo.

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Dave Perry is an award winning Roanoke Virginia digital film producer.

His sideburns are only a hobby.

Find me on Vimeo

The post New Demo Reel – Spring 2013 appeared first on DavePerryProject - A Blog.

Writing is not something that comes very easily for me. Sometimes I’m inspired and can do it, but most of the time I’m too distracted. Most of my writing exists in personal journaling and this blog….and I’ve never written a screenplay.

What seems to motivate me is interaction with others.

A friend of mine from college suggested I get in touch with a friend of his, a screenwriter from Baltimore he used to work with. He sent me a “friend suggestion” on Facebook (I gotta quit that shit some day) so I added him and he confirmed.

Now what?

It’s so easy to make friends on Facebook that it has changed the meaning of the word “friend”. I typically don’t befriend those who I’ve never met face to face but I did this time on the suggestion of a literal friend.

Last night I spoke with the screenwriter from Baltimore, Sean Paul Murphy. When I told him who I was, he didn’t recognize my name. Come on now. I mean, we’re Facebook friends! How could he forget! When I told him I was friends with Rich from college, he remembered right away who I was and the tension eased. Ya see, I’m also not very good at cold calling folks I don’t know just to talk and pick their brain about a craft I’m obsessed with. Especially when it’s someone who has been at it their entire professional life. It’s very humbling and it reminds me that this ole dog is learning new tricks and regardless of my age, I have to remain teachable, at all costs!

We swapped some stories about our past and how each of us got to where we are now. I told him about my creative death and rebirth (I keep meaning to write about it) and why I’m doing what I’m doing now. He shared his experience and his thoughts on the film industry and its future. I learned some things and he shared some resources with me. We discussed the collaborative nature of film making and how that can be a problem for some. That is key to me right now and one of the driving forces behind this blog and how I live today. I have to connect with people. My creative energy is wasted if not shared with, bounced off of, or unleashed with other like minded creatives. But it’s also the thing I struggle with the most.

I appreciated the conversation I had with Sean. It’s people like him and others I’ve met in this business that motivate me to “keep on keepin on” as Dylan says (Bob that is, not my son). One of his suggestions was that if I’m not interested in writing that I find a writer! He also said that I may find out that I actually enjoy writing. Either way, I’ve already teamed up with a young theatrical actor and director friend of mine, Michael Boyd. He has interest in screenwriting and film production so I figured we’d make a good team.

So far Mike and I have come up with some good ideas. I developed a premise for the story and together we have knocked around some good ideas, roughed out scenes 1, 2, maybe 4, and an ending. Scene 3 is not happening yet for whatever reason. I also took him on a shoot and worked his ass off! He wanted to know what it’s like (not to work his ass off, but to do it on a shoot).

The shoot was for a student film project at Virginia Tech done by their newly formed Cinema Studies department and I provided grip and electric services through Carter Media with their 3 ton G&E truck. I worked my ass off also, three days, 44 hours total. But I loved it. I met and worked with professionals and students, I learned new things, I taught new students, I watched others practice their craft, made creative lighting suggestions that were used and others that were shot down. I was in the mix of a creative jam session that involved collaboration, communication, improvisation, patience, efficiency, and active thought process. In essence, I was doing what I love (and I thanked God for it each night a I dragged my weary butt home).

Every time I get the chance to work with new people, I have a chance to expand in many ways, including creativley. I also can run the risk of screwin up too (more on that later).

Now, back to scene three!

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Dave Perry is an award winning Roanoke Virginia digital film producer.

His sideburns are only a hobby.

Find me on Vimeo

The post Scenes One, Two, Maybe Four…and An Ending appeared first on DavePerryProject - A Blog.

To be honest I didn’t think I would win anything but at least I would get the film in front of some eyeballs. Well, if I want to be honest though, I wouldn’t have entered it if I didn’t think it was worth entering.

Screw it…to be totally honest, I entered it thinking that it would at least win a Silver and I spent a large amount of time fantasizing about it winning Gold and how I would react!

How I reacted was to let out a large, Ric Flair “The Nature Boy” style “WOOOO!” followed by a “YES!”, a “DG” and two F-bombs (the “GD” and F-bombs were a little more low key, I did realize I was in a room full of powerful ad men and media moguls). Although I fantasized about it, I did not practice it and the reaction was authentic, so much so that I don’t really remember what was going on around me. After the announcement, the short film was played in it’s entirety and I relished the moment (actually all 2 minutes and 6 seconds). This is a first for me in the creative world.

The film was done for upstart company Silver Seas PR which specializes in getting media coverage for cultural creatives. At our first creative meeting we discussed what kind of clients the company would cater to and the image the company wanted to project. My suggestion was to do something as “non corporate” as possible, something that didn’t even mention the company name, who they were, or what they did. That was agreed upon. We next toyed with questions to ask, things to think about, memories to exhume. “What happened when you read Khalil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet’?” “What did you think when you visited a museum for the first time?” “How did your perception of movies change when you saw ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Citizen Kane’ or ‘Taxi Driver’?” We decided that approach could potentially turn people away if they did not like our choice of iconic cultural media creations so we settled on defining “Culture” itself. “Settled on it” you say? “That’s a big, broad topic to define.” I know, so we enlisted the help of record producer Marty Thau to help us. He wrote the script and it was decided to have various people in their respective environments to deliver the script on camera a few lines at a time.

The total budget for “Culture” was about what a good sound man would charge for a full day. However, it was shot over four separate days in six different locations using a still camera that shoots 720P30 HD, a home made dolly, a home made jib, two pieces of white foam core, one borrowed Tota light, and the willingness and camaraderie of true, working creatives who donated their time and energy. They say necessity is the mother of invention and when I don’t have the money for something, I’ll make it myself if I can or use what others regard as useless. The creative process for me isn’t just limited to visual aesthetics and interest. It’s alive in how I figure out how to do something with the materials at hand, whether it be a cheap camera, using clothesline and skateboard parts for camera support and grip gear, or how I can make a week’s worth of leftover, almost rotten food seem palatable to a 13 year old boy.

Now I know there are gaping lapses in technical fidelity in “Culture”. Believe me, I know. I’m a “pixel peeper” and a tech geek. But after it was in the can and edited, I was able to see that the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. I didn’t go into it thinking I would enter it into anything…that was not the goal.

The goal was to come up with something that was not corporate in nature and could be a stand-alone piece with a message of its own not connected to any corporate entity. See for yourself.

We succeeded.

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Dave Perry is an award winning Roanoke Virginia digital film producer.

His sideburns are only a hobby.

Find me on Vimeo

The post A “GD” and two F-bombs appeared first on DavePerryProject - A Blog.

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(Originally posted MAR 4 ’13)

I’m gonna find it. I’m gonna find out what the truth is. I thought I knew it but the more I define it, the more elusive it becomes.

“The Project” is coming.

Look out baby cuz here it comes, get ready! Here it come baby, it’s comin to GITCHA!

What is the truth. I know a lot about truth. Why, because I’ve told lies before. (Really? I thought I knew you better than that!) You’re surprised? Don’t be, because you’ve lied to. The Project will not define me, nor judge you. It will not uncover the truth, nor will it hide it. It will create and spur discussion amongst me and me friends, colleagues, family, and acquaintances. It may get me too deep into something I don’t want to know. I might end up like a child not wanting to hear the truth, closing my eyes, fingers in ears, singing lalalalala….

That’s a-ok. The DPP is about creative motivation. Creative motivation comes from many things, one of which is thought. What motivates you creatively? Thoughts, feelings, experiences, memories, money, sex, drugs, rock-n-roll?

I’m doing a short film with a director that I’ve never worked with before. He’s a young guy, somebody I know, somebody I’ve known for years and just never worked with. He comes from a theatrical background, a thespian (I don’t use that word often enough). There is no budget, no client. We’re doing it just because we want to do it, just because we like it. It’s very interesting to see his creative process in this. Having never worked with him before I don’t know what to expect.

During a pre-production meeting, he did an exercise with me and caught me way off guard. I almost was offended. He caught me. He “punked” me, to use a pop-culture colloquialism. After he let me in on what he was doing and what he wanted to show me, I thought to myself, “Dang, this could get hairy”.

Why would I want to put myself in a situation with someone who is going to play with and manipulate my emotions? I mean come on, I’ve already been through two marriages! I’ll tell you why, because that’s one way he spurs an actor’s creative motivation for a roll.

Creative motivation doesn’t just happen. It’s a process. Even if I awake in the middle of the night to write something down that I think I can use creatively, I’m still in the process. The seed was planted, so to speak, long before I went to bed and later awoke with something on my mind. When the seed is watered, I’m not in control of when it sprouts. What I am in control of though is how I cultivate that sprout. Do I keep watering it, or do I let if dry up and whither away? I’ve done both. I choose to water the sprout and harvest the crop!

I’ve had quite a few “idea sprouts” over the last year and have acted on some of them. I’ve also become overly reliant on note taking apps, reminder apps, and good ole paper sticky notes because I don’t always remember my ideas, not that they are all worth following up on, but you never know. What I’ve found is that for the most part, all I have to do is follow up on whatever the idea is, do the next simple little thing that furthers the goal, don’t bite of too much, just enough that I’m still moving forward. When I get overwhelmed with ideas and thoughts whirling around in my head I often just want to shit can an idea. I’ve found it easier and more productive to look at the small picture if I can’t handle the big picture, and work outward from there.

“The Project” is a BIG picture in a short film.

Tru Dat!

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Dave Perry is an award winning Roanoke Virginia digital film producer.

His sideburns are only a hobby.

Find me on Vimeo

The post “The Project” a new Short Film appeared first on DavePerryProject - A Blog.

Credits go to:

• Dave Perry, Director of Photography/Editor
• River Laker, Producer/Creative Director
• Marty Thau, Script Writer

Dave Perry Project on Vimeo.

Here are production notes form the DavePerryProject Vimeo site:

The Culture of Silver Seas PR” was done as a launch video for Silver Seas PR in Roanoke Virginia. The goal was to come up with something that was not corporate in nature and could be a stand-alone piece with a message of its own not connected to any corporate entity. We succeeded.

Since Silver Seas PR is a company that helps cultural creatives get media coverage, we decided to define “Culture”. Marty Thau of Red Star Records, wrote the script and is in the video as well. Thanks also goes to Skip Brown of Final Track Studios in Roanoke Virginia for letting me use his control room as a location for one of the scenes.

The entire cast is made up of creatives from all around the United States. The founder of the company is from England.

Shot in 720P30 with an Olympus E-PL 1 DSLM camera with a Nikkor S 50mm, Nikkor AF 35mm-70mm f/2.8, and an M Zuiko 14mm-42mm f/3.5-4.5.”

Dave Perry won a Gold Addy for Elements of Advertising/Cinematography at 2013 Western Virginia Addy Awards

“Elements of Advertising/Cinematography”

Addy winners Leonard Carter, Stefanie Brown, and Dave Perry at the 2013 Western Virginia Addy Awards.

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Dave Perry is a Roanoke Virginia digital film producer, editor and photographer. His sideburns are only a hobby.

Find me on Vimeo

The post Dave Perry Project Wins Gold at 2013 Western Virginia Addy Awards! appeared first on DavePerryProject - A Blog.

Dave Perry Project on Vimeo.

The original idea behind this film was to create a simple, sincere, but direct message of what the company is and what it does. It was also important that the simplicity and sincerity be visually portrayed through spartan set design and wardrobe. The directness of the message is underscored by the organic music…simple but powerful drums, bass, piano, and guitar. The use of 1 second long clips timed to the 120 BPM music bed drives the message. We succeeded!

The original style inspiration for the film came from a David Sylvian music video called “Small Metal Gods”. It’s utilitarian, working class setting and black and white imagery were cues that we wanted in “The Company” but we decided to forego the black and white and go with monotone sets and wardrobe in color. As often happens, we decided to abandon the monotone set and wardrobe idea but kept the simple settings as sparse and minimalist as possible.

The film was shot at two locations using a Panasonic GH2 with Rokinon Cinema lenses, T31. 14mm, T1.5 24mm, and T1.5 35mm. Also used were a Panasonic f/3.5-4.6 14-42mm, and a vintage Nikon Nikkor S f/4 50mm.

What’s your favorite scene? Can you tell which scene was shot at night?

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Dave Perry is a Roanoke Virginia digital film producer, editor and photographer. His sideburns are only a hobby.

Find me on Vimeo

The post A New Video For A New PR Company appeared first on DavePerryProject - A Blog.

Later, when we moved to industrialized production, I held a primary creative roll in designing products and prototypes. What I learned in the early days was that repetition led to mastering my craft, and the means of production was not the key to creativity. I also learned that repetition led to the ability to design what looked like random mistakes. I literally made tens of thousands of pots by hand the 11 years I was there and I gained insight into form and function, good composition and balance of form, time management, resourceful improvisation, creative problem solving, and trouble shooting (Ha! Sounds like a resume’ cover letter). The fact that I no longer produced them strictly by hand was not important. The creative process was still the same. What was important was that I was immersed in the craft until it became second nature and I dreamt about it at night…wet dreams even.

These days I work with images rapidly captured, 24 of them per second actually. I have to arrange them in some kind of meaningful order also. I get up in the morning, go to work, edit and shoot, leave work to go home to feed my kids, or on a weekend go to one of their sporting events, then edit and shoot more. If I’m not doing that, I’m studying film making, researching film making, or writing about film making. When I’m out in the world at large I look for photo ops, or I’ll see a movie and deconstruct it in my mind. I’ll look for b-roll for projects I haven’t even started. I’m immersed in the craft, it’s becoming second nature, I dream about it at night and….well, never mind.

During all of this immersion I sometimes get stuck in a rut of isolation and become creatively stagnant. It doesn’t happen much now, or rather, I don’t give it much time to happen. (Don’t let me forget to write about my creative death and rebirth some day. I mustn’t forget those times, really!). How I get out of it is to connect with others. Hopefully person to person but if not, I connect online in a forum or look at other people’s work on video sites and comment on it or ask about it. I let other creative ideas come into my closed, narrow, little mind in hopes that it’ll get blown WFO by some amazing work. Or I’ll get the opportunity to work on a set with folks I’ve never worked with before and watch their creative mojo in action.

I see limitless possibilities ahead of me, people to meet, images to capture and arrange, dreams to dream, sheets to clean…(did I really say that? I din’t think so).

I have a long way to go and I’m getting there. Putting one foot ahead of the other and moving forward, gaining insight into form and function, good composition and balance of form, time management, resourceful improvisation, creative problem solving, and trouble shooting. Hey, I think I really did learn something at my first job.

I’d love to hear how you are inspired creatively, what keeps you going, or what your first job was. Use the comment section below, no need to sign up for anything either.

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Dave Perry is a Roanoke Virginia digital film producer, editor and photographer. His sideburns are only a hobby.

Find me on Vimeo

The post Over and Over and Over… appeared first on DavePerryProject - A Blog.