95% of the gear I use to create high-end advertising images, videos, and commercials is the highest end stuff you can buy. Tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment and production often comes together for much of the commercial work you see. This gear all serves its purpose, and there's good reason for every single piece of it, but.... PROBLEM: I understand that, for a huge cross section of this community,... read more ›
8.3K reads
Jun
17
Jun
15
Whew! What a week it was last week... Last Wednesday, I brought pal and photog instructor guru Zack Arias into my studio for another episiode of chasejarvisLIVE. We chatted photography for 2 hours and took questions from the live Twitter audience via #cjlive. Was a blast. While about 20,000 of you caught the interview LIVE--it seemed like I got at least that many tweets/emails/fbook requests to post it again here on the blog,... read more ›
2.2K reads
Jun
14
Controversial? Perhaps. But I love it. From the New York Times: The project, called YouTube Play and conceived as a biennial event, is intended to discover innovative work from unexpected sources. It is open even to entrants who don’t consider themselves artists, and actively encourages the participation of people with little or no experience in video. “People who may not have access to the art world will have a chance to have their... read more ›
312 reads
Jun
08
I'm pumped to bring two new episodes of chasejarvisLIVE to your desktop this week. I hope you'll tune in to join me. First, tomorrow I'll be hosting my good friend, one-light guru, photo instructor, and the best beard around: Zack Arias. We're bringing Zack to Seattle for his creativeLIVE workshop, and I'm stealing an hour of his time before hand to talk shop in my studio. Think Barbara Walters meets Jon Stewart meets Photography (meets... read more ›
485 reads
Jun
07
I wish I had a better plan, but I’m trying to make a film about the world right now through my eyes. I’m trying to use some of this technology we have right now, like our cinema truck and our snowmobile systems and our helicopter systems, to tell the story of the world today in a different way. -Curt MorganWhat do you get when you get when you combine some military spec gyro stabilization with... read more ›
746 reads
May
26
Two short films. Two amazing people I'd love for you to meet. 1. Soren. You know TV's reality drama "The Deadliest Catch" about the world's most dangerous profession. Well Soren Sorenson has lived that hardcore commercial fisherman's life for 50 years, and he's lived it without an ounce of bravado or showmanship, despite his record-breaking catches and the fact that 6 of his boats have ended up on the bottom of the ocean. Now at... read more ›
1.1K reads
May
04
I really enjoy the integration of live-action and motion design production. Turns out that my good friend Will Hyde--the ECD over at Superfad and all around super-talented guy with whom I co-directed a music video a while back (not near as supercool as this stuff here...but fun nonetheless)--has really outdone himself in the latest Sony campaign called "Eye Candy". Great little behind-the-scenes piece here showing the amazing work of Will and his Superfad crew on... read more ›
782 reads
Apr
14
I feel compelled to share with you my latest documentary short film in the series I've been commissioned to create for Russell Investments. This particular piece is about planning--a topic that bridges my client to the rest of the world's day to day endeavors--but it might as well be about inspiration. That's the primary reason I want to share it here... Not for the commercial message, but because Helen Thayer is one of... read more ›
633 reads
Apr
05
Too often advertising is a lot about BIG. Especially automotive advertising. Big budgets, big gear, big egos. Big and boring. This latest Nissan commercial from TWBA Toronto, however, isn't big in those traditional senses. Instead, it's big on spirit, innovation, and effectiveness. Plus big points on photography/cinematography. Seriously great camera work. Enjoy the making of video here above, but be sure to click the 'continue reading' link below and enjoy the finished commercial after... read more ›
2K reads
Mar
24
Even after years of doing this stuff, I still get excited watching $70k worth of camera hanging 30 feet in the air off a couple of measly bolts.Last week I posted two 3 minute films that I've been commissioned by Russell Investments to create exploring the topic of 'risk'. In these vids (please check them out here if you missed them), our crew hauled a RED One digital cinema camera and a handful of... read more ›
1.2K reads
