RUSSIAN ARMS, A REAL WEDDING & FAST CARS

I love cars, maybe not as much as motorcycles, but damn close. My dad was a gear head and my grandfather was an auto body mechanic.  So when the opportunity came to pitch on a project for Porsche, I was stoked.

Working with Picture Farm Production, and the agencies Cramer-Krasselt, Fake Love, PHD, we had the changeling of creating commercial level spots while working around an actual wedding with real talent!  The most important goal was to not interfere with the actual wedding and to really respect the couples big day (something I can totally understand since I just got married myself).

We ended splitting production between the couples real wedding day, where we shot very doc style, combined with a pick up day with a Russian Arm.  I really love the documentary world and I also love shooting sexy footage, so this project was absolutely project for me.  The final edits are pretty fun and getting to spend multiple days at the Atlanta Porsche track was just icing on the cake! 

PORSCHE: FAST LOVE
A sports car wedding you could only dream up. A real couple, a real moment and some really fast cars!

Client: Porsche USA
Agencies: Cramer-Krasselt, Fake Love, PHD
Production Company: Picture Farm Productions
Director / DP: Andrew David Watson
Atlanta Russian Arm: Filmotechnic USA

SUPER 16MM FOR SWEETGREEN x DAN BARBER

Hello Super 16mm, its been years.  And I mean years.  I’m a proud graduate of Temple University (in Philadelphia).  Without giving my age away, all I’ll say is when I was at Temple U most of us still shot our senior thesis films on Film.  Temple was (and maybe still is?) an Aaton Super16mm school.  I learned how to load mags on aaton a-minima, LTRs and XTRs.  We were a state school, so no fancy ARRI 416s for us, just the good old Aatons work horses! 

I’ve been waiting for the right project to come around to shoot on film.  A lot of projects have been using mixed media, including 8mm, 16mm and Super 16mm, but I knew I wanted to find a project to solely shoot on film.   Long last came the opportunity to Direct/DP sweetgreen’s fall video campaign, staring world renown Chef Dan Barber (of Blue Hill and Chef’s Table fame). 

Early on in preproduction we decided we didn’t want the videos to look like Chef’s table, which Dan is so well known for, so I proposed shooting some Super 16mm to change things up!  Everyone agreed that sounded rad.  However, we had 7 videos to shoot, and I knew (timing / budget) we couldn’t shoot them all on film.  So instead we used an ARRI AMIRA with Standard Speeds for most of the production, and then reserved the Super16mm (In this case an Aaton XTR with the Canon 8-64mm T2.4 Super-16 Lens for the must have shots).  In total we shot 7 rolls of film, mostly Kodak 50D and some 250D. 

By the end of editorial, Super16 had made its way into each edit, really helping to create some wonderful contrast with the ARRI AMIRA footage.  I also got my wish of making a purely film FILM by shooting enough material with Dan Barber to create a 100% Super16mm film profiling his philosophies.  

Picture Farm Production handled both production and post on this project.  The Dan Barber Anthem pieced was colored by Kath Raisch @ Company 3.

One last note on film.  Kodak recently opened a new lab in NYC and its less then 2 miles from my home (and also in Queens!)  We were able to drop film off, have it processed, scanned and ready in 24 to 48 hours.  With the new Kodak lab as a resource in NYC, I’ll be pushing to shoot more and more film!

And thanks to my wonderful AC Gabriel Pimenta for his knowledge of the Aaton XTR. It was a pleasure.  

SWEETGREEN x DAN BARBER
Chef and co-owner of Blue Hill, James Beard award winner, author of The Third Plate, and farm-to-table frontrunner Dan Barber on how millennial appetites for authenticity are shaping a new food culture.

Shot on Kodak Super16mm 50D / 250D Aaton
XTR, Canon 8-64mm T2.4

Director/DP: Andrew David Watson
Production Company: Picture Farm Productions
Client: Sweetgreen
Editor: Isabel Freeman
1st AC & Additional Opt: Gabriel Pimenta
Colorist: Kath Raisch @ Company3

And here are a few of my favorite screen garbs:

SOUL OF A SCRAP YARD - THE NEW YORK TIMES OPT DOC

See more @ The New York Times

Directed By: Mike Plunkett & Andrew David Watson
Cinematography by: Andrew David Watson
Steadicam by: Gabriel Pimenta
Edit by: Mike Plunkett & Winnie Cheung
Assistant Editor: Matt Egan
Sound Design by: Julienne Guffain
Colorist: Eric Schwalbe
Music: Lives are threads by Salomon Ligthelm
Midnight by Salomon Ligthelm
National Anthem performed by Patricia Ortega
Production and post services: Crew Cuts & Picture Farm Productions

BTS of SOUL OF A SCRAPYARD: It's funny how long personal projects take sometimes.  I've been riding my bike (and motorcycle) through the neighborhood Willets Point for the last 4 years.  Late Fall of 2016 I noticed the city had begun tearing down some of the shops, and I knew it was time to revisit the story.  I linked up with my buddy Mike Plunkett (who directed Salero and also happens to live in Queens) and we hit the pavement (and gravel) looking for a subject.  After some poking around we were introduced to Sam Sambucci III.  Sam provided a great subject and ambassador to the neighborhood.  

To film the project (and to finish it), we called in a bunch of favors.  We enlisted the help of Gabriel Pimenta for some steadicam shots.  We shot on my Amira package and Xenons lenses. Andy Whitlatch provide an extra hand and the below BTS photos.  We used a Canon c300 for a few car mounted shots and a DJI inspire for the 2 drone shoots.  Picture Farm productions and Crew Cuts helped with post and finishing, and we licenses tracks from The Music Bed. 

When we started out, we didn't have an outlet locked in, but after previewing a rough cut for The New York Times opt-docs, they signed on and helped us finish up the piece.  

Although it took me 4 years to pick up a camera to capture this unique corner of NYC, and another 8 months (on and off of course) to finish the project, the final film is one of my most favorite projects to date.  Thanks to Vimeo for the Staff pick and the extra views!

Here are a few of my favorite screen grabs.  My favorite part of this project was meeting a ton of people from the neigborhood.  And after hanging around for a week, the weary looks turned into friendly hellos.  

WINTER ADVENTURES IN ICELAND

This year has been fun, so fun, I haven't posted anything in nearly 10 months. This past winter I got a chance to shoot in Iceland in the middle of the winter.  I had been to Iceland twice prior, but only in the summer.  I was a little weary of the 6 hours of daylight we would have, and didn't think Iceland could be as beautiful in the winter as it is in the summer.  Oh man, was I wrong.  The long dawn, straight into magic hour provides some of the best light I have ever seen.  Short in length, but beautiful in quality.  The weather temps (at least close to the coast) were not much colder then NYC in the winter.   It was a brief shoot (including this below photo of a cold water survival suite at the iceberg lagoon), but man was it awesome!!!  It chaged my how prespective on Iceland in the winter.