The DJ is here : Featured on the Front Page of Reddit.com
Behind the scenes for The DJ is here: For the entire year of 2019, I was searching for a subject for a mini documentary. First thing I did was create a paper advertisement that read, “Looking for interesting subjects / stories for a mini documentary.” I taped the paper advertisements all over my neighborhood in NYC. Then, I anxiously waited for all the amazing stories to come flooding in. A few days went by, then a few weeks and eventually nothing interesting ever came.
Out of the blue, my Dutch filmmaker friend Constant Van Hoeven sent me a text message about a great subject where he lived in upstate New York. Rene Sanchez, a local man who played ‘70s & ‘80s roller disco music for everyone at a local park for free almost daily. In his youth, he enjoyed roller skating and became quite good. Unfortunately, after an injury he was never able to roller skate again. You should really watch the film before I give away the entire storyline!
The project was shot on my Sony FS7 camera and Sigma Art series lenses. Additionally, I rented a Dana Dolly from Du-All Camera in Manhattan. The whole documentary was shot in a span of two days:
The first day, I conducted the interview and asked Rene about his roller-skating life and what led him to come to the park and play music for everybody.
The second day was shot about three weeks later. At that point, I knew what kind of shots I wanted to capture based on the interview. I filmed B-Roll of Rene at his home reminiscing over his roller-skating youth, talking about the accident that forced him to stop skating, and ultimately finding a new passion in life.
Often, I find myself wondering why I was so lucky to find such a great honest story. I must have a lucky camera!
Some of my favorite screen grabs:
Paranormal: Short film in New York City
Short film in New York City: Jonathan Morgan contacted me to be the cinematographer for his short film. He wanted use this film to pitch it to different television and streaming platforms. We shot the short film in the summer of 2019. It was a low budget indie film, so there was usually a crew of five people. Most days I had a camera assistant & a gaffer, but some days it was just Jonathan and I shooting alone. So, often times I was juggling multiple positions at once.
We shot all over the NYC: in Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. In small apartments, alley ways, film studios, warehouses, houses, parks and in the street! There was never a dull day in shooting this film!
Screen grabs
Gotham City Asians
This video project came out of left field and I’m glad it did! Christina Tseng of Meticulous Media contacted me to shoot some interviews for a potential reality show for the Bravo Network. Christina wanted the interviews to look like a city at night, dark and full of “neon” light. I was excited! I have been shooting a lot of interviews, but nothing like this.
We shot about ten interviews in two days in a warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn. My gaffer Miguel Ortiz was a great help designing the light. The sizzle came out amazing and I’m excited to see where this project goes in the future!
Directed by Christina Tseng
Director of Photography: Andrew Porter
Assistant Camera: Ryan Moynihan
Gaffer: Miguel Ortiz
Screen grabs
