Paris: Finally Finished (fingers crossed)

Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro. Photo by Clay Lancaster

Hello hello.

We've had a fairly busy last 10 days, and after this evening I should comfortably be able to say that the Paris portion of the film is in the can (which is like 90% of it).

The ending was re-written and a B-story was added. Our first few days were spent re-shooting the ending with our lead actress, as she had another project to get to. I flew from San Francisco to New Jersey, then New Jersey to Paris... hopped on the RER train into Gentilly, met up with everyone here at the studio, had about 30 minutes to get settled, then we started rolling.

The remainder of the week we worked with our lead actor/writer (as well as a new actress) on the new side story. It was challenging.

A big problem with not having much of a budget is that we have to shoot where we can shoot. That means spending hours on crowded riverbanks - take after take - trying to avoid loud boats, loud people, rain, onlookers, lighting issues, potential security issues, etc.

One of our scenes took about 8 hours to wrap. The scene is only about 5 minutes long.

This scene is about 4 seconds long. Yet we needed 5 takes. I labeled the slate accordingly.

The majority of our people are now gone, leaving Keith and me here in this art studio on our own. We spent the last day and a half doing some much-needed sleeping in, some pub-drinking, some bicycle riding through the city, some wine drinking, some photography, and some Formula 1 race-watching. After our mini pizzas come out of the oven, we're gonna jump on the Metro with the RED camera and go film some establishing b-roll. Then tonight we pack up, and jet back to San Francisco tomorrow morning.

Band photo.

It's been a blast. At the start of 2013, I surely didn't see myself going to Paris this year... and definitely didn't see myself going twice. Now it has become a running joke that we'll all just be right back here in a another few months to film something else.

To my clients who have been patiently waiting on their wedding photos, thank you! I'll have them to you soon.

Enjoy some of these photos, and I'll see you guys back in the States in a couple of days.

-Clay

Out and about during Nuit Blanche. Photo by Clay Lancaster

Night Filming.

Keith and Kevin discuss... something.

This time Kevin brought a remote-controlled quad-copter for arial shots. We crashed it a lot.

...like this:

Sunrise shot.

My roommate. He watched me while I sleep across the room. Good guy.

Awkward filming moment. Barbara, Kevin, and... me (technically) in the back.

Back Home and Not Slowing Down

Hey hey.

This post is gonna have a lot of photos. So bear with it. Although, I am a photographer... so maybe you should expect it.

After 3 weeks in Paris, we were able to wrap all the filming we set out to wrap. Long days, lots of wine, but a ton of fun. Very glad I decided to join the project.

Me (left) with my brother (center) filming Kevin for a quick scene on a bridge in Paris

screen shot from the film

We even had a few days left to take a toy remote-controlled boat around the city and drive it in some famous waterways (at the Louvre, at Luxembourg, in front of the Eiffel Tower, etc).

Kevin drives our speedboat at the Louvre

After saying our goodbyes to all the wonderful people involved, Kevin went back to Los Angeles, my brother Keith left for London, and I caught a plane to Istanbul.

It was my first time in another country by myself, and was quite an adventure. If you've been keeping up on all the news lately, Istanbul is the center of an uprising that is involving a lot of police brutality. It all started a couple of blocks from where I was staying 3 weeks ago, so it's weird to see all these places I recognize on the news.

New Mosque in Istanbul. Photo by Clay Lancaster

Among the people I met over there, I got to know this rap artist from Tunisia. He liked that I did camera work, so we did a small photo shoot on the Bosphorous waterfront one evening:

After sharing a bunch of beers on a rooftop night after night, looking at the river, he and an employee of the hostel (where I was staying) came up with a music video concept and asked if I'd film it. I figured "why not?" and it was certainly an interesting day.

After a good 17+ hour travel day, I finally arrived back in San Francisco after being gone for almost a month. My new condo was still packed away in boxes, so I immediately set to work getting my new home set up. I still need some sort of blinds for the sliding glass door, but the rest is pretty much good to go!

My first endeavor back in the States was shooting the Napa Bottle Rock Music Festival. We interviewed a lot of cool people on theFIVE10.com, including Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam, comedian Jim Breuer, and some of the cast of the Daily Show.

Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction at Bottle Rock. Photo by Clay Lancaster

Then I jumped straight into wedding season, and have had some wonderful couples so far. I have a LOT of editing to finish:

Finally, yesterday was the international release day for Ben Folds Five: Live, which showcases a photo of mine on the front cover. I'm thrilled to be a part of it, as BF5 has been one of my favorite bands for about 15 years. I see my photo popping up all over the internet... iTunes, Amazon, Target.com, blogs, magazines, etc. It's crazy.

Ben Folds Five Live on Target.com. Cover photo by Clay Lancaster

Ben Folds retweeted a photo from Japan that shows a big in-store display:

Ben Folds Five Live store display in Japan. Cover photo by Clay Lancaster

...to which he said to me (via twitter):

Super cool!

We're almost half way into 2013 and this year has been nuts for me, but really exciting. New home, new travels, new people, new accomplishments, new projects, new clients... and this is also shaping up to be the best year for my business since I started it.

Thanks to everyone who's been so supportive, and thanks to everyone who's found my work good enough to throw your hard-earned cash at it :). It means a lot.

Makin' Progress!

First off (it was finally announced, so I can talk about it now) one of my favorite bands of all time, Ben Folds Five, is releasing Ben Folds Five Live... their first-ever live album on June 4th. The coolest part (for me) is that they got a hold of me to license one of my photos from their tour this past January, so now my work is featured on the album cover:

Ben Folds Five Live. Photo by Clay Lancaster.

Secondly, filming has been extremely successful so far. Some long days in there... lots and lots of walking & train-hopping around Paris, lugging video & audio equipment everywhere we go, shooting in the rain, etc. But last night we managed to wrap all scenes that involve our lead actress, Ms. Barbara Probst (good luck trying to read her wiki if you don't speak French). We've lovingly renamed her to "Blahblah".

After filming all day yesterday, we celebrated with a large dinner for cast/crew/friends and a lot of wine. Like, a lot. Some of us are hurtin' a little this morning.

Enjoy some candids from filming so far!

Kevin discussing a character with one of our actors

Filming on the Metro with Barbara Probst and Kevin Clark

Heated discussion in the studio with Barbara Probst and Kevin Clark

Yours truly monitoring some dialogue audio

I look thrilled to be a part of this scene.

Left to Right: Keith (cameras), Barbara (lead actress),  me (sound), and Nadia (script supervisor)

Notre Dame evening.

Clay Lancaster, Kevin Clark, and Barbara Probst

Lancaster brothers on the train after a day of shooting

April (Filming) in Paris

This phase of 2013 is a slight departure from what I am normally involved with.

My brother was hired to shoot a film in France, and haphazardly sent me a text message one day saying, "Hey! you should come to Paris with me and be my AC (assistant camera operator)"... to which I thought for 2 minutes and replied "...ok, I'll go."

It was that random.

So over the last couple of weeks I've been in the process of moving into my new place, had a wedding to shoot, and filming & editing for another video project... all while planning a trip overseas. A month-long trip, no less.

With a bag (full of clothes and equipment) and a backpack (with a camera, lenses, laptop, chargers, hard drives, etc.) I caught an 11-hour flight to Paris earlier this week to meet up with my brother and our writer/director, who were coming in from the first round of filming in New York.

We are staying in Gentilly, in an art studio owned by Keith's friend Jonathan (an artist/art-history professor here in France). Each room is full of giant canvases, sculptures, prints, lithograph equipment, paint, and chemicals.

Sprinkled in are laptops and power cords. There's even a full (real) human skeleton assembled in a wooden closet in the room where I sleep:

We have 3 weeks total to write multiple drafts of the script, cast our actors, run rehearsals, plan shooting schedules/times, and scout locations. Our days so far have consisted of a LOT of walking around Paris and jumping from train to train, with our "down-time" being filled with script revisions and read-throughs. We have cast our lead actress already, but still need to fill a few other roles.

Keith & Kevin discussing the first draft of the script

It's an experience, for sure. Sometimes tiring and stressful, but so far it's been a lot of fun. Filming starts tomorrow.