FCP and what have I gotten myself into

Here's a screen grab as I just finished a recent video project. It probably doesn't seem too crazy or overwhelming to many editors or directors, but for a photographer who's recently begun incorporating high-end commercial film work, it represents a few months up a steep learning curve.

There's corresponding print work with this, some of which will even make the portfolio, but far and away the biggest satisfaction comes from the motion side.

The client is happy, and my reel is beginning to take shape with some other commercial and personal work.


© Michael Sugrue

Here are links to some of the books I read, and highly recommend, to brush up on the art:

The 5 C's of Cinematography, by Joseph V. Mascelli

Film Directing Cinematic Motion, by Steven D. Katz

The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film, by Michael Ondatje

Producing Great Sound for Film & Video, 3rd Edition, by Jay Rose

These books and a few others, and a VERY hard-working crew, basically took me from knowing zilch about it to producing something a great client loves.

There are some additional, potentially creatively rewarding, commercial jobs with both print and motion on the near horizon. However, the most profound change has been the new, wide-open tap to explore personal work.

I shot my first short film over the last few days (rough stills below, coming soon to a festival near you), and I'll see if I can get a couple of clips up soon. It has much less slick production value, but aims to tell tell a story (written and directed by Nick Frangione) with color, camera, minimal dialogue, and editing. If not the essence of story-telling, pretty darn close.

In the long-form narrative category, I may be shooting a pilot for a television show in the fall. All still quite tentative at this point, but enough promise to get me very excited about all of the possibilities and creative challenges that lie ahead.


© Michael Sugrue

© Michael Sugrue

© Michael Sugrue

© Michael Sugrue