[electronic music] [Maria knocking on door]
[music continues] [door opens]
[music continues]
MARIA: Hey, Steve!
STEVE: Hey! How's it going? MARIA: Good, how're you?
STEVE: I'm good! Welcome to the studio!
MARIA: I heard you were here shooting, so I figured I'd ask you 21 questions.
Awesome, let's do it! MARIA: Do you have some time?
I do! Let's do it! MARIA: Ok, so, what're you shooting today?
Today, we're playing with a little milk and yogurt for, uh...
We do lot of testing to explore new things and to pitch clients new ideas.
So, we spend a lot of time here in our, kind of, laboratory doing some fun testing!
MARIA: Cool! And, can you tell the audience where we are and what it is that you do?
We are at The Garage. It's our studio in Midtown Manhattan. We're just two blocks from B&H, actually.
And, I am a director, DP and visual engineer,
and I shoot content for huge brands around the world,
for TV, or social, or digital, or all the formats out in the world today.
Mostly in food and beverage.
MARIA: And, so, how did you get started in photo and video?
I was that teenager that had the camera around him all the time, at every football game and every family event,
just shooting what I found around me, and then I went to RIT in upstate New York and studied advertising photography,
where I got, like, super obsessed about shooting content for clients.
And then, over a bunch of years, and a bunch of experimenting, I ended up in video.
About 5 years ago, I really, kind of, jumped headfirst into video and what I call visual engineering.
MARIA: And what drew you to visual engineering?
I'm a very special type of person [laughs]
So I'm very much right and left brain.
So, I love, you know, really creative and analytical things, and I also love science, engineering and technology.
And I wanted to find a way to bring them both together.
And that's kind of how I, you know, went and started visual engineering.
And it's been a really fun ride along the way.
But, it's really kind of being, like, this really scientist type of person, but also an artist.
MARIA: Very interesting!
MARIA: Can you tell us about what's going on next to you? Tell us about your camera and your robot setup!
STEVE: You don't have a robot too? MARIA: No, I don't! [both laugh]
STEVE: So this is one of our robots.
It's a bolt high-speed motion control robot, made by Mark Roberts Motion Control in the UK.
They're actually owned by Nikon, fun fact!
And on it, we have Phantom Veo 4K camera.
Great way to do a thousand frames a second at 4K RAW.
And on it, we have Laowa Probe 24mm lens,
which has a PL mount. They make it in all sorts of other fun ways.
And, with this setup, I can move the camera in really cool, fun ways
I can get really close and really precise to where we are.
As you see, we're just right off the surface of the milk here, and it's a lot of fun.
MARIA: And, how does one even start to learn about these robots and their software?
You know, there's not a really good source out there in the world.
I found, when I wanted to do this kind of work, and find a way to move the camera really precisely,
that there was no access to it anywhere in the world, online, in person, you name it.
Which is a big reason why we're launching The Garage Learning, which is our new educational platform
that's launching a Kickstarter very soon, actually it's going on.
And with that, we wanna bring this type of technology into the hands of more people
and have them be able to understand it, learn how it works, start with baby version of this
[laughs] before they go all in,
and just understand how it works and when to use it.
MARIA: Cool! And there's a lot of lighting going on here.
I heard you make your own lights!
Yes [laughs] We do make our own lights.
MARIA: Why? STEVE: Yeah! [both laugh]
I ask myself that same question sometimes.
It's all about the fact that we shoot on the Phantom a lot, like we're really shooting with the Phantom all the time.
And, because of that, we're shooting a thousand frames a second, sometimes with this lens, we're at f/14.
That's a lot of light you need.
And, because we're not just only doing that, we're also moving the camera and the robot around,
these big, 10, 20k movie lights kinda get in the way.
So, we made these really small lights that, kind of, are very much like a Profoto light head,
but they have the power of an ARRI M18 HMI light,
and they're dimmable and flicker-free at all frame rates.
So, once again, nothing existed in the market that fit the need of what we have,
but we're such small part of the market, so I understand why that is.
But, they work really great, and we've been using them for years now.
MARIA: Amazing! Now, you started in visual engineering, and you dove deep into robots.
What helped you get noticed by brands to create commercials for them?
Instagram [chuckles] Instagram worked really well for us.
I mean, we tell stories visually. That's what we do.
It's not as much about the sound, and the full theater experience,
but, you know, our stuff just really pops off the screen,
and, even more impressively, the behind the scenes is, like, super exciting.
People just love, like, "This Is How TV Commercials Are Made"
And, you know, that kind of thing has really gotten us noticed by a lot of clients around the world,
which is really exciting, which makes me also wanna just keep putting even cooler stuff on my Instagram.
MARIA: So, what are your future goals for your career and video engineering?
Take over the world! [both laugh]
I mean, down the line, I would love to get into feature films
and doing, like, really cool, innovative stuff with, you know, huge Hollywood budgets.
And, once again, pushing the envelope of what has been done with cameras.
In the short term is surviving Covid, keeping this going
and moving into our new space in Brooklyn at the beginning of next year.
MARIA: So, do you have any projects you're working on or coming up?
Yes! We always have a lot going on, but we have even more going on right now
as we're about to launch The Garage Learning, which is an online platform that teaches the kind of work that we do.
So, it's breaking down the walls between art and science, cinematography and engineering,
you know, kind of bringing that all together.
So with that, we've been shooting test courses, we've been shooting the kits that we're selling--
oh yeah, that's the other thing, we're also gonna have kits that you can buy,
and you can put together yourself at home,
so you can make your own robotic camera slider, you can make your own LED lights, just like us.
It's been a lot of work and a lot of effort, but we feel people are gonna love it.
And we love giving back information to the world,
where, in the realm that we normally are in, which is tabletop cinematography,
it's usually very closed-door kind of scenario.
So, we're really excited to peel those curtains back and let you guys in.
MARIA: And so, why do you think it's important to take time to teach others this style of creating,
like what The Garage Learning is doing?
People did it for me. I mean, when I moved to New York City after college,
I assisted for other photographers, and they held my hand and taught me the business
and showed me the difference between being a student doing fine art,
you know, and being a working professional.
So, we find, globally, there's a lack of this kind of knowledge
and accessibility to a full-featured curriculum that teaches you not just the arts, the science,
but also the business side of it.
So, you know, we really wanna help people big and small,
whether they just wanna shoot a couple things for their Etsy store, or they work for a big brand already.
And we wanna help them create better content.
MARIA: Cool. So, switching up gears a little bit:
What are some tips for someone looking to get into this style of video creating?
Play. You gotta play a lot.
You know, I think a lot of people say "Oh, I can't get started 'cause I don't $100,000 robot"
"and $100,000 camera and $100,000's of lights"
And I say, you have a phone, most likely, and that has a camera on it, like, start using that.
And just start playing. You do exactly what I have here, is like a tray with milk.
Get your phone and move around it, and try to put it into slow-motion mode.
And play with lighting, whether it's a window light or you have access to an actual light.
But I feel like not enough people spend time playing,
and they spend too much time worrying about how they're gonna get there.
And I think just go one day at a time,
learn every day a little bit, and then eventually you'll get there.
MARIA: So, a lot of people name their cars. Do you name your robots?
Yes we do. Absolutely. I think every robot needs a name.
Duh! [laughing] Uh, so...
This one right here behind me. This is Bob the Bolt.
We have Robbie, who's his little brother, who's a lot smaller than him.
And we have Johnny Five who's hiding somewhere as well.
And, we're really excited to announce that we're gonna have 3 more robots joining our robot family come January.
And we're gonna need names for them. So, can you guys help me?
I need some help from you guys to name our new robots.
MARIA: Cool. So, you shoot so many things. What's your favorite thing to shoot?
You know, subject matter isn't necessarily how I define my favorite thing.
We do such crazy stuff every day. To me, it's just the challenge, you know, I think for me,
is shooting something in a new way in a new light that hasn't been done before,
the way, at least, I would do it.
I feel that, to me, is really the most exciting challenge for me, and that's why I do what I do.
MARIA: And, what has been one of the most complex shoots you've done?
You should've been here yesterday! [laughs]
But, um, yeah!
I mean, we do some insane shoots!
I mean, yesterday, we had a fire ball going on
with a bunch of chips flying up in the middle of them
while the camera was spinning around them at about 35 miles per hour
inside this studio right here.
And with that, everything had to be triggered remotely
'cause the camera's moving so fast and had to be run on batteries and...
It was insane and I could share the footage with you, and you will love to see how this turned out.
But we do insane stuff, and the reality is everyday we get crazier. [laughs]
MARIA: And, what has been one of the most rewarding or exciting shoots you've done?
I feel recently, we've done a lot of work for some really big national coffee brands that I can't necessarily name.
But, you go there if you drink coffee, and... [laughs]
They've really given us a lot of room to really explore and play and, kind of, show their work in a whole new light.
And, it's been really fun, even in Covid we did some, and...
You know, it's challenging, but we really enjoy it.
MARIA: And, what has been the weirdest shoot you've done?
[Steve laughs] Oh, every shoot is weird!
There's no such thing as "the weirdest," but we've...
We've put lenses inside of bottles; we've put lenses inside of shoes; we've done all sorts of crazy stuff.
We had a shoot where we needed 100 galloons of maple syrup.
That was probably one of the most painful cleanups that we've had 'cause it sticks to everything, but...
Yeah, we're constantly doing really, really weird stuff.
MARIA: So, if you could use one lens forever, which would it be?
Oh, that's a hard question!
We love so many of our lenses. Like this one, we love too.
But if I was on a desert island with my robot, I would have to say the ZEISS CP.2 50mm macro
is one that I used for years and years,
and it's such a great overall lens for people that shoot macro like us.
You can do 1:1. It's really sharp. You know, I really like it.
So, that would be my lens of choice, you know.
MARIA: Cool. If you weren't a visual engineer, what would you be?
I would probably be working for Elon Musk, I think.
[laughs] Or NASA, or something crazy like that.
I mean, I love the innovation so much that I feel,
if I wasn't doing my own company, doing this kind of crazy, visual storytelling,
I'd be working for another company, trying to innovate in a different sector.
MARIA: And, what has been the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Oh man! Uh... Yeah!
I, really early on in my career, when I was kind of going from an assistant to shooting,
I was like, I was freaking out 'cause a client actually called me for a job.
You know, you would think that's what I was expecting, but you know,
really early on you're like, "Oh my God! My first big job!"
And I was flipping out, and the photographer I would assist for was like,
"Steve, calm down. It doesn't matter if you don't have gaffers tape, or you don't have all the gear that you might want."
He's like, "Just concentrate on making pretty pictures and making the client happy."
And that's what I did. You know, once again, at the end of the day,
you could do a lot with just the gear that you have on you.
You don't need everything in your closet to make amazing work.
And I think remembering that is really important. Just like, concentrate on the story,
and the creative, and making something beautiful.
MARIA: And, tough one, if there were to be a movie about your life, who would play you?
Hmmmm.....
You know, in the most idyllic sense, I think, like, George Clooney.
I mean, he's pretty good-looking.
[laughs] Definitely better-looking than I am.
And, you know, he's got a good seriousness to him, but a little funny side.
You know, I like him. He looks he can nail science.
Yeah, I would go with George Clooney.
[laughs]
MARIA: And, last question: who should we interview next?
I would go for a bit-time Hollywood DP.
You know, people that do movies like Inception or Gravity.
You know, kind of go into these really hardcore guys that have been doing this for, like 30, 40 years.
I mean, the amount of stories that they must have.
I would love to hear what they have to think and advice they would give to people.
MARIA: Cool. Alright, so I'll let you get back to it.
Thank you so much for answering all my questions!
STEVE: No problem! That was easy! MARIA: I'll see ya next time!
STEVE: Come back any time! MARIA: Absolutely!
STEVE: Come visit the new robot family! Have a good day!
MARIA: See ya!