"The London Job"

By Brent Spencer

June 9th, 2012

July 29th update: This was for the opening for the 2012 Olympics and was very hush-hush.  I am very proud to have been part of a bit of history.

A month of planning and designing for a job I have never attempted before, mounting three Red Epic's on a single Perfect Horizon.  And it all worked perfectly.

 

Not knowing exactly what the project was and being involved with the design of the camera plate, I knew that this was going to be very unique and important job and with the location being London, England it added a bit of intrigue to the mission.  My boss, David Grober flew me over to assist our European Perfect Horizon tech. Brian Uranovsky in this opportunity to show our stuff.  I flew with my own Perfect Horizon and MPM's new control box to make sure that I could provide all the assets I could to get the job done.

Working with Knife edge in London was great and the crew was terrific.  We mounted three Red Epic's to a special plate designed by William H.W. Read, DOP and manufactured by Ronford-Baker in London.  William used 10mm Prime lens with fish eye adaptors for a full wrap around view.

Lucy Ross - Production Manager, Aaron Trinder-Director, and William Read- DOP were happy with the results they witnessed at the beginning of the shoot and it only got better as the sky turned blue for us and this was the only day int did not rain during my week in the U.K..
Another successful shoot with such a unique mounting option.  I love my job!

Iron Cross @ Mavericks for the last of the shots.

March 11th, 2012

It was cold out on the water in Half Moon Bay and it was strange not to see the monster waves I have become so aware of at Mavericks.  I was helping out to film surfers reacting to scenes were they had to scramble to escape large wave coming in to wash them out.  It was classic acting as the water was moderately calm and no waves in site.
It has been a great job and the Perfect Horizon performed "perfect" every time I showed up. We mounted a Red Epic with a Optimo 24mm-290mm lens to my Perfect Horizon which was mounted on a 6 inch riser.

"Of Men and Mavericks" Feb 8, 2012

The next big swell hit Mavericks Feb 8th and 9th and it did not disappoint the surfers or the film crew who saw the monster surf that Mavs is famous for.  Even Jeff Clark seemed to be impressed at how good the surf was and the weather was great.  The Perfect Horizon was the go- to stabilizer and the main work horse for Mike Prickett and Ron Condon while out in the surf zone filming great shots for "Of Men and Mavericks".

Ron condon told me that he could not of filmed the shots they needed with out the Perfect Horizon and was very pleased with the results he was able to achieve with the unit.

Of Men and Mavericks- Game Day

 January 5 & 6, 2012


   These were the days that Iron Cross Films has been waiting for in order to shoot the main footage for "Of Men and Mavericks".  The surf was huge and rolling in 20'+ and it was a perfect day for filming the monster waves. It was great being out with DP Mike Prickett  prickettfilms.com  and Jeff Clark jeffclarkmavericks.com driving the 22' Jet boat right in the line up. Mike has used the Perfect Horizon numerous times filming big wave competitions and knew that the Perfect Horizon was the best way to film up close and personal.http://youtu.be/IXdyij8AWNI This is great footage of the action the Perfect Horizon can handle.  

Of Men and Mavericks- Surfing legend Jay Moriarity

October 14th, 2011
While up in San Francisco working on "Shark Week", I was called to work on a reenactment of the life of surfer, Jay Moriarity, Maverick's surfing legend.  The first filming days took place at Santa Cruz bay with hundreds of extras in the water, giving a real buzz to the scene.  We used two Perfect Horizons on Captain Robert Brown's specialized camera boat: uscameraboats.com  The cameras were Arri Alexa, which used Optimo 14- 280 zoom lenses.   

Hunting for Sharks off the Farralon Islands.

October 10th, 2011

Discovery Shark Week's Jeff Kurr was on "Derek M. Baylis" filming scientist from Monterey trying to lure previously tagged sharks to the surface for a photo opportunity both for the scientist's records and for Shark Week. Jeff was using the Phantom High speed camera on top of the Perfect Horizon which he has use numerous times while filming Great Whites in South Africa.  After two days of filming and only one shark coming up to take the decoy we went hunting for waves...

October 12th, 2011

A big swell hit Mavericks and Jeff Kerr was able to shoot some great footage of the local guys hitting the waves.  Jeff was able to interview a local surfer and his thoughts of sharks in the area and how to keep a mental balance between doing something you love and a ever looming danger.  This was my first time at Mavericks and I was impressed by the size and power of the 'Worlds most deadliest wave". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC0IOAWjaFM

Sea Otters of Monterey Bay, CA

October 1st, 2011
Six days on the Monterey bay filming Sea Otters with NHK Japan T.V. was a great change of pace from the hustle and bussel of Los Angeles.  Phil Sammet was our boat captain and local tour/ information guide about all things in and on the bay.  We filmed great shots of a mother and cub going about the days activities of grooming, hunting for crabs, and trying out new menu options such as Planter worms,Squid, and Sea cucumbers. The camera man "Hedi'" was filming with a Proton high speed camera and was able to get some great slow motion footage of the young cub and mother swimming and eating together.