God's Ivory

At the end of April 2013, Reportage by Getty Images released the multimedia documentary, "God's Ivory," that explores the role that religion plays in driving and sustaining the illegal global ivory trade. I had the tremendous opportunity to produce this multimedia project--the result of a 3-year investigation by National Geographic contributing writer Bryan Christy, and Reportage by Getty Images staff photographer Brent Stirton. "God's Ivory" reveals the complexities of an ivory trade that closely resembles the illicit drug trade, where law enforcement has seen 10% success, further exacerbated by government complicity, institutional corruption, and the rising demand for ivory by expanding Asian economies. 

The demand for ivory as the material of choice for trinkets and spiritual carvings is fueling the largest elephant crisis facing many countries in Africa since the 1980's. Please watch this film to understand the gravity of this issue and how you can help stop the killing of the world's elephant population. 

Help spread the word about this video to your friends and family by sharing these links: 

On Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/65073709
On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4StI2aNpgM

Take the next step in protecting elephants: 

Big Life Foundation
Celia's Corner
Environmental Investigation Agency
International Fund for Animal Welfare
Save the Elephants.org
SOS Elephants

The Sennheiser 10-Year Guarantee

Last month during post-production, I noticed a slight hiss in the high-frequencies of my left audio channel, to which my lavalier microphone is always connected. After having my Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 Series wireless microphones a little under 5 years, it was understandable that maybe they were in need of service. These microphones have been everywhere with me since purchasing them for my first multimedia project in 2008 and have never failed or run into issues since. I was afraid that repairs would run me into the hundreds of dollars for such a sensitive piece of equipment, only to find out that Sennheiser offers a 10-year Warranty Service that honors repair and replacement for the wireless Evolution series of microphones. That's not a typo. 10 years! 

Register through the online portal to create a Repair Order. Sennheiser covers shipping to and from their warehouse. Customer service is phenomenal, with quick personal communication. Repair turn around took a little over two weeks from the moment they received the package via UPS. Sennheiser ran the wireless microphones through diagnostics to reveal that the issue was in the lavalier. They replaced my old lav with a brand new microphone, cleaned the transmitter packs, and sent it back to me.

Product warranties and customer service simply do not exist like this anymore. Though it is exactly what will guarantee my loyalty to Sennheiser for the rest of my life. Their products are not only worth every penny, but the support behind them is incredible. 

Thank you Sennheiser. 

Follow My Steps

It was 2010, when trees started to shed their leaves and the bitter Syracuse winter began to cool the air, that I met Andrew Cunningham, a young 12-year-old boy diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy. His Aunt introduced us after seing a short video I had done about the historic Columbus Bakery. She had wanted me to meet her nephew and his teammates on Central New York United power soccer. I was sold! Imagine 5 guys dribbling a large soccer ball across a basketball court in their power wheelchairs, only to release it after spinning 180 degrees at high speeds to shoot a goal. It's exhilarating and nothing you could ever imagine. 

I spent a number of days filming Andrew and his teammates, intent on producing a short promo video for the team, when I noticed a unique dynamic between Andrew and his teammate Tony Reuter, 20, born with brittle bone disease and 8 years his elder. They were both kids in the element, making fun of each other, arm wrestling, and singing out of tune. It was beautiful to watch this genuine friendship and affection for each other that seemed to border on brotherhood. 

For the next year I would follow the two boys through their daily lives, I'd be at power soccer practice, at middle school or college, and allow myself to be absorbed into their world. Their bouts of Xbox challenges and arguments on each other's Facebook walls were not much different from those I shared with my own best friends (however I don't play Xbox). The more time I spent with them, the more I realized that despite their disabilities, they still experience the same challenges, pitfalls, and successes that you or I experience through puberty and young adult life. Andrew is moving to high school, as Tony graduates college. Andrew relies on his father for his care, as Tony has been able to find a sense of independence. Their situations are physically different, though they find support in their similarities. 

What began as a marketing piece for a power soccer team, turned into a graduate assignment for a documentary film class, which then evolved into my Master's project: "Follow My Steps" a 16-minute short film. In October 2012, I defended my project alongside my classmates Maureen Coyle, who published the iBook, "Death Valley Unified," and Zach Ornitz, who produced the short film, "Vaya a la Cumbre." It was well received, and passed unanimously by my committee who I thank for their help and support: Eric Maierson, Seth Gitner, and Bruce Strong. I would also like to acknowledge the color grading done by Michael Curry, without which this film would never have looked so good. 

Since its release, the film has received a number of accolades, including 2nd Place Documentary Multimedia Story in the 2013 NPPA Best of Photojournalism competition, and 2nd Place Longform Multimedia in the 2013 Northern Short Course Contest. It's since screened at the Athens International Film + Video Festival, and has been accepted into the Society for Disability Studies 26th Annual Conference. 

Please take a moment to watch the film, "Follow My Steps". 

2 Years Later

My sister and I grew up with Goon Goon (grandfather in Chinese). My earliest memory, either through memory or from pictures is my obsession with the Sound of Music, picking apples, and making a spinning top out of a round piece of paper and wooden stick at the Boston's Children's Museum.

Those were simple times that at times I wish I could go back to.

There were certain things that I never really understood about Goon Goon, like why he left the plastic bag on the TV remotes, which made channel changing difficult. Or, why he would never let my sister or I use the dumpling wrapper press. Though what I do understand and what I remember clearly, were the countless summers that my sister and I spent with Goon Goon and Popo clocking in hours of America's Most Wanted, Saved by the Bell, and Ace Ventura Pet Detective.

In their condo, number 718, the summers grew hot, and the afternoon sun would heat up their place. The highlight of every summer day was the one or two hours we spent at their pool, where I would sink to the bottom holding my breath, or pretend I was a tug boat pulling up to dock at the pool stairs. When that got boring I would ask Goon Goon for a quarter to dive for. But more often than not, he would take a key off his keyring and hand it to me. I'd throw it into the water and make sure to aim far away from the drains. Diving after it, if I was lucky, I would grab the key before it hit the bottom.

Whenever my hands pruned up, I knew it was time to get out, return the key to Goon Goon, and head back up to the seventh floor.

To this day, every time my eyes burn from the chlorine in pools, I remember Goon Goon and diving after his key.

Exactly 2 years ago, to the day, I received a phone call from my father informing me of his father's passing. In some extraordinary coincidence, both of my grandfather's decided to leave this earth on the same day, just a couple years apart. Goon goon, you will be dearly missed.

Great Work. Great People.

Kathleen Maxian

A lot has happened in the past couple months since my departure from Syracuse and move to New York City. After finishing up my last semester at Newhouse, the day before I drove a 12-foot cargo van to NYC, I shot a story for the ACLU called, The Cost of Patenting Genes. The story is a tragic look at the consequences of patenting genes, and the suffering endured by Kathleen Maxian since being diagnosed with advanced-stage ovarian cancer. Although I only had the chance to work with her for a day, Kathleen struck me as one of the most genuinely inspiring, positive, and hilarious individuals I have ever had the opportunity to meet. She is also extremely passionate and driven to educate and build awareness about the injustices of gene patenting. Last week, the video was published online in conjunction with the launch of the ACLU's Take Back Your Genes campaign to raise awareness about the threats posed by gene patenting.

Watch her story on the ACLU's site.

Global Governance Monitor: Human Rights

Since beginning my internship at MediaStorm in January, I had been consumed with production of an ongoing multimedia project for the Council on Foreign Relations. This week, the International Institutions and Global Governance Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, in collaboration with MediaStorm, launched the eighth issue of its comprehensive Global Governance Monitor: Human Rights. The Monitor is an interactive multimedia tool that maps and evaluates efforts to tackle the most pressing problems facing the world. The lastest installment tracks the international community’s record in responding to the global challenge of human rights by providing a cinematic overview of the issue, and an interactive resource guide. This project, spanning multiple years, has been a Webby honoree in the category of Rich Media: Non-profit/Educational in both 2010 and 2011.

Visit the interactive online, and learn more about MediaStorm's collaboration on this extensive project.

Piecing Together the Tools

THE QUESTION:

Gear is always a question I get, and gear is also something that I easily geek out about. I love finding out about new gadgets, new cameras, and new tools to make the work easier. However, the introduction of another piece of gear also inevitably creates another set of issues.

THE SOLUTION:

I shoot with a Canon 5D MKII for both stills and video. I always record on a dual-audio system: recording externally on a Marantz PMD620 and feeding that audio track into my camera using a Sescom LN2MIC-PMD620 attenuation cable (it is very important to use an attenuation cable to feed any audio signals into the 5D MKII so you don't overload the internal audio circuitry. The cable essentially lowers the audio signal by -25db.). I use a Rode VideoMicPro mounted in my hot shoe, fed into the right channel of a y-splitter cable. I then feed in the audio signal of a Sennheiser ew100 G1 wireless lavalier microphone into the left channel of the y-splitter cable. The y-splitter now sends the stereo signal into the mic input of the Marantz recorder. I will then set the recording level of my Marantz to fall between -12 and -6 db, and set my internal recording level of the 5D MKII to mimic the exact same levels as my audio recorder. This results in very clean audio in the recorder, and a clean audio signal to the camera. However, bear in mind that the audio signal of the 5D MKII will inevitably have more hiss than that of your external recorder given the internal circuitry of the camera. In post production, when necessary (eg. for clean interview audio), I will sync the audio track from the recorder with the footage from the camera using PluralEyes. I also use a Rode NTG-2 microphone to collect ambient audio when necessary (using the same Marantz recorder), and to boom my interviews. (see below for a list of links to the gear)

 ANOTHER PROBLEM:

As far as rigging is concerned, there are many solutions out there, some more expensive than others. I have bought a couple of solutions over the past year, including the Jag35 DSLR cage, and a Cavision shoulder rig (the cheapest shoulder rig I could find on the market). I would recommend playing around with a variety of rigging solutions in order to find something that works for you. It all depends on the style of your shooting, and in most cases one solution will not be the end-all-be-all solution. Luckily, all support systems are standard across the industry, which allows for interchangeability of parts between systems. In my case, I've disassembled both of those rigs to create my own low-profile rig. I like to carry as little equipment with me as possible, and also prefer to shoot hand-held most of the time even though it yields less-than-steady results. I've come to embrace this style of shooting and have found ways to brace myself against walls or furniture to steady the camera. However, when I do require additional support during longer shoots, I break out my Cowboy Studios shoulder rig. For $30, this simple solution provides much needed support in a small package that clips right onto my belt. Finally, my workhorse lens is the Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, which has image stabilization that provides additional stabilization necessary without the shoulder rig. I also use a Glidetrack LCDVF viewfinder, which adds an additional point of contact and stabilization of the camera. Finally, I use the 755 XB Manfrotto tripod with a 701 HDV head, which is probably the best tripod ever made for video. The head is smooth as butter, but the greatest feature is the leveling head built into the tripod.

THE GEAR:
Camera: Canon 5D MKII
Lens: Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Audio Recorder: Marantz PMD620
Attenuation Sync Cable: Sescom LN2MIC-PMD620
On-camera Shotgun Mic: Rode VideoMic Pro
Shotgun Mic: Rode NTG-2
Y-splitter: Stereo to Mono Y-splitter cable
Wireless Lavalier: Sennheiser ew100 g1 wireless lav
LCD Viewfinder: Glidetrack LCDVF viewfinder
XLR-mini Stereo Cable: Sonic Studios XLR-mini cable

SUPPORT & RIGGING:
Video Tripod: 755 XB Manfrotto tripod with 701 HDV head
Shoulder Rig: Cavision RS1580S-SPE Shoulder pad with rod system, Cowboy Studios Shoulder Rig
DSLR Cage: Jag35 DSLR cage kit
Quick Release: Manfrotto 577 Rapid Connect Adapter