In 2004, I became obsessed with high-speed cinematography, which was just starting to break out of the engineering world and into broadcast use. Against all good judgment, I bought a Phantom camera before I ever used one. “How does it work?”, my favorite cinematographer asked. My response: “I have no idea.” At the time, nobody knew how to light for high speed, or why a 5K HMI flickered, but a 5K tungsten didn’t. Go figure... we did indeed.

Lately we have been turning projection mapping inside out, using monitors as as both reflection sources and content, mixing slow motion with real time, all in camera. The results at tabletop scale have been amazing, with liquid light reflections that crawl up and around the subjects. Next up is to scale the idea to room size, with an actual size car.

Recently I was fortunate enough to collaborate with fine art photographer Carlo van de Roer on The Satellite Project, a unique system of lighting that utilizes an array of precisely synchronized strobe lights to, effectively, freeze time but allow the light to move. Working at frame rates in excess of 2,500 fps, the result is a fresh take on the art of slow motion cinematography.