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.

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

Coming from Hawaii, there is something to be said about this time of year when seasons change, leaves start falling, and trees become naked as the winter approaches. This past weekend while working on a documentary project, I came across a peaceful scene where leaves were set to burn in a front yard of a countryside home just outside of Auburn, NY. Watch the newest video fragment posted to my site, along with two other scenes from this weekend’s Central New York Veterans Parade held at the New York State Fair Grounds in Syracuse, New York.

View Fall Fire, Side Stepping, and Flag Waving

This past weekend, 50 students from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications descended on the village of Liverpool, about 15 minutes North of Syracuse, NY. Over the weekend, students would produce photo stories, video, and even radio pieces about the community and landscape of this town of about 2500 for The Fall Workshop. Broken up into small production teams, I had the good fortune of being placed on the A-Team with coaches Brad Horn, a freelance multimedia producer, and Keith Jenkins, Supervising Senior Producer for Multimedia at NPR, and fellow graduate students John Liau, Kristina Subsara, and Pete Caty.

Initially, I began shooting a story about the Maurer Funeral Home family business. However, two days before the kick-off of the workshop, the Maurer family decided that they would no longer allow me to film. In the next two days, I managed to connect with one of the two drum majors of the Liverpool High School marching band with the help of Mr. David Perry, director of the Fine Arts department. I was introduced to Kevin Coldren, 17, a senior and fifth-year marching band student, and his mother, Connie, the staunch supporter of her son and die-hard band mom. Unlike the marching bands I grew up with in Honolulu, the LHS marching band is predominantly a competitive field band, and rarely performs during football games.

For two days straight, it rained. It rained, it rained, it rained. It never stopped raining. I was thoroughly impressed that my Canon 5D MKII camera and audio gear all made it through the inclement weather. A bit of gaffers tape over exposed audio ports, and a constant wiping down of the gear made all the difference. The rain sure makes it harder than ever to focus when there’s water on the front element of the lens, the LCD screen, and the eyepiece all at the same time. The band’s homecoming performance was canceled on Friday, and so I was left with Saturday afternoon and evening to shoot before the 10 a.m. deadline on Sunday.

Everything worked out. Brad and Keith were champions, supporting us through the process and staying up the entire night with the A-team. I came away with a 3-minute video that explores the unique relationship between Kevin and his mother, and the uncertain future as they both prepare for the end of their final band season.

Check out the temporary workshop tumblr site for additional videos and photos from The Fall Workshop, and “Cut Time” on my Vimeo channel.

Thanks for reading.

About a two years ago my roommate and best friend, Jon Sparks, came into my room of our Chinatown apartment singing,” The Bird Is the Word.” I had no idea why the hell he was singing this song until I sat down one day to watch an episode of the Family Guy from season 7. I love the Family Guy, and hands down think this is one of the many genius sequences from the show.

This week, as an assignment for After Effects class, we were asked to insert ourselves into a movie using green screen and chroma key techniques. Initially, I wanted to do a weather report like Al Roker, but couldn’t find any suitable weather report footage to use. So, I decided to insert myself into a Family Guy episode. What could be more perfect than the “Bird Is the Word?”

Enjoy. You’ll have the song stuck in your head for the next week.

About a month ago John Walthier, publisher of “The Audible Eyeball” blog, contacted me regarding “The Dividing Line” video I produced back in May. Father of two sons, Walthier has been maintaining the relatively new blog now for seven months; providing a resource for inspirational work, and informational articles on multimedia storytelling. He also asked me a number of questions regarding my work for a future article that will draw from several interviews from leading multimedia journalists. After spending about two hours with the interview, I found it fascinating to take a step back and analyze my own techniques, reflect on my experience leading up to today, and general approach to storytelling. I rarely get the chance, if ever, since I’m usually standing standing on the other side with a critical eye on others’ work.

I wanted to include a short passage from our conversation that that I find particularly interesting. I think this kind of sums up a lot of what I’ve learned in the past year, and what Bruce Strong would call, “the core” of why I do what I do:

JW: In the Slow Healing project (e.g., Jason) you managed to capture very intimate conversations with your subjects.  How did you gain that access?

AH: My girlfriend recently told me that I’m a good reporter (she’s a magazine writer). I had no idea what she meant. I don’t know what reporters do. I  never learned reporting skills. I don’t even know if I follow the ethical guidelines. I’m not saying I fabricate my reporting, or anything like that, but I do accept meals from my subjects, and I do nurture personal relationships with them. I remember an assignment for the Oregonian, where I was teamed up with a writer. She would refuse to eat even a cashew that was offered to her because it would compromise policy. Maybe it’s internal policy of her company, but I just remember thinking how odd that was. I usually gauge the rapport between my subject and I by an invitation to a meal. If they invite me to dinner, or ask me to put the camera down and sit down for lunch with them, then I know that we are developing the type of relationship that will allow me to capture very intimate moments that otherwise are inaccessible. 

My girlfriend later explained to me what she meant by a good reporter. She said that I have the unique ability to make people relaxed and very comfortable with my presence. One of the first things I always do when I arrive at a subject’s house for the first time is ask for a cup of water, or ask to use the restroom. It’s a small act like this that helps to put the subject at ease. I think it communicates to them that ultimately I’m just as much human as they are. Working with subjects in sensitive settings requires a certain amount of trust building. I always make myself vulnerable to their questioning, and share equally intimate details of my life as I hope they will share with me. Breaking down those barriers and being myself opens doors that otherwise will never open. Half of this work is relationship building, from which I have developed great friendships over the years with subjects who to this day I still remain in contact with.  

Just thought I’d pass that along. Storytelling really is quite an amazing process. And, to be able to call it my work, is just lucky. Keep on producing bad ass work everyone!

I’ve started a new section in my website called, “Video Fragments,” which features short video moments, anywhere between 10-30 seconds in length. Sometimes I will stumble upon a situation that is either visually beautiful, or emotionally compelling, though unfortunately due to other circumstances doesn’t lend itself to a feature video, or I may not be able to dedicate more than a brief few minutes to interact with the story further. Instead of allowing these moments to disappear into my memory, or the abyss of my archive, I would rather share these with you in short bursts of color.

The newest moment I edited today comes from Monrovia, Liberia, where my driver, David Acheampong, brought me to a cliff where a handful of families live, looking out over the Mesurado River and houses of Jallah Town–a neighborhood of Monrovia.

I’m in my final semester at Syracuse University as a Masters student in Photography. Over the last year I had the fortune to study photojournalism, photo illustration, and multimedia production under the direction of Bruce Strong, Tom Kennedy, and Seth Gitner, to name a few professors in the Multimedia Photography & Design department (although Gitner is in Newspaper). It has been an intense experience leading up to this semester. During these last few months in Syracuse, I am actually not taking any courses in our department, and instead am taking a course in analytics, and two courses in the Television, Radio, and Film department, one of which is After Effects.

After Effects is a powerful software that allows you to manipulate video, animate illustrations, add special effects to movies, or, well the list goes on and on. As one of our first assignments, we had to animate a composition of still images. I elected to animate one of my first photographs from Cuba of a mother with her child on a payphone in front of a brilliant red wall. In addition to that, i wanted to bring in two boys on a scooter of a different picture, though of the same series from Cuba.

The Process:

I cut out every shape and body part that i wanted to animate. This included the fan blades, the gears of the fan motor, the mom’s arms, her head, legs, torso, ankles, slippers, and the same for the young girl. Likewise, i cut out the two boys on the scooter, cutting out and separating each of their distinct body parts that I wanted to animate. Once I created a composite of each of these images, I brought the scooter boys into the payphone picture. In a very tedious process I animated each body party separately, rotating and placing them in space and keyframing them over time. Finally, I added in sound effects of a the scooter wheels rolling across pavement, the dial tone, and key tones of the keypad.

The Result:

Over a couple days I came away with an acceptable composition where the scooter boys flew across the sidewalk while the mom dialed the phone and the young girl danced next to her with the handset to her ear.

As a journalist it is always an odd experience to dabble in the world of fiction and illustration. To be able to combine two distinct moments in time, captured in separate places in Havana, that for 4 years existed in my life as separate entities, and animate them into a single event in time, was something of a conundrum. I now have a completely different experience with the payphone picture that hangs on my wall. I almost want to see the two boys fly across the sidewalk in tandem. I almost no longer wonder what the mom and daughter are thinking. Bear in mind, I’m not saying this is a brilliant work of art, rather it is of interset to myself to observe the intersection between journalism and illustration.

Unlike any student I’ve worked with, Abbas, who I jokingly called, “the Mayor of Monrovia,” is a three-time Liberian Photographer of the Year, father of two, and reporter in one of the most intense post-conflict countries that I have ever come to know. Exiled from his country, while civil war tore it apart, Abbas spent five years in the early-2000’s in Ghana where he wrote for a refugee magazine called “Exile News.” For two weeks I had the privilege to shadow Abbas, teaching photography and learning the important lesson of patience and reverence.

The smell of newsprint and ink welcomed me to the offices everyday before walking out together to cover the executive branch of the Liberian government. From anti-corruption news conferences and election preparations, to University students and the Liberian National Football Team, Abbas brought me to otherwise inaccessible situations. Every day he surprised me with an assignment, and everyday I surprised him with a new set of photographic challenges. Together we began to build from the ground up a digital workflow from image capture to print. Together we developed the visual language by controlling light and telling stories. Together we wandered out that door everyday from opposite sides of the world to teach one another a lesson from our home.

Walking out into the streets of Monrovia, was always a beautiful cacophony of vibrant color, overwhelming chatter and car exhaust, and peaceful moments of Liberian life unfolding piece by piece in every corner and inch of pavement. However, unlike any other place I have been fortunate enough to visit, never have I experienced such frustration and hesitation to take a photograph. Maybe as the result of years of civil war, and a culture of distrust for your neighbor, photographing on the streets could easily devolve from peaceful to violent in the blink of an eye. It became close to impossible to take a photograph on the street without confrontation.

Whether on the back of a motorbike, or following in lock step through the streets, I always felt a sense of safety with Abbas despite the hard stares of curiosity and occasional glares. However, once the rigid walls of self-defense and self-preservation are broken down, Liberians will overwhelm you with care and genuine curiosity, as was the case with a number of university students studying Geology and Mining Engineering at the University of Liberia Kendall campus. Living through the treachery of the Liberian civil war, these students witnessed the darkest days of their country, and look for new direction for the future of their country. What that direction is, I do not know. The two weeks I spent in Liberia were too brief and have instead only left me with a void of questions that can only be answered when I return. There is much work still yet to be done and many friends to return to who will help me answer these questions.

This week I shot a story for the Oregonian about the reunification of three brothers in Corning, NY after three decades of estrangement. I was assigned to the story alongside Oregonian staff writer, Kelly House, to produce both stills and video. I spent the better part of Thursday with the Saxbury family as they waited patiently while arrival times seemed to dance back and forth for Ed’s arrival. Both Wick and Bill paced back and forth for hours in Wick’s house, peering out windows as if expecting Ed to appear suddenly.

After 28 years of separation, Wick and Bill thought their third brother had passed away since returning from the Vietnam war. Since his return, Ed had become homeless for years, eventually finding his way to Portland, Oregon. After giving up alcohol and turning his life around, Ed became active with his fellow veterans where he met writer Kelly House. House wrote a short article about an organized fishing trip for veterans, when Bill came across the article online. This weekend, Ed flew to Corning where he embraced his brothers and finally returned home.

Read the full article and watch the video here.