www.barrybogovich.com

Why am I doing this?

My previous site was feeling slightly dated. Although I enjoyed the layout, it was difficult to maintain. Also, in today’s world of status updates and blogs, I wanted to take advantage of latest web techniques to help keep the site fresh to the minute.

What you can expect in the future

The new barrybogovich.com will a portal of information to keep you updated on my life as a filmmaker. But that’s not all. I will include posts about what’s happening in the industry that interests me and do my best to bring my own light to the subjects.

This won’t just be a portfolio site. This will be better.

See you there!!!

- Barry

Reporting live from the Oakland Zone!

Still feeling good from last Sunday’s shoot at Duquense University, we rolled straight into Saturday’s production in Oakland. Blue skies and a nice bright sun got everyone in the mood to create one of the most difficult scenes for “The Zombie Opera.” The shoot was another success!

Production for the simulated newscast included a wide variety of talent and several challenges. Not only did we need to shoot seven different actors (while singing!), we needed to create a convincing riot with less than a dozen extras.

Nathan shooting Tommy (Soldier) and Mike (News Anchor)

With the scope of this scene, we shouted an “all hands on deck” order. Joining our crew on set was Nathan Fullerton (camera and assist), Matt Reese (assistant director), Jill Egyud (extras coordinator), Marjorie Rishel (script supervisor), and fight choreographers Sean Martin and Keith Leonard (not to mention a handful of really great production assistants coming and going throughout the day!).

As the day went on, the complexity of the scenes increased. By far the most difficult challenge of the day was directing the riot/fight that breaks out. With the help of Matt, Sean, and Keith, we were able to organize a congested group of extras around our talent making the area appear to be extremely crowded. In reality, there was no one else behind them, but with the help of a few close camera angles by Ed, the scene looked like chaos; exactly what we were looking for.

But that’s not all! Thanks to some good old choreography by Sean and Keith, the action of the fight scene came to life. The technique used a system of star stickers (yes the kind your teacher gave you in 2nd grade). By using the stickers, each actor knew if they were an intimidator or running for their lives. After watching the shots play out, the riot came off very realistic and convincing!

By 6:00 we had all of the shots we needed, but with some extra juice in the camera’s battery, we decided to let our fight guys have some fun. In half an hour, we simulated enough head bashing, gut punching, and body flipping to really amp up the scene’s hysteria. Kudos to the extras that hung around for the final minutes (especially those who didn’t mind a bit of fake blood)!

Thanks to our cast and crew for an action packed shoot!!

Here we go!!

Today marks the first day of production for “Evenings in Quarantine: The Zombie Opera!” For those of you unaware, “Evenings” is a brand new film/stage production that will be coming to Pittsburgh in Fall 2010. As the director of video production, I am more than excited to be a part of this creative and highly ambitious project!

Shooting began at Duquesne University’s Media Center. The small television studio with a news desk and green screen provided the perfect backdrop for the show’s newscasts. Our crew consisted of Bonnie Bogovich and Liz Rishel (creators/artistic directors of the project), Ed Huang (Director of Photography), Evan Miller (Production Designer), Brian Bogovich (Script Supervisor), and Ashley Birt (Production Assistant). In front of camera was the talented David Egyud, who performed practically flawlessly throughout the day.

For today’s production we decided to shoot with Ed’s JVC HD100 HDV Camera. The style of this broadcast-inspired camera produced the perfect images required for the newscast mockup. Audio was captured with a shotgun boom, but due to the nature of the project, the majority of audio in these scenes will be remastered with new music tracks for the stage presentation.

At the end of the day, we accomplished all of the shots we wanted to get (and in record time). Looks like this project is off to a great start!!

More information on “Evenings in Quarantine: The Zombie Opera!” can be found here.

(We’d like to send a special thank you to Duquesne’s Media Center staff for their amazing efforts to supply the space for our production. You guys rocked!)

The Canon Rebel T2i

Woo hoo!! My Canon Rebel T2i DSLR camera has arrived in the mail today, and all I can say is WOW!!!

No wonder the industry is buzzing so much! The image quality that DSLR’s can capture is above amazing. Right out of the box I played around with focusing on stupid stuff around my desk, and it’s dream. Rack focuses, deep focus, vibrant colors, and full HD in the palm of your hand.

For those of you that haven’t been following the release of the T2i, this baby shoots full 1080p video at 30 or 24 frames per second (It also handles 720p at 60fps, which you can conform for slow motion!!). The body alone costs $800. Wait! What was that?? “ONLY $800?!?! You’re crazy!” Damn straight I’m crazy.

After much research, I decided to pair up the Rebel with a Sigma 18-50mm optical stabilizer lens. The reason I chose this model over Canon’s stock lens (+$100 onto the T2i kit) is the added range of f-stops. The Sigma can be as open as f2.8, whereas the Canon stock lens limits at 3.5. Not a huuuge difference, but I have read the quality of Sigma’s are very good for the price.

(And oh yeah, she shoots beautiful still photos too!)

Some test shots are below. This is looking to be the beginning of a very wonderful relationship.

The movie focuses on Sean and Greg, two cliche movie characters out for vengeance. Based on “The Split Screen Duel,” which we produced in 2006, the two arch enemies rematch in high definition in a heated battle over… well… we’re not really sure why they’re fighting still, but we hope you enjoy the ride!

Alright, before you go all “OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?!” on me, it’s not real! It’s just makeup! It’s not real life. It’s just makeup. Okay? Okay.

So.. now you’re probably wondering: “ZOMBIES?!” Well, for a few weeks now, I have been working on a film/stage production coming to Pittsburgh in Fall 2010. “Evenings in Quarantine: The Zombie Opera” is a horror opera created by Bonnie Bogovich (yes, relation) and Liz Rishel. Sound exciting? Just wait.

When Bonnie and Liz approached me on my birthday to direct the project, I gained immediate interest. “Evenings” will be a hybrid film and stage production, that combines live talent in a theater with digitally filmed “sets,” allowing the artists to create entire worlds behind their characters. This is an amazingly ambitious concept, and will require thorough organization and execution. Not only will the actors be in front of these sets, they will be interacting with those sets and the threatening swarms of zombies that fill that world. It will be one of the most visually exciting operas you will ever see.

Recently added to our talented crew is Arvin Clay, seasoned special FX makeup artist (and a hell of a good photographer). He took some time with us this evening to show off some visual concepts he can apply to the project. Oddly enough, everyone volunteered my face for the tests. I can officially say it was a very interesting experience.

Production of all video elements for “Evenings in Quarantine” will begin in May. The show will be live in October. More information can be found here.

Toothbrush: Check.

Since it’s been over 20 months since my last formal vacation, I have decided to take my first ever trip out west. My five day tour begins in San Diego, passes through Los Angeles, and ends in San Francisco. It is sure to be one hell of a awesome time.

Stay tuned for updates as I venture out into the unknown and introduce myself to Hollywood herself.

The 10 minute high definition movie is forecasted to be completed the week of Sept 21st, when it will be submitted to the MCATV Film Competition for it's debut. Mad thanks goes out to Ryan at MCATV for letting us borrow their camera setup.

Below are some teaser shots of the opening credits. Get amped!

At sunKING Digital, we find ourselves obsessed with making the cool look even cooler. For a few years, we have been involved with several internal Coca-Cola videos and animations that continue our beautiful work.

FastCompany.com’s latest feature on “Masters of Design” with David Butler of Coca-Cola, showcases one of our videos highlighting Coca-Cola’s new fountain machine experience. For the last few years, we haven’t been able to say a word about it.

Hot or not, the new Freestyle fountain, originally code-named Project Jet, has been a top-secret priority at Coca-Cola for the past four years.

As the latest project’s editor, I managed and supplied video content to sunKING’s highly talented animation and design teams, who wonderfully created an amazing world for the video to live and grow.

The result is a video as beautiful as the Coca-Cola machines themselves. Major props to all those involved and to Coke for producing a vending experience that looks “like a Ferrari.”.

Smile, everyone. The world is finally watching.