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[nickmahar]

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Ryan Reynold’s marketing company Maximum Effort was tasked by the Jimmy Kimmel team to recreate classic 80s commercials for their special “Live in Front of a TV Audience” episode. We recreated classic Jack in the Box, Brain on Drugs, and more. With that we shot everything in 4:3 aspect ration with lots of zooms as they would have shot them back then.

This was also a union shoot so everything moves a little slower. My team was one of the biggest i’ve been thankful to have. We had 3 cameras, 2 Geminis and 1 Raptor. 3 operators, 3 ACs, DIT, VTR and G&E was 4 and 4. Without everyone we wouldn’t have gotten through everything in time. We had 1 prelight and 2 days of shooting including some spots that never aired. With Maximum Effort they are creative geniuses and keep changing scripts until the last minute to the point we added 2 spots last minute. The entire cast, production team, everyone was amazing.

The most difficult part about this shoot was the kool aid man. He’s a giant mirror and much bigger than something like a helmet. His entire being reflects everything. The normal way to solve something like that is you have massive white diffusion so there isn’t any edges for the reflection however we did not have any room in that tiny studio. Everything inch of it was covered in the next set, lights, and people. So I did my research and turns out all the old commercials have light reflections literally all over him. It’s not something I was a huge fan of but it matched exactly the look we were trying to hit.

Sadly I don’t have any specific hidden secrets about this shoot but for anyone young reading this, we did use a decent amount of aputure lights which are very affordable and powerful. My gaffer and i have been touting them for years and now people are starting to catch on because of the 600D being such a beast. It’s basically an M18 for only $2,000.

Enjoy the BTS pictures below.

[nickmahar]

Ample

Ex Producer: Dominique Schweighofer & Chadd Dorak

Director: Anthony Pietromonaco

Producer: Natalie Cain

1st AC: Grant Friesen

DigiTech: Jeff Coombs

Gaffer: Clay Kerri

Key Grip: Aiyana Donske

[nickmahar]

Covid Shuffle

2020 has been a hell of a year to say the least. I think like most people everyone felt like it was going to be “their year”. I know i did at least. It was going to be my last hoorah for a lot of things in my personal life. And i was going to really push and see how far i could get the ball moving on things i had been wanting to do. One of those things was shooting narrative projects and especially features. Early in the year I was connected with a dope director/writer/filmmaker, Michael Arcell. It was a super random and last minute call to DP a christmas feature. I had actually said to my wife 2 weeks before that it would be fun to shoot a hallmark christmas type film and boom, here it was. The universe works in mysterious ways and i truly believe that putting things you want out into the universe will help manifest them.

The feature went well and work slowed down a little. Mainly because of covid in China stopped a lot of manufacturing in the world. But finally i had back to back 2 week long narrative commercials that i was so excited for and then the shutdown came. As everyone knows everything in the world came to a shutter and since then, the film industry and been trying to figure out how to pick back up.

I haven’t had a lot of jobs since or things come up and get pushed back, but like everyone else i know, i am happy to have had some jobs. Either working remotely with directors and clients through zoom, and keeping crew sizes very small to keep us all safe, it’s been an interesting adventure. Below are some of the projects i’ve been working on during Covid and one that sadly got pulled because it was about getting all up in peoples personal space. I can’t wait for all of them to come out with thankfully more shoots coming soon!

[nickmahar]

Method Men

[nickmahar]

David Fincher Method

I had the pleasure of talking with my buddy Ben at Black with No Cream about my process and what i’ve been doing during quarantine. This was just a small snippet of that and a philosophy that i’ve believed in since day 1.

[nickmahar]

A Christmas Dance

Written and directed by the talented Michael Arcell. A Christmas Dance features the incredibly talented Kristen Vaganos, Carson Nicely, and the legendary Richard Karn and Katherine Kelly Lang.

Traumatized by her past Christmas is not at the top of Sarah's list this time of year however waltzing through life's unexpected emergencies she is taught the Christmas Dance.

[nickmahar]

A Christmas Dance

That is official wrap of A Christmas Dance which was my first feature film of the year. Written and directed by the talented Michael Arcell. This features the incredibly talented Kristen Vaganos, Carson Nicely, and the legendary Richard Karn and Katherine Kelly Lang. I grew up watching Richard Karn on home improvement with my dad so it was a childhood dream to work with him on this. All the actors in this film were incredibly kind and talented. We had a fast 10 day shoot schedule but were able to lock in everything we needed. I couldn’t have done it without my incredible team and the rest of the crew. Special shout out to my team who was always hustling to make sure we gave the actors enough time to do there thing! I can’t wait for everyone to see it later this year.

Steadicam: Tobias Harbo

1st AC: Grant Friesen

2nd AC: Gillian Mahar

Gaffer: Kevin Willing

BBE: Max Oconnor

Key Grip: Lance Gegner

BBG: Kevin Ramirez

Swing: Nick Thompson

[nickmahar]

On my blade runner shit yesterday. Fuji GFX 50S starting another Star Wars project. Can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on. #fuji #gfx50 #mediumformat #starwars #sandsoffate #birthofamonster #cinematography https://www.instagram.com/p/B3rxdQllKx0/?igshid=2ulhgj5t9vgw

[nickmahar]

Headed back to Europe this week for a much needed vacation. Driving through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Amsterdam, and back to Paris with @gillianentin can’t wait to take some photos again and planning with some medium format goodness 🤤 #paris #fuji #mediumformat #canon #5d #5dmarkiv #cinematography #travelwithwife (at Louvre) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3krFIFlyUu/?igshid=jq44c0itt4r9

[nickmahar]

Last year I shot an incredible 22 minute oner with NO camera tricks, edits, or anything. Check out the full film my story or @theawfulkindmovie and if you want more info, check out the long write up on my website coming soon!!! Please share if you enjoyed it!! . . . . . Executive Producer: @Laurentelegdy Director: Justin Taite Story: Justin Taite & Nick Finch Line Producer: @gillianentin Production Manager: Emily Finch 1st AD: @theryanhaynie 2nd AD: @aliadomino Director of Photography: @nickmahar Movi OP: @steaditoby 1st AC: @johnny_sharpz 2nd AC: @sophieeuhh Gaffer: @jseiler09 BBE: Taylor Huddleson Key Grip: Luis Batres Sound Mixer: Hilary Stewart Wardrobe Stylist: Rebecca Houser Wardrobe Assistant: Robert Kent James Makeup Artist: @juliedahle_ Makeup Assistant: @NikkoAnthony Prop Master: Tyler Weschta, Jordan Snyder Horse Trainer: @equuspolo PAs: Jeff Shoemake, Nick Bauer, Wendy Taite POST PRODUCTION Post Production Supervisor: Briana Norman Editor: Yoni Reiss Colorist: Nicholas Hasson Sound Design: Sledge Hammer, AJ Shapiro, Philip Young, Tricia LInklater VFX Supervisor: Chris Fregoso Compositor: Demitre Garza 3D Artist: Joseph R. Poteet 3D Tracker: Alex Tirasongkran Original Score: Tangelene Bolton Original Song: @alanasweetwater And of course our INCREDIBLE cast @thenickfinch, @iamalejandrobravo, @andypagana, @alexlynnward, @keeeithhh, @vzion8, @chrisoffinch, @cm_schwartzy @chloecarabasi . . . . . #cinematography#screengrab #dop #cooke #doplife #cameraoperator #videoproduction #filmcrew #directorofphotography #shortfilm #red #oner #onetake (at Big Sky Movie Ranch) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3YOkhal2Ql/?igshid=fupoowtatfb8

[nickmahar]

So excited to announce #AdultNight starring the incredible @lesleyannbrandt & @kevinmalejandro Cumming soon!! Directed by @kevinmalejandro and @lesliealejandro. Thank you @noahasanias for the amazing poster! Directors and Executive Producers @lesliealejandro and @kevinmalejandro Writer @derekrays Producers @lesleyannbrandt @toddisandler @danideje DP @nickmahar Editor @toddisandler Assistant Director & my badass wife @gillianentin Sound @peggithepirate Colorist @elliotthecolorist Sound Design @lukefarbo Wardrobe @ririrabbit Makeup and Hair @makeupbysifa Co-starring @tomdegnan @alyshiaochse @nikkoreyes @lohine @soria_don Special thanks to @chrispaynegilbert @quendi @erinlcummings @soria_don @imaginingtheunimaginable @fortepaul @alejandrofilms_ #adultfilm #shortfilm #lucifer https://www.instagram.com/p/B22hm-tl4Fh/?igshid=fydcbugox146

[nickmahar]

Every short film release is different but a lot of what I’ve shot in the past few years went to festivals so it takes a while until that’s over and everything can go online. This film, A Proposed Solution, is the perfect example. I shot this very different film a few years ago and I’m happy to finally share it with the world! . Directed / Edited by @toddisandler Written by @alexa.gilker Produced by Todd Sandler, @therealbeccanelson , Sean Fowler Starring @dancejujudance Micah Cohen, Caren L. Larkey, Charles Gorgano Director of Photography Nick Mahar Makeup / Hair Mana Afshar Wardrobe Designer Angelique Pesce Production Sound T.J. Yoshizaki Assistant Camera @jbenavente_ Gaffer @stevegriggs Grip Will Dale Sound Mix / Design Julian Beeston Colorist @elliotthecolorist https://www.instagram.com/p/B2VL0GCllSF/?igshid=12xl7s44kp2ig

[nickmahar]

@thenickfinch and @andypagana in “The Awful Kind” directed by @justintaite . RED Helium 8k with @cookeoptics s4i mini and @freeflysystems MōVI pro. 22 minute one take short film Camera OP - @steaditoby 1st AC @johnny_sharpz 2nd AC @sophieeuhh . . #cinematography#screengrab #dop #cooke #doplife #cameraoperator #videoproduction #filmcrew #directorofphotography #shortfilm #red https://www.instagram.com/p/B2DR-bIlfcq/?igshid=190rn7cqtbkad

[nickmahar]

It’s this bombshells birthday today!!!! I love you so much @gillianentin and so happy to call you my wife. You amazing me more and more everyday. This year has been stressful beyond belief but you have fought through it all. Today is about celebrating you. Time to stuff ourselves with food, boos, games, and some jokes from @nickofferman !! #happybirthday https://www.instagram.com/p/B1RbZ6ylzD-/?igshid=1nx2k11658zrp

[nickmahar]

Since yesterday’s post went so well I decided to share something a bit more complicated. Miniature work has always fascinated me because when it’s really good, you can’t even tell. The video above might be a little hard to see but it looks amazing in a dark room. For our Star Wars short we really wanted to honor the classic trilogy with as many practical elements as possible. It was very hard to find any information about shooting miniatures online. We shot this once and it looked great but something was missing. I was able to connect with some people who shot miniatures on the original trilogy and they were a HUGE help. We also partnered with @aputuretech because the garage we were shooting in didn’t have the power to use big lights and we needed something like the 300D to get the f-stop required. When shooting miniatures you also need to calculate your frame rate in relation to the scale so that the gravity looks the same. On our second attempt we all felt it was better but was still missing something. That’s when we decided to try and move the head while the puppet moved forward. It was night and day as you can see in the close up shot of the Rancor. I’ve had so many people ask me who did the CGI on it and I love telling them it was a practical puppet. Shout out the whole team who put this shot together @monsterman03gmail @art_dbohman @steaditoby @gillianentin Joe Seiler @patrick.lundberg @twinkryptos . . . #doplife#cameraoperator#cinematographylife#videoproduction#filmproduction#starwars#filmcrew #filmmaking#minature#red#productiondesign#bts#dslr#independentfilm#indiefilmmaking#learnfilmmaking#behindthescenes#cinematographer#onset#shittyrigs#VFX#gemini#fanfilm#aputure#practicalfx https://www.instagram.com/p/B0R9jZ-lvwg/?igshid=1m27mh2qq8m1g

[nickmahar]

Filmmaking is always about creative solutions to problems. Our Star Wars fan film “Birth of a Monster” had a lot of those since we had no money. We added a sequence at the end of the film and we needed both a Digital ship landing and a practical leg. Our director Tim made the leg out of some vacuum parts and other things. The wind is a leaf blower, and the smoke was a fire extinguisher. Really happy with the results. Should i post more BTS? . . . #doplife#cameraoperator#cinematographylife#videoproduction#filmproduction#starwars#filmcrew#sharefilm#filmmaking#minature#red#productiondesign#bts#dslr#independentfilm#indiefilmmaking#learnfilmmaking#behindthescenes#cinematographer#onset#shittyrigs#VFX#gemini#redgemini#fanfilm https://www.instagram.com/p/B0PDz1pFS4I/?igshid=m08jxhj6sp4h

[nickmahar]

Yesterday was officially one month of being married. First of all, look at my hot ass wife @gillianentin 🔥🔥🔥 Our first month has been crazy busy and stressful with trying to sell our place a move to a bigger house. Lots of ups and downs and still a long way to go but I’m glad we are able to do it together. I love you so much and I’m so lucky to have you by my side no matter what! We had a blast at our wedding and so thankfully for all our friends and family who could make it out. Photo by @oh.staygolden . . . #wedding#maharied#hummingbirdnest#hummingbird#weddingdress#maried#photography#mylove#iloveyou (at Hummingbird Nest) https://www.instagram.com/p/By3uvCklrwN/?igshid=qf28tnwgxdow