'Muted. Dreams' - a kickstarter.com project

  Lots of new exciting projects lately.. and much more coming up! Among those, a video and photoshoot for entrepreneur, and writer Antonio Brown with his book 'Muted. Dreams' coming out soon. 'Muted. Dreams' is a Memoir about his childhood, depicting his experiences through abuse, molestation & family issues.

Antonio Brown's website is finally ready. Check it out here! www.antonio-brown.com

The video I created will be featured on kickstarter.com to raise funds to publish the book. The kickstarter.com page is currently being completed, and will be published in the following days. Part of the donations will also go to 'protect a child', a foundation created by Antonio Brown to help children victims of abuse. Here is the video. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Some frame grabs from the video..

Frame grab from the Times Square shoot - Timelapse filmed with Nikon D300, Sigma 10-20mm lens.

 

Frame grab from Wall Street footage - Filmed with Panasonic GH2, Sigma 10-20mm lens.

 

Frame grab from commentary - Filmed with Panasonic GH2, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G lens.

 

Frame grab from footage filmed with Nikon D3s, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G lens.

 

'Muted. Dreams' book cover.

A short video showing how well the new 'Warp Stabilizer' in Adobe After Effects work with stabilizing shaky footage. I used it for several shots on the 'Muted. Dreams' video.

These are some images from the photo shoot.

All-Star Team vs. Manchester United ..and lots of celebrities!

  I have been shooting lots of different things lately.. Fashion events, a music video, a TV show, and a few short-films. Last July Jamison Ernest from Yellow Fever Creative and Love Universe called me and asked me to film a series of events that led to the 'Art For Life 2011' event at Russel Simmons' East Hampton Estate.

One of the guests was mentalist Lior Suchard. His outstanding performances of mind reading, thought influencing, predicting and telekinesis have earned him international acclaim as a top class supernatural entertainer and mentalist from members of the public, to the best- performing CEOs worldwide and Hollywood celebrities.

Make sure you watch the video, what he does is unbelievable! Other guests include Gerard Butler, Ethan Hawke, Russell Simmons, and more.

Here below is a quick resume of the first night at the Red Bull arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

If you want to find out more about mentalist Lior Suchard, you can visit his webpage at www.liorsuchard.com.

More thanks!    

Stephanie said yes!

 
A few months ago Joe found my ad on Craigslist, and sent me an email. He was planning a weekend visit with his girlfriend Stephanie to New York City from Georgia where he lives. He had a surprise for Stephanie, he was going to ask her to marry him, and wanted to capture it on film.

We spoke several times over the phone, and I immediately sensed what a great person Joe was, great values, great guy, and very much in love with Steph.

Joe and I briefly met in the Hotel lobby where he was staying. Stephanie stayed in the hotel room unaware of what Joe was planning..

The day after, Steph and Joe arrived at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, and I was there ready to film one of their most important moments of their lives.

I hope you enjoy this 'short film'.

God bless them!

 

Thanks for reading..

 
 

'Loving you is easy' - music video for Rhett George!

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed shooting Rhett George's music video featuring singer/performer Rhett George and dancer/performer Candice McCall!I had the great honor to work with this extraordinary cast directly from Tony Award winning Broadway musical 'Memphis'.

Here are a few frame grabs from 'Loving you is easy' by Rhett George. You can find out more about him here on his webpage www.rhettgeorgeonline.com . You can also listen to the song by pressing play below. [audio:http://giovanniferlito.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/02-Loving-You-Is-Easy.mp3|titles=Loving you is easy]

©2011 Giovanni Ferlito

Here is the music video 'Loving you is easy'.

Some behind the scenes photos'

More thanks!

 

Happy 4th of July!

  Great day to see the July 4th fireworks yesterday with my friend Alessandra.. I took my Panasonic GH2 with me and filmed the fireworks from the West Side Highway and 57th Street in Manhattan right by the Hudson River. I wish I was a little further south since there were some trees partially blocking the view. I was amazed of how many different people from various nationalities came to see the fireworks! In the end it has been a great day!

Enjoy the show.. and make sure you watch it FULL screen and HD!

Happy 4th of July!

Music is 'The star spangled banner' performed by Louis Armstrong and The Louis Armstrong Orchestra.

You can find it on iTunes here!

Thanks!

The bubble man

Every single kid walking by gets hypnotized by the bubbles. The same happens to me too.. :) I started filming a bit the other, and put this together. Kishan Mahabir is the 'Bubble magician' from Central Park.

Enjoy!

It was shot on a GH2, Nikon 50mm f/1.4, MFT/NIK Novoflex lens adapter, and tripod. For editing I used Premiere CS5, Magic Bullet Looks, Colorista II.

Music is Humming Chorus (Madame Butterfly) by Giacomo Puccini, and performed by Rome Opera Orchestra & Chorus. You can find it on here on iTunes!

 

More thanks!      

Moon over Harlem

I was by my front door when I realized what a gorgeous moon there was, I got my camera in my apartment, and filmed a little. I'm so fascinated by those craters on the moon's surface..

Watch it Full Screen!

Filmed on a Panasonic GH2 (in EX mode), Novoflex adapter, and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII. Equivalent to about 1000mm focal length. 1080p, 24fps, speed increased by about 300%, ISO 320. Unsharp mask applied in Premiere Pro CS5.

Music is the main theme from 'Close encounters of the third kind' performed by 'The City of Prague Philarmonc'. You can find it on iTunes!

Note: I uploaded it at 1080p, the resolution is higher. However, you might experience choppy playback based on your computer's resources.

Thanks!

Matteo

I spent most of last Sunday in Brooklyn visiting my friends Emily and Luca who have a beautiful one and a half year old little boy, Matteo. I must say I had a blast hanging out at the playground filming Matteo jumping and playing around. Apparently he fell in love with the playground's little fountain..

This little dude was just a few inches not a long time ago.. They grow so fast!

I shot everything hand held with a GH2, Nikon 50mm f/1.4, Novoflex MFT/NIK adapter, and Genus Vari ND filter. Edited in Premiere CS5, and graded with Magic Bullet Looks.

Music is 'Sheriff' and 'L'ultimo Valzer' by Oliver Onions. You can find it on iTunes!

Feel free to leave any comment, I would appreciate that very much. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!  

Thanks!
    

Times Square timelapsing..

I have been shooting more than usual lately.. I'm just trying to play around and experiment ideas, new things, and trying to figure out how to use my new Panasonic GH2 at its best. Here is a quick timelapse I did with the Nikon D3s, after I spent a couple of hours testing the GH2 in Times Square.

For this timelapse I used a Nikon D3s, with a Sigma 10-20mm, and simply mounted it on Gorillapod.  

Thanks for reading!
    

Reena + Ajay

A couple of weeks ago I went to Pennsylvania to photograph Reena and Ajay's Indian engagement party.I had a great time, also thanks to their whole family who made me feel completely at ease.

Lots of colored costumes , spiced delicacies, and exotic scents..

Here are a few photos from that day.

Since there was a two and a half hour drive to get there I decided to make a little timelapse out of it.

Here it is..

A big thank you goes to Oscar Leon, who assisted me all day long. You can take a look at his website here.

Thanks for reading..

Interview with rapper Flavor Flav!

I had a chance to work with show host and producer Leah Guy from ‘A Girl Named Guy Productions’ who interviewed rapper Flavor Flav, one of the founding members of legendary rap group Public Enemy.

 
Here is the interview I shot at the Hue-Man bookstore in Harlem on 125th Street.

It was shot with a Nikon D3s, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens, and Zoom H4n for audio.
I used Magic Bullet Looks, and PluralEyes for syncing the audio.

 
More thanks!

My Panasonic GH2 has arrived!

 The Panasonic GH2 I ordered almost two months ago has finally arrived! I actually got it a couple of days ago, but was busy editing an interview I filmed with producer and show host Leah Guy from 'A Girl Named Guy Productions' interviewing iconic rapper Flavor Flav from legendary Public Enemy. I'll have a post about it soon..

So, yesterday I headed out to the park, and played a little bit with the GH2. Keep watching the short film I posted, there is a surprise, as it was a surprise to me when I saw it..

This was a quick test of about using the GH2 for the first time. Most of the footage was shot between 2000-3200 ISO. You'll see some noise in the darker clips. For editing I used Premiere Pro CS5.5, and Magic Bullet for color grading.
 

This little camera is great, and I'm looking forward to using it for some cool film projects.
 

Thanks for reading!
 

3 day 'Yellow Fever' fashion shoot

 
Had a ball last week documenting a three day fashion shoot for Yellow Fever Creative, three days with some gorgeous models at various locations around Manhattan. This time I was there as a cinematographer to create a short-film/documentary about the three days.

Here are a few frames extracted from the film I'm editing..

These are all from the third day of shooting in a spectacular Mansion on the Upper East Side. That place was insane! I believe it had some 30 or so rooms, magnificent stairways, a beautiful patio, and a chimney in pretty much every single room.

The model in the second image is supermodel Linda Vojtova whom I had the pleasure to work with back in February for her 10 year career celebration. I have a blog post about it here.

I'll keep you updated about the edit I'm working on through Twitter and Facebook.

I hope you liked what you've seen so far..

Thanks for reading!

Montauk Point Lighthouse

 
My original plan was to rent a car, head North to Upstate New York, and shoot something interesting.. When I got up yesterday morning I started thinking of Long Island, and its beaches. Cool! 'That's where I'm going!', I thought.

Got my Zipcar, and headed East - Destination: Somewhere cool in Long Island!

Here is my car for the day.

I wanted to have a convertible car on purpose to document the road-trip with a timelapse, and have a better view since it's cabriolet.
 
Here is a little video I made of the drive to Montauk, Long Island.

 
This is the setup I used to film the timelapse from inside the car. Nikon D300 with 10-20mm lens mounted on a Delkin Dual-suction Camera Mount.
 

 
When I got to Montauk Point It got incredibly foggy.. The Lighthouse looked great! I felt as If I was in some scary movie.. Speaking about scary! The day after my trip to Montauk, my friend Sabrina sent me a link to this wiki page about the so-called Montauk Monster. What the hell! Look at where I spent almost 3 hours alone in the dark!! Sabrina could have warned me!! What If one of those things jumped out of the dark..?? That's it.. Finito! Muerto!
 
Here is something I put together to show the Lighthouse in the fog.

 
Since I had limited access, I shot this using only one angle, and then zoomed in in post. Music is 'It's deserted' by James Newton Howard from the movie King Kong. You can find it here on iTunes !

In the end I'm alive, and had a fantastic day..

I have to go back to this place!

More thanks!

Pluie

Hi!

Just shooting a quick line about a little test I did the other day while it was raining..

I played with the rain on my apartment's windows, and created a short timelapse.

I color corrected the footage in Premiere, After Effects CS5, and Magic Bullet Looks, and think it could be a cool addition to any future film or video I will work on.

Feel free to leave a comment..
 
Thanks!
 

Linda Vojtova celebrating 10 years

 
A few weeks ago I've got a chance to document supermodel Linda Vojtova's celebration of 10 years of her career. We started at her apartment for a 'behind the scenes/getting ready video', and ended up later in a Gallery in Chelsea, where a photographic collection by some of the most influential photographers in the fashion industry was the main part. Steven Meisel, Peter Lindberg, Patrick Demarchelier, Steven Klein, and Tiziano Magni, are just some of the names she worked with..

The night ended in a club in the Meat Packing District for her 10 year career party, along with David Bryan, Bon Jovi's  historical piano player, celebrating his birthday.

BTS

GALLERY

PARTY - DAVID BRYAN (FROM BONJOVI) BIRTHDAY


Comments are greatly appreciated..
 
Thanks for reading!
 

Central Park again..

I spent a few hours in Central Park the other day.. Played a little with timelapse and tried out some other things(see 'Central Park timelapse'). I wanted to experiment with long exposures by using a neutral density filter.I have a variable neutral density filter I use mostly for video. It is good enough for video, but not so good for photography. The filter I'm talking about is the Genus ND Fader Filter, much cheaper than the Vari ND filter from Singh-Ray. Now I know why! These filters are supposed to darken, and lower the exposure, allowing you to use longer exposure times. The cheaper Genus Filter doesn't give you an even exposure throughout the frame at least when you go down to -8 stops or so. It almost works more like a graduated filter. Here is a pano I shot using the Fader Filter.

I am looking forward to photographing a beach using long exposures. Let 's see what happens!

Hope you like the image I created. Thanks!

Central Park timelapse

 
After I came back from Washington DC where I attended Canon Filmmakers Live seminar with Philip Bloom, I still had fresh in mind all that timelapse stuff he talked about. Cloudy day here in New York two days ago. So why not make a timelapse? Clouds will probably look cool! This is the result of 2-3 hours spent in Central Park..

Here is the timelapse.. Make sure you watch it FULL SCREEN and HD!

 
I would love to get some feedback from you guys! So feel free to leave a comment.
Hey, I'll be back soon with more timelapses!
 
Thanks!
 

Necklace/camera brace!

Last Thursday I happened to be in Washington DC for Canon Filmmakers Live where DP, Director, and filmmaker Philip Bloom conducted a day long seminar.I had a great time, and learned a lot of new stuff! After the workshop we had a fun meet-up in a Pub next door. We all were with our cameras having great conversations.

At some point Philip Bloom notices my camera brace I was using with my Nikon D3s to film him..

I love the high end gear! However, if you're broke, a student, or just can't afford right now spending the extra money on your video gear, here is an alternative.

It is the Sima SVP-3 Mini, it is only $20, and it works pretty well for hdslr cameras. If you have a viewfinder such as the Z-Finder from Zacuto, you have an additional point of contact. I got some pretty stable shots with the combination of the Sima SVP-3 and the Z-Finder.

ciao!

Harlem Pond

The other I was sitting at home, I had just recovered from a couple of days of being sick, and decided to grab my camera and head to Central Park North, just a few blocks away from where I live.

I saw the beautiful snowy landscape, the iced pond, a little duck family, and a couple of pigeons.. Let's make a little movie!

I spent some good three hours hanging out in the park and freezing my butt off.

It was filmed with a Nikon D3s, 50mm f/1.4 and 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses, Glidetrack HD slider. Edited and graded in Premiere CS5, and After Effects.
 
Music by Prokofiev ‘Carnival of the animals’: Aquarium and performed by Czechoslovak Radio Symphony Orchetra. You can buy it on iTunes!
 
Hope you enjoy!