Meet Shawn Kessler, a dp based in Missouri, United States and a member of the StudentFilmmakers Filmmakers Network. See Shawn’s Network profile to connect.
Tell us about yourself and your background in filmmaking.
Shawn Kessler: I have been interested in filmmaking for 20 years but I have only been an active filmmaker for 10 years. A magazine in Walgreens called Camcorder sparked my interest when I saw that you could edit linear tape on a computer and make master tapes. I thought it was an amazing idea and it was defiantly something I wanted to do. This led me to doing years of weddings. Using this experience I hooked up with a writer I knew and we started making a feature film that took forever. I knew that after that experience I wanted to do my own shorts.
Do you shoot film or HD mostly?
Shawn Kessler: I mostly shoot in HD but I am not opposed to film…
What would you say are some challenges of shooting and editing in HD that you’ve found and applied solutions or alternative solutions for?
Shawn Kessler: One challenge I find in shooting in HD is working in low light situations. When I was shooting A Day in the Park, I had a situation where it was a partly cloudy day and we had sun only in some shots and not in others. Turns out when I got back to post the discrepancy was so slight that I was able to color correct with no problem in Final Cut Pro, instead of going into Apple Color for hours of editing time.
What cameras did you shoot A Day in the Park, and how many?
Shawn Kessler: A one-camera shoot with a JVC GYHD-100 with the stock lens and the DR-HD100 hard drive.
Could you tell us a little bit about the story, and what inspired the story?
Shawn Kessler: Alex Whitmer is the writer of the story. I purchased this story in 2009 from him. It is a drama about an elderly lady and a young skater punk that happen to meet and she answers his question, “What do you know about love?” This short has an ending you don’t see coming. As far as I know the story is completely made up.
So far, what would you say is one of the most unique or most interesting situations you experienced working on the set?
Shawn Kessler
Shawn Kessler: When the Director, DP, and the actors connect to the material I would have to say. If I can connect with one member on my crew it seems like we can work through any problem with the rest of the crew. I’ve always gotten a high off of working with others’ ideas, it actually makes me more creative and gives us that unique edge to make a film that connects with our viewers.
What do you edit with?
Shawn Kessler: Believe it or not I rough cut in iMovie and finish in Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro and sometimes color. I do all this using a Mac G5 and two G raid SATA 500 gig drives for storage.
What are your favorite cameras and film/video making tools?
Shawn Kessler: My dream camera to use would be the Red Camera. I also like working with Motion a lot. It’s unbelievable how customizable that program is and what you can do with it.
What are your thoughts on HDSLR filmmaking and 3D?
Shawn Kessler: I am not a big fan of HDSLR and here is why. Recently I was an extra in a feature film where they were using one of these and it was constantly overheating. The DP had a cold pack covering where the memory card was to keep the heat down because of the high resolution. I prefer a hard drive instead. As for 3D It is funny you asked this question as next week I will be an extra in a 3D short that’s looking to be syndicated on 3DTV, so I guess I will find out then.
What’s in the project pipeline or coming up on the horizon?
Shawn Kessler: I have several but I am currently finishing up principle photography on a short comedy entitled, Hunny, I Love You, Too. Then next will be Across the Tracks, a story addressing homeless prejudices. Then hopefully later this year Irisis, a story about a young man in a car accident struggles to find who he is in life through a rehabilitation center. And a nurse who comes to his rescue.
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