Editor: Micah David

Sound Design & Mix: Micah David

Title: WE LUV NANA’s GREEN TEA

Genre: Commercial

Trt: 00:00:42:00

Director: Micah David

Videographer: Micah David

Stills

Group of people preparing for a traditional Asian drum performance outdoor on a sunny day, with a woman holding a large cymbal and a man preparing to strike a drum.
A woman interviews a man outside a building on a sunny day. The woman holds a microphone and wears a gray cap and sunglasses, while the man has tattoos on his arms and wears glasses, a black t-shirt, and is holding a drink.
Group of five teenage girls sitting at a table in a cafe, making heart shapes with their hands, smiling, with food and drinks on the table.
A man standing outside a tea shop called 'nana's green tea.' He is wearing round sunglasses, a grey shirt, and has a microphone clipped to his collar. The shop has large glass windows, and there are two handicap parking signs visible behind him.
Three cups of green tea frappuccino with whipped cream toppings, one drizzled with chocolate sauce, one with caramel sauce, and one with plain whipped cream, on a table near a metal pitcher and a glass filled with ice.
Close-up of a swirl soft serve ice cream cone with green and white vanilla flavor, in a waffle cone, with a blurred background of green drinks in glasses.
Two women standing outdoors on a sidewalk, wearing sunglasses, and holding drinks, with modern buildings and parked cars in the background on a sunny day.
Three cups of green tea topped with whipped cream and caramel drizzle on a counter, with a person in the background preparing drinks and various cups and equipment visible.
Three green iced beverages topped with whipped cream and caramel drizzle on a counter at a cafe.

to view photos from this project, click here

About the Film: This was a photography shoot – yes photography – for a Japanese green tea cafe making its grand opening in Southern Las Vegas. I was hired to come take photos for them but because of my passion for film and photo and a personal interest in the cafe, I decided to also capture video!

What could’ve been fixed: Despite the fact that I came there on a photography gig basis, there was a couple things that I could’ve done better to bring it up to par. For example, the ETTR rule would’ve been great especially for my indoor shots. The ETTR rule stands for Expose To The Right (of the histogram). What this allows is for me to in a way safeguard my exposure. Rather than being underexposed and trying to color grade, I can risk being a bit overexposed (because were inside, asides from windows, theres less evidence of that over exposure) and probably have more to work with, even bringing it down to the right exposure. Underexposing is a plague for me I feel especially because often times I’m not equipped with everything I need for the job. Although I do have a monitor to help me with exposure and false color, I wasn’t equipped with it at the time as I was there for photos (the main job). What I did not want to do was come for photos and be equipped with a whole lot of video stuff, then that could look like I’m not doing my job – that is my thought process. Another thing is stable smooth footage, like buttery smooth footage that allows you to really hone in on any video/audio effects. Practicing with my gimbal (DJI RS3 PRO) will allow me to almost perfect my footage. If I can use and adopt a certain perspective on my gimbal, I do believe I can become way more flexible with it than I even can imagine now.