Canon 5Dmk2 in The Library of Human Imagination

What an amazing job this was. Executive Producer and Director David Hoffman approached me about lensing a video about the library of his friend, Jay Walker. As it happens, Walker is the billionaire whose think tank, Walker Digital, is responsible for creating Priceline.com, and his "library" is actually a stunning testament to the marvels of human imagination.

Attached to Walker's home, the MC Escher-inspired space feels more like a living museum than a library, treasuring such centuries-old marvels as a hand-written sketchbook of Leonardo da Vinci, one of the seventeen Soviet Sputnik satellites, a page from the original Gutenberg Bible, and even a chandelier from James Bond's "Die Another Day." The multi-tiered room that houses these gems is nearly as impressive to behold as its contents. I'd be spinning my wheels trying to continue with some prosaic description; you just have to see it to believe it, so I'll just get on to the nitty gritty and let these behind-the-scenes pictures do the rest.

Bottom line, we were tasked to develop a video teaser that explored, but didn't completely give away the wonder of his library. Technically speaking, this was no small feat. Very expensive items in this place, and Walker was understandably concerned about a giant crew coming in to shoot on the Red or bigger. That also meant that we were allowed only minimal lighting inside the library and had to rely on the library's (albeit impressive) internal lighting system for interior lighting (which my gaffer, Stephen Cannella, quickly got to work on, interpreting the lighting control panel, which for him was a cinch). So for size and lighting, the Canon 5D Mark II seemed a logical choice, minimizing some of our support gear, while giving us the light sensitivity to primarily shoot under available light.


One of my favorite shots is what I had envisioned as being one of the introductory shots for the video. For this, we took advantage of the beautifully crafted two-story windows, and pounded four 6K Par HMIs and an 18K fresnel through them from outside for a sunlit effect. (Can't have many lights IN the space, so lets slam a whole bunch of light in from OUTside the space!) We added a wee bit of atmospheric fog from Cannella's atomizer (although an early afternoon test with the level of smoke we had wanted, ended up setting off the fire alarm system in the library. Oops! No issues though). The shot features jib operator, Ian McGrew using the mk2 on a Varizoom 13' jib, dollying down the entry hallway (courtesy of Key Grip, Alexa Murdoch) across the glass walkway, and up and away into the library. (I was hoping to post the shot right here, but I think it's only on the editor's drive, not mine. Alas).

We also experimented with a 60 foot cable-cam shot, laterally traversing the entire library space using Cinevate's Pegasus Linear Tracking System with the modified cable cam wheels, but the system was just too premature in its development for it to give us a smooth shot. (Tried out the Pegasus Carbon as well, and soon Cinevate's "Heavy Lifter." Very curious to see how that performs, and will try to blog about both systems after a fair test).

So... Jib, Glide-cam, Dolly, and Cablecam. Ancient artifacts and an amazing space. Let's just say the shoot was loads of fun. I'll post the finished video when it's done.

Photos courtesy of David Hoffman.