What is ENG? - by Mark Schulze

ENG is an acronym for "Electronic News Gathering." It's a pretty broad term in that it could mean one person going out to collect news on a camera, or it could mean a larger crew with camera operator, sound person, teleprompter, satellite truck, etc.

In my case, it usually means that I will load the vehicle up with my camera, tripod ("sticks"), a monitor, cables, and sound and lighting, if necessary, and head out to a place where news is "breaking."

After the raging San Diego wildfires of 2007, I was tapped by PetSmart to videotape animals that had been evacuated or rescued. PetSmart's Pet Waggins delivered aid to these animals that were being housed at Qualcomm Stadium's parking lot. This little video takes you back to that moment in time.

One Video with Multiple Translations - by Mark Schulze

We recently had the opportunity to produce a video for AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) that has been translated into several languages, about their online service for science reporters, called EurekAlert. I predict that as our countries continue to globalize economically, there will be a call for more videos of this type. We utilized green-screen interviews along with stock footage clips. AAAS is very happy with it, and so are we.

EurekAlert! Web Video from Patty Kay Mooney on Vimeo.

I Invented the Helmet Cam - by Mark Schulze

My wife, Patty Kay Mooney, recently "rediscovered" some "lost" video footage of me wearing the first helmet cam rig ever invented, while riding in a mountain bike race in Carlsbad, California in 1988. Here it is, and running at less than a minute, I hope you enjoy viewing the first-known helmet cam rig in action, in the 1980's. They just don't make Lycra bike shorts like that anymore!



Video edited by Patty Kay Mooney
Music: "Slide Show" by Silverleaf

As Summer Draws to a Close - by Mark Schulze

It's been a great summer during which as you may have noticed, no blog posts were forthcoming from me because I have been either out on the waves, on my mountain bike, or on the soccer field. Sprinkle in a few video production gigs, and there went the Summer of 2010.

A very illuminating gig occured on the two days my partner, Patty Mooney, and I shot IMAG for the NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists). For those of you unfamiliar with the term, IMAG involves videotaping speakers or entertainers at a convention or auditorium so that the images are projected on large screens for the audience. A special guest of honor was Dr. Oz, who spoke about the ravages of obesity. One of the things he imparted was that your belt size should be at least half of your height, or your risks of developing the disease are far greater.

Patty and I spent our lunch our walking to Seaport Village where we met a former Marine named Joel who rescues parrots. He had about 15 of them on perches where people could come and get acquainted with them. It was very tempting to take one home, but we had to hurry back to the hotel to finish out the day for NABJ, and it would have been tough explaining about the little yellow guy on my shoulder.

Patty intends to write a blog about Joel and his rescued parrots at Soldiers Heart within a few days, so I encourage you to go there to learn more about his work.

Photographs by still photographer and video camera operator, Patty Mooney

The First Underwater Mountain Bikers - by Mark Schulze

Image by cleopatra69 via Flickr

Does everybody remember early video games? Well back in the mid-90's, yours truly "starred" in a PacMan commercial. No, I am not an actor. I prefer to spend my working days BEHIND the camera. This was kind of a fluke, though. It all started over chips, salsa and some feisty Costa Rican beers back in 1994. Four of us - all intrepid mountain bikers - hatched this plan to marry two sports that we all enjoyed: mountain biking and scuba diving. A couple of days later, there we were, popping wheelies on the ocean floor. (Note to eco-minded people: No, we did not ravage any corals or other precious sea life.) We of course documented our adventure on video using an underwater housing, and this footage was added to the library vaults of San Diego's biggest (and only) stock footage library, New & Unique Videos.

Consequently, a clip with me mountain biking underwater, videotaped by Director of Photography, Marco Eveslage, became an instant classic on this PacMan commercial. (Look for me at about the 15-second mark.)

PacMan Commercial Uses Clip from Stock Footage Library of New & Unique Videos from Patty Mooney on Vimeo.

The Invention of the Helmet Cam - by Mark Schulze

Image by cleopatra69 via Flickr

I became intimate with the term "Necessity is the Mother of Invention" when I was producing a video called "The Great Mountain Biking Video" back in 1987.

Let me just step back a year or two and give you a little background. My wife and business partner, Patty Mooney, and I spent almost a year galavanting around the United States and Canada back in 1986. While hiking and exploring the Yukon, we discovered the sport of mountain biking when we happened to see a guy riding his mountain bike through a river. He was up to his knees in water. Patty and I looked at each other and asked, "What sort of a bicycle is THAT?"

We later found out at the Whitehorse sporting goods shop that it was a mountain bike, and people rode these two-wheeled wonders out there in the MOUNTAINS! "See that mountain out there?" the clerk said. "That's a six header." A "header" as we would soon find out ourselves, was when you fly over the handlebars while on a descent, if you are sitting too far forward on your saddle. As soon as we returned home to San Diego about nine months later, we bought our first mountain bikes as a Christmas present to each other.

We became so involved in the sport that a few things occurred. We started racing mountain bikes at local venues like Big Bear, Riverside, Lake Morena and Anza Borrego. We got married on our mountain bikes in the Cleveland National Forest in the summer of 1987. We spent our honeymoon racing mountain bikes in Big Bear, and then Mammoth Mountain. As a woman with virtually little competition, Patty did very well in her race class, bringing home a few first place trophies and lots of mountain-bike swag. I did well, too, usually placing in the top three in my class.

The next logical step was to incorporate our business - video production, with our passion - mountain biking, and voila, we produced the first-ever instructional mountain-bike videos. The first one was called "The Great Mountain Biking Video" and contains clips of local trails along with tips and techniques from the top pros of their time, Ned Overend, Martha Kennedy, John Tomac, Julia Ingersoll, Kevin Norton and Tinker Juarez. This video won accolades, honors and a lot of press, as it was "The complete guide to one of the world's most exciting and fastest growing sports." It's pretty interesting to realize that it's been nearly 25 years since we produced the video and it's now considered "archival," "historical," "nostalgic." That's life, right?

While in production with "The Great Mountain Biking Video," I realized that we needed some way to capture POV (Point-of-View) footage that showed the viewer what the rider was seeing and experiencing. As a bona-fide packrat, it so happened that I had an old motorcycle helmet to which I affixed a VHS camera. I had to balance the camera which was on the front, with a weight on the rear of the helmet. Thus, this helmet was so heavy that anyone who ever wore it on a mountain-bike ride or Trials jaunt of any length would invariably complain, "This thing's HEAVY!"

In order to operate the camera, we needed to pad a VCR in a backpack and attach this by cable to the camera. This helmet-rig contraption was a far cry from today's lipstick and button cams. We only WISHED we had technology like that at the time, but there is something to be said about being a pioneer and an inventor. Today's technological advancements are based on the trials and errors of people like me, a guy who simply wanted to share my love of riding through the beauty of nature, with interested viewers. (If you are reading this, Sony, I would accept your thanks with the latest and greatest HD lipstick cam, no problem!)

Patty has been digitizing some of our old VHS masters before they turn to dust, and she unearthed this historical helmet cam footage from the 1988 Mammoth Mountain Kamikaze Downhill. Our friend, a San Diego mountain biker named Jeff Detweiler, wore the rig down the entire run, which as anyone who has ever ridden it knows that a rider could easily break their neck WITHOUT wearing a motorcycle-helmet-cam. Kudos to Jeff. You'll see me popping in and out of Jeff's POV, and Patty even makes an abbreviated appearance at 3:40 as Jeff blazes down. This is unedited, real-time footage, so it's as though you are riding down the Kamikaze yourself, in 1988. And don't forget, mountain bikes were also primitive at the time, without the luxury of shocks. Enjoy!

Mammoth Mountain Kamikaze Downhill, 1988 from Patty Mooney on Vimeo.

How I Got Started in the Video Profession - by Mark Schulze

Many students and young professionals approach me wondering how I got started in the industry of video production. I've been involved in the profession so long now (nearly 30 years) that my story is almost mythological. I started my own company, Crystal Pyramid Productions, in 1981, after graduating from UCSD. I had reached my decision to go into video production after leafing page-by-page through a copy of the Yellow Pages. Most young people may not know exactly what this is because you can now find everything you need on the Internet.

Anyway, when I had reached the "V's" I knew that Video was truly the career for me. The way I got started was to intern while a student in college. Then, when I had become a businessman - which entails a bunch of paperwork and official certification - I began offering my services to nonprofit companies at reduced rates. I also placed small ads in local publications. I gave up my weekends to shoot lots of weddings, Bar Mitzvahs and other special family events.

Eventually I began making a name for myself. I collected testimonials from people and created demo reels from clips off of finished videos. Little by little my company rose, along with the help of my partner, Patty Mooney, whom I met in 1982, to the place where we are now - a high-echelon, award-winning broadcast and corporate video production company.

Looking back, I realize that my rewards were not the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, but that they were embedded in my path from the very beginning. To those bright and shiny students who want to enter the realm of video production, I say, make sure that video production makes you happy. It's the kind of work that requires a lot of manual labor, responsibility, constant decision-making and sometimes long hours. It also pays in the dividends of meeting all kinds of great people, seldom working in the same location twice, and the pride of creating art that will probably outlive you.

In the above photo you'll see a production still from one of my very first productions, "Get Smart About Toxins." It was a video for the Environmental Health Coalition about the dangers of toxic waste (paints, varnish, battery acid, etc.) to waste collectors. I had a chance to direct waste collection personnel, Paramedics and representatives from the Fire Department. To my knowledge, the EHC is still using that video today.

Outdoor Video Production Can Be Tricky - by Mark Schulze

Over my nearly three decades as a video producer, Director of Photography and videographer, I have participated in both inside and outdoors shooting. The outdoor shoots can be a bit trickier because of several factors. Rather than working in a controlled indoor environment, when you are outside, the sun - your main source of lighting - will shift. The savvy camera operator needs to constantly be aware of where the sun is and how it is affecting your shot. You may have to white-balance the camera more than once, particularly if a series of clouds passes over the sun.

The above photo was taken at an Animal Planet shoot for their series "Baby Animals." We chose to set up under the shade of a tree with the morning sun at our backs. We sat our talent down in a spot that had consistent shade (not mottled). We used a reflector (a big round fabric disc that is shinier on one side than the other) to direct more lighting to her face. You want to avoid backlighting in which the subject is almost a silhouette and the background is blown out.

There is a fine tightrope you walk when you are working outdoors, not only when it comes to lighting but when it comes to sound. San Diego is notorious for its military bases and with military bases come big toys such as F-16s, helicopters and transport planes. These all crisscross the sky just when the talent has finally perfected their sound bite after the 20th take. You can check it out for yourself. Your location will be eerily quiet as you set up your camera, tripod and all the ancillary equipment. Just as you are pulling the trigger on your camera, you will be accosted by crows, and then the leaf-blowing gardener will get started fifty feet away.

Just joking. Not really.

If you really want to include outdoor shooting in your production, and you are a perfectionist like me, just budget a little more time than you think it will take to capture beautiful shots with clean audio.

Proud Finalist of "Most Admired CEO" Awards

I was honored to be a finalist in the San Diego Business Journal's Third Annual "Most Admired CEO Awards" competition. SDBJ held a well-attended gathering downtown at the San Diego Marriott Ballroom where we all had a chance to network with each other and enjoy "heavy hors doervres." I was in great company with other CEO's from around the region.

It's always a good thing when you receive recognition for your work. And my profession as a video producer and Director of Photography is a little bit different than your usual "nine to five." Each video production calls for a whole new venue and cast of characters. It's rewarding, but there's a lack of consistent social interaction, as you would find in most jobs. So shaking a few hands and networking with other CEO's was a lot of fun for me.


I even had a chance to say hello to San Diego's Mayor, Jerry Sanders.


Photographs by Brian Bostrum, Brian Bostrom Photography. Thanks Brian!