Death Valley and off to Japan

Tomorrow, well actually in about 10 hours I fly off to Japan to make a documentary with Carole Thatcher (daughter of…) about the environment, what Japan and Japanese people are doing to counteract global warming etc…

It should be great. It’s my first time there and we are traveling all over the country. Should be a dream to film. I am taking with 2 Ex1s, one Letus Ultimate and one Letus Extreme as well as stacks of lenses, my miller and Vinten tripods. Two Rifa lights, one dedo, my macbook and macbook pro and lots of hard drives. I am skipping the blu ray this time as it is just too time consuming. I am hoping 3 copies of the files will be backup enough!

Well that’s the future, but here is a little bit of the past. The day after I arrived in Vegas before NAB I headed off to Death Valley and filmed there for about 6 hours. It was wonderful, so much to see but so little time. I was given advice about where to go so I picked three places and shot the crap out of them with my Letus Extreme and EX1. Shame I didn’t have the Ultimate, oh well it still looks great.

Watch the film.

13 comments

  1. HI Phillip,

    Damned if I can work out how to download the 1080p Death Valley? I follow the link to XR, but it’s not immediately obvious. It’s like looking for my car keys!

    Have fun in Japan…have you been before? You’re sure to get some amazing stuff in Shibuya at night.

  2. Danny
    Philip!
    Man, I cant get over how you can go on a trip, and get framed shots that look like a feature film! Great work, just spectacular. Your editing to the beat has definitely taken a step up, and the color is tremendous. Your making us all want the Ultimate, my fear is that I cant afford it, the LEX just may have to do. Great stuff man, looking forward to seeing what Japan brings.

    You motivated me to go out and film something!
    Peace and Blessings,
    Danny Hidalgo

  3. Hey Phil,
    Good meeting you in Vegas. I wish I knew you were headed to Japan. My girlfriend grew up in Tokyo. She could have told you all about it. We go there once a year to see her mom (right outside of Shibuya in Tokyo). Anyway I would love to see another Philip Bloom Letus short from Nikko. I’m sure you will end up in that part of the country at some point. Have a good time!

  4. Great choice of font.
    Good decision to embrace the public and not get frustrated going for the empty wilderness look. More patient, smooth editing is developing to the advantage of the final product,thanks for finding the time to keep us up with the word tour.

  5. Impressive! I’m even more impressed about how much kit you bring with you on a shoot. I get stressed going through security with a video camera, a few harddrives and my laptop and praying my sticks make it as checked baggage along with the lights in my suicase. You bring the kitchen sink!

    Love reading/watching your site. Thanks for posting so much good stuff.

  6. Great job Philip! Death Valley is humungous, and six hours is indeed not enough! (Although most tourists say it’s plenty 🙂 Hope you were able to live out your Star Wars fantasies while out in Zabriskie Point.

    Good luck in Japan!

  7. Hi Phil
    I am looking at purchasing the EX-3 when it is released in Australia or
    UK if they release much earlier than OZ.We are always last to see any thing down here.What will theUltimate set up be when the supplied fujinon is removed.Will it be able to bolt onto the camera at its lens mountor willwe need relays or B4 mount.
    Do you think I can get any idea at all of when the ultimate will be available.Letus site is no help , neither sony.

  8. eventually MJ.

    Letus are working on it hence no information. When it is done the relay will fit directly onto the ex3 body. But the relay will be quite expensive, they are using very high quality glass.

  9. Thanks Phil
    I am shooting in London and Denmark next month and was looking to hire an LEX for the second unit EX-1.Any tips on where to hire one with rods etc.Will have Zeiss ZF kit and Nikon zooms.
    I will stop bothering you now.
    Cheers.

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