Digital Video - November 2008 - (Page 24)

CLOSE-UP ZAK KNUTSON AND JOEY FIGUEROA CHOP SHOP SOCKY THE TWO-MAN OUTFIT CHOP SHOP ENTERTAINMENT HAS CARVED OUT A NICHE FOR THEMSELVES IN HOLLYWOOD. PHOTO BY JON SILBERG Knutson and Figueroa check out some footage on a Kevin Smith performance project. BY JON SILBERG F riends Zak Knutson and Joey Figueroa didn’t really think about starting a video business when they met in Orange County. The two now work as jacks-of-all-trades in their Hollywoodbased production and post company, Chop Shop Entertainment, creating EPKs and documentaries for filmmakers including Kevin Smith and John Milus, but, when they met, Knutson was the bouncer at a strip club where Figueroa was working as the DJ. “His job was to guard the ‘couch dance area’ by the DJ booth,” says Figueroa of his beefy business partner, “and we’d end up talking about movies all night.” Some 10 years later, Knutson and Figueroa had worked their way up from the bottom of Kevin Smith’s production company, dv november 2008 View Askew, to a point where they had jobs waiting for them coordinating production and postproduction, respectively, on Smith’s next film, Jersey Girl. Instead, the two — both huge fans of all the cool extras on well-produced DVDs — asked if they could produce and shoot the behind-the-scenes material. Smith and his longtime producer, Scott Mosier, both supportive of their loyal group of crewmembers who keep returning show after show, immediately approved. “We then got a crash course in lighting from [Smith’s cinematographer] Dave Klein,” Knutson recalls, noting that Chop Shop might not exist if not for aid and encouragement from Smith and Mosier. Klein showed the two how to rig “book lights” — homemade units that attain a very soft lighting effect with a standard hard source by diffusing the light and bouncing the result into more diffusion. Knutson and Figueroa learned quickly and were able, with a few units and very little time, to make talent look good for their interviews. “We don’t use book lights now,” Knutson notes. “There are great ready-made soft boxes we can bring if we want to add a little fill or some rim light to someone.” The Chop Shop team has a philosophy about shooting this kind of video that isn’t exactly followed by everyone who does this kind of work. “We always keep things small,” Figueroa says. “I’ve seen EPK crews come on set with six-person crew — two producers, a sound guy, a boom guy, and they’re all in the way of the production. We’re a two-man band. We make our presence known so people know why we’re www.dv.com 24 http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - November 2008

Digital Video - November 2008 Contents AG-HMC150 Camcorder I-Cuff Eyepiece Protector Instant Expert Avid Media Composer 3.0 DT-B9L 1DU Monitor Flolight LCD500 Dark Red Close-Up: Chop Shop Socky Prime Mover Tools & Technology: DV Expo Toolkit Click to Play DV101 Production Diary

Digital Video - November 2008

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