For my 3rd year in a row I was at CES presenting for the world leader in consumer electronics and maker of my trusty A900 – SONY. One of the many exciting things of being associated with the most cutting edge brand in technology is that I get to test experimental equipment and be the first to try out various prototypes. Not all of which make it to the consumer because of price or demand.

Last year I was supplied with 3 brand new pieces of EQ that only became available after I announced them yesterday at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in front of a crowd of thousands.

You all know I love my job and that I am passionate about photography and film, so getting to experiment with gadgets that no one has ever seen but only imagined, is my kind of assignment.

My Q, a man called El-Deane  at Sony is the fellow responsible with getting me the equipment if only a little begrudgingly, “Make sure I get it back immediately and don’t break it Bond…..” (actually he calls me Nigel but in my head….)

My job so said M was to master these new gadgets and breakdown the mysteries for the world….. Lucky for me I was armed with the new A77, the NEX-7 and the Bloggie Live…..

So here’s the skinny – The A77 is the fastest DSLR on the planet, capable of a blazing 12 frames a second! Not to mention it has the worlds first 24.3 Megapixel APS-C Sensor so each one of those 12 frames can be processed out at almost 70 megabytes a shot. And lets not forget to mention that all those shots are in perfect focus because it is able to continuously auto focus using phase detection while simultaneously capturing images….How can it do this I hear you scream! Well it has a translucent mirror duh…. no really it has a translucent mirror. While all other DSLRs on the market have a swinging mirror that reflects incoming light first on to the auto focusing screen then on to the image sensor when you press the shutter release. The A77 has a translucent mirror that bounces the light onto the auto focus screen while simultaneously directing the light onto the image sensor – no swinging mirror! Hence 12 frames a second with continuous auto focus. Oh and I forgot to tell you that the lag time between hitting the shutter release and the A77 actually taking the picture is a mere 0.05 seconds. That by the way is the fastest lag time of any DSLR in the world.

Now you know I shoot movies and TV commercials as well. The A77 also shoots full 1080 HD video in both 60i 60p and 24p for ultra smooth and cinematic quality video that is unsurpassed by any of it’s rivals – and it continuously auto focuses using that translucent mirror when shooting video too.

The NEX-7 does most of what the A77 does although at less than half the weight and size, who says great things don’t come in small packages ladies… The NEX-7 is essentially the game changer. A pocket camera that has a 24.3 megapixel sensor, shoots 10 frames a second, shoots full 1080 HD video in 60i, 60p and 24p has the fastest lag time of any camera on the planet of 0.02 secs so you never miss the shot, has a OLED view finder (which it shares with the A77 – the worlds first and only) The OLED view finder replaces what all other cameras have which is a LCD view finder. LCD viewfinders and screens are back lit so contrast and blacks are always going to be compromised. OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode and they work by sending an electrical charge through the organic compounds that make up the diode which in turn glow. Thus creating a much brighter image with absolute blacks and incredible contrast.

The NEX-7 is also very user friendly despite it’s Ferrari like roar, my 6 year old son knows how to navigate his way around the camera and takes stellar shots every time. A chip off the old block maybe but the Tri-Navi system of three easily workable dials on the back of the camera make it a breeze to change the aperture, shutter speed and ISO with the flick of a finger.

And last but not least the Bloggie Live. Well you may or may not be into blogging but I am and your reading my blog now. Blogging and social media is basically the main stay for today’s youth and the ability to share their videos and photos immediately is what it’s all about.

The Bloggie Live is WiFi enabled……it actually allows you to stream your video direct from the Bloggie to FaceBook, YouTube or your website live as you shot your video or stills! For crying out loud you can live in your own reality show and broadcast live for the cost of a few hundred dollars – is nothing sacred anymore!!!

This is the future people and you heard here first.

00NB over and out……

My latest commercial for the legendary “Jordache Jeans” brand was released nationwide this week.

Jordache has been around for decades and is known for it’s funky commercial spots with great theme tune yet it has been 20 years since their last commercial aired. So it was an honor to be asked to direct the latest commercial by CEO of Jordache Shaul Nakash and his creative team at DMA headed up by Sam Sohaili. They had been responsible for the highly acclaimed and successful print ads of late using Heidi Klum and Elizabeth Hurley for Jordache.

At our first meeting Shaul described his initial idea of taking the viewer through the eras of 70s to now, representing Jordache Jeans all the way. It was my job to bring it to life and come up with a creative that was direct-able and within budget! We had 4 decades that we needed to portray the 70s, 80s, 90s and now. The biggest challenges were going to be how to transition from one decade to another and how to tell this whole story in just 30 seconds…

I worked with a fabulous storyboard artist Geuri De La Rosa who sat with me for hours as I brainstormed various concepts and locations etc. Finally I presented the idea of a Brooklyn townhouse as aspirational city living that was not pretentious but obviously nostalgic. We decided to shoot the various decades using specific technology or film treatments reminiscent of the eras. So for the 70′s we actually shot the whole scene on a Super 16mm camera that belonged to my DP in order to get that jumpy and scratched looking footage that’s super saturated. For the 80s we went with a hand held, early MTV video look and feel with video monitor lines across the picture and poppy colors. For the 90s we removed the color but kept the blue in for the jeans reminiscent of early photoshop tricks that were prevalent at the time and of course for now we used the most modern sophisticated equipment at our finger tips. The music was also an important factor so we had it remixed for each era, the 70s was left in the original format then we changed the 80s to be more poppy/Michael Jackson meets the Pointer Sisters and the 90s we gave a R&B feeling similar to En Vogue. And for now we gave the theme tune a Postal Service meets Feist feeling….  Each scene is peppered with props to decorate the set like a series of cars that were generation appropriate and hair, make up and styling were pivotal. Of course the commercial came together so well because of the talented Katrina Bowden of 30 Rock fame who literally rocked each decade of Jordache jeans. The current  Jordache jeans are available at Walmart so now you have no excuse to get yourself a pair and shake what your Mama gave you!

Many thanks to my glam squad – Andrew Fitzsimons for Hair, Quinn Murphy for make up and Emily Barnes for wardrobe. Emily actually had to buy vintage Jordache jeans from Ebay to get the actual accurate jeans from the 70s and 80s! Many thanks to Forest Watson for perfect prop styling and set design. Thanks to Ali Azios at Studio NB and Nicole Rodan at Harbor Films for producing the film flawlessly. To Noah Lit and his band in LA who remixed the Jordache jingle like true maestros!   I want to give a huge shout out to Marcus Brooks my DP and Theo Stanley who was second camera on this assignment as well as the teams of gaffers, grips and ACs etc. Both men have worked with me on my Haiti films, Generation Free shot in Tanzania and A Sealed Fate? shot in Canada as well as countless commercial projects for major advertisers.

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Check out this how to video I did with my favorite on the go camera the Sony NEX 5. And yes all the shots were taken with said camera and they are my lovelies – Jack aged 5 and Jazz who is now 2 years young!!! Enjoy