TV-BAY Questions

Name & Title? Den Lennie, director of photography/Producer/Educator
Who are you? (about yourself and who you work for)? I am a director of photography and one of the world’s leading coaches on the new wave of digital filmmaking.
What do you do? What does your company do? I run an online film school at fstopacademy.com and specialise in small group film making workshops all over the world working with aspiring film makers.
Tell me a little about your previous experience, what you've worked on and with up toyour current position? 17 years in broadcast location camerawork and in the last three years I have shot more commercial and high-end music work including Duran Duran A Diamond in the Mind last December, which I shot on Super 35mm.
What specific project(s) do you have in the works? I have a workshop tour with Abel Cine during November and December in NYC and LA as well as atour of Australia in February 2013. My next shooting job is a commercial involving shooting a prosthetic hand in artificial snow.
What new technology are you working with? Currently beta testing and shooting with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and new Zeiss CP.2 Zoom lenses.
What new products/technology are you looking forward to the most? A couple of months ago James Tonkin and I shot a commercial with Ronaldo on the RED Scarlet. During the job we both fell in love with the Scarlet and its simplicity. You turn it on, you set your ISO, you set your shutter speed, and you set your colour balance then shoot.
We were both seriously considering the £20,000 investment and then the Blackmagic CinemaCamera with DaVinci Resolve launched and, for me, it does everything that I would want a Scarlet to do, barring the 4k. And although both are already out I am utterly fascinated by the power of this combination. It is a truly exciting time to be a filmmaker.
During your career in post what was the biggest “turning point” in terms of new technology? The Blackmagic Cinema Camera and DaVinci Resolve 9. Where I think the Cinema Camera is going to come in is very much for those pro DSLR users, the ones who want greater bit depth, who want to put their footage through multi-layered effects, want to colour grade and do post-production.
What is your favourite / least favourite things about work? Favourite has to be transforming aspiring filmmakers’ confidence and ability while my least favourite is doing expenses and the general admin of running a business.
What gets you out of bed in the morning to go to work?
I love light and I love shooting. And I am very fortunate that I love what I do and now choose to spend a great deal of time teaching and helping aspiring filmmakers reach their goals. I get to travel a lot and have clocked up over 50 countries all in the name of work. I am also asked by many manufacturers to test gear and offer feedback. Just love my job.