There has been a lot of changes in my video production career over the past few months. One of the more recent developments is that I have been tasked with running the video production department for a digital media brand. I am currently responsible for helping run their productions in Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Ft. Worth. This all comes at a time where I have rebranded Chalupa Productions LLC with a more modern approach to filmmaking for web content. 

The transition has been fairly smooth considering I have contracted with the brand over the past five years, editing just about all of their videos across the region of Texas. The big difference now is that I will be taking more responsibility as a producer to see each project through from inception to completion. It has been nice having the creative freedom to approach the videos in a way that I have always wanted to years prior. I am incredibly luck to work with individuals that trust me creatively.

In some way I do feel like I am starting over. With the rebranding and the task of tackling this new client and scaling to their needs has been a learning experience to say the least. None of this could be possible without my colleague Drew Hodges. Over the years, Drew has become quite the editor and producer and I like to believe that I have had some influence on that. Just as the producer I used to work for educated me on the bulk of what I know today, despite my film school eduction (we can talk about that another time).

Our first real project with this client was to produce a series of one minute web videos for the Dallas Farmer’s Market. This was a great opportunity to show what we can achieve as producers. In the past the client received mostly reality television styled content that lacked the current cinematic aesthetic that audiences strive for in today’s video market. There is nothing wrong with the former content aside from the fact that it makes the edit a bit more dense so to speak. For these videos we gave the DFM vendors that we would be featuring preliminary interviews and we took their responses and tailored them to a short form mini-doc format. 

With this new found structure we were able to deliver five one minute videos in a timely and efficient manner that fit perfectly in to their social media platforms. The DFM was thrilled by the deliverables which in turn made our client ecstatic. Projects like these really make it all worth it for me and Drew. At the end of the day we realize that we still have a lot to learn in the world of video production (I will quit when I get bored) and despite budgets never being where we want them to be, a few kind words really goes a long way with us.

After we locked down all of our preproduction materials, I began to make technical choices to give all of our shoots a consistent look across the board. Every video was shot on the Canon C200 in 4k 8-bit XF-AVC CLOG-3 in 60p using a set of vintage Nikkons, one 50mm f1.8 and a Nikon 135mm f2.8. Each lens was outfitted with a Tiffen 1/4 ProMist which made the highlights roll of quite nicely. After we wrapped on our productions we then imported footage in to FCPX where Drew gave a through assemble where I then applied some finishing techniques. I was a bit torn on the cinematic crop, especially since we were not shooting on anamorphics or anything but I think it does lend itself to the look and feel that we were trying to communicate. 

Below you will find each video we worked on along with a brief description. 

JuHa Ranch

Filming JuHa Ranch turned out to be a real treat. Harry and Julia we fantastic to work with and as it turns out they have a history of working with film crews. They knew just what to do and how we needed to do it. Not only are they real deal ranchers but they also raise herding dogs. Could not have asked for a better day to be shooting in the Texas country with some of the kindest folks around. 

Bonton Farms

Bonton was exciting to work on for me at a personal level. I had reached out to them in the past regarding the desire to produce a feature for them pro bono. With the farmers market backing this production it was great being able to get in at the ground level to tell a story that is close to home. Patrick was great to work with and was willing to work with our format that we developed. We were also treated to some of Bonton’s great produce so that was quite a treat.

Denton Creek Farms

This farm was really interesting to see and had all the trappings of what an individual traditionally thinks of when imagining a farm. Kassandra and Keith were incredibly sweet to us and invites us to their farm / home to get an overview of their operation. After filming at their property we then traveled to their large scale farm and saw the size and scope of their company. It blew my mind that Kassandra and Keith oversee a production of this quality and scope. We were once again spoiled by walking away with some of their tasty kale and beets.

Palmieri Cafe

Coffee and gelato. Name a more iconic duo. Working with Corrado for his business Palmerei at the farmers market was pretty sweet to say the least. If there is anything us production folks like more than filmmaking is a good cup of coffee. The moment we visited his roasting facility we were greeted with the fresh smell of roasting coffee beans. The lighting in the beginning is supposed to feel like morning light as if you are waking up to Palmereir’s coffee. The shoot was then followed up by a visit to farmers market where Corrado detailed his morning routine to bring handcrafted Italian treats to our fellow Dallasites. 

Luxe District

Shooting at Luxe was a real treat based on the lighting alone. The shop had this amazing diffused natural lighting that just made the whole shoot a breeze. All of the highlights had a nice bloom with the black pro-mist 1/4 with the natural light. I really enjoyed featuring a maker as part of this series because it helped illustrated how multifaceted the Dallas Farmer’s Market really is. Most people think of farmers markets as a place to get fresh produce, and while they are not wrong in thinking that, the Dallas Farmer’s Market really is a one-stop shop for handcrafted goods.

Well that about sums up all of the shoots for the Dallas Farmer’s Market Signature series. I cant say enough how much fun it was working with some many different personalities, being able to showcase the variety of artisans and makers that my city has to offer. I look forward to our next opportunity in working with the Farmer’s Market.