Planning the Reel Shoot
Lately, I have been working on refocusing Royer Media (now Royer Visuals) on cinematography. In the past, I thought that the best way to grow a company in this business was to do everything. But over time, I’ve come to the realization that the best art comes from a collaborative approach - with each person doing what they do best, so that all parts of the production are great. I decided that I want to focus on being a cinematographer - the guy responsible for creating the shots, angles, choosing lenses, and directing the lighting of a scene. This is my favorite part of the process, so I am now going to focus on doing that and work with others for producing and editing, which I can do - but they aren’t my strong suits.
Now that I had a new direction for my business, I needed a way to get started. But just how do you get started as a cinematographer? I did some reading, and learned that the most important thing a cinematographer has to get jobs is his reel. A reel is a collection of your finest shots, usually edited as a montage sequence. I was really excited to do this, but as I went through all my old footage, I realized that there were two really big problems.
First, I hadn’t produced anything in quite a while. With the business of school and getting married, I had only worked on corporate projects for the last year or so, and didn’t have many creative shots that were up to my current skill level.
Also, I realized that doing everything (producing, directing, shooting, and editing) on my films meant that the cinematography wasn’t as strong as I would have liked - because I was never able to focus on just that aspect.
So after talking to some established cinematographers about my dilemma, I decided to create my reel from scratch - ‘spec work’. I feel that this approach will allow me to best display my current skill levels in an environment that will allow me to focus on just the cinematic aspects.
Emily and I have been planning out a series of short scenes covering a variety of subjects that will make up my new demo reel. Each scene will be just a few shots long, allowing me to make every move amazing and perfectly executed.
I put together my shots, and then compiled a list of what I would need to pull them off. In addition to my regular kit, we had to rent some specialty items to really make the shots stand out. Fortunately, we got a great deal from both of the rental places we used, which gives us about 15 shooting days instead of the 5 we had originally planned for.
We had to move the shooting dates up to take advantage of these deals, but the extra time will make it well worthwhile. We are really excited about this and can’t wait to show you the finished product when it’s all said and done. I’ll be sharing more about this in the coming weeks - I’m making an effort to start blogging more often.
If you’re in the Omaha area and would like to help out, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Even if you don’t know anything about video, you can still help in a lot of ways.
I’d like to thank everyone for their wonderful support so far. My family and friends have been great about helping me on this, and many local businesses large and small are allowing us to film stuff we would normally not have access to. It’s going to be a great time - and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on the proceedings.
SMiLE for the Camera - A Shoot for Capitol Records
This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity of working on a video for the EPK of SMiLE - the legendary Beach Boys album scrapped nearly 45 years ago that will finally see a release next month. I was asked to be DP on an interview with Craigs Slowinski from beachboysarchives.com. Craig researched and put together the sessionography for the album, a huge undertaking.
It was an especially exiting shoot for me because this was one of my first projects where I am serving solely as a DP (Director of Photography) and am not involved in the pre- or post-production processes. Moving forward, I hope to work on more projects like this in the future.
Dogs VII – July 31, 2011
The epic finale to the Dogs series, nominated for 23 Academy Awards, including best performance by a leading canine for the character Annie by Annie Royer.
Int. Projection Room - Day – April 20, 2011
An experimental short film produced for the HV20.com Antman’s Short Film Contest. Produced by Nick Royer, Stephen Hayes, and Haydon Smith, this piece is a remake of a scene from the famous 1941 Orson Welles film Citizen Kane.
The Fever – February 20, 2011
An experimental short film produced for the HV20.com Antman’s Short Film Contest. Produced by Nick Royer and Stephen Hayes, the film was done entirely in Nick’s front yard using a ladder with a garden hose attachment for the rain effect, and strategically placed lamps outside the car for the lighting. Unfortunately, filming was cut short because a lightning storm was approaching the area, but the team still finished the project with the footage they had and earned high marks in the competition.
Flight 209 – February 9, 2011
HERE WE GO (Again) – Flight 209 is a loose remake of our first short film, Flight 208. The film was premiered at Elkhorn South High School on 2.04.11, four years to-the-day after the premier of Flight 208. A loose remake of that original film, it is the story of four teenagers who survive a helicopter crash to find their own way back to civilization. It stars Siobhan Berry as Sierra, Van Stanek as Stephen, Meghan Ponec as McKenzie, and Jake Thomsen as JP. The film was directed and produced by Nick Royer with the help of Emily Aspinall, Stephen Hayes, and Taran Barber.
The Driver. – June 20, 2010
Produced for the HV20.com: Antman’s Film Contest competition – this film was done in two days by Nick Royer and Stephen Hayes and received rave reviews from each of the contest judges. This competition is run continuously with new topics every other week, and Royer Films looks forward to producing more videos for this competition in the future.
The Great Gatsby – March 16, 2010
Assigned as a school project, The Great Gatsby was produced from start to finish in just one weekend. The short film features several key moments in Chapter 8 of the famous novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This film is intended for those who have read the book, as it only tells a small fraction of the overall story. Starring Nick Royer, Taran Barber, and Stephen Hayes.
Follow – December 3, 2009
With a history of producing short films for online competitions, Royer Films returned to the scene with the release of the 2009 “short short” film Follow. Nick Royer, Stephen Hayes, and Haydon Smith planned and executed the production of the film in just three hours on a Saturday afternoon. Intended for the HV20.com: HD Short Shorts 2 competition, the film was released to highly positive reviews. Follow was the production team’s first online competition film since the collapse of Apple’s Insomnia Film Festival in the 2008 season.
Dogs: Missing in Action – November 1, 2009
Since 2004, Royer Films has produced nearly ten movies of the Dogs series. The first short film, Dogs 1, was the first production by Nick Royer and Stephen Hayes, and would lead to the foundation of Royer Films and it’s executive members. After a few years with no new films, the team returned to Dogs in 2008, effectively finishing the storyline between the films. Today, nearly six years after it began, Royer Films returns yet again with Dogs: Missing in Action, a re-boot of the original series. Produced in late October and starring Nick Royer, Stephen Hayes, Emily Aspinall, Michael Aspinall, and Taran Barber. Missing in Action is the story of Madie (Emily Aspinall), who must call in canine detectives Alex Blake (Nick Royer) and Dan Woodward (Stephen Hayes).
About me
Hello, my name is Nick Royer and I am a cinematographer. I started at the age of 13 with my first short film, Flight 208. I then produced around 30-40 short films during my high school years. I am now a college student and have focused specifically on building a career as a cinematographer. I enjoy working to find the perfect angle and lighting to capture and benefit the story. Over the last year or two, I have been privileged to work with some great commercial clients, and I continue to build my business while pursuing a degree in broadcast journalism. Check back often - I have a lot of new and exciting work coming out in the next few months!
