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Artichoke: An Organic Production
by Doniphan Blair
Artichoke's Paul Kalbach riding his RedZephyr Cam, a Steadicam rigged to a two-wheeled Segway. photo: M. MizuharaIF OAKLANDERS WANT TO GET A FILM
movement going, with a coterie of like-minded cineastes collaborating on visionary material and fantastic production values, but by virtue of modest budgets, they need look no further than North Oakland's Artichoke Productions.
Small and intimate but fully—even fantastically—equipped, Artichoke features RED cameras, a tricked-out two-wheeled Segway for rocket-fueled Steadicam shots, a grip truck and a recently redone mix room.
During that spate of construction, they also added a 25’ x 20’ stage with green screen, “the biggest little stage in the East Bay,” according to Paul Kalbach, who built the facility almost single-handedly over the last thirty-five years and serves as its cinematographer, editor and ringmaster.
"We are ready to rip on anything, from features to music videos," Kalbach told me, when I dropped by Artichoke the other day.
Set behind a Japanese garden, a tribute to his wife, Masako, who is also a filmmaker and facility manager, Artichoke is the other side of the coin from the massive Pixar Studios, which is only three blocks away: an organic workspace, where media creation can be addressed on a human-scale, like in an artist's studio.
In fact, Kalbach started as a painter and composer although he's also a technical whiz. He recently did the installation of Final Cut and the finetuning of the sound stage at Google's global HQ in Mountain View. He just returned from the National Association of Broadcasters meeting in Las Vegas, which he attends annually to find out about new toys and to keep his three Red cameras in tip-top shape.
That is what makes Kalbach unique. Even though he retains a great appreciation for things considered by some antiquated, he has an endless appetite for new technology and old and new seem to coalesce in perfect balance. Kalbach has witnessed many major transitions in the film industry, from the switch from film to video and now HD to 4K and every time, he has raced into the new.
Kalbach and his wife Masako, who is also a filmmaker and studio manager, in the Japanese garden, in front of Artichoke Studios (ambulance grip truck in the background). photo: D. BlairAn old 35mm upright Moviola, an important part of our heritage greeted me as I entered Artichoke and fascinating examples of old-new featured throughout. The edit suite is loaded with cutting edge tools such as Smoke, DaVinci and RedCine-X Pro but in an organic circular layout. Meanwhile, Kalbach keeps an old Lightworks system in another edit room simply because Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker edited many of their films on a Lightworks.
Upon entering the Audio Room, I was astounded by a wall of analog modular synthesizers worthy of museum display. One, as Kalbach explained, was a Buchla, which he assembled from components purchased from synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla himself in the 1970s and still fabulous for soundtrack work. Many of the tracks of Artichoke produced films are composed by Kalbach himself.
“I didn’t know much about electronics back then,” he recalled. "I built a power supply from recycled television parts and other refuse, and it immediately went up in smoke when I plugged it in."
In the back, Artichoke features a fully-equipped film editing suite with an 8-plate KEM Universal 35mm flatbed, a 16mm Steenbeck flatbed, synchronizers and a hot splicer. “I still get some small projects that require shifting through reels of film," Kalbach explained.
Someone has to serve the last of the film fetishists, some of whom will continue working for decades, a few of whom will undoubtedly go cult, a sacred minority endowing a museum a century from now to show a Charlie Chaplin nitrate.
While Kalbach spends a lot of time tweaking his Red Digital Cinema system to fine point, he also maintains full 35mm and 16mm capabilities for the film fetishists among us: shown here his 35mm KEM flatbed. photo: P. Kalbach"I just completed a project that required me to find footage on 16mm reels of film using my Steenbeck," Kalbach explained. "The filmmaker had died, so his mother hired me to complete it. The hardest part was reconstructing the soundtrack because the original sound tapes were missing [and] the mag-film transfer that had been cut up into tiny snippets.”
Yet Kalbach is incredibly passionate about his Red Digital Cinema cameras, and describes his facility as being “Red-centric,” specializing in Red Digital Cinema production and 4K postproduction workflows.
Continuing on with the tour, I entered Kalbach's latest baby, the 25’ x 20’ x 14’ stage with green screen and "infinity curtains" and in the middle, a Red on a dolly. Of late, he has been shooting some music videos there. In the corner was the RedZephyr Cam, a Steadicam rigged up on a two-wheeled Segway, which he controls with HIS FEET, allowing him to race very steadily in pursuit of visual prey.
The new stage also holds a piece of history: a snorkel crane custom-built by Ron Eveslage, director of photography on Lucas’ “American Graffiti” (1973). Director David Fincher possibly used the very same crane in his early work, including the famous PSA “Smoking Fetus” (1984).
“This crane is really versatile. It’s not too big in size so it can fit in small spaces. It moves smoothly and can get the camera lens up to 13 feet high for dramatic moves,” Kalbach explained. It was most recently used in the production of the local indie features “Doggie Boogie” (DP Mickey Freeman, 2011) and “The World Famous Kid Detective Agency” (DP Kalbach, 2012).
Paul and Masako Kalbach in their newly built and deluxely outfitted stage. photo: D. BlairAs we walked out into the yard, he pointed to a 7’ tall wind machine that he calls “The Right Stuff”, another working piece of film history, since it was used in Philip Kaufman’s film of the same name when the NASA space capsule re-enters the earth’s atmosphere. Parked outside is a two-seater Houston Fearless camera crane currently being restored. And next to that, Artichoke's trademark one-of-a-kind production truck which Kalbach built-out from an old fire ambulance.
Trained as a painter, with an MFA and MA from the University of California, Berkeley, Kalbach shifted to film at first to animate his paintings. To do this, he bought the small barn in North Oakland that is now Artichoke.
After starting to show as an artist, he began experimenting with electronic music and musique concrète —tempered pianos and the like—with exhibitions and performances at the De Young Museum, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco Museum of Art, Pacifica Radio and the New York Avant Garde Festival, among others.
Experimentation in animation led Kalbach to delve into the world of motion pictures and to build a career as a director, cinematographer, editor and composer, eventually working on multimedia productions that include feature films, documentaries, TV shows, commercial spots and music videos.
Kalbach lives with Masako in the back, behind the studio, in a deluxe one bedroom, replete with massive kitchen. A world-class gourmet chef, Masako graduated from Mills College and went on to study 3-D animation at San Francisco State, finally "becoming an Artichoke," as she phrased it, when she and Paul got married in 1998.
"It's like living with a mad but mellow genius," Masako told me, which she apparently has no problem with considering she seems to be of that ilk herself.
Loading up Artichoke grip/lighting truck which is an ambulance. photo: D. BlairIn 2009, he surprised Masako by not only purchasing a retired fire-rescue ambulance on eBay but agreeing to pick it up in Chicago. Long one of his dreams. Kalbach had previously tried converting an old ambulance into a camera/grip truck with a van-style ambulance bought from a guy in Oakland but it wasn’t tall enough for him to stand in and it had mechanical problems.
They flew to Chicago and roadtripped back to Oakland, with a few breakdowns and curious stares along the way, doing it in 12 days because they also took the opportunity to shoot some stock footage. Nicknaming it the RedZephyr Truck to go with his RedZephyrCam (that crazy Segway), the truck is all fixed up and ready to roar into action whenever production duty calls.
Tracking shots are a breeze on the RedZephyr Cam. photo: M. MizuharaSo what exactly is RedZephyrCam, you ask? It is a RED Epic Camera, mounted on a Steadicam rig, which is in turn firmly mounted on a HandsFree Transporter. This is a rare modified Segway developed by HandsFree Transporter in Germany which is steered by foot-pedals, allowing the operator the freedom to run the camera while driving with his feet.
Kalbach is a certified Steadicam operator, and the RedZephyrCam rig enhances his ability to focus on the shot by transferring the weight of the Steadicam off of his body onto the Segway. Kalbach keeps it parked right next to his stage for a quick tracking shot—or getaway—as the case may be.
Throughout the building I could see traces of the horse barn it once was a hundred years ago. Since then, it housed a foundry and air compressor factory. When Kalbach moved in, the front yard was barren, so he began planting and today there is a flourishing garden with a small stream, waterfalls and goldfish ponds. Meanwhile, on the second floor, up a spiral staircase, there were master baths, guest rooms and a library.
This concluded my whirlwind tour of Artichoke Productions and visit with the man behind this uniquely Oakland facility. Although compact, it features an eclectic mix of high-end production and post-production gear fully capable of handling complex projects, yet offering an organic and artistic touch. Kalbach has a creative and original approach to the production aesthetic, inherited from his art making days, and an incredible enthusiasm solving the challenges of any given production at affordable prices.
"I really hope that Oakland will truly embrace its complexity and finds ways to attract more productions, so that we can have more opportunities to put our skills, experience and equipment to work," he told me. Indeed, Artichoke would serve as the perfect center for Oakland's inevitable—at some point, it is bound to happen—film movement.
Doniphan Blair is a writer, filmmaker, graphic designer and fine artist living in Oakland and can be reached .
Posted on May 08, 2013 - 06:36 AM
by Doniphan Blair
Artichoke's Paul Kalbach riding his RedZephyr Cam, a Steadicam rigged to a two-wheeled Segway. photo: M. Mizuharamovement going, with a coterie of like-minded cineastes collaborating on visionary material and fantastic production values, but by virtue of modest budgets, they need look no further than North Oakland's Artichoke Productions.
Small and intimate but fully—even fantastically—equipped, Artichoke features RED cameras, a tricked-out two-wheeled Segway for rocket-fueled Steadicam shots, a grip truck and a recently redone mix room.
During that spate of construction, they also added a 25’ x 20’ stage with green screen, “the biggest little stage in the East Bay,” according to Paul Kalbach, who built the facility almost single-handedly over the last thirty-five years and serves as its cinematographer, editor and ringmaster.
"We are ready to rip on anything, from features to music videos," Kalbach told me, when I dropped by Artichoke the other day.
Set behind a Japanese garden, a tribute to his wife, Masako, who is also a filmmaker and facility manager, Artichoke is the other side of the coin from the massive Pixar Studios, which is only three blocks away: an organic workspace, where media creation can be addressed on a human-scale, like in an artist's studio.
In fact, Kalbach started as a painter and composer although he's also a technical whiz. He recently did the installation of Final Cut and the finetuning of the sound stage at Google's global HQ in Mountain View. He just returned from the National Association of Broadcasters meeting in Las Vegas, which he attends annually to find out about new toys and to keep his three Red cameras in tip-top shape.
That is what makes Kalbach unique. Even though he retains a great appreciation for things considered by some antiquated, he has an endless appetite for new technology and old and new seem to coalesce in perfect balance. Kalbach has witnessed many major transitions in the film industry, from the switch from film to video and now HD to 4K and every time, he has raced into the new.
Kalbach and his wife Masako, who is also a filmmaker and studio manager, in the Japanese garden, in front of Artichoke Studios (ambulance grip truck in the background). photo: D. BlairUpon entering the Audio Room, I was astounded by a wall of analog modular synthesizers worthy of museum display. One, as Kalbach explained, was a Buchla, which he assembled from components purchased from synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla himself in the 1970s and still fabulous for soundtrack work. Many of the tracks of Artichoke produced films are composed by Kalbach himself.
“I didn’t know much about electronics back then,” he recalled. "I built a power supply from recycled television parts and other refuse, and it immediately went up in smoke when I plugged it in."
In the back, Artichoke features a fully-equipped film editing suite with an 8-plate KEM Universal 35mm flatbed, a 16mm Steenbeck flatbed, synchronizers and a hot splicer. “I still get some small projects that require shifting through reels of film," Kalbach explained.
Someone has to serve the last of the film fetishists, some of whom will continue working for decades, a few of whom will undoubtedly go cult, a sacred minority endowing a museum a century from now to show a Charlie Chaplin nitrate.
While Kalbach spends a lot of time tweaking his Red Digital Cinema system to fine point, he also maintains full 35mm and 16mm capabilities for the film fetishists among us: shown here his 35mm KEM flatbed. photo: P. KalbachYet Kalbach is incredibly passionate about his Red Digital Cinema cameras, and describes his facility as being “Red-centric,” specializing in Red Digital Cinema production and 4K postproduction workflows.
Continuing on with the tour, I entered Kalbach's latest baby, the 25’ x 20’ x 14’ stage with green screen and "infinity curtains" and in the middle, a Red on a dolly. Of late, he has been shooting some music videos there. In the corner was the RedZephyr Cam, a Steadicam rigged up on a two-wheeled Segway, which he controls with HIS FEET, allowing him to race very steadily in pursuit of visual prey.
The new stage also holds a piece of history: a snorkel crane custom-built by Ron Eveslage, director of photography on Lucas’ “American Graffiti” (1973). Director David Fincher possibly used the very same crane in his early work, including the famous PSA “Smoking Fetus” (1984).
“This crane is really versatile. It’s not too big in size so it can fit in small spaces. It moves smoothly and can get the camera lens up to 13 feet high for dramatic moves,” Kalbach explained. It was most recently used in the production of the local indie features “Doggie Boogie” (DP Mickey Freeman, 2011) and “The World Famous Kid Detective Agency” (DP Kalbach, 2012).
Paul and Masako Kalbach in their newly built and deluxely outfitted stage. photo: D. BlairTrained as a painter, with an MFA and MA from the University of California, Berkeley, Kalbach shifted to film at first to animate his paintings. To do this, he bought the small barn in North Oakland that is now Artichoke.
After starting to show as an artist, he began experimenting with electronic music and musique concrète —tempered pianos and the like—with exhibitions and performances at the De Young Museum, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco Museum of Art, Pacifica Radio and the New York Avant Garde Festival, among others.
Experimentation in animation led Kalbach to delve into the world of motion pictures and to build a career as a director, cinematographer, editor and composer, eventually working on multimedia productions that include feature films, documentaries, TV shows, commercial spots and music videos.
Kalbach lives with Masako in the back, behind the studio, in a deluxe one bedroom, replete with massive kitchen. A world-class gourmet chef, Masako graduated from Mills College and went on to study 3-D animation at San Francisco State, finally "becoming an Artichoke," as she phrased it, when she and Paul got married in 1998.
"It's like living with a mad but mellow genius," Masako told me, which she apparently has no problem with considering she seems to be of that ilk herself.
Loading up Artichoke grip/lighting truck which is an ambulance. photo: D. BlairThey flew to Chicago and roadtripped back to Oakland, with a few breakdowns and curious stares along the way, doing it in 12 days because they also took the opportunity to shoot some stock footage. Nicknaming it the RedZephyr Truck to go with his RedZephyrCam (that crazy Segway), the truck is all fixed up and ready to roar into action whenever production duty calls.
Tracking shots are a breeze on the RedZephyr Cam. photo: M. MizuharaKalbach is a certified Steadicam operator, and the RedZephyrCam rig enhances his ability to focus on the shot by transferring the weight of the Steadicam off of his body onto the Segway. Kalbach keeps it parked right next to his stage for a quick tracking shot—or getaway—as the case may be.
Throughout the building I could see traces of the horse barn it once was a hundred years ago. Since then, it housed a foundry and air compressor factory. When Kalbach moved in, the front yard was barren, so he began planting and today there is a flourishing garden with a small stream, waterfalls and goldfish ponds. Meanwhile, on the second floor, up a spiral staircase, there were master baths, guest rooms and a library.
This concluded my whirlwind tour of Artichoke Productions and visit with the man behind this uniquely Oakland facility. Although compact, it features an eclectic mix of high-end production and post-production gear fully capable of handling complex projects, yet offering an organic and artistic touch. Kalbach has a creative and original approach to the production aesthetic, inherited from his art making days, and an incredible enthusiasm solving the challenges of any given production at affordable prices.
"I really hope that Oakland will truly embrace its complexity and finds ways to attract more productions, so that we can have more opportunities to put our skills, experience and equipment to work," he told me. Indeed, Artichoke would serve as the perfect center for Oakland's inevitable—at some point, it is bound to happen—film movement.
Doniphan Blair is a writer, filmmaker, graphic designer and fine artist living in Oakland and can be reached .
Posted on May 08, 2013 - 06:36 AM
