Irise Filmz

iRise Filmz Mikell “Fetti” Limbrick

With over 10 years of experience in the vid eography, Mikell “Fetti” Limbrick of iRise Filmz is continuing to perfect his craft and create more opportunities for local artists to present their music. He got his start by attending and film ing local shows, concerts, and events and he would upload those events to his youtube channel. Once others started to notice his work he began to build and gain clients off of his rapport and work ethics. After a decade in the business iRise Filmz is still go ing strong and we were able to sit down with Lim brick so that he could tell us all about it.

What project are you most proud of? I would have to say the Sesame Street Project be cause I have never had any schooling but I have enough skill set to land a project on a national syn dicated television show. To me that is just awesome, Sesame Street is worldwide this project was shown through-out the world. I have been doing this for 10 years and I know others in the same industry who have not reached that type of project so that lets me know that I must be doing something right. I am very proud of that.

What kind of stories do you like to portray through your work? I am big on having things cinematic right now and that is me trying to separate myself from other vid eographers and cinematographers in the city. Differ ent lights, good color-correcting, setting the scene different backgrounds. Shooting style to catch the

audience eye. Unless the client calls for a different look.

How would you describe your working style? I like to have a treatment intact and the client and myself we will bounce ideas off of each other. I kind of base it off of their style and their persona. If they have some type of charisma about themselves that make them unique I try to tune into that and make it very very unique for that one client so that they can be separated from the pack. I like to go location hunting and whatever matches the song, I will try to tune in and become one with the song and some times it could just be one location if it fits that song. It all depends on the client.

What type of projects do you enjoy working on the most? I like corporate projects. This past February, I was able to work on a segment for Sesame Street that aired on National Television. I want to do more cor porate projects such as commercials, real estate, doc umentaries, and short films. I still will film a music video because I have some great relationships with music artist, however, my focus is corporate.

What is an important aspect of having a good client relationship during production? You want to get that right off the back. If you do not establish some type of rapport depending on what the job is, then you won’t be able to capture the full

potential. I try to study and research the client so that I am in tune with them that I can get more than what I need. Now I know how far I can take them during production because I am so in tune with them and in the end I have clients say to me “Man, I’m glad you brought that out of me.” When they see their results now they know that they can do more now than what they have been doing. I try to get on their level and dig into their personality to see what I can pull out of them and hopefully it’s some thing that they never knew that they had. I want my clients to shine as bright as they can.

Do you have packages that you offer for your services? I do for weddings, howev er, I try to work with any budget. Most services start at $1,000 and up.

Why does it cost so much for videographer services? What clients fail to realize is all the work, time and effort that we put into projects. What we do is a skill set. We have our equipment, the price of the equip ment, editing, lighting, audio, location scouting, per

mits, hiring gappers, hiring boom operators, and a drone operator for a quadcopter. I didn’t even men tion traveling and the hours of pre and post-produc tion. Sometimes clients just think we only go hold a camera and shoot but it is so much more than that. I just want clients to know that the hours you spend working on their projects is a different ball game from what their perception is.

What is your average time line for your projects? It depends on what type of project it is. My average time line is about two weeks. How ever, some projects take more than that due to the complex ity. Once I get started editing, I just keep going because I want to see the final project. I can get so knee-deep into the project and I want to see the outcome that I tend to knock projects out quickly.

What is one thing that you know now that you wish you would have known when you started? Lighting. Lighting is very important it can make or break a project. Lighting helps you tell a story about the points of focus.

What is one of your biggest blow-ups or mis takes that happen during production? Audio is a big one. Especially, whenever we are film ing somewhere and we are patching into their audio system. Everything seems great because there is no feedback however when I get to my workstation and playback the audio and it is horrible, you can not redo the project. That has been a very troubling is sue. It pays to have your own sound guy. Lighting is the next issue. Shooting against and turning around and shooting with lighting. Every time you switch positions you have to change your shutter speed, re flectors are needed, and if you are not prepared your outcome is not going to be great. You will have to force light into situations which can make your proj ect horrible. It can be a lot of strain with bumps and bruises but it is a learning process.

What is one goal that you are currently working on to help take iRise Filmz to the next level? I have never seen anyone reach success without a team. You have to have a solid team. Right now I am in the process of building a solid team where we can bounce ideas off of each other and make some dope projects.

What is some advice that you can offer someone who is wanting to get into the film industry? Study on perfecting your craft. You don’t always need to start with the most expensive equipment. There are lots of other equipment that will get the job done. Start small with what you have and then work yourself up. Youtube is your friend because it

is all free information. Look into how-to’s, forums, workshops based on your level. Learn as much as you can, network, get with others in the same field, and continue to feed yourself with knowledge. And lastly, shoot something daily, this can be done with your phone. You can learn so much in that moment, knowledge of perception, white balance, and shut ter speed. Start right now by educating yourself.

What’s next for iRise Filmz? More short films, documentaries, and corporate projects, land surveying, property listing, and com mercials. In the future, I want to eventually get into full-length features, hit the big screens, more net working with as many names as we can and iRise Filmz a household name. The ultimate goal is to make Houston the 4th melting pot behind New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta for the film industry.

For more information on iRise Filmz visit www.Irise filmz.net. Be sure to follow him on twitter @risedvd on and @Irisefilmz on Facebook and Instagram.