The first event of the 2009 season was held at Angles Stadium in Anaheim.  It was moved because Dodger Stadium didnt want a rapper performing at the event so HIN said “See Ya”.  The event was the first with the new owners.  My crew was shooting for the National Guard and shooting the events Big Screen LED Jumbotron.   The attendance was crazy as I heard there was a 3 hour wait at one point.  There definitely was a buzz in the air as the car show attracted 540 show cars from the local clubs and performance shops.   The models at this event were in full attack mode as there was plenty of eye candy, shouts to Naughty Nos girls Alicia Whitten and Corissa Furr….I shot the unveiling of the new 350Z that the National Guard is building, it’s complete carbon fiber body with some crazy air brushed art by the homie Cory….definitely check it out….also got my brembo brakes as a gift from the guard…THANKS!!!

Casting Call in Phoenix, AZ.  It was the perfect time to be in Phoenix as the weather was at about 75 -80 the whole time.  This was my 3rd castings in Phoenix and the last time I was here I was sick the whole time and it was horrible.  This time was much better. We had 2 rooms going with Mizuno and Jodi shooting stills and myself capturing all the video. The turn out was a little low but the quality of the girls was good as always in Phoenix.  I think the hotter girls here in AZ always seem to show up.

Today we shot special editions in Eagle Rock at cool restored house from the 1920s.  It was really decorated in lacquer paint with deep reds, blacks, yellows and themed rooms.  Pretty cool, but looked more like a place at an amusement park than it was to live in.  The model was Venus from San Diego castings. She is a live wire this girl. She is a self-professed Dominatrix and happen to share some video of her and her girlfriend on her Ipod. Odd!  Shoot was long and it was raining.  Venus was a good sport talked a lot and asked a lot of questions.  

Today we shot in the valley for Special Editions. The model was Danielle from the San Diego Castings last November.  She was really bubbly and happy to be there. She moved well and we did a shot in a blue kitchen, with her making spaghetti and getting it all over herself. lol “thats playboy”.  The shower at this place looked like a cockpit for a spaceship. Way too many knobs, but great for shooting……

After a long time away I have decided to return to the blog. I was going to try to make this a 3rd person style blog but it seems that would take too much time. I am now just going to be updating as a blog of a Director/Producer/Filmmaker/Content Creator.  I will be blogging for the year as I film and shoot all around the country for various clients and productions.  You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/mikebrillantes

Well the shoot finally took place with Kendra doing the photography for the Celebrity shoot of “Girls of Olive Garden.”  We started at 9:00am at the Mansion after going through the security checkpoints and getting settled into our location.  We set up to shoot at the pool area just outside of the infamous “Grotto”.  It was strange to stand inside the grotto and imagine what has taken place there over the years and many parties.  If those walls could talk Im sure they would have many crazy and colorful stories.  

The Mansion was busy with groundkeepers and security.  They were also preparing for this weekends August 9, “Midsummer Nights Party”. It is the Mansions huge summer bash they put on every year.  Word is that this year they opened tickets up to the public at $10,000 a pop.

I started shooting some B-roll (which is extra footage outside of the set to be used for editing). The flamingos and other animals were all over the place.  

We finished our setup and had lunch from the Mansion kitchen before we began shooting.

Kendra showed up at 1:00 and we started the shoot.  I hadn’t met her but was told we might only have her for 20 minutes so we had to move quickly.  She showed up in low rise jeans and a tank top looking hott as always.  She was really nice and energetic about the shoot. 

I began shooting right away as she picked out the outfit for the model for first scene.  The model was from an Olive Garden in  Southern California.  You could see how happy she was that her shoot was at the Playboy Mansion and to top it off Kendra was the celebrity shooting her. 

Kendra was really supportive of her and kept telling her how good she looked, it really helped the waitress relax on the set.  

After getting her tutorial on the camera Kendra started shooting away. Because of her experience she was able to give some nice direction and even some sample poses for the model.  

Kendra was really great on the video camera for me giving updates through the day on how the shoot was going.  We ended up shooting 3 different scenes and Kendra really enjoyed shooting.  You can tell she wanted to get really nice shots for the magazine.  

Kendra ended up shooting with us for 3 hours and had a blast.  Her favorite shot was when she pulled out an inflatable shark and had the model straddle it like a horse.  It was really hott and she loved it.

All in all it was a really fun and exciting shoot and another enjoyable day at the mansion.  Im sure I don’t need to explain the beautiful girls walking around the grounds that you would expect from the mansion.

We did see Hef’s kids walking around in pajamas and robes though.  lol….  At one point I walked out to my car and they had parked it in Bridgets spot…that was pretty funny……

You can see pictures and the video from all the celebrity shoots at playboy.com….

Got the news today that the celebrity shoot at the Mansion on July 30th will be with Kendra from the E show Girls Next Door. She will be the celebrity taking the photos for Playboys “Girls of the Olive Garden”. I will be shooting behind the scenes and documenting the whole shoot from the Mansion for Playboy.com. I expect Holly and Hef to be there to see how she does. Should be an interesting shoot…

The blog you have tripped onto is “If my camera could talk.”  Im Lenso and I am a Panasonic HVX HD video camera. My owner’s name is VDO and he is a free lance videographer who has shot for various productions including MTV,HBO,RCA Records,Fox Sports Network, NFL,Hot Import Nights and Playboy Behind The Scenes. Of all the productions I have shot it seems that other cameras are most curious of the Playboy shoots. My owner has been shooting for Playboy for 2 years and all of his friends (and even strangers like the bankteller who cashes the cool bunny checks)  have expressed their curiosity in what my lens sees and experiences.  So here is my blog of the various shoots that I document and the stories that come from them. 

Lenso

Just learned today that we have booked July 30th for a Celebrity Photo-shoot.  Mizuno will be guiding the celebrity and I will be filming BTS (behind the scenes). This will be shot at the Mansion so it will definitely be  interesting. Looking forward to finding out who the celebrity photographer will be.  

Lenso

I will be entering the blogs from my journal dating back to July 2006.  I will simultaneaously work back from the most recent months until they have all been entered. As you can see I have just started this blog so it will take sometime to enter all of the blogs.   I expect to be caught up as soon as time permits

Lenso