THE NO.1 TEAM IN AMERICA ... DOCU-SERIES UNDERWAY!

In September 2021 , Fresh Focus Sports linked up with the best team in the country to produce the best basketball show on the internet. AZ Compass truly gave us All-Access which led to so many great stories being able to develop throughout the season.

We produced 9 episodes, nearly 4.5 hrs worth of content! Only on our YouTube Channel.

FILMING MARQUIS 'MOOKIE' COOK, THE NO.5 PLAYER IN THE CLASS OF 2023.

FILMING MARQUIS 'MOOKIE' COOK, THE NO.5 PLAYER IN THE CLASS OF 2023.

AZ COMPASS PREP IS MADE UP OF PLAYERS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, ACTUALLY THE WORLD AS 2 PLAYERS ON THE TEAM ARE FROM AFRICA. ONE PLAYER FROM CALIFORNIA, KYLAN BOSWELL , IS A FAMILIAR FACE TO FRESH FOCUS SPORTS AS WE FILMED WITH HIM SINCE HIS SOPHOMORE SEASON AT COLONY IN LOS ANGELES. KYLAN, RECENTLY RECLASSIFIED TO THE CLASS OF 2022 AND WILL BE PLAYING FOR THE ARIZONA WILDCATS NEXT SEASON. TAKE A LOOK AT THE FEATURE WE DID ON KYLAN AND JARED MCCAIN IN 2020, ‘SLEEPERS IN THE IE’, REFERRING TO THEIR LOW RANKINGS AT THE TIME. ONE YEAR AFTER THIS FEATURE, KYLAN AND JARED WERE BOTH TOP 25 IN THEIR CLASS AND COMMITTED TO DUKE (JARED MCCAIN) AND ARIZONA (KYLAN BOSWELL).

PEYTON WATSON'S SENIOR YEAR

After producing 10 episodes of DOMinate , Fresh Focus Sports followed up with a 2 part feature documentary on Peyton Watson , the No.1 player ranked in California. We started filming with Peyton in May of 2020 , as COVID-19 shutdown the entire country, Peyton and his brother Chris did driveway workouts with there father, Julio. With the season eventually getting postponed we released the first part of 1600 Atlantic , by the end no one really knows if Peyton will have his senior year.

In March of 2021, California lifted the ban of high school sports, Peyton and the Long Beach Poly JackRabbits had a chance to play basketball for the first time in 13 months. Part 2 of 1600 Atlantic deals with the season that finally happens.



BEHIND THE SCENES - HANDLE LIFE SESSIONS (FILMING BASKETBALL!)

Handle Life Sessions is an episodic high end vlog that Fresh Focus Sports started producing in 2018. The vlog stars Johnny Stephene, better known as @Dribble2Much on social media. Johnny is a world class basketball trainer, but also much more, an entrepreneur and hip hop artist.

This blog post is about the basketball side of the shooting, something I have almost 2 decades of experience in.

First off, when shooting basketball , the first mistake people usually make is trying to follow the flight of the basketball right away. With any documentary shooting, you want to make sure you nail the shots you need before taking risks with your camera skills.

NAILING BASKETBALL WORKOUTS THE FIRST TIME YOU FILM

The best way to do this is to shoot ‘static’ frames and let the action take place within your frame. And when you go away from a static frame, keep a frame and follow the action, don’t zoom! WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW , ONLY NEED TO WATCH FIRST 20 SECONDS TO UNDERSTAND THE BELOW CONCEPT.

  1. First you shoot a Wide at first, this sets the scene and also allows you to see shots go in and the entire sequence of the play/drill/workout.

    Example: S1EP7 - DeMar DeRozan (Video Below)

    :00 - Wide static shot, sets the scene, camera never moves.

  2. Then get a Medium ‘static’ shot, maybe the basket is still in frame in this or maybe not, the point of the shot is a closer look at the action.

    Example: S1EP7 - DeMar DeRozan (Video Below)

    :14 - Medium shot, also this shot is not static because the camera moves, but the shooter keeps the frame and just follows the action. No zoom.

  3. Tight shot, this really engages the viewer into the detail, tight ‘static’ shots of the players release of the jumpshot, an iso of footwork during a drill, whatever the scene calls for.

    Example: S1EP7 - DeMar DeRozan (Video Below)

    :07 - Tight shot, on top of the action, still the shooter picks a frame and keeps it the entire time while tracking the action.

FOLLOWING THE BASKETBALL

1. First off, get under the basket!

2. Whenever a player is shooting a ball, its obviously going to the basket, so make it easier on yourself. With a ‘Medium” shot start to track the ball on it’s release, knowing that its coming towards you. You may want to practice the flow and rhythm of ending on the basket.

3. The biggest mistake I see people make when shooting hoops is trying to zoom in and out to much and trying to follow all of the action they see developing. You have to pick a frame and let action develop in that frame, you can track with the frame you pick, but zooming is not suggesting (unless you are using a cinema lense)

4. Also you will notice the focus needs to be adjusted when the ball hits the net. Especially, if you are shooting at a low enough F stop. So keeping the same frame and not zooming will allow your hand free to adjust the focus as the ball gets closer to the hoop.

IN THE EXAMPLE BELOW, there are 2 clips , one where the shooter is under the basket and one where the shooter is at mid court. I suggest getting under the hoop for beginners. Notice how the shooter on this footage rarely if ever zooms or adjust frame, when the action starts the shooter is keeping the frame and following the action.

DeMar DeRozan sitting down for an interview with Fresh Focus Sports at his alma matter, Compton High School.

DeMar DeRozan sitting down for an interview with Fresh Focus Sports at his alma matter, Compton High School.

So you want to film at Mavericks?

I didn't know what I was getting into going to Mavericks.  I DID watch many videos during the lead up, however, all those videos started by the wave.  So, I never quite understood what the trek was like oN THE BOAT RIDE OUT. THE TRIP CAME UP RATHER ABRUPTLY, WHILE IN ENGLAND FILMING FOR THE NBA LONDON GAME, NIC TEXTED ME THAT MAVERICKS IS LIKELY TO RUN ON MONDAY OR TUESDAY (JAN 15th or 16th).  I TURNED WHAT WAS A LAY OVER IN New York TO A DIRECT FLIGHT BACK HOME TO LA ON SUNDAY (14th).  BY THE TIME I LANDED, MAVERICKS WAS CALLED OFF. BUT, NIC WAS STILL GOING TO SURF IT, BEING THAT HE TRAVELED ALL THE WAY FROM PORTUGAL FOR THE EVENT.  SO ON MONDAY NIGHT, I DROVE FROM MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIFORNIA TO HALF MOON BAY, GETTING THERE AROUND 1AM.

FILMING AT MAVERICKS: First off, I was fair warned to not look at my phone or film with my camera on the way out to the wave, because it's important to focus on the horizon to ensure you don't get sea sick. Really good advice ... I did not take it.

:04 - IT's 7 AM , I AM LEAVING THE HOTEL TO MEET NIC AT NEW LEAF GROCERY STORY IN HALF MOON BAY.

:14 - COASTSIDE INN AT HALF MOON BAY (230 CABRILLO HWY S, HALF MOON BAY, CA 94019)

:36 - PILLAR POINT  HARBOR IS WHERE BOATS DEPART FROM FOR MAVERICKS.        (1 JOHNSON PIER, HALF MOON BAY, CA 94019)

:55 - ONCE YOU GET OUT OF HARBOR, YOU SEE THE WATER GETS CHOPPY.  MAVERICKS ONLY BREAK DURING STORMS , SO IT'S COMMON FOR IT TO BE ROUGH SEAS WHEN GOING TO FILM AT THE WAVE. *AS I MENTIONED ABOVE, I DO NOT SUGGEST FILMING ON THE WAY OUT.  JUST FOCUS ON THE HORIZON UNTIL YOU GET OUT TO THE LOCATION TO FILM.  I DID NOT LISTEN TO THAT ADVICE ... MAINLY BECAUSE NIC WAS UNSURE IF HE WAS EVEN GOING TO BE ABLE TO SURF BECAUSE OF THE FOG, SO I FELT COMPELLED TO HAVE SOME TYPE OF SCENE FOR THE EPISODE AFTER A 7 HOUR DRIVE.

1:15 - WE TAKE A WAVE HEAD ON.  AGAIN I'M BAD AT TAKING ADVICE AND I FALL DOWN AS BOB SAYS "HANG ON!" AS HE TAKES A WAVE HEAD ON.  BOB, HAS SAILED THESE WATERS SINCE A YOUNG BOY, BUT YOU COULD STILL TELL HE RESPECTED THE SEVERITY OF EACH TRIP.

1:39 - ONCE WE STOPPED AND SETTLED ABOUT 200 YARDS FROM THE WAVE BREAKING.  THERE ARE SEVERAL BOATS, JET SKIS, aND SURFERS ALL HANGING IN THE SAME AREA.  AT AROUND THE SAME TIME WE STOPPED, MY STOMACH STARTED TO RUMBLE.  AND WHEN I REACH DOWN TO MY CAMERA CASE, I REACH THE POINT OF NO RETURN.

1:46 - AND VOMIT.  SEVERAL TIMES.

2:09 - GOOD NEWS WAS ONCE I CLEARED MY STOMACH I WAS FINE THE REST OF THE TIME.  CAPTAIN BOB (SHOUT OUT CAPTAIN BOB!) HOOKED ME UP WITH SOME GINGER SODA THAT HIT THE SPOT.

3:00 - AFTER FILMING AN OTF (ON THE FLY INTERVIEW)  WITH NIC , I SWITCHED TO a CANON 70-200mm LENSE.  THE 200mm is long enough to capture the entire wave.  when you go longer than 200mm you can definitely get better cutaways and get tighter, riskier shots, however you may end up cutting a portion of the wave out of the frame ... which is kind of why you are there, to showcase the wave.

3:21 - SCENE FROM EPISODE 3 oF THE RISK.

Ray Robinson , a success story

MARCH 1ST, 2018 | RAY ROBINSON, THANASIS PETRAKIS, EDDIE ALVAREZ | FILMING UFC EMBEDDED IN DETROIT BEFORE EDDIE'S FIGHT WITH JUSTIN GAETHJE.

MARCH 1ST, 2018 | RAY ROBINSON, THANASIS PETRAKIS, EDDIE ALVAREZ | FILMING UFC EMBEDDED IN DETROIT BEFORE EDDIE'S FIGHT WITH JUSTIN GAETHJE.

It was Nov 8th , 2016 and Eddie Alvarez (UFC Fighter) WAS coming back from his media day at ESPN promoting his fight against Conor McGregor.   Ray Robinson, one of Eddie's childhood friends, was also his boxing coach for this fight.  I'M IN THE CAR ONLY FOR WORK REASONS, FILMING EDDIE FOR UFC EMBEDDED.  during the ride, EDDIE PASSIONATELY SPOKE ABOUT RAY'S CRAZY LIFE AND EVEN MORE ABOUT HOW HE WILL BEAT ALL THE BIG NAMES IN BOXING IF HE WAS EVER GIVEN THE CHANCE.  Ray, is a southpaw from Philly , who happens to share the same name as the greatest boxer ever, Sugar Ray Robinson.  RAY STARTED OUT UNDEFEATED, WINNING A BIG FIGHT ON ESPN, things looked great for the 23 year old ray.  but, in a show down with another undefeated fighter , BRAD SOLOMON, RAY SUFFERED HIS FIRST LOSS IN A TOUGH DECISION.  in a very questionable decision, coming off the loss, ray's management lined him up with another undefeated fighter, SHAWN PORTER.  PORTER WON IN A DECISION MANY QUESTIONED, including antonio tarver, who did commentary on the fight for showtime. long story short, ray has yet to get a big fight SINCE.  BOXING HAS MANY FACTORS THAT WEIGH IN TO FIGHT opportunities, and THERE IS NO COMMISIONER SCHEDULING FIGHTS.  SO, WITHOUT BEING SIGNED TO A CABLE NETWORK, RAY HASN'T HAD A CHANCE AT THE BEST NAMES IN THE SPORT SINCE 2011 ... AND THAT WAS THE MAIN REASON WE DID THE DOC, TO GET RAY'S STORY OUT AND GET HIM SOME EXPOSURE.  NOT TO MENTION ...( I COMPLETELY BURIED THE HEADLINE) WHAT RAY OVERCAME AS A CHILD IS NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE. NOW THE BOXING SUCCESS STORY PART .... IT HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED JUST RECENTLY THAT RAY HAS FINALLY GOT A FIGHT THAT IS PRIME TIME ... FEBRUARY 17TH , ALMOST A YEAR TO THE DAY WE STARTED FILMING THE DOC , RAY ROBINSON WILL GET HIS TIME TO SHINE ON SHOWTIME AS HE FIGHTS YORDENIS UGAS IN WHAT IS BEING LABELED AS PART OF THE WELTERWEIGHT ELIMINATOR.

Behind The Scenes: 2017, Ray Robinson walks into Bozy's Gym in Philadelphia, being filmed by Director of Photography, Rob Carbuccia.

Behind The Scenes: 2017, Ray Robinson walks into Bozy's Gym in Philadelphia, being filmed by Director of Photography, Rob Carbuccia.

FEBRUARY 2017 | FILMING WITH RAY ROBINSON IN PHILADELPHIA | (LEFT TO RIGHT) ROB CARBUCCIA, RAY ROBINSON, THANASIS PETRAKIS)

FEBRUARY 2017 | FILMING WITH RAY ROBINSON IN PHILADELPHIA | (LEFT TO RIGHT) ROB CARBUCCIA, RAY ROBINSON, THANASIS PETRAKIS)