Nicholas Van Buren Martin is an award winning Filmmaker, born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. He defines himself as a gearhead, futurist, and surveyor of storytelling across mediums.

Nicholas is a graduate of Cornish College of the Arts with a BFA in Film. He enjoys experimenting with new formats and mediums whenever possible.

Producer

With producing, my philosophy is to base every interaction on giving people a sense of value they can contribute to the project. Whether they are the location scout, the talent, the PA, or the financial backers, everyone needs to know that the energy they bring to the set matters, and in the end, will determine the success of the final product. All of that starts with the Producer. They set the precedent.

Director

Titles Directed:

Those Empty Years (2018)
Destruction (2017)
Boba (2017)
Northern Light (2017)
ROOTS: Homeless in Seattle (2017)
Hellscreen (2017)
The Royal Disease (2016)
Devil in the Wind (2016)

Editor

Color Grading

Color grading has quickly become one of my favorite aspects of filmmaking. There are few greater feelings than turning dull, muddy footage into something that looks like a real movie. Here's a brief walk through of my process.

1.) An example of my (condensed) workflow

2.) The "flat" footage, straight from the camera

3.) Color Correction. Notice there's still a lot of magenta in the highlights but I wasn't able to pull it out without sacrificing the skin tones, and it feels a bit like a home video, that means it's time for...

4.) Color Grade or LUTs. This is the style that is placed on the footage. Like Instagram's filters this can drastically enhance the mood of the shot, or add subtle nuance, but unlike a simple filter, these have to be catorered to a moving shot, which is why Color Graders get a job.

5.)This is the "parade" graph of the color spectrum in the "flat" shot

6.) This shows how the grade allows the video to show off its full range of color and dynamic range!

Live Event Recording

Live events are tricky. It takes an understanding of each event, set-up, the potential pitfalls, and an execution with the smallest amount of error. It’s live theater and missing a moment, however minor, is out of the question.

It takes a solid team of videographers, to make sure it is recorded the way you want to remember it. The highlights, spectacle, and less of your drunk in-laws.