I would say that being on a film crew is probably the coolest job ever. Recently, we were able to recruit a big name Director of Photography (Greg Sabo) for a 168 hour film festival that a friend of ours was taking part in. We had taken part in it last year, and were excited to do so again-this time with bigger guns. With an aresanel of professional gear, we set out to produce an award winning piece. Drum-roll, please.
Now working with high-end cameras, lighting and gear requires a knowledgeable crew with willing hands. The more, the merrier! Sound tech, grips, gaffers-even someone to run for coffee. The Cameraman, DP and Director-assuming they’re all different-shouldn’t have to take time out to talk people through every little thing. So we were sure to call a few friends to assist with the helping and hauling and eventually packing it all up.
On most production sets, you’ll have a variety of people. And in these, you’ll always find the person standing around doing nothing. Normally they ‘know someone who knows someone’, or are friends with the “fill in important title here” , but regardless, they’re hanger-ons, watching and more than likely, getting in the way. They’re also normally full of valuable advice and opinions. Hopefully, these people, and the people you called to help aren’t one and the same. Also hopefully, the people you call don’t show up at the last hour of a 10 hour shoot and ask if there’s any food left. These are the same people who leave one minute before wrap and strike. When it’s time to tear down and load the equipment, they make like the end of a scene and cut. If this is you, you can rest assured that the minute everyone is done and ready to go, they’ll wonder why they called you in the first place, and whether or not it’s worth it to call you for the next one. it makes you look bad, and whoever invited you is left holding the cat.
So if you’re invited to help out on set-or any job, for that matter, be sure to ask what you can do, and not make a fast-break the moment real labor is involved. Even the smallest thing can make the night go smoother for someone else. It takes a team to get a project like a film festival done on time and in order. And you know what they say about ‘i’s’ in team.
As a media outlet, we’ve become part of a lot of different social networks. One in particular, Merchant Circle, has a neat feature that lines up user questions with businesses that it feels are qualified to answer. Here’s one that was sent to us. Now, the question didn’t pertain to us directly, but our line of work deals with the reason she had to ask it to begin with, so we felt obliged to answer… Keep reading →
We recently finished filming a training seminar for a prosthetic limb developer. Now, I know what you’re thinking, but this wasn’t your typical ‘fake hand’. far from it. Remember that scene in Terminator 2 when they found the arm from the original? (The arm was all that was left from the terminator which was crushed in the first film.) Well, these prosthetics were more like that. Attaching to muscles via sensors, people with no hands or fingers were able to-with a thought and a flex of the arm-open individual fingers and perform tasks previously unheard of in this field. (Think: play piano or pick up skittles off of a table.) It made me think that all current prosthetics had met their match, and I wondered what the future held for our own industry.
In the past few years I’ve been privileged to work here, I’ve seen a few Keep reading →
Have you ever watched a cheesy commercial and wondered where on earth those actors came from? Well, chances are it wasn’t from Heyman Talent. Heyman is a regional talent agency, located at 772 N. High St. Suite 102 Columbus, Ohio. They deliver all sorts of roles, and are a top hit for any aspiring actor or actress.
We’ve worked with Heyman several times over the last couple of years on various projects ranging from casting extras for a music video production to TV spots, and have even auditioned ourselves once or twice.
If you think you have what it takes, or need talent for your next gig, check them out on the web: www.HeymanTalent.com.
You shouldn’t type an ad requesting a videographer or professional cameraman when all you really want is the camera. I mean, do you really care if the camera meets NTSC/SMPTE standards or the cameraman
Videographer Joshua Porter
meets ENG/EFP standards? Do you even know what that means? Professionals do, and it matters to them-videographers, that is-and this is where your problem comes in, seeing how you’re probably paying WAY under the rate card.
An average full-day rate for a videographer/camera package is $600 to $1600 and depends on experience and type of camera. Price normally includes Keep reading →
Ever been up close and personal with a chicken wing? Check out our behind the scenes footage of a regional television commercial campaign for Wings Over.
We originally had a sound booth in a hallway. Then we thought, ‘why not make the hallway the soundbooth?’ It took approximately four weeks to finish, with several skilled hands. Come to think of it, that was the last time any of us posted to the blog or worked on any project… The hardest part was moving an industrial restroom door, while the easiest was putting on the decorative records. How good it was to be finally finished.
We bought 20 sheets of QuiteRock (5/8″ sound proof drywall). This stuff normally goes for around $74 bucks a sheet. We picked it up for about $4 per sheet. Add the foam, wood and the truck to get it back here, and our total was around $1200 for our 8×5 room (double sided drywall).
Another triumph came in finding a custom glass cutter for the perfect size window. It took a couple of visits before we got it right. We choose a 3-1/2 x 2′ foot window.
Basements and living rooms can only contain creativity for so long. Not only are they dirty, but one needs a professional headquarters.
Like a plant in a flat that gets transplanted, so came the first office: a one window back room that too quickly outlived it’s usefulness. A-ha! A prime downtown location-perfect! It welcomes us, melds to fit our needs. Our clients love it. Then one day the greenscreen went up: just a few guys talking, ‘wouldn’t that be nice?’, and there it was. Done and done. Hey, lets add a sound booth as well. We have the material from previous events. Whew! Looks good, doesn’t it? (see picture)
picture our first sound booth
But a fish will only grow as big as it’s bowl. If we want to move from Blue-gill to Grouper, we’ll need more. Soundbooth, it’s time for you to graduate. Soon we shall have ourselves a full fledged recording room, allowing not one but three people simultaneously. Oh, you brought your guitar? That’s fine. Plenty of room. Go on in.
A few construction details: Move the bathroom door, drywall the hallway leading to bathroom, add QuietRock, some sound dampeners, throw up a ceiling and sound proof it all-as well as outlets, A/C and a window to boot. A few guys talking: ‘wouldn’t that be nice?’ We have to be careful though, lest our project spiral out of control. We see it in projects, where something seems simple from the start, and suddenly demands more. More graphics. More filming days. More meetings about items already decided on. The only ‘less’ we ever seem to come across is when invoices are involved.
An idea that keeps growing. Kinda like this blog. It now has two authors and a few extra paragraphs.
Thursday of last week, mixed within the usual jumble of magazines and intern resume’s that make up everyday mail, was a postcard for the 2009 International Christian Retail Show. Holding it for a moment, I let my mind drift.
Last year at this time we were blissfully unaware of the sweeping poverty that would soon descend. Our summer interns were learning the fine art of LiveType, our website had a fresh new look and we had just finished wrapping up production on V-translations, a video bible study of sorts which included street interviews, conversations with inmates, and a skit, all showing the destructive nature of lying. “The Truth About Lies”, it was called, and it was a culmination of two years of filming and editing, all out of pocket.
Boy caught in lie
The original idea came to the producer a bit differently: Take scripture and literally translate it into a video demonstration. This proved to be much more difficult than it looked on paper. We sat down to work our grey matter on how to make it happen and happen realistically. Keep reading →
For information on this blog and to hire a professional video production company contact:
I'AMedia
614.223.1107 / info@visions2video.com
or visit our website: www.visions2video.com
441 E Mound St
Columbus, Ohio 43215
When I worked on McDonald’s we were told that we were absolutely not allowed to fuck with the logo. I like this. Simple. Clean. Cute. A little 2005 but that’s ok. It’s McLobster season y’all!
HAve you ever asked yourself ‘Man, i wish that Barclaycard waterslide ad was an iPhone app’? Well your question has been answered. With the new iPhone and iTouch game – Waterslide Extreme.
I would say that being on a film crew is probably the coolest job ever. Recently, we were able to recruit a big name Director of Photography (Greg Sabo) for a 168 hour film festival that a friend of ours was taking part in. We had taken part in it last year, and were excited to do so again-this time with bigger guns. With an aresanel of professional gear, we set out to produce an award winning piece. Drum-roll, please.
