Riding the Long White Cloud
I miss skate trips. This documentary series makes me want to hit the road.
Riding the Long White Cloud was a bicycle skate trip [through New Zealand]. It was shot and edited by the Vancouver based FriendlyFire productions.
It features pro skaters Cairo Foster, Chris Haslam, Silas Baster Neal, Kenny Anderson, Keegan Sauder, Rick McCrank, and John Rattray.
Travel and skate.
The City Dark
The City Dark is a beautiful film that we missed at SXSW, but are anxiously awaiting a chance to see. With any luck it will come through San Francisco on its screening tour starting late summer (you can even host a screening if you have a venue).
Synopsis from their press kit:
THE CITY DARK is a feature documentary about light pollution and the disappearing night sky, premiering in competition at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival. After moving to New York City from rural Maine, filmmaker Ian Cheney asks a simple question, “Do we need the stars?” Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawaii, tracking hatching turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing injured birds on Chicago streets, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights – including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. Featuring stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, philosophers, historians and lighting designers, THE CITY DARK is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars.
It was produced by the guys who made King Corn, we can’t wait to see it.
UNDERCITY
This film awakens our inner explorer.
Directed by Andrew Wonder and featuring Steve Duncan of undercity.org, it was
shot on a canon 5d mkii with canon 24 f/1.4 (version 1) with the zacuto rapid fire, Zoom H4N and a sennheiser g2 wireless lav.
Enjoy. For more info about the film and filmmakers head here.
Snow Guardians a Collaborative+Film project
Did you see those Redrock Rigs? That video is like gear porn. (Cool idea for a film too.)
We stumbled across Snow Guardians while browsing the latest issue of Videography magazine. We love the concept of the film (from it’s website)…
We have combined a group of cinematographers, photographers, editors and VFX gurus to use the latest HD DSLR, and large senor digital HD cameras to shoot a documentary on Ski Patrol and Search & Rescue in Montana. Get ready for an immensely visual documentary on the life and work of Ski Patrol at several Montana Ski Resorts as well as the Search and Rescue teams that respond to winter emergencies in the backcountry.
We are working to prove that you do not need a large production company to create an amazing broadcast film using the latest HD digital cameras from RED, Canon, and Panasonic. During the shoot we will take this new breed of digital film cameras far outside the comforts of the studio.
In addition to the documentary, a separate behind the scenes film with be shot in parallel. The behind the scenes capture will be integrated into daily filming and will be used to highlight the abilities of a new breed of small, digital broadcast cameras, HDDSLR and digital encoding technologies. Weekly blog updates will be posted on a production website, allowing followers to track the progress and learn from the behind the scenes content.
…but the part of the article that caught our eye was this:
We had two [MX] REDs, which are great because you can shoot at 4K at up to 120fps and you have a RAW codec that gives you a lot of room to push the look around during color grading. We shot most of the interviews with Panasonic AG-AF100s. We did a lot of work with multiple Canon EOS 5D,7D and 1D Mk IVs, which are so small and light and give that shallow depth of field. We used those for some interview work, too, and we did a little bit of 60fps shooting with the 7D for slow motion. We brought 18 of the really tiny GoPro cameras, which were great for mounting to a helmet, a ski patroller’s chest, a rescue dog or a snowmobile.
How did they get all those cameras? If you watched the video above, then you know the answer is at least in part related to sponsorships (which is an excellent model for securing a equipment that we will be looking into in the future).
There was also a social media element to getting production off the ground. Co-Producer Tyler Ginter started tweeting about the idea for the film, and then magically a crew came together over twitter (follow that link for the twitter account of the whole crew).
The idea that a high production value, adventure style documentary can be produced by pulling a crew together over social media and shot using smaller, relatively inexpensive digital cameras is one that resonates with us. It inspires, and makes us optimistic for our future long-form projects. After all, it’s not so different from the way we coordinate our network of freelancers now. We will certainly be following the progress of this film and encourage you to do so as well.
Burn: The Detroit Fire Film
BURN is a character-driven documentary about Detroit, told through the eyes of Detroiters who are on the front lines, trying to rescue and rebuild it. BURN will follow the firefighters, the men and women charged with the thankless task of saving a city that many have written off as dead. We’ll also look at the educators, the reformers, the activists, the enthusiasts — those who have the vision and the heart to bring a forgotten American dream back to Detroit.
On a commercial project last fall, we had the pleasure of working with Brenna Sanchez, one of the producers of this film. She told us about her project documenting Detroit’s firefighters and we’ve been following the progress ever since. Check out their website for info, the filmmaking is truly breathtaking. To capture the in-the-moment drama of firefighters in action they are using a variety of small cameras from DSLR’s to helmet cams…
How cool, beautiful, frightening, dramatic was that? More than stunning visual imagery, this is an important film documenting the struggle of hard working men and women in the crumbling industrial mecca that is Detroit. The subtitle sums it, “one year on the front lines of the battle to save Detroit.”
We can’t wait to see Burn finished. If you’re interested in helping it get there, then you can make a tax deductible donation here. Like them on Facebook. Contact them on Vimeo. And follow them on Twitter.
Roughneck BART Tour 2010
Bank of America: BUILT Spot
This is our second Bank of America spot to make it out of the gates. We produced this with our friend’s over at IB5k. We’re proud of this particular piece, it was one of our favorite days of production for the campaign. There’s nothing like taxi’ing around New York city with a mountain of gear. For more info on BUILT go here.
Bank of America: Butte College Spot
We’ve been deep in a project with our friends over at IB5k and Panhandle, producing videos for a Bank of America campaign. We’ve been working on this project since September, and we haven’t been able to share much about it until now. A couple (of 20+) spots are up on the bank’s website. This is the first:
For more information on Butte College go here. The credits on this piece are gargantuan, so stay tuned for a flow chart in the near-ish future.
Sneak Peak: One Ride
In recent blogs we’ve mentioned that we’re working with our friends at IB5k on a big project for Bank of America. For the most part, we haven’t been able to say much because the Bank isn’t rolling out the campaign until later in the season.
However, the fates have finally aligned and with the One Ride promo posted above, we have the opportunity to share some of what we’ve been working on. One Ride is a…
rip-roaring, spanking-new dance musical from the creators of Swango! One Ride’s powerful and passionate story is told through the songs of country legend Chris LeDoux and the breathtaking choreography of Robert Royston, the man behind QTP’s smash hit, Swango! Full of energy, dynamic movement and the live music of Chris’ band, Western Underground, One Ride is a timeless tale about the quest to find the “champion” in ourselves! Conceived, directed and choreographed by Robert Roysten.
If you’re wondering what any of this has to do with what we’ve been working on; the promo was compiled from footage produced for a Bank video about Queens Theatre in the Park. The interview and rehearsal footage was shot on Canon DSLR’s by Jeremey and Ben at Dance Manhattan. We had the amazing opportunity to use every lens and stabilizer in our arsenal. Lauretta Molitor worked audio. Abby pulled the selects, and it was cut in our hotel room at the Standard in LA by our friend (and twitter phenom) Andrew who is working as a producer on the project.
We wish we could say more, and with any luck we will be able to in the weeks to come. For now we’re hanging at the Standard, and Abby’s got a full edit station set up in our room. Jeremey is enjoying a rest day in the middle of two weeks of production around Los Angeles.
If you’re in New York and you’d like to check One Ride out:
Queens Theatre in the Park (QTP) presents One Ride on October 29-30 and November 3-6 at 8pm, and October 30-31 and November 4-6 at 2pm, and November 7 at 3pm, at Queens Theatre in the Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, NY. Tickets are $34-40 (with varying Multi-Show, Senior, and Student discounts). Tickets are available at queenstheatre.org or by phone at 718-760-0064.
Dwntwn Skate Supply: SOMA
This video is the latest in a long line of videos we’ve produced to cover the exploits of our friend Johnny Roughneck. Back in 2009 we produced a video promoting his new shop “Dwntwn” that had just opened in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. A year later, he’s got a Best of the Bay Award under his belt and the shop has moved to a new and bigger South of Market location. In his own words, they “ain’t playing.”
This is our inaugural dslr shoot. It was produced by JADED with the help of our friend Ben Youngerman. We shot with a Canon 7D, a Canon 5D Mark II, and employed a Merlin Steadicam with vest and arm.
DWNTWN Skate Supply 1086 Howard St. SF, CA