Full Sail in Marina del Rey...

"The sail, the play of its pulse so like our own lives: so thin and yet so full of life, so noiseless when it labors hardest, so noisy and impatient when least effective." - Henry David Thoreau

A recent project for Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles provided us with the opportunity to arrive a day early and work on a test shoot. The main objective was to have a small group of talent interacting on a boat sailing out into the ocean. Bobbi Peacock, our producer, put out the word and in no time at all we were walking aboard a 40' sailboat alongside talent making introductions and greeting the man who would be our captain for the next four hours. As one can imagine the setting was just right for this type of test; the perfect southern California weather coupled with a gorgeous sailboat full of great talent cutting through the dark salty depths.

The time we spent in the harbor of Marina del Rey was quite calm and gave us time to acquire a temporary set of sea legs, but soon enough we found ourselves rising and falling to the rhythm of 6' - 8' swells which our captain pointed out as being most unusual for that area. We faced a few challenges regarding the high seas, but it only added to the look and feel of the stills and heightened the overall sense of adventure. Sailing is all at once calm, dangerous, spontaneous, rewarding, and addictive in that it's nothing like a land based activity.

Keep your sights on the horizon for a future motion piece to accompany the still imagery.

Full Sail in Marina del Rey...

Broadcast spots for St. Elizabeth Healthcare

"Neo Natal"


"Orthopedics"


"Hope"

Our involvement with the Newport, KY based agency Intrinzic began several years ago with several still / print based shoots for US Bank. Todd Lipscomb was the creative director on these past projects and served in the same capacity for a collaboration this past May: five 30-second broadcast spots for St. Elizabeth Hospital. To date this was the most robust motion shoot we have been a part of and took us to a new level in terms of equipment, crew, locations, and overall collaboration on multiple broadcast spots. Todd knew this was our largest motion based production to date and was confident that our approach to "visual storytelling" was a perfect match.

We spent a full week in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky working on filming the five commercials within the St. Elizabeth hospital system as well as multiple locations throughout the greater Cincinnati area.

Our Minneapolis based broadcast producer Peter Mullin of 14Pics, couldn't have been a better fit for this project as he kept us on schedule and guided us along from the initial estimate request throughout the final shot on the last storyboard. Peter really showed us the value of bringing on a broadcast based producer for a project of this size and scope. His combined efforts, with the tireless energy of the agency based producer Megan Pautke, allowed us to focus on the creative elements rather than back end issues such as wrangling new born babies and hiring police to shut down roads.

Eric Schleicher our second camera operator helped us gear up with the latest color profiles from Technicolor as well as recommending the purchase of multiple items including the "Powered Cage," an HDDSLR housing, designed and engineered by Viewfactor that helps smooth out many of the bumps surrounding the HDDSLR shooting experience. Eric also worked each evening making sure everything was ready to go before we started filming at first light each day.

Mark and Luke our Cincinnati based gaffers were great assets with years of experience in the film side of the business. They helped out immensely with both lighting and logistics, offering skills and knowledge that traditional photo assistants typically don't possess on the still side of the business.

While this certainly was a great project, both creatively as well as having the budget to access great people, talent, and locations, more than anything it provided a greater sense of confidence as we continue to collaborate on the film side of the business.

Enjoy three of the five final broadcast spots, edited by Tate and Craig at Cincinnati based Red Echo Post. Watch for a longer "director's cut" at the Motion section of the site in days ahead. This additional cut will feature footage that the confines of a 30-second spot just couldn't incorporate.

Broadcast spots for St. Elizabeth Healthcare