Thursday, November 15, 2012

On the farm for Winfield...



Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field. - Dwight D. Eisenhower 

While summer is in the rear-view mirror it's nice to revisit long days and our time amid farm and field; taking in life first hand alongside modern day farmers.  It's always great to partner with Colle+McVoy and this was another fine experience collaborating for Winfield.  

We've been on a number of agricultural shoots over the years and it never ceases to inspire and amaze us with the overall process; it's a true "get your hands dirty," experience.  Blue skies, fresh air, and rolling hills gently woven into a seemingly endless landscape of Wisconsin farmland has a way of regenerating the senses and opening up a new perspective on what is right in front of us.  A number of the images were created from unique angles, whether climbing up on top of a grain elevator or getting down to the level of the roots, we were able to capture several different options to help tell the Winfield story.  This production was unique in that we spent time capturing visuals of a crop duster.  There is a true art and level of aerodynamics that these pilots possess.  We heard him coming from miles away, the sound of the blades gave away any chance of sneaking up on our crew.  Near the end of our time shooting this part of the project the chopper did a fly-over only a few feet from our heads, and no doubt laughed as we all hit the dirt in surprise and fear for our lives.

It's never dull and always new- farm, ocean, rural or urban.  What an opportunity the camera provides looking behind the scenes, revealing everyday life in visually interesting and engaging ways.

The Director's cut of the Target C9 project is coming along nicely.  We'll have a final version to share soon.
  
Share/Bookmark

Monday, November 5, 2012

Target C9 - San Francisco Video Preview



The C9 Active Apparel line of clothing from Target is being featured for the first time in a store of its own in San Francisco's recently opened City Target.  The debut of this flagship location is unique in that it is one of a kind and features a 9 minute looping video created by the JCP team. The video concept was created by the Minneapolis based agency Knock who approached us earlier this year to collaborate and produce a montage of active, athletic based visuals. The purpose of the video is to highlight C9 apparel as well as captivate store patrons with an engaging array of athletic activities including yoga, running, walking, gym exercise, soccer and bicycling interweaving amongst one another throughout the city of San Francisco.  With the focus on the athletes and clothing, we were tasked to create a seamless piece that would take the viewer on a journey throughout all of the activities within the city. It was a challenge to shoot in an icon rich setting and not just show all of the well known landmarks.  We worked with a San Francisco based production crew to uncover and shoot amid lesser known landmarks, places that would appeal to the city inhabitants stating "this is my city, my San Francisco."

With the help of two members from the California based Still Motion we had a solid crew with a total of 4 cameras rolling at any given time in each scenario.  Ray and Paul from Still Motion fit the style and speed of our crew well and with the addition of a Stedicam, operated by Ray, we had another way of telling the story from a first person point of view.  The smooth shots provided by the Stedicam whether running, spinning around yogi's in warrior pose, or  keeping up with bicyclists in mid pedal gave an authentic sense of being there with the athletes and raised our overall production value.

The team at Knock were great to partner with from start to finish and San Francisco was a perfect host and backdrop for this production.  We had the privilege to see many aspects of the city and couldn't have asked for a better front row seat for working and taking in the diverse sections of the city that comprise San Francisco.  Enjoy a glimpse into the project through the still images and as a precursor to the debut of the C9 Director's Cut coming soon...
     
Share/Bookmark