PDN Article Features JCP Newspaper...

Launching today the March issue of Photo District News (PDN) features an article by Holly Stuart Hughes about the Fall Issue of the JCP Newspaper.  We were excited to get the call for the interview / profile and hope you will take a few minutes to check it out.  If you missed out on the Fall Issue you can catch up via the link here: JCP Newsprint.  The Winter Issue will be printing soon, hitting mailboxes in mid to late February.

PDN Article Features JCP Newspaper...

XtremeMac - Imation

We're back in the office and excited for the start of 2012 after some time away.  The first project-based post of the year features a production for XtremeMac, a branch of Imation.  They came to us last fall with a proposal for a one-day shoot involving stills and motion, eager to promote their latest Mac oriented accessories.  We started the conversation with their Senior Industrial Designer who was instrumental in bringing us up to speed on their needs and how we could possibly collaborate on the project. 

The products from XtremeMac range from iPhone + iPad cases to various charging units and everything in between.  Our aim was to showcase these products in natural, real life settings with our talent interacting with the accessories.  One way we were able to achieve this, within the parameters of a one day shoot, was to work in tandem with our DP Alex Horner to capture a similar look and feel to the still content.  For each scene we were able to have Alex mirror the video footage with that of the stills being shot in order to maintain an overall consistency throughout both mediums.  Over the course of the day, we put the XtremeMac line of goods to the test in several unique locations around the Minneapolis area and came away with a broad range of both still and motion based content.

Under normal circumstances a shoot of this nature would probably be carried out in two or three days, but one long day was what our budget permitted. Our intrepid crew was instrumental in pulling it off with all production coordinated by Bobbi Peacock.  Looking back on this day of shooting it's hard to believe we managed to accomplish what we did, both stills and motion in so many locations.  I'm sure our crew was just as astonished with the number of locations, product and wardrobe changes, and overall hustling that occurred throughout the day.  Project requests for still and motion content continue to build and it’s looking to be another exciting year in the business.

Keep in touch with the blog as we will be posting the final edits from the XtremeMac video in the very near future.

XtremeMac - Imation

A stop for Cash...

Johnny was and is the North Star; you could guide your ship by him. The greatest of the greats - then and now.  - Bob Dylan 

On the road with my family - a southern bound three-week road trip with many stops including Savannah, Georgia where we currently reside.  Early in our travels we made an unplanned detour to briefly explore and photograph Johnny Cash's childhood home in the northeast tip of Arkansas.

With some perseverance you can find the Cash homestead at 4791 CR-924 just outside the city limits of Dyess in Mississippi County, Arkansas.  Johnny moved to Dyess when he was three and lived here until he graduated high school in 1950.  The town began as an agricultural colony during the New Deal.  The original township had 500 individually owned and operated farms which were either 20 or 40 acres each.  The house was recently purchased by the State University and will eventually become a museum.  As you can see it will be some time before it opens as it's currently boarded up and all roads leading to it are heavily washed out.  The refurbish will improve things, but no doubt something will be lost that time has gifted it through it's many years of disrepair.

According to his son John Carter Cash, "The rich gumbo dirt here made his spirit strong. His music came from here, as well as his faith and his family. He learned to work hard early in life."

A stop for Cash...

MaLLy "Once We're Kings"

"I sit on the clouds, and lyrically outgrown the throne..."- MaLLy

Wordsmiths abound and let us into their world through their written works.  Often times the power of these lines come to life in the form of the spoken word.  Saul Williams is one of the more well known contemporary spoken word artists, which provided inspiration for us to find a homegrown version here in Minneapolis to profile.  Through our colleague Jules Ameel we were able to collaborate and partner with local, up and coming rapper MaLLy to be our spoken word master for the latest motion project "Once We're Kings."

In his own words he explains what it was like to be a part of the project. 
  
"I was pretty excited to shoot this video in Minneapolis because it's my hometown and a place I frequent for recreation. Currently, I'm finishing my upcoming album titled, The Last Great. The project will be produced entirely by The Sundance Kid and is slated for spring release."

We scouted a few areas in the more industrial sections of Minneapolis before settling on a back street location in the north loop. As daylight faded into night and MaLLy started to warm up, we lined up our first shot and started rolling camera and audio.  MaLLy never missed a beat and lit up the night with his stylish a cappella rhymes.


"The production was intense, very detail oriented and very fun. Everybody involved in shooting was professional and that's pretty apparent in the final product! The scene is dark, relentless, and very bleak. I thought the entire ambiance fit with the production and verse I delivered."

As always we are only as good as the people we surround ourselves with.  On that note, a big thanks to our crew who are represented in the the credits, and of course all the efforts of MaLLy.  For the latest on all things MaLLy check his Facebook page.  Visit the following link for detailed information regarding tour dates and destinations.

We have just returned from a 2+ week project abroad for McDonald's and are working hard to get our
bio-rhythms back on track here in Minneapolis.  What a year it's been.  2012 has big shoes to fill.  We're looking forward to the new year and all the upcoming possibilities. 

Happy holidays and best to come for all in days ahead...

MaLLy "Once We're Kings"

Shanghai from floors 53 & 1oo...

The two Chinese characters in the name Shanghai name are 上 ("above") and 海 ("sea"), together meaning "Upon-the-Sea".

As the year comes to a close, it seems appropriate to take a moment and ponder how the landscape of work has evolved: new people, places, projects, all affecting possibilities for the road ahead. We have spent more time boarding planes this year compared with previous years. While travel can be taxing at times, it can certainly refresh one's vision and outlook.

The last project of the year is literally taking us around the world. Montreal, Canada to Shanghai, China, to Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. From Sydney (our current locale) we'll travel eastward bound across the Pacific, passing through Los Angeles and Denver before returning home to our doorstep back in Minneapolis.

As the pre-trip excitement ramped up during the prepping and packing stages, we bounced around a few ideas for "on the road" blog post topics. The excitement is still at the same level, however, now that we are in the thick of travel with long days, time zone jockeying, and the after hours managing of files, time has quickly slipped away leaving little of it to explore the cities and even less for putting together a few written tales of our adventures thus far.

Considering all of theses hurdles, we have managed to take a few moments here and there to visually capture our surroundings. After a 20+ hour flight from Montreal to Shanghai via Chicago we were pretty psyched upon drawing the curtains in our 47th and 53rd floor hotel room windows. A city of this size and stature has you hoping you'll at least have a chance to find that secret, locally known "vista" where all the travel brochure photos have their origin. Our hotel did not disappoint us by surprising us with our our own personal vistas already waiting for us in broad sweeping panoramas of one of the most dynamic cities separated simply by a pane of glass and a couple of curtains.

Up to this point on the itinerary, Shanghai has been the city with the most to take in, and more often than not, an insufficient amount of time to do so. Shanghai is the most cosmopolitan city in China, home to over 23 million people making it one of the largest cities in the world (New York City has 8.5 million). We are staying in the middle of the city (adjacent to The People's Park) and as you can see we had some really sweet views. While the majority of the world is wearing a financial frown, Shanghai seems to be riding a crest of expansion and innovation. There seems to be nothing but smiles and an endless supply of dapper businessmen and women shaking hands to seal another deal.

Since our arrival in Shanghai we have hit the ground running, which has left us very little in terms of leisure time. During those rare moments we have had the chance to take several morning strolls in "The People's Park" conveniently located across the street from our hotel. This park quickly became a favorite for the variety of individuals and small groups of people doing tai chi amid a forest of pines and century old cobbled paths.

The first image taken one particularly clear morning was shot from the 53rd floor of the hotel: a total of 8 vertical captures assembled via Photoshop. The second image is a single frame taken at night from the 100th floor observation deck of the Shanghai World Financial Tower (the second tallest building in Asia). These 600px wide blog images don't do it justice. Take a moment to download the morning or evening image as a PDF for a closer look.

Shanghai from floors 53 & 1oo...

"of Feather & Brace"

"There is a passion for hunting something deeply implanted in the human breast." - Charles Dickens

Every year around this time as the air becomes crisp and colors fall from their lofty heights to the audible crunch beneath your feet, we know it is time once again for the age old tradition of hunting. It marks the passage of one season in time to the next for many who inhabit life in the Midwest.

Although we are from the Midwest, it's a far off assumption that we are all avid hunters and have knowledge that runs deep in this area. The subject of hunting and its importance to this region came to us in a roundabout way a number of years ago during the initial stages of casting for a print based project. We were in search of male talent during the height of hunting season and much to our surprise it was difficult to find men available for modeling via our local talent resources. Ultimately we did end up with our talent, but it was more of a process than we had anticipated due to the popularity of the hunting season.

To date, "of Feather & Brace" is one of the lengthiest projects we have undertaken, beginning as a kernel of an idea this time last year. It is also one of the most collaborative pieces we have been involved with. From beginning to end, this project has brought together several masters of their craft spanning the filming, on location sound capture, editing, grading, sound design, graphics, and animation of what would be the final piece "of Feather & Brace." While those of us involved are not hunters ourselves, we knew there was a visual story to tell as well as a level of passion and devotion that carries from one generation to the next. Nick Nalezny, our subject as well as the location he recommended could not have been a better fit for the narrative we set out to explore and document.

Editor Steve Shepherd "Shep" of Spotnik commented on the creative editing process.

"The footage really lent itself to a natural, gentle weaving. The opportunity to blend images in a classic way was evident when first seeing the dailies. Because of the strong point of view, and rich varied compositions, it was fun to play with the three different areas: Home Base, getting to "the spot", and being at the spot. Playing not only with the framing, but depth of the shots, letting some of the cuts (or transitions) happen within a shot through a focus shift or movement of a tree or person."

Through Steve we were connected with Oscar Oboza, an expert colorist at Pixel Farm who we were excited to hear was interested in working on the grading / coloring of the project. Oscar provided great insight and perspective, bringing the color to a point that matched the look and feel of the color we attained with the stills we had shot and colored for reference.

Once we had picture lock on the edit and the color work was underway, we connected with Dave Schroeder of Pilotvibe to finesse the ambient location and interview audio captured by Patrick Schaefer. Dave was able to shape the audio in his own unique way adding an ethereal element to the piece as a whole. The original music and reverberating narrative take this project to another level in terms of blending the visuals with the creative element of custom sound design. Eight Hour Day was once again tapped for the design of graphics and credits. Elemental Motion Media brought the graphic design work to life through animating the various components as they do so well.

Every element in the process of creating "of Feather & Brace" has been crucial to the overall final picture. We couldn't have accomplished this without everyone's involvement from concept to the finished project featured here. A heartfelt thank you to everyone we worked with.

We would also like to thank Tony Franklin for his insight, enthusiasm, and dedication to the creative process to help bring this idea from the sketch pad to the screen as a completed motion piece.

Enjoy and please spread the word of this project's launch. A behind the scenes edit is being cut and will be posted in days ahead shedding further light on our time exploring life through the eyes of those that carry on this fall tradition.

"of Feather & Brace"

Earnestine & Hazel's

The South- where roots, place, family, and tradition are the essence of identity. - Unknown

A few weeks back a project for Target's RED magazine had us traveling once again down to the Target House in Memphis, TN. No doubt it’s a favorite location to spend a few days working, as well as time experiencing this fine slice of southern living. While in Memphis, we were fortunate to secure access and spend an afternoon shooting stills + motion at the legendary Earnestine & Hazel's.

The passage of time leaves its mark on places we inhabit, and in turn upon those who inhabited these spaces. Earnestine and Hazel’s at 531 South Main Street in downtown Memphis, TN (having a colorful history as a sundry shop, bar, hotel, and brothel to name a few) is one of these places that has been around long enough to fill volumes with tales of triumph, defeat, jealousy, reconciliation, love won, love lost. It’s a breath of old, fresh air that circulates a certain mystique of smells, sounds, and visuals to all who enter the front door - the wealthy, the poor and everyone in between.

The building containing Earnestine & Hazel’s speaks for itself and the location made for the perfect setting for the test shoot we put together including two local models and a talented wardrobe stylist. Our talent Kaycee and Cassie were wonderful to work with and fit nicely within our vision of this project. Sona Amroyan brought many options for wardrobe and as a fashion designer herself, pulled a few original pieces from her collection to augment what we already had in mind. The still and motion visuals captured are different from what we have done in the past. We implemented a variety of light modifiers, which added to the overall look and helped us push this project in a new direction. The importance of testing is still paramount for us in an effort to create new looks and try out new ideas. There is no fail in a test only learning and building upon a foundation of the tried and true.

Enjoy a slice of life from a historical venue in Memphis, and be sure to check out the next post when we unveil the long awaited “Of Feather and Brace” a motion based tale of hunting one year in the making.

Earnestine & Hazel's