The Pines: "All The While"

This past Saturday the latest JCP motion collaboration took flight premiering on the big screen at the Square Lake Film and Music Festival amid an intimate backdrop of musicians and filmmakers alike.  We were fortunate to have the opportunity to debut the video at the festival as The Pines were on site and closed out the festival as the headlining musical act.

As highlighted in the preview post the project was concepted and produced in partnership with Eric Schleicher / FilmerKid and Tony Franklin + T.C. Worley of Royal Antler. 

A big thanks to David and Benson of The Pines, Red House Records, and Paul Creager of The Square Lake Film and Music Festival.  We would also like to thank Moore Creative as well as martinpatrick3.

In collaboration with The Pines, we are excited to share the official video for "All The While," from their latest album Dark So Gold. 

Watch via The Pines YouTube channel here ->

Produced and Directed - Jonathan Chapman
Editing / Second Camera - Eric Schleicher
Location Sound / Production - John Fontana
Story development / Camera - Tony Franklin, TC Worley / Royal Antler
Male Talent - Jon Walburg / Moore Creative
Props & Wardrobe - martinpatrick3

The Pines: "All The While"

Schwinn: Life's A Ride...

 

Bicycling and all aspects of it seems to be enjoying a renaissance of sorts including riders, places to ride, and how people enjoy their time on two wheels, not to mention the vast options of brands, builds, accessories and apparel.  The bicycle is definitely on the list of things we seem to take for granted since it has had such a presence in our everyday lives.  It's hard to imagine a time when it was a fairly new invention and everyone was interested in having one.

Our involvement with Schwinn Bicycles came early in 2012 through a request by the agency Boom Island to shoot lifestyle based stills and motion imagery on location in San Diego, CA.  The project encompassed settings in the urban heart of the city, residential areas, country touring and off road trails in the foothills with a variety of talent portraying the range of Schwinn riders and bicycles available to the public.  The week of production went by quickly capturing both stills and video of each proposed scenario.  Our DP, Alex Horner was brought on to capture motion visuals, doing his best to mirror and augment what was being directed for the still portion of the shoot.  Together as a team we covered off on a lot of scenes building a substantial pool of assets to build on the Schwinn library.  

The brand and name Schwinn has an interesting backstory.  One of the early leaders and standouts of the time, Ignaz Schwinn created a dynasty with his namesake, which remains a popular brand to this day.  Ignaz was a German immigrant with a background in mechanical engineering who happened to settle in Chicago before the turn of the century.  With additional financial backing from a fellow German immigrant, the Schwinn Bicycle company was founded in 1895 on the cusp of the great bicycle boom in the US.  At one point Schwinn was one of 30 factories building bicycles in Chicago trying to capitalize on the growing demand.  The opportunity to become an institution was within reach and they made it happen creating a lasting legacy which has endured to this day.  

We've been staying busy near and far shooting both still and motion based projects.  Last week we were out in San Francisco working on a video project for Target involving their C9 line of active wear.  This week we have been dividing our time between domestic animals and their owners for Purina and an agricultural project in the fields of rural Wisconsin in collaboration with Colle + McVoy.  Keep an eye out for future posts revolving around these shoots and more.

Schwinn: Life's A Ride...

Traditional & Tactile Pt. II - Cold Side Silkscreen Printing

The second half of our two part series "Traditional & Tactile" takes us to the North Loop of Minneapolis.  We were greeted by a penguin graphic logo and a handshake from Paul our contact as we entered Cold Side Silkscreen Printing.  Paul led us into his office where we discussed his involvement in the business and walked us through the silkscreen process we were about to witness. 

Descending an ancient wooden staircase, our feet landed in the basement where the screens were ready and waiting for further inspection and preparation before making the first test run.  Shimmering and translucent the screens floated by as they made their way upstairs for the operator to begin the process.  He taped off the sides and locked them down into position on one of several octopus-like arms jutting out from the center core.  With the screen in place, and palette knife loaded with thick titanium white ink, the first part of the t-shirt making process was ready to begin with the inking of the JCP badge logo.

An earlier conversation with graphic designer Jason Braun led to re-purposing the JCP badge logo and a few other existing graphic elements to devise an original t-shirt.  What better way to complement our first traditional & tactile letterpress experience with that of a custom silk-screened t-shirt bearing the logo and graphic elements of the JCP brand.

Cold Side has been in business since the mid seventies.  The environment has a laid back vibe which is a welcome nod to the era in which they began.  They always seem like they are up to something interesting and can accommodate just about any silk screen request for custom t-shirts.  

We'll be on the road next week, hitting the streets of San Francisco for Target.  The project is motion based and will have us running multiple cameras: chasing bikers, runners and walkers as well as dropping in on a staged soccer game and outdoor yoga session amid a backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge.  It'll no doubt be a fun hustle and another interesting collaboration.

Traditional & Tactile Pt. II - Cold Side Silkscreen Printing

United Way

TV Spot:

Behind the Scenes Video: -->
 
The name has changed several times since 1887, but the idea of fundraising and giving has remained the same all along for the United Way of America.  Through these efforts, they have been able to focus on select issues in diverse communities reaching into the areas of education, income, and health to name a few.

Earlier this Spring we were brought in on a still and motion project by Campbell Mithun to help create visuals for the 2012 United Way campaign "Live United."  We worked closely with the agency to refine the approach involving the talented performers at Circus Juventas in partnership with the United Way.  From the beginning the concepts were very literal in representing the ways in which the United Way helps out in the community.  The instructors at Circus Juventas provided us with their flexibility and strength to form and hold the shapes of the "A, B, C's," an outline of a house and even a ramp to help illustrate their commitment and involvement.  The final creative utilized the stills and video we created to help promote the collaborative nature of  the United Way and the great work they continue to do in the community. 

This was an exciting project on a number of levels.  Shooting took place over two days, one week apart.  This added some challenges as far as time required to build and strike our set.  Lighting the scene, on location at Circus Juventas, required the combining of two 12' seamless backdrops as well as an elaborate lighting rigging, designed and engineered by local gaffer, Dave Underhill.  As this was a still + motion based shoot we used continuous lighting vs. strobe.  Motion visuals were shot on the Canon C300 which proved an amazing camera for it's low light shooting abilities for both standard + slow motion capture.
 

Above are the outdoor, billboard visuals, the finished :30 tv spot, and be sure to check out a behind the scenes video of the production created by the internal video team at Campbell Mithun. 

United Way

"I'm Lovin' It" - Shanghai, China Vol. 2

Following up on last month's still image post, we are excited to debut the motion edit "Smile."   Produced for McDonald's in Shanghai, China, "Smile" offers a glimpse into the broad palette of sights, sounds, people and places at the second of four international cities during last November's 2 1/2 week tour.

Our 6 day visit had us traveling to a wide variety of restaurants, both inner city or central to Shanghai as well as on the outskirts of what seemed like suburban settings.  The pace and schedule left little time to ponder feeling jet-lagged.  Our two bilingual production assistants kept us moving and were invaluable when negotiating transportation and more importantly, interacting with employees and customers.  We did our best to learn a few essential words and phrases such as thank-you "謝謝," pronounced 'sheh she."  When speaking, we found a fast mumbled approach proved more effective and easier for natives to understand than belaboring perfect enunciation.   This quick phrase method also seemed to match and keep pace with the energy of the people and our surroundings. 

With a population of over 23 million people and nearly three times the size of New York City, Shanghai proved time and again to be a metropolis of great depth, in which we only scratched the surface of during our short time there.  Even now, months after our visit we still talk about the experiences we had there and the lasting impression it has made upon us.  We welcome the opportunity to return and explore more of the city someday.

Edited by our close partners at Coelement, this project took a new turn at the final stage in terms of color correction.  The color / contrast treatment of all visuals, whether stills or motion is a big part of the final product we deliver.  Adobe recently launched Lightroom 4 and one of the more interesting upgrades is the ability to color correct motion clips in a fashion similar to our workflow when finessing the look and feel of the still images.  The ability to work on and affect specific colors, highlights and shadows, as well as provide a uniform, custom color palette is something we've grown to rely on from this software.  While there are still a few bugs to work out and the process needs some refining, having these color enhancing tools available for motion clips is really quite amazing.  Visit this link to see a side by side, before and after comparison.

Enjoy the final edit.  We've been keeping busy on several fronts with recent travel to Las Vegas as well as a few projects that could have us hitting several stops on the west coast in days ahead.

"I'm Lovin' It" - Shanghai, China Vol. 2

Genesis10 - The Next Level...

Design & branding agency Very Inc. reached out earlier this year to commission a custom library of imagery; a brand refresh they were working on for New York based Genesis10.  Established in 1999 and growing at a rate of over 30% each year, Genesis10 has established itself as one of the country's premiere management consulting companies. 

 Soon after the initial call, we began discussing the desired look and feel; how we could set our visuals apart from stock imagery that often accompanies the branding of businesses such as this.  The shoot comprised of talent taking the role of Genesis10 consultants interacting in a variety of office settings.

The creatives at Very were great to partner with at every step.  On the day of production they were collaborative and really trusted our instincts and suggestions to shape the look and feel of each scene.  It's always a refreshing challenge to build a library from scratch; an entirely different experience than shooting a few images to add to a preexisting body of work.  Having the freedom to roam amid a space with great lines, light, and talent that requires a subtle direction provided all the elements necessary to tie together another successful production.

Genesis10 - The Next Level...

St. Elizabeth Healthcare - Director's Cut

While it seems like just a few months back it was just over a year ago that we were in full production mode collaborating with Intrinzic shooting five unique broadcast spots for St. Elizabeth Healthcare.  The project was one of our first forays into the world of shooting motion for broadcast.  The week long shoot had us juggling numerous indoor, outdoor, urban and rural locations in and around the greater Cincinnati area.

Cincinnati based Red Echo Post handled all the editing and finishing for the project crafting each of the five spots from the footage captured.  For televised air time, each of the five spots was limited to thirty seconds, which left many of our shots / sequences "on the cutting room floor," as they say.

After the project wrapped Tate Webb, the project's main editor at Red Echo, approached us with an offer to cut a longer director's cut that would highlight many of the shots that didn't make the .30 edits.  This was an exciting call to get as it meant we'd now have a chance to see a version that wasn't as confined in terms of time as well as the client's need to hear / see specific shots.

Enjoy the final St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Director's Cut.  A little slice of our favorite visuals from this broadcast production.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare - Director's Cut