FiveSix Goes Clubbing
Fist pump? Break dance (is that still a thing?)? Neon glow sticks? Twerking? Recently, FiveSix Productions had all that and more as we hit the club. We had the distinct pleasure of mixing, mingling, and shaking our money makers at The Sayers Club in the SLS hotel. With crafty cocktails, delicious eats, a performance by Charli XCX, and even an Etch A Sketch and digital graffiti artist (amazing), we had a blast. It wasn't all fun and games, as we had a job to do, but with a stellar crew, dressed to impress, we knocked it out of the proverbial park. All we can say as we head on to our next shoot is: Yo DJ, drop that beat!
Roger Deakins On: Hippy Nonsense
Roger Deakins balls out. He's an actual cinematographer, not just a cameraman. This D.P. from the Isle of Britain, has been bringing pictures into motion, and painting the world with lights for over forty years- much longer than that uneaten pile of biology in your vegetable drawer. He's been the D.P./cinematographer on such classics and masterpieces as The Shawshank Redemption, No Country For Old Men, A Beautiful Mind, and Skyfall, just to name a few. He has been nominated for 13 Academy Awards, and 110 other prestigious awards, and won 74 times. His latest endeavor has him working again with the Coen bros on Hail, Caesar!, (previously, he was the DP on the epic masterpiece (and one of my personal favorites) The Big Lebowski), a project that brought him back to working with celluloid. Check out this interesting article in Variety, where Mr. Deakins gives his impressions on his experience working again with film, on a period piece, and again with the Brothers Coen. (((Digital is the present, and the future- that's the point. (All due respect to film users- but...))))
BoardRoom Interview - Mike Eaton Part 3
Our team made a special trip to the Big Island just to interview Mike. It was worth every minute.
The final segment from our interview with Mike Eaton has one of our classic lines in our film about Clark foam. Having shaped for Bing for many years, Mike's knowledge and insight gave us a special look into the inner workings of the industry. His interview was a vital piece for our film, BoardRoom - Legends of Surfboard Shaping.
If you are enjoying these segments we would love to hear your feedback. You can leave us a review on Google or Facebook.
The full movie is also available at www.boardroomfilms.com, Amazon, Itunes or in your local surf shop.
Production Value: Upgraded!
One of the absolute, best ways to upgrade and boost your projects' production value is to have wicked awesome b-roll. When you're here in Sin City, one of the most sought after b-roll subjects is the exciting, colorful, world famous, Las Vegas Strip. It's sometimes difficult logistically to get down to the strip to shoot, especially at night, and it's even more difficult to get time lapses. To remedy this speed bump, we sent a shooter out, and he came back with some awesome stuff. This is available to any client as a great add-on to your next Las Vegas video production.
Here are some samples of some of the footage we have filmed here on Las Vegas Boulevard.
BoardRoom Interview - Mike Eaton Part 2
More from our production team!
Here is Part 2 from our interview with Mike Eaton. Based on the amount of views we have received from Part 1, we know you are enjoying Mike's interview as much as we did.
If you enjoy these videos, I guarantee you'll love the film BoardRoom - Legends of Surfboard Shaping.
Las Vegas Boulevard Time Lapse
One great way to really enhance the overall value of your Las Vegas video production is to have beautiful b-roll of the Strip. Las Vegas Boulevard is one of the most famous and recognizable places in the country, and probably the world, having even a couple great shots of it in your video will bring it to life. While it can be somewhat of a daunting task when time is short, and crews are small, it is a great value add. We rarely have time to escape outside of the resorts to gather b-roll, and typically we are shooting during the day, when the Strip isn't as epic, so we came up with a solution. We sent our crews out on evenings when we weren't ultra busy, and compiled a very awesome library of great footage and time lapses that we can offer to our clients easily.
Here are some samples of some of the footage we have filmed here on Las Vegas Boulevard.
BoardRoom Interview - Mike Eaton Part 1
It was tough to get volunteers but we took our production team out to the big island of Hawaii to film this interview with Mike Eaton.
Here is an excerpt from the encyclopedia of surfing on Mike.
"Tireless and unobtrusive surfboard shaper from San Diego, California; best known as a leader of the longboard renaissance in the '70s and early '80s. Eaton was born (1934) in New York, New York, raised in Palos Verdes, California, and began surfing at age 14, helped along by seminal surf figure Tom Blake; Eaton used to transport his heavy wooden board to the Palos Verdes Cove using an army stretcher customized with a pair of rear-mounted wagon wheels.
Eton began shaping surfboards in 1955 for wetsuit magnate-to-be Jack O'Neill, out of O'Neill's San Francisco garage/surf shop. In the late '50s and early '60s, Eaton worked as a whale trainer at Marineland, a Palos Verdes ocean animal theme park, and not until 1965 did he become a full-time shaper, working simultaneously for Bing Surfboard and Rick Surfboards, both located in nearby Hermosa Beach."
The Osmo Has Landed
The amazing, and totally righteous DJI Osmo handheld stabilization unit has arrived- and boy are we pumped! As I told you before, the Osmo takes handheld video production to a whole new level. With a 3-axis stabilization system for a 4K camera, you can be sure to get brilliant, smooth video, walking, running, driving on a bumpy road, wherever. While the DJI Ronin is useful and game-changing in it's own right, the Osmo gives you smoothness and stability in a much more compact and easy-to-use, easy to operate device that can fit inside your pocket (if you have big pockets).
The camera is the same camera that comes on the DJI Inspire drone, and it's been nothing but wonderful and has impressed us with each use. We can't wait to get it on set and continue to broaden our horizons. Hi ho Silver, away!
Spider Pod = Super Duper
The first of two Spider Pod TR2SP2 sets has arrived, and we couldn't be more giddy (we're skirting school girl status). This awesome bit of amazing consists of independent tripod riser and operator platform. That they're separated means that operator movement, chuckling, or coughing won't result in a shaky image- which is awesome when you're 150mm deep in the back of a frigged ballroom. The riser can hold up to 200 lbs (so you can totz rent F11's RED Epic), and the platform can hold up to 300 lbs (more tacos, less gym), however, together they weigh only 42 lbs (all the tacos, none of the gym!). Our vatos at F11 Rentals have one in stock, and a second one available in just a couple days. So, make your client ultra stoked and save the money you would've spent on those over-priced house-risers, and go with this nifty diddy.
Packaging Fail
Between our 2K, 4K, and moreK cameras. We burn thru a lot of data over here at FiveSix. We have over 80Tb of footage on-line and accessible via our shared storage system. What this means for us is that we burn thru a lot of hard drives.
Today we received a delivery of some much needed drives and to our dismay they were all beat up and unusable. Thanks Amazon! We are known for our product unboxing videos so I figured I might as well share this one.