canon cinema caravan – day 5 thru 19
July 24, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
today is saturday – day 20 of our trip. we’re in the bus making the trek from los angeles to portland, with stops in between. since it’s a 20 hour drive, and a beautiful one at that, we’re going to be stopping in some key places to rest, photograph, and see some amazing landscapes.
today we’re planning on stopping for a speedy lunch in san francisco, then heading up the 101 along the coast towards mendocino where we hope to stop for a walk, and then we’ll be going towards redwood national park to see the amazing forests we’ve heard so much about.
given that we have wifi on the bus, i thought that as i gaze out the window, i could post some photos of our trip thus far. in a previous post, i shared pictures from day 1 through 4, so now, here are some from days 5 through 19.
for those of you who haven’t visited the caravan blog, and want to see what we’re up to in a bit more detail, please visit canoncaravan.stillmotionblog.com.
-amina
our D.C. hotel. At least the A/C works.
we ate at an asian fusion restaurant tonight. Tat loved the cutlery there and made several jokes with the waiter about swiping a few sets on her way out. Low and behold, he comes out at the end of dinner with our doggy bags, and Tat’s has a few sets of very stylish forks and knives in it.
a set of legs we found at the smithsonian.
selena’s processional shot through a set of binoculars (see next photo).
being a little goofy during their photo session.
anything to get the shot.
during the chicago workshop, the girls were getting some work done. uniformly.
we had so much fun with our chicago attendees.
illustrating shooting techniques to the class.
some weird stuff happened during the shooting exercises.
at the big bean. patrick’s group “cheats” to balance the light in the background with the light on the model.
ohh the intensity.
media access at wrigley field for the phillies x cubs game!
multitasking. doing laundry and a shooting a tutorial at the same time.
at the grand canyon – sight seeing and shooting tutorial #2.
everyone in the team had a role. the girls took turns holding the flag (a mounted poster) to block the sun.
on the way to las vegas.
desert approaching and crazy skies.
we went to a cirque du soleil show for justin’s birthday. the lighting was out of this world.
and of course, so were the acrobatics.
during the shooting exercise in LV, one of our attendees makes a custom cut cookie.
while another group heads to the strip for their visuals.
prepping the camera for a bit of an aerial shot.
once again, anything for the shot…
in LA, the view from our dinner table
wha?
LA shooting exercise. low mode steadicam tracking superstar model, angie.
LA class listening to justin intently. 4-shot panorama stitched in PS.
P + E // 06.26.10 . a vintage toned same day edit
July 23, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
patty is a wedding planner based in california. within minutes of talking to her, a good year or so ago, i can remember exactly what i wanted to try and capture in their same day edit. being a planner, i wondered how involved she would be in her own wedding. it turns out that her entire wedding party headed into the venue the day before to setup all of their personal details that they planned for the following day. the morning of the wedding another storyline emerged, and that was of their personal vows and how excited/nervous she was for that part of the day. the idea for their film was to try and weave those two stories together. so when we showed up the morning of the wedding, it was much more relevant to me to cover the bridesmaids putting together the bouquets, which spoke to how involved they all were, than it was to focus on the somewhat more traditional things such as the make-up and hair.
for those of you that we have been lucky enough to meet along our canon cinema caravan trip across the US, you will remember their film as an example of threading. there are a lot of little details in the beginning of this film that come back and tie into the ending.
on a technical note, this piece was colored in apple color to really give it a more advanced vintage look. why vintage -i hope you were thinking that :) ?
this toning because patty loves to collect so many vintage things, from trunks, to chalkboards, to window frames. many of them were then tied into the decor of her wedding. that paired with what she wore on the wedding day made me think that a vintage tone would convey their story and mesh with it so much better. if your interested in reading more about that, check out my personal blog post about the color on this film here.
we still have a couple cities left on the canon cinema caravan. be sure to follow our adventures on the caravan here.
P.
stillmotion + smilebooth + the flashdance // come party with us in LA!
July 20, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
last day in chicago // chicago cubs
July 15, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
well, city #2 is done. the cinema caravan has traveled through new york city, washington dc, cambridge maryland, and now chicago. i’m writing this blog post from the bus as we travel over night towards the las vegas direction.
given that today was our last day in the windy city, we decided to spend it with some flare. with help from some of our friends at canon, we got to go to the cubs x phillies game at wrigley field. but not only that… we got press passes. AND got to shoot in the media box, right off the field!
we gave our photos and footage a miniaturized feel via several tilt-shift lenses. i love how by making everything feel tiny, it reminds me of how large-scale the stadium is. it also gives the photos the feeling of viewing from afar – even if you’re physically close. no matter how close we get to the players, we’re really only getting a small glimpse.
-amina
right at the beginning of the game. we had just gotten down to the pit and were so excited to be there!
a 2-in-1 shot. above, is a photo of a broadcast camera man capturing the action, and below is a plasma by the concession stands airing the footage this man was capturing.
with press passes, we got to go pretty much anywhere.
although it was hard to get around with ALL THESE PEOPLE!!
and as the sun set further and further, the lights on the field became more prominent. here you see a cub just about to make it to 1st.
canon cinema caravan – day 1 thru 4
July 9, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
today is friday – day 5 of our trip. new york city was amazing (but scorching hot), workshop 1 came and went without a hitch, and now we’re traveling in our newly acquired bus from philadelphia to the d.c. area.
we’ve been posting on the cinema caravan blog daily with photo teasers, behind the scnenes clips, info about our adventures, and cinematography tips. for those of you who haven’t visited the caravan blog, and want to see what we’re up to, please visit canoncaravan.stillmotionblog.com.
but for now, here are are a few highlight from our trip thus far.
-amina
departing a little late. 2 hours late to be exact.
liberty and the city.
finally arriving at the ace hotel. such a cool place. more photos to come.
precise assembly required.
mounds of gear. i don’t think a table has ever looked so good.
we had so many good questions and discussions today. no question is off limits.
p introducing the crowd to various stabilization systems.
explorer of light, clay blackmore, debating whether to switch over to the bright side. :)
shooting positions got a little bit suspect…
some shot close to the ground and some way up in the air.
our last steps in NYC.
amanda helps Jess climb into her top bunk.
manda pulls down her own private “in-bunk” tv…
stillmotion’s guide to lenses for weddings and events
July 6, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
yesterday we landed in new york for our first stop of the cinema caravan. with that, we are ready to launch our first tutorial – the sm guide to lenses.
thanks to all of our amazing sponsors that have made this trip possible and that have brought this tutorial to you. we have plenty more to come.
first and foremost, thanks to canon live learning for making all of this possible (the bus and all). thanks to manfrotto for being so kind in providing 16 monopods plus tons more gear. thanks to cinevate for the shoulder rigs and atlas camera sliders. thanks to zacuto for the z-finders and DSLR rig. thanks to tiffen/lowel/steadicam for all of their lighting and stabilization support.
we setup for our first workshop tonight and it almost resembled the show floor of BH at times.
let us know what you think. we are happy to answer any questions and we look forward to hitting the road and shooting our next tutorial in chicago.
for those who want to follow along, check out the cinema caravan blog for daily updates. we still have room in a couple workshops for those interested in joining us. you can sign-up here.
P.
stu + dana // before 9 am
June 30, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
hearing dana (aka dairy) chat about the importance of her family and the house she was raised in while we were all in fort mac planted a seed in my mind.
instead of showing up to begin photographing as the girls arrived at the salon, i showed up at her farm at 5:30 am. in fact, it was me who actually woke up her family on the day of her wedding, with a smile on my face and a camera in my hand.
during the next 3 hours i explored their farms, watched the sun rise, played with their many dogs, stood in the rain, socialized, admired old family photographs, and above all, focused on capturing the feeling of being home.
- justin
mel + joel // just a teaser
June 30, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
well, we’re gearing up for the bus tour, and i had really hoped to get together with mel and joel to share their images before our departure. you see, they’re getting married at the beginning of august, and with the tour taking up most of july, we really didn’t want to have to wait so long.
but alas, good things come to those who wait. and those who wait get teasers. :)
so here’s a little something for now.
-amina
we share in the things our significant others love. even if it’s a little foreign.
between shots. while they wait for me, they remember why this wall has so much significance for them.
purchased before the engagement, mel knew she would marry joel in these shoes.
we’ll leave this one just between us.
the canon cinema caravan + coming soon
June 28, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
with under two weeks left before we take off for our cross country tour, i thought it would be fun to share a little promo we put together for the tour. our first tutorial, ‘the stillmotion field guide to lens selection for weddings and events’ will also be debuting shortly. a huge thanks to canon live learning for making all of this possible.
P.
110 diamonds // a first for anthony hargrove
June 24, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
last week, patrick and i flew down to new orleans to help out with a documentary that the nfl network is doing on anthony hargrove. for those who don’t know his story, he’s overcome some of the worst things in this world. but not just that. he took life into his own hands, achieved greatness, and is now helping those that truly need to be helped.
over two days of shooting, we got to hear the stories behind who he is, we met his friends, his brother (who helped me achieve some of the photos you see below), and got to hang out with him not an hour after he received his superbowl ring. through high school and college, he had never received any kind of ring. but this didn’t just symbolize a first for him. it was about life being worth it all.
below, i’ve posted some behind-the-scenes images i shot during the filming of the interviews as well as the AA meeting on day one. the black and white images are from an “emotions” session i did with him, where i was to capture a myriad of different emotions that represent the roller coaster that has been his life.
i applied the philosophy i employ during the weddings that i shoot – to capture not just his face, but true emotions.
-amina
the interviews setup – with cinevate rigs as central tools for the creatives.
p working his magic with cinevate’s linear tracking system.
at the AA meeting. it’s amazing how open everyone was.
underslung.
the roosevelt hotel – where the ring ceremony was held for the saints.
at the red carpet. the rings were custom designed for each player.
mickey loomis, the general manager, stops on the red carpet to chat.
________________________________________
On day two, I had Anthony all to myself…
thanks to jermaine for his help with this one.
as we set up lighting, anthony makes shadow puppets.
later that night after the ceremony, anthony danced around his apartment like a kid. by the time we got there, he had already counted all the diamonds on his ring. i swear, it’s never going to leave his side.
stu baby + dairy // in front of all of my fathers . sde
June 21, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
a wedding their way. a nice country setting, jeans and cowboy boots, a reception in a barn, and their own special words to each other.
dana grew up on a farm, hence the nickname ‘dairy’, so it seemed very fitting to capture some of what was happening there that morning aside from the preps. stu’s father has passed and they lit a candle in his memory at the beginning of the ceremony. that, in conjunction with their very moving vows, led the priest to actually stop the ceremony for a moment just to let everybody wipe their eyes. looking around the crowd, i’m not sure i’ve seen that many people that emotional at a ceremony before.
amina and justin will be following up with some of their images later this week, which i’ve heard a lot about but haven’t seen yet, so i’m pumped.
soundtrack by zachary lucky ‘our new home’ licensed through with etiquette.
P.?
serena + leonard // to my dearest hubs
June 18, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
we had the pleasure of traveling to jamaica recently with serena and leonard for several of their wedding celebrations. we love being able to cover more than just the wedding day as i find it gives you much more perspective on a couple, a bigger window into who they are, and it also makes their film that much more original. whenever we have other events that we can tie into the wedding film it always makes for such an original narrative. serena and leonard had us there for their wedding day, the rehearsal the day before, as well as an all white cruise with family and friends.
quenna and i worked on this piece together and i am really excited with how their whole film came together. their main feature is going to be on display in our studio for any of our couples or potential brides who want to see more :)
the soundtrack is ‘fall’ by one of the newest artists to with etiquette, two seconds away. you can license this song, and many others, on the w.e. site.
P.
our images on MSN lifestyle
June 18, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
to trash the dress or not? some can’t bear to see their wedding dress be ripped to shreds, but for others, it’s a statement of commitment to their spouse. we were recently asked to participate in a ttd debate that’s being held online this coming wednesday, june 23rd, between 8 and 9:00 est.
the debate will be open to the public at 8:35, so anyone – brides, grooms, photographers, cinematographers, parents… let’s hear your thoughts. we’ve had some or our brides jump into some pretty crazy places and others that decided to preserve their dresses perfectly intact. so i have a feeling there’ll be some differences in opinion!
msn lifestyle has posted a small gallery of ttd images, and asked to feature some of mine! i feel particularly honoured since msn was only choosing the top 13 images, and they chose to feature 5 of mine!
check it out! msn lifestyle.
and if you’d like to join the debate, please rsvp here.
-amina
the sm short film contest + round one
June 16, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
as we get set for the first round of entries for our freshly launched sm film challenge next week, here are some of the warm-up films are crew put together. the theme for these was ‘animals’. there may be some new faces here, but before we make more formal introductions, let us introduce you to quenna, jordan, and paul, new members of the sm family. quenna is an absolutely amazing editor (who is also hoping to learn some more about shooting), jordan is training as a cinema assistant, and paul joined as our post-production manager. we will have more from them shortly, but for now, here are the first round of films from the theme ‘animals’.
please keep in mind, our first open content deadline is next week, june 21st and the theme is ‘found’. full contest details can be found here.
P.
jess’ entry about zok, our eldest studio dog.
chellenge us // week one // theme: animals from the sm evo experience on Vimeo.
quenna’s entry about button.
challenge us // week one // theme: animals from the sm evo experience on Vimeo.
paul’s entry about exotic GTA creatures.
challenge us // week one // theme: animals from the sm evo experience on Vimeo.
jordan’s entry about the most boring cat in the world
challenge us // week one // theme: animals from the sm evo experience on Vimeo.
suelyn + theo // i’m savory, you’re sweet
June 14, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
when we first met suelyn she joked that her wedding was more about an excuse to have a huge feast more than anything else. in a day filled with sushi in the morning, a martini mashed potato bar at the cocktail hour, a ten course chinese banquet, as well as a midnight buffet of burgers and fries, she really let her obsession for food shine through.
the reading they had at their ceremony, an excerpt from ‘the art of french cooking’ was such an original and fitting choice. it also inspired much of our morning coverage.
their first dance was also very meaningful to the both of them. they had been practicing for quite some time and suelyn wanted a chance to practice the day of the wedding with her dress on. when you listen, it sometimes feels like these stories just tell themselves.
the soundtrack was used with permission from katie herzig and the song is entitled ‘wish you well’. you can find many awesome tracks from her on itunes here.
P.
veronica + dan // i just fit
June 11, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
instead of a trip to the mediterranean, veronica + dan bought a 70’s winnebago and took a road trip across canada. they love cats, live in port credit, enjoy a good bbq, and play silly tricks on each other. they also laugh a lot. i’m pretty sure that makes us twins.
- justin
the sm short film challenge
June 8, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
stillmotion cares about education. we are always pushing ourselves to better understand our craft, and we love helping others to find ways to be better at what they do. with that in mind, we’ve asked some of the newer sm family members to create bi-weekly films based on specific themes. now we are opening up the competition to everybody :)
twice a month (bi-weekly if you prefer) the sm crew will be creating individual short films as part of their training. each short film will be less than sixty seconds and somehow related to the theme for that period. we’ve got some fun themes lined up and we are excited to see where everybody takes them.
one day we thought, how cool would it be if we opened up our little short film contest to the rest of the world? from stillmotion, we have jordan, paul, and quenna who will be submitting films for each theme. tatjana, jessica, and amanda are also invited to join in and we are expecting to see some entries from them here and there.
so, you’ve checked out the theme, decided to make a cool video, now what? just upload it to vimeo, and then send us the link (shorts@stillmotion.ca). we will check them all out and the best films will be featured here on our blog. if your film beats what the sm crew can create, then you’ll have your choice between a $500 gift certificate towards any educational experience or product, wedding photo/cinema, or the licenses for two songs from with etiquette. the $500 gift certificate is perfect towards an evo or ‘y’ experience, a clip review, or a one on one consultation.
so get out there, push our crew to make better films, push yourself, and get featured on our blog at the same time. we’ve just completed the first two that we are going to showcase as examples and those will be up shortly.
here are the upcoming themes and due dates:
june 21st // the theme is ‘found’
july 5th // the theme is ‘resistance’
- the sm family
the fine print:
one // while the sm crew will be creating their films individually, you may create your entry with friends or your others from your studio. just let us know who was involved when you post it up.
two // we are only willing to feature content on our blog that features soundtracks which have been legally licensed. you may use soundtracks that you composed, music from any stock music site (such as triple scoop or with etiquette) or no soundtrack at all. if your film features music that is not properly licensed, it is still eligible to win and will be mentioned on the blog, but only a link will be posted (as opposed to embedding the film itself here)
three // we are asking the sm crew to spend three hours or less in producing and shooting their spots. they are free to spend additional time outside of work hours, and you’re free to spend as much or as little time as you would like.
four // entries are to be from thirty to sixty seconds in length, including any logos, watermarks, titles, etc.
five // feel free to incorporate your logo into your film however you would like.
six // while the theme for the period must be incorporated somehow into the film, you may make that interpretation as loose or as literal as you would like.
seven // the gift certificate may be used for anything offered by sm, but it not valid for events in which sm is participating but is not hosting (such as the Canon Cinema Caravan, which is hosted by Canon). gift certificates are not transferrable to a third party. if you choose the two free with etiquette licenses, you will be sent promotional codes that may be entered at time of checkout.
eight // the deadline for each entry is 1PM EST, the day that the period ends. entries must be uploaded by that point and an email sent to shorts@stillmotion.ca with a link, your name, studio name, and any other thoughts you wish to add. the top entries will be posted the following week. we will always showcase the top entries from sm and the top entries submitted by everybody else.
nine // in the beginning, judging will be done by patrick, amina, and justin. yes we are biased, but we want you to win, so the bias is in your favour. :) should there be a tie, the vote will go against sm. in the future we will look to have an online voting system so everybody can vote.
ten // curious what the sm crew gets if one of them wins? should somebody from sm win they get lunch at the always fresh adobo cafe next to our studio.
crossing the 180 with ron dawson
June 4, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
a month or so ago i was asked to do an interview for a show hosted by a friend of mine, ron dawson. ron has a couple different web based shows, one primarily for photographers (f-stop beyond), and his new one that delves into the cinema world, crossing the 180.what i really enjoy about his podcasts is that they are less about the gear and technical side of things and more about the people, philosophies, and current issues within the industry. it was great to get a chance to catch up with ron, chat about the changes at sm, where we are headed, city of lakes, as well as our whole nfl story. if you’re (thanks Mr T) interested in checking out the interview, it just went live today and you can listen here.
i would love to hear your thoughts and any questions that may have come from the chat.
P.
rudy + karmen // to the infinite moments true love brings
June 1, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
there is something about a blending of cultures that i always find amusing. a classic sm film was raj + carolyn with the blending of hindu and catholic weddings. recently we shared dan and shalimar’s wedding, with dan happy to partake in a traditional hindu wedding because he knew how much it meant to shalimar. for rudy and karman, we had a greek and chinese mixture of events. on rudy’s side we had a greek ceremony, on karmen’s side we had both a tea ceremony, as well as lion dancers for their introduction.
when people find out that you film or photograph weddings they often ask if it gets repetitive doing the same thing so many times every year. to me it sounds like such a silly question. there is so much originality in each couple and each event that we get to be a part of that it truly makes every time we go out and shoot so exciting and so novel. i also find there are so many neat parallels between the events that happen within different cultures that it makes each one a new challenge to plan out the edit and filming.
if your wedding features a blending of cultures, leave me a comment with some of the interesting ways your bringing the two together. if your in the industry, i’de love to here some of the events you’ve been a part of where the mix of cultures was a big theme.
the soundtrack here is ‘city lights’ by our newest with etiquette artists two seconds away. you can check out more of their awesome tracks on withetiquette.com
P.
rudy + karmen
shalimar + dan
raj + carolyn
our last evo of the year + nov 15th-18th
May 28, 2010 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment
we just locked down the dates for our last evo of the year and i wanted to share it with everybody here. the workshop will be in mississauga over three and half days, and will focus on finding you unique voice as a cinematographer. one of the biggest things we will deconstruct is the idea of effective communication (aka storytelling). understanding all of the tools already available to you can be a tremendous help in developing your style, impacting your audience in the right way (whatever that is for you), and getting more satisfaction and connection out of the films you produce.
in october we will be traveling the world from paris to australia to hong kong and we are so excited to be able to feature weddings from our trip during this evo.
for a detailed description and to apply for the workshop, check out our experience site.
P.