Big City Pictures, Inc. » BigCityPix Projects

We Did It: St. Ives for Momentum Agency

Johanna — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:03:14 +0000

BCP provided post-production services on this rip-o-matic as part of Momentum’s pitch to client St. Ives. We wanted to bring to life the 2D composite art via simple animation and give the poppy but soulful feeling of the campaign. The music track used is Juana Molina’s El Desconfiado with some additional drum and melody tracks added. For the voice over, we turned to Kristen Grove and her Maui recording studio which we recently used to record Graham Hill’s voice-over for the Urban Insight shorts we did for Discovery.

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Big City and Momentum World Wide

St. Ives Rip

St. Ives

Momentum Worldwide

Some of BCP's Work for IPG

Curious George Tub Time Toy Commercial

VTech VFlash Toy Commercials

We Did It: St. Ives Rip for Momentum Agency

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Tags: advertising, bcp projects, beauty, BigCityPix Projects, cream, lotion, momentum, momentum worldwide, new business, projects, rip-o-matic, sales, skin, skincare, soap, st. ives, We Did It

We Did It: Harman International Corporate Film for Farm Agency

geo — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 06:20:54 +0000

Farm brought us on to do shots in Los Angeles and Germany for über audio company Harman International. Play the 1-minute video above to watch some silent clips from our shoot.

Harman International Corporate Film

We Did It: Harman Shoot

BCP Client: Harman International

BCP Client: Farm

Harman International Corporate Rip Team

George Spyros, Executive Producer & Director

Christopher Gallo, Director of Photography

Knut Adass, Director of Photography

Phil Guye, Gaffer

Martin Bourgund, Gaffer

Sebastian Hoppe Fuentes, Assistant Camera

Armin Karahasanovic, Assistant Camera

Kevin Skaggs, Grip

Birgit Adolf, Grip

Michaela McKee, Production Coordinator

Alexander Brönner, Production Manager

Harman International Corporate Rip Gear

Canon EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera

Tokina 11-16 f2.8 Ultra Wide Angle Lens

Nikon 28mm f2.8 Lens

Nikon 50mm f1.4 Lens

Nikon 105mm f1.8 Lens

Zeiss ZE SLR Planar 50mm Lens T1.4

Zeiss ZE SLR Planar 85mm Lens T1.4

Canon EF 135mm f/2L II USM Telephoto Lens

Microdolly Hollywood

Arri Compact HMI 2500 Watt Fresnel Flicker Free

Arri Compact HMI 575 Watt Fresnel Flicker Free

Arri Compact HMI 200 Watt Fresnel Flicker Free

Tags: corporate communications, harman international, Harman Kardon

We Did It: Chevron Headquarters Shoot for Shanghai Expo 2010

Johanna — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:49:03 +0000

Chevron employee being interviewed by George Spyros with DP Rob Featherstone monitoring the recording.

DP Rob Featherstone breaks down the shoot…

For our recent Big City Pictures shoot we were presented with a little challenge. The assignment was simply to shoot several “screen test” interviews of potential representatives who would appear on screen on behalf of Chevron. However, we simply felt that setting the subject against the standard out of focus plant or blurry window would do neither the subject nor our film making interests any justice. For example, this shot on the right which someone did for another Chevron project in the very same room with the subject in front of the window.

On the day of the scout we looked at several locations on the corporate campus. We were met once more with the disparity between what seems like a great location to shoot an interview and the reality of the demands of video shooting; namely the depth and breadth of the location that is required for interesting composition and lighting.

Today’s conference room has an enormous table that is hard wired for communications and cannot be moved. In addition, these particular conference rooms had windows but the windows had seams in them so they did not provide an unobstructed view of the outside. While these affects are perfect for a conference they are an obstruction to composing a frame for an interview.

So wondering what to do we noticed there was one wall that was translucent in nature and took on an unusual appearance when we put lights upon it. We determined that shooting into this glass wall would provide a more compelling backdrop than either the potted plant option or the outside view.

The frosted, glass wall from the outside looking in.

As the final project is to be projected on an enormous screen, we wanted high definition video. George loves slow motion so also wanted a camera that could shoot at variable frame rates. The camera that met our demands and was available was the Panasonic HPX 500. We also wanted to work with selective focus so the standard zoom onto the 2/3 inch chip was out of the question. We added the PS Technik Pro 35 adapter and a set of Arri ultra primes to the order. We rented this equipment from Chater Camera in Berkeley, California.

Here’s the 85mm Arri Zeiss Ultra Prime:

And this is the 135mm Arri Zeiss Ultra Prime:

Achieving the look of the background proved a little tricky as the key light was highlighting the seals between pieces of glass in the wall creating two, bright white vertical lines on either side of the subject’s head. We needed to blend the values of the background and key so that they would match and blow out into white. Also, we needed to carefully position the camera and set our stop to create just the right amount of shallow depth of field so that the vertical lines would disappear into blur.
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Our lighting package consisted of small hmi’s that can be plugged into house power and a couple of kino flos. We left the lights and camera day light balanced as there was a fair amount of ambient light (especially with regards to the translucent wall).

The key light was a joker bug 800 with a medium chimera with 2 layers of diffusion and an egg crate. We supplemented this with a 2 foot four bank kino flo from below the lens. For fill we used a 4 x 4 bead board and the back edge was a 4 foot four bank kino flo.

To create the effect on the back ground wall our gaffer, Darrel Flowers did an amazing job of finding the prefect spot for the Arri 1200 watt par plus and cutting the light down to just the right shape.

The Joker Bug 800 on the opposite side of the conference table.

Key Grip Jimmy Stewart rigs the showcard gag.

Camera Tech & Sound Jay Farrington sits in as the background effect is tweaked for camera.

For a little motion on the b-roll shots, we used our Hollywood Microdolly with straight track. Here’s a little push in shot at 60 fps:

[See post to watch Flash video]
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We shot the interviews in HD1080p and slow-motion in 720p with camera tech Jay Farrington downloading P2 cards in the field via MacBook Pro equipted with Duel Adapter. Because we had access to power, we didn’t have to rely on bus-powered portable drives but instead could off-load to 2 terabyte G-Drives drives which none-the-less cut a fine figure themselves with their sleek form.

Chevron Shanghai Expo Team BCP

McGarryBowen Agency

George Spyros, Executive Producer / Director

Rob Featherstone, Director of Photography

Darrel Flowers, Gaffer

Jay Farrington, Camera Tech

Jimmy Stewart, Key Grip

Jenny Zielon, Hair & Make-up

Ryan Velasquez, Editor

Chevron at Shanghai Expo 2010

We Did It: Chevron Headquarters Shoot

BCP Tapped: Chevron Screentest Shoot

Clients & Partners: Chevron

Big City's Work for McGarryBowen Agency

Lobster Roll Wins Guinness World Record with Kraft Miracle Whip

Kraft Miracle Whip Lobster Roll Spot :60

Kraft Miracle Whip Lobster Roll Spot :15

Maya Angelou 2008 Olympic Poem "Amazement Awaits"

Marriott In-Room Video

Reebok Fit - Inspirational Video

Reebok Fit - Follow-Up Inspirational Video

Reebok Sports Brand: The Sport of Lifestyle

Maya Angelou Libraries Greeting

Marriott: Driven Campaign Behind The Scenes

Chevron Shanghai Expo 2010

Chevron Shanghai Expo 2010 Gear

Panasonic HPX 500 Digital P2 Card HD Video Camera

PS Technik Pro 35 Adapter

Zeiss T1.9 Ultra Primes by Arri

Panasonic P2 Card

Duel Adapter PCMCIA Card to ExpressCard

Microdolly Hollywood: Basic Dolly Kit (Video)

G-Technology G-Drive 2TB/7200RPM

Joker Bug 800

Kino Flo 2ft. 4 Bank 4 Tube Fluorescent Light

Marshall 7-inch HD Component / Composite LCD on-board monitor

Final Cut Pro Non-Linear Editing System

Tags: biofuels, california, energy, energy company, liquified natural gas, McGarryBowen, natural gas, oil, renewable energy, san ramon, scientist, solar, solar energy, solar power, sustainability

BCP Tapped: Chevron Screentest Shoot for Shanghai Expo 2010

Johanna — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:35:25 +0000

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2009 Agency of the Year McGarryBowen has hired BCP to send a crew over to Chevron headquarters in San Ramon, California.

Chevron at Shanghai Expo 2010

We Did It: Chevron Headquarters Shoot

BCP Tapped: Chevron Screentest Shoot

Clients & Partners: Chevron

Big City's Work for McGarryBowen Agency

Lobster Roll Wins Guinness World Record with Kraft Miracle Whip

Kraft Miracle Whip Lobster Roll Spot :60

Kraft Miracle Whip Lobster Roll Spot :15

Maya Angelou 2008 Olympic Poem "Amazement Awaits"

Marriott In-Room Video

Reebok Fit - Inspirational Video

Reebok Fit - Follow-Up Inspirational Video

Reebok Sports Brand: The Sport of Lifestyle

Maya Angelou Libraries Greeting

Marriott: Driven Campaign Behind The Scenes

Chevron Shanghai Expo 2010

Tags: biofuels, california, energy, energy company, liquified natural gas, McGarryBowen, natural gas, oil, renewable energy, san ramon, scientist, solar, solar energy, solar power, sustainability

BCP Tapped: DC Comics Shoot for Retrofit Films

team — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:25:01 +0000

Retrofit Principal Chris Hanada & D.P. Ray Huang on location at DC Comics headquarters in New York.

Retrofit Films in LA reached out to Big City to provide production services on a shoot at the DC Comics offices.

The gear and set-up at DC Comics

Interviews were shot against green screen for later compositing to match already shot locations. Footage was shot on the Canon 7D with two 2-foot 4bank kinos lighting the subject and two 650 tungsten units illuminating the green screen. Matt Israel recorded the double-system sound to be sunk later in post.

Tags: blu-ray dvd, epk, Retrofit Films

Protected: Planet Green Interstitials: Graham Hill WIPs

geo — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:09:45 +0000

No tags for this post.

We Did It: America’s Next Top Model Cycle 14 Contestant Interviews

Johanna — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:10:06 +0000

BCP was tapped to produce and shoot these ANTM Cycle 14 contestant interviews. In the past, for Cycle 10 and Cycle 12, we’ve covered the ladies during their press junket prior to commencement of principle photography. This go round we caught up with the girls at Milk Studios NYC during the shooting of the cycle’s first episode. Producer Ted Butler oversaw the production and conducted the interviews which were shot by Director of Photography Hiroo Takaoka shooting 720pn Hi Definition on the Panasonic HVX200.
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MORE Work by BigCityPix for The CW Network

America's Next Top Model Cycle 14

Contestant Interviews

America's Next Top Model Cycle 12

Contestant Interviews

Promo Interview: Teyona

The Winner Is: Teyona!

America's Next Top Model Cycle 10

Contestant Interviews

Promo Interview: Whitney

WINNER: Whitney!

Seventeen Magazine Cover

America's Next Top Model Winners

The CW Lounge

Cycle 7 WINNER: CariDee!

Cycle 8 WINNER: Jaslene!

Cycle 9 WINNER: Saleisha!

Cycle 10 WINNER: Whitney!

Cycle 11 WINNER: McKey!

Cycle 12 WINNER: Teyona!

CLIP REELS CW's "The Beautiful Life: TBL" Cast Interviews

Overview Clip Reel

Sara Paxton Reel

Elle Macpherson Reel

All Interviews from the Cast of The CW's "The Beautiful Life: TBL"

Sonja (Mischa Barton)

Raina (Sara Paxton)

Claudia (Elle Macpherson)

Marissa (Ashley Madekwe)

Isaac (Corbin Bleu)

Cole (Nico Tortorella)

Chris (Ben Hollingsworth)

We Did It: The Beautiful Life:TBL Cast Interviews

All Things "The Beautiful Life: TBL"

We Did It: TBL Red Carpet

BCP Tapped: TBL Cast Interviews

The Beautiful Life: TBL Reveals Racy Ad Campaign

About The Beautiful Life: TBL

Gossip Girl Confidential

Gossip Girl Fashion

Schoolwear & Accessories

Party & Eveningwear

Lingerie & Sleepwear

Style Tips

Gossip Girl CW Connect Cast Interviews

Blake Lively

Leighton Meester

Penn Badgley

Chace Crawford

Ed Westwick

Gossip Girl Season One Wedding Finale & Season Two Premiere Party in The Hamptons

Wedding Design Behind the Scenes

Eric Daman Wedding Wardrobe

Hamptons Premiere Party

One Tree Hill

Sophia Bush Macy's NYC

Kate Voegele Sunburst Concert Six Flags Great Adventure

Stylista - CW Connect

Stylista: Anne Slowey

Stylista: Joe Zee Interview

Clients & Partners

The CW Television Network

Reitz Lange Television & New Media Production

Tags: America’s Next Top Model, America’s Next Top Model Cycle 14, ANTM, composite shot, CW Television Network, fashion, fashion models, The CW, We Did It

We Did It: Marriott International In-Room & Driven Campaign Videos

geo — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:20:53 +0000

We just completed post-production services on two videos for Marriott International. Both pieces leverage McGarryBowen’s ad campaign “Where the Driven Go.” The “In-Room” video is a 3-minute piece to be shown on televisions in all of Marriott’s North American properties. The Driven Campaign Behind the Scenes video was put together as a sizzle for internal use.

Marriott Hotels & Resorts

Marriott In-Room Video

Marriot: Driven Campaign Behind The Scenes

Clients & Partners: Marriott International

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Big City's Work for McGarryBowen Agency

Lobster Roll Wins Guinness World Record with Kraft Miracle Whip

Kraft Miracle Whip Lobster Roll Spot :60

Kraft Miracle Whip Lobster Roll Spot :15

Maya Angelou 2008 Olympic Poem "Amazement Awaits"

Marriott In-Room Video

Reebok Fit - Inspirational Video

Reebok Fit - Follow-Up Inspirational Video

Reebok Sports Brand: The Sport of Lifestyle

Maya Angelou Libraries Greeting

Marriott: Driven Campaign Behind The Scenes

Chevron Shanghai Expo 2010

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Tags: advertising, hotels, lodging, marketing, Marriott, McGarry Bowen Agency, McGarryBowen, sizzle reel

We Did It: Planet Green Interstitials

Johanna — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:21:05 +0000

We’ve just finished shooting the shorts with Graham Hill. All four videos are now available! Please enjoy Roof Top Farm in the widescreen player above, and click on Bee Man, Brooklyn Standard Sustainable Bodega, and Recycle-A-Bicycle below to watch the other 90-second videos in the series.

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Planet Green Interstitials

Roof Top Farms

Bee Man

Brooklyn Standard Sustainable Bodega

Recycle-A-Bicycle

About Planet Green Interstitials

Discovery's Planet Green Network

Treehugger Dot Com

BCP Tapped

We Did It: Planet Green Interstitials

Planet Green Interstitials Team BCP

George Spyros, Executive Producer / Director

Marcus Burnett, Director of Photography

Clark Caldwell, Writer & Producer

Michele LaTorre, Editor

Ryan Velasquez, Camera Assistant

Henry Torbin - Sound Mixer

Antonia Law, Assistant Editor

Johanna Wolff Abzug, Graphic Designer

Planet Green Interstitials BCP Gearhead

Sony PMW-EX1 Hi-Def Video Camera

Letus35 Ultimate Lens Adapter

Canon EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera

Panasonic HVX200 Digital HD Camera

Panasonic P2 Card

Microdolly Hollywood: Basic Dolly Kit (Video)

Kino Flo 2ft. 4 Bank 4 Tube Fluorescent Light Fixture

Final Cut Pro Non-Linear Editing System

Sapphire Effects

Sony SxS-1 Cards & Memory Stick Adapter

Duel Adapter PCMCIA Card to ExpressCard Device

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Tags: bee man, brooklyn standard bodega, climate, eco-friendly, environment, Green, interstitials, New York City, NYC, Planet Green, recycle-a-bicycle, roof top farms, TreeHugger, Video

We Did It: The Beautiful Life:TBL Cast Interviews

Johanna — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:56:46 +0000

WHAT: Behind the scenes interviews with series regulars that will introduce the characters and their
storylines and get viewers excited about the new series.

WHY: The interviews will drive a series of web segments, one per character that combine the
soundbites from cast with episodic b-roll from the first episodes.

AND: A secondary goal is to get a soundbite from each about their character’s “style” which can drive
an additional segment or segments highlighting each character’s “look” Probably one combo with the
guys and one with the girls.

HOW: sit down’s with a behind the scenes look, off set or on an unused set that day that would be
representative of the series. Protected for 4×3 but shot to in HD 16×9.
Look to off-camera interviewer.

WHO:
Mischa Barton – Sonja Stone
Sara Paxton – Raina Marinelli
Elle Macpherson – Claudia Foster
Ashley Madekwe – Marissa Delfina
Corbin Bleu – Isaac Taylor
Nico Tortorella – Cole Shepherd
Benjamin Hollingsworth – Chris Andrews

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