McgarryBowen brought-in George Spyros to conduct over 20 interviews as research for the final 10 testimonial radio spots which he also directed. JPMC wanted to share its commitment to community development banking. George was tapped for his experience working with and interviewing C-suite executives in a range of business sectors. George’s experience with and understanding of non-profit organizations played a significant role in achieving the desired result of creating naturalistic testimonials. Given the reliance on non-actor talent, George requested a Skype video patch with the audio houses in each city. Although not customary, being able to communicate visually with talent was key to drawing out the great performances we hear in the spots. And for the local market spot, George had the opportunity to direct talent in person at NYC’s Sonic Union.

Bronx, NY: Part of The Solution (POTS)

Dallas, TX: Woodall Rodgers

[See post to watch Flash video]
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Detroit, MI: Southwest Housing

[See post to watch Flash video]
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Seattle, WA: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

[See post to watch Flash video]
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San Francisco, CA: MECPRO

[See post to watch Flash video]
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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

Verizon Wireless B2B Talent Interviews

Chase Blueprint Talent Interviews

JPMC Community Development Banking Spots

Filmmakers from the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival discuss the state of indie film and the importance of Founding Partner American Express. Client momentum tapped BCP to create this one-minute clip with quick glimpses of stars Sarah Jessica Parker and John Leguizamo as well as SOT from the filmmakers below:

Nice Guy Johnny
Director: Edward Burns

Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston
Director: Whitney Sudler-Smith
NYT

Every Day
Producers: Miranda Bailey & Matthew Leutwyler

Climate of Change
Brian Hill

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Big City and Momentum World Wide

Amex Tribeca Film Festival 2010

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

We conducted and shot these interviews with Chase Blueprint customers traveling to New Jersey, Chicago and Tallahassee for McgarryBowen. Above you can watch some b-roll we shot in native 60 frames-per-second slow motion and converted to black-and-white to match the other creatives in the campaign.

Chase Blueprint

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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

Verizon Wireless B2B Talent Interviews

Chase Blueprint Talent Interviews

JPMC Community Development Banking Spots

Chase Blueprint Talent Interviews 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

Marshall V-LCD651ST-HDA 6.5" LCD Field Monitor

Samson H4 Handy Recorder

Lectro UM200c Wireless Receiver & Transmitter

Tram TR50 Lavalier Microphone

Pluraleyes Audio Sync Software for Multicam

Final Cut Pro Non-Linear Editing System

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:

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

Verizon Wireless B2B Talent Interviews

Chase Blueprint Talent Interviews

JPMC Community Development Banking Spots

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

A red hot and red-blooded phenom recently came to a mall near you in the personages of Vampire Diaries stars Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. We were tasked with capturing the rock-stadium feel of the cast’s entrance, so we slapped the Century Pro Series HD Fisheye onto the Panasonic HVX and shot 48 frames-per-second slow-motion. The final result is very “Hello, Cleveland!” if we do say so ourselves…

Vampire Diaries: Hot Topic Mall Tour

We Did It: Vampire Diaries Hot Topic Mall Tour

Vampire Diaries

The CW Television Network

TreeHugger founder Graham Hill interviews pro surfer Rob Machado on another installment of the Vloggie-winning web series TreeHuggerTV.

Watch all of The Drifter

The Drifter - Part 1

The Drifter - Part 2

The Drifter - Part 3

The Drifter - Part 4

The Drifter - Part 5

TreeHugger founder Graham Hill interviews pro surfer Rob Machado on another installment of the Vloggie-winning web series TreeHuggerTV.

Watch all of The Drifter

The Drifter - Part 1

The Drifter - Part 2

The Drifter - Part 3

The Drifter - Part 4

The Drifter - Part 5

TreeHugger founder Graham Hill interviews pro surfer Rob Machado on another installment of the Vloggie-winning web series TreeHuggerTV.

Watch all of The Drifter

The Drifter - Part 1

The Drifter - Part 2

The Drifter - Part 3

The Drifter - Part 4

The Drifter - Part 5

TreeHugger founder Graham Hill interviews pro surfer Rob Machado on another installment of the Vloggie-winning web series TreeHuggerTV.

Watch all of The Drifter

The Drifter - Part 1

The Drifter - Part 2

The Drifter - Part 3

The Drifter - Part 4

The Drifter - Part 5

TreeHugger founder Graham Hill interviews pro surfer Rob Machado on another installment of the Vloggie-winning web series TreeHuggerTV.

Watch all of The Drifter

The Drifter - Part 1

The Drifter - Part 2

The Drifter - Part 3

The Drifter - Part 4

The Drifter - Part 5