The SECOND step. This is where the shooting takes place. Here’s what we do:

Film Production
35mm & 16mm motion picture film

Video Production
HD, Digi-Beta, BetaSP, DVCPro, DVCam, DV

Audio Production
Dialogue Recording, Radio Spots, Voice Over’s, Music-on-hold, Spanish translations

There are three basic elements we stress in every shot we set up:
1 the camera (type of camera, the angle, the focal length of the lens, etc),
2 the lighting (style, mood, exposure, etc)
3 the audio (mic type, mic placement, mixing, etc)

The format you choose is very important. It will determine the overall look and feel of your program. There are certain emotions evoked in an audience that are determined in large part by the format. There are other factors too, but this is a big one.

Cutting to the chase, Film is always the best looking. It evokes the most emotion. It looks higher-end than video. It’s what most theatrical movies are shot on, as well as most of your TV dramas and better sitcoms. 35mm is best, but most expensive. 16mm looks great on TV.

Video is video. It’s not film despite the ongoing attempt to make video look like film. Don’t be fooled by tricks and clever marketing stating that there’s a way to make it look just like film. There are ways to give video a sort of film look, but it’s not nearly the same. Side by side, nearly anyone can tell the difference. But video is the format most widely used in overall production, and in the right hands, it is a powerful medium. Fortunately we have the right hands! We shoot BetaSP and DVCam the most.

HD, or High Definition, is coming along, and can be a substitute in some cases to film and video. HD video has a look all to it’s own. But you have to look at the final objective. Will the video be shown in HD? If not, is it worth the expense? Most of the time the answer is no. But like film and standard video (SD), HD has it’s own pros and cons. We have experience with the Sony 900 & the Panasonic Varicam.

HDV. Not real HD. Beware. Many will promote they shoot HD, but it’s not the same thing as HDV. Don’t be fooled….

Many productions call for video because it would be too cost prohibitive otherwise. There are many levels of video formats, and we can help choose the one that best suites your needs. We still approach a video shoot as we would a film shoot, and we bring all the same practices and techniques to the project.

While we are not a recording studio for bands and musicians, we do provide a number of audio services. We have an audio booth that’s prefect for recording voice-overs. We can record straight into our Avid editing system or onto DAT. From there we can edit and convert to a variety of audio files and media.