The one thing I didn’t do during this whole time is properly brand my own company and produce a proper website for Hotcakes New Media. Over the course of the year, I’ve had time to think about where I’d like to take Hotcakes, considering the market in Ottawa and my competition. As a result, I’ve rebranded Hotcakes as a Creative Company, first and foremost, with a production division. Part of the new branding was trying to come up with a company image that I felt reflected my personality as well as the type of work we produce. The result is a funky, brightly coloured, young and fresh company image that stands out in the dull Ottawa marketplace.

The reason for the rebranding is two-fold: First, because I just wasn’t getting the work I needed to sustain a livable income with my current branding (which was all about promoting production, yet didn’t have the work to back it up), and second, because I saw a gap in the market between marketing companies and production companies. There are NO creative agencies in Ottawa! (or none that I could find) That means searching for “Ottawa creative company” in Google puts my website on page one.

So what exactly did I do? I’ve completely redesigned the looks and the content of the main Hotcakes website (found at http://www.hotcakesnewmedia.com). The new Hotcakes site is simple, and clearly showcases us as a creative company. It’s about giving people confidence in who we are, what we’ve done, and what we can do for them. I’ve also developed a new site specific for production (found at http://www.hotcakesproduction.com). The new production website follows the same structure and looks as the main site, but clearly shows exactly what kind of production work we do, and goes into more detail on those individual work items. It’s designed mostly to catch Google keywords, optimize my ranking, and link people back to the main site. Finally, I created the Ottawa Video Production Blog (found at http://www.ottawavideoproduction.ca/blog). The blog, again, is a technique used to increase visibility within the community, as well as within Google. Search engine ranks go up dramatically when fresh content is posted on a regular basis, and a blog allows us to do that. It also adds specific keywords that might not normally show up, and increases content dramatically. It IS good to toot your own horn.

I’ve also been hard at work building a physical and electronic booklet to mail and email to potential clients. I need to spread the word about Hotcakes, and not rely entirely on people seeking me out. I will soon be actively seeking new clients, sending promotional materials, and advertising as much as possible to maximize the way people find me.

Yes, Hotcakes may have turned one… but without a BIG push and some important new clients, Hotcakes will not see year two. So I better get back to work now.

A7

Boy oh boy did the Hotcakes New Media crew and cast members put in a lot of sweat equity last Sunday, August 16th when the temperatures hit 30+ and had us bathing in our own sweat for most of the evening. However, true to form, our crew was nonetheless back to work as the consummate professional bunch and we got done what we had to do on a quiet little avenue that evening…. yet another segment for the video “Are You Bullet Proof” for To The Rescue. Luckily, the rain was nowhere to be found in O-town that night and we were left alone to get down to business…..a real blessing considering the kind of summer that we have been having this year. And so with that, I will recap the evening to catch you all up to speed….

The evening began with Andy and Dave setting up the lighting for the outside scene….

As you can see here, our cast of characters were waiting in the wings before they were called on to the set… killing a little time with a little chit chat amongst themselves…

And admiring the bike that one of our actors brought on to the set to add authenticity…She is a beauty!

Andy and Dave had to meticulously check out every angle…..

…to ensure that there was enough lighting to capture the moving images…

And one by one, they added in their actors to the scene to see how their images appeared on camera…

Lucky for us, the cast members working on this film project are all real gems to work with – so easy to direct, so agreeable and willing to give us what we were looking for.

And since the scene inside had to be created to resemble a place where a drug deal was going down, the props used had to make the scene rather convincing….and it looked like Andy was quite pleased with the results….

However, the money was no fake – it was all real…..

And again, we did have to powder puff our actors to get rid of the sheen that a natural complexion gives off – and believe me, it was a challenge to get that glare off with the sweltering heat that would not let up that evening. Luckily for the cast, it was dark….

Here we have Jason, Dave and Reda going over their scene ….

And Dave is inside getting everyone engaged about what he was looking for…

The boys playing around…..time is a ticking away…..

And I can tell you that the poor front door met with many takes with Dave kicking it open, but no collateral damage was sustained as Andy and Dave expertly secured it with a pillow taped to the closet behind it…and Dave, our lead “cop” was also gentle enough not to jam his foot through it…

With this particular scene, Dave had to bring his camera around the table and shoot from many different angles….

There was one point where the heat just got to be too much and a much needed break was taken by all to rehydrate…

But our dear Andy and Dave kept on working, finalizing a few more details before the crew was refreshed and ready to resume work….

And so the camera rolled again and captured the much needed footage of the actual deal going down….

And of course, when some are working, there will be others looking to have a little amusement on the down times when there was a little time to kill…

Here we have our lovely ladies….uhh, I mean our lads…..doing their Charlie’s Angels rendition…or sort of…….okay…..nice try guys….didn’t the ladies face away from one another????

Dave, again, hamming it up for the camera….

And sure enough, before we knew it, Andy again called it a wrap at about midnight and everyone was free to go….

But not before my role call…

Here is Jason… the lead character in the video. We were glad to have you back Jason!

And the lovely Sam who played the little drugged up crack…… umm…. well, I don’t want to say it, but you get the picture, I’m sure…..

Marc also played another one addicted to the nose candy……

Eric was the dude who took the money and ran….

Danny played the biker in search of his next great buzz….but the fuzz in this video got a hold of him first!

And of course, we have Reda here…or is it his alter ego….I don’t know…..the heat was getting to all of us actually…..

And finally Dave….”Super Two-Gun Totting” Dave! Well, bee bee pistol totting anyways…. (is that how you spell bee bee for “bee bee guns”?)

Oh, and of course, I couldn’t let the night slip away without snapping at least one picture of the resident canine cutie in Da House!!! Lotus!

So again, we had another great evening where the spirits were high and the gang accomplished what they set out to do that night.

I think the picture here sums it all up rather nicely…. you could feel the sense of excitement, enthusiasm and comraderie on the set and other activities surrounding this project. And the nice thing about it is that everyone who has participated in the making of this video has done so because of their love of and respect for the craft of film making and because they believe in this project and the team making it come together.  And it is through this sense of adventure that one will open doors to new and wonderful opportunities and experiences… and lucky for us, we are meeting new and interesting people along the way.

And with that, I feel my eyes getting very heavy and tired so it is here that I conclude this chronicle of the events that took place on Aug 16th and bid you all a very good night….

Love Tina  oxoxox  :)

I have finally gotten around to importing the footage of the crime scene shoot (formerly known as the accident scene). I am completely blown away by the beautiful lighting, and the superb acting by everyone involved. Shannon and Alfredo’s scene is especially convincing, and both performed with conviction.

You all know the scenario by now. We got Jeff to come up from Toronto to help with the lighting. We got extras, PAs, grips, and makeup artists… and at the last possible instant, literally minutes before shooting, we got a call saying our lead actor was not coming in, and our props and extras were not coming either.

You can read the full story as narrated by the lovely and talented Tina, who was not only documenting the shoot, but jumped right in to fulfill a PA role and assist in the shoot. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a few stills from the actual captured footage that night.

A7

Here is the third and final installment of my behind-the-scenes photo blogumentary for the music video “Are You Bullet Proof”  produced by Hotcakes New Media. As you know, a production like this just does not happen without some serious thought, dedication and immense effort going into it to make it all come to life. After Andy and Dave had their concept down for the video, the next step was finding the characters to make their vision a reality – and that is never an easy feat. So this meant that Andy and Dave had to put their feelers out there to find kind and friendly people who were willing to volunteer their time and energy to fulfill this project.  So it was a real relief (and the most pleasant outcome you could hope for) to have such down-to-earth people, some whom we met for the first time that night, respond to the call and actually show up to play their respective parts for that evening. As mentioned before, everyone was really easy to work with and they gave the crew exactly what they needed with minimal coaching. So without further ado, I now introduce you to the people who made the murder scene video shoot possible….

First, I present to you the lovely and sweet Shannon who played our only witness at the scene of the crime … She was in town just for a little while to spend some time reconnecting with some folks before making her way back home to B.C….

And then we have the most charming and ready to go Reda who gave us a great performance as one of the police officers who arrived to and swiftly departed from the crime scene. Another fellow in town briefly for the summer before his return to B.C. as well – what a coincidence! We love you artsy folks from B.C.!

Next, we have a fellow familiar to Rogers – the talented Dave – who has had previous experience with local television productions…and who played our veteran cop giving orders to our rookie cops on the scene…

And of course, this guy is the very handsome Italian Stallion Alfredo (at least in my mind)  :P , whom you all know as somewhat reserved, but who is also very willing to answer the call when a friend needs a serious looking gentleman to play a young police officer whose craving for raspberry jelly filled donuts is always set off by the sight of coagulated blood at a murder scene (yeck!)  :) …….

And also so crucial to the making of any video are those people behind the scenes who help with the lighting and other miscellaneous requirements like the very friendly Aaron, here, who helped re-create the police cruiser lights (as a light swinger  - heh, heh) and who also took some pictures to document that evening’s work…

Who has heard of a set without the make-up artist ????  Impossible! Tall or small – she powdered them all and made sure that their faces made love to the camera!  The very cute Miss Ginette (also a light swinger on her down time)  :) …. with our resident dead guy – God love him – Andy !!!  I swear, just being near him made me crave buffalo wings for the rest of that evening… Damn you guys for using that sauce when I could not find a place at midnight that serves wings!

And finally, I just had to have the three musketeers pose for me for their spot in the spotlight so that they could take a bow for their great work and winning spirit! We love you Dave, Andy and Jeff! Way to go guys! It was a pleasure working for you!  Oh… and love those nipple whatever you ma-call-its… LOL!!!

In conclusion, I have to say that being a part of this as a helper and as an observer was a real cool way to spend my Saturday evening / night with my friends and a most wonderful opportunity to witness a great plan come together. Sure, we had hit a bump in the road that night, but it only served to demonstrate how these guys will find a way, no matter what, to keep their cool and to persevere on their path in pursuit of that final cut. When I heard Andy say “That’s a wrap,” I have to tell you that I got a chill. Why? Because, I really felt that, at that moment in time, it was only the beginning of great things to come for these guys. They dared to dream and now they are actually out there doing it.  How can I not be excited by that drive?  God bless you for having the balls to go out there and get it boys! We’re all behind you 100% of the way and we’ll be cheering you on as you continue on this journey together.  Viva Hotcakes New Media! We see a bright future for you! So Go Get ‘Em Boys!!!!

Love Tina  :) oxoxox

Awwww – Thanks for the comments Andy, Dave.  It was an absolute pleasure working with you and our cast of characters. Yeah – everyone was really easy to work with, eh? And the new folks were really friendly too! I appreciated the opportunity to get to know our new cast members and to capture what was going on during the production. I enjoyed the whole process from start to finish….

In continuation from my last post…..

As the sun cast its last hour of light upon us, Andy was still in the midst of mulling over the details on how the scene would play out on the screen.

And it looked like all of the details were accounted for and taken into consideration…

And then it finally came …. the night that is …. and the actors moved into position to allow the directors and the light crew to test the shot…

And then, the call came…

As Dave had mentioned, we eventually got word that the lead character was unable to make it to this shoot due to unforeseen circumstances. This forced the crew to rethink the whole entire shoot. It could be the blow that shuts down this whole night…..

Do they throw in the towel and call it a day….? Or do they proceed without their lead actor….?

We had the lights and the effects turned out exactly as the crew had hoped for …

We had the camera and Dave found the perfect angle to capture the crime scene …

Everything was exactly as the crew had imagined it and the cast was in position … But the lead was not going to be able to shoot his scenes tonight …

What do we do? Well, we do what we do as professionals… the work continues and as they say in show business …. “The Show Must Go On”……

But there was just one more question…. Who was going to be the corpse in the car at the scene?

Heh Heh … there are definitely no slouches on this set and with the majority of the film crew pulling double duty, our best bet was to have our beloved Andy assume this role…

And from that point onward, the cameras were rolling and we were getting the job done.

As the story goes, the police discover the body and begin their investigation ….

And the only witness is being interviewed…

As we captured the shots we needed, the pressure was easing off and we actually had a few chuckles in between takes …. especially with some of our actors making funny comments in their ad lib dialogue … So you really want that raspberry filled jelly donut, do you Detective Alfredo?  :)

So as not to interfere with the rest of the filming as we were dealing with night shots and specific lighting requirements, I laid my camera down and let the rest of the evening unfold as it needed to.

As the crew called it a wrap just before midnight, there was a feeling of satisfaction in the air and the cast and crew were in great spirits. Despite the evening’s change in plans, their was a great sense that some real cool footage was gained from this evening’s work.

In Part 3, I will feature the cast and crew who made the visions of this shoot come to life to acknowledge their contribution to this project…

More to follow folks….

Love Tina  :)

The second shooting weekend for To The Rescue’s new music video being produced by Hotcakes New Media can now officially be considered a successful shoot. It was, however, a rocky shoot. Want to know why? Keep reading.

Doing night shoots are tricky. Unless you are able to properly block the windows to simulate nighttime, you have to wait until it’s really dark to get your lighting set up correctly. In this case, shooting this scene at Anne and Dave’s house, it was crucial to wait until it was fully dark out before starting (past 9:30pm!) because of the HUGE windows in the space. This led to a very slow start, but ultimately, not really a issue as I had informed people that the shoot would run until midnight (which it did, almost to the minute). Instead, the main issues we faced were due to the small space we were working with, and the performance of our lead female.

First, the small space; Small spaces are always difficult to shoot in. It makes it difficult to set up lighting far enough away to avoid hot spots on the skin (completely white areas due to too much light) while providing a decent fill light to make the lighting look natural. In this case, we had to soften our lights with frosted gels because they were too harsh, and place lights in precarious positions in the stairs. For the entrance, we had to literally hang a light with a softbox over the stair railing. The good news is, Dave and I are getting better (faster?) at lighting, so everything turned out very nice. The only issue is one shot where the light is a little too bright (at the entrance, directly below the light), but I was able to fix it in post.

Second, the acting; Jay, our lead male, is a natural. His performance was very consistent and very well acted. Our female lead, Kandisse, was not as natural. It was a little more difficult to get the performance the way we wanted. In all fairness, after looking back at the original script (before the editing), the dialogue was not 100% believable to begin with, so it made matters worse than they should have been. The issue was that she was not conveying the emotion we wanted for the scene, which was hurt feelings driving to anger. Instead, she was portraying it more as self-pity and despair, with long drawn out sentences that felt completely manufactured. After taking a break from shooting and Dave going over the inflection we were looking for with the actors, we on a roll, and the performance was becoming more honest.

With all the issues we had in shooting, we were afraid we wouldn’t be able to put together a believable scene with the footage we had. But it turns out we have more than enough footage to put together a great intro scene with nice pacing and flow. The editing is now done, and it’s official; The scene works very well and Dave and I are both happy with it. I should also mention that Lorelei, the producer for Moonrise Productions, was on set to help, and provided the scene saving gels for our lighting. She has a great eye, and noticed a few glitches I didn’t catch while looking at my monitor.

So you want more pictures? Of course you do! (but crafty people will find the video on YouTube if they know how to search well enough)

Here you go:

On to July 4th for the big accident scene shoot.

A7

Notable updates to this version include a proper full 15 second animation, updated mountains, more “shine”, and a fade out at the end to reveal just the company name. Note that the music is just a temporary filler until the proper music is written.

(Original post)
I put together a rough (yet completely polished) draft of the intro video for Moonrise Productions (the company Dave is releasing his short film under). It is actually a 15 second intro, just like the Hotcakes “chomp” intro, but it got sped up a bit when I exported, and the YouTube version loses a lot of detail (like the sparkling letters). The final High Definition version will be a full 15 seconds. Let me know what you think, and if you have any ideas for improvement!

A7

Take two (the much much much shorter version).

In filming the To-The-Rescue music video, Dave and I have run into a few technical snafus that caused some issues for us.

1- Monitoring: The best way to shoot this type of production is to have a director watching the full-resolution large monitor while someone else is filming. This allows the director to ensure the footage is well acted, well framed and lit, and in perfect focus. We had a monitor on set, but it was not color calibrated, nor was it a 1:1 pixel ratio. We also had issues with the crappy RCA component cables unplugging from the extended coupler. I have already taken steps to eliminate some of these issues by ordering some BNC connectors (they “lock” into place). But there’s still the color calibration and aspect ratio issues.

2- Recording time: The camera we use records HD footage to memory cards. I have two 4GB memory cards (which is all I could afford when I bought it). That allows me only 20 minutes of 720p footage, or only 8 minutes of 1080 footage!  Once the cards are full, we have to stop production while I dump the cards to hard disk. Dumping the cards takes 25 minutes! This is a severe workflow problem and a serious hindrance to our final product. Bigger memory cards sell for $2000, and would still only allow for 40 minutes of recording (and take 50 minutes to transfer!).

3- Audio: This was not an issue for our shoot this past weekend, but will be an issue for the rest of the video shoots. The camera’s built-in microphone is woefully inadequate, and a camera mounted shotgun mic is not ideal except for documentaries (the person needs to be facing the camera to be heard… everything else gets blocked out. Using a shotgun mic on a boom pole is extremely awkward as the cable running into the front of the camera weighs down the lens and interferes with camera movement.

4- Editing: Even the most powerful systems have a hard time keeping up with HD content. My monitors are not big enough to display a preview window and a timeline window at full resolution, so the software has to do some converting to make it fit my screen. This eats up CPU and graphics power, and lowers quality significantly. I often get a stuttering (lowered frame rate) or blockiness (lowered resolution) to compensate. This is less than ideal when working with HD footage, as it’s important to see all the details.

Can one single product fix all these issues? Yes. Yes it can. Meet the Matrox MXO2: http://www.matrox.com/video/en/products/mxo2

It comes with a laptop card, and a desktop card, so it can be used wherever it is needed. It allows video input (from a number of sources, including my current camera’s component cables, as well as future camera’s HDMI and HD-SDI) and also has video out for monitoring. You can plug in a standard monitor with HDMI (just about any modern LCD monitor) and it will color calibrate and do 1:1 hardware accelerated pixel mapping. It can record 10-bit uncompressed or compressed video directly to the laptop, so no more need for small memory cards and low bitrates. It has 4 XLR mic inputs for live monitoring and recording of audio. It accelerates HD video and is capable of scaling HD footage in real-time to allow for crystal clear editing. And it does a whole lot more too (like accelerate compression, output audio monitoring for 5 channel sound, Genlock, RED camera support, video upconversion, and more).

That will be Hotcakes New Media’s next purchase… as soon as we secure a bit of funds. Anyone got a paying video job to send our way?

Gnite.

A7

I promised you all something big, so here it is! I invite you to visit Hotcakes New Media, my new video production and design company. There is still a bit of organization left to do before I start taking contracts (getting a business bank account, setting up accounting, and awaiting delivery of my new lighting and chromakey kits) but everything is registered and well underway.

Today marks the official launch of Hotcakes New Media.

A7