How to film a skate video: Red Bull Perspective

       This skating video presented by Red Bull House Media 2013 is simply a work of art. Directed by Nicholas Schrunk, "Red Bull Perspective" is an impressive collection of footage that can literally teach  you certain cinematic elements that could be used on a film of your own. A behind the scenes look at the making of the this video offers insight to all kinds of out of the box shots which with time, patience and the right equipment can improve the entire end product of any film. The use of anamorphic lenses gives the audience a wider perspective of view which adds to the cinematic quality of the film. Additionally the use of a phantom camera shooting up to 4,000 frames per second creates a realtime shot with slow motion action. The team also used cable cams to provide an up close and personal view of the skater as the are hitting their set therefore giving the audience a point of view which brings them along for the ride. Lastly I would like to mention how throughout the video the production team talks about the many variables that make up just one shot, rarely do action sport videos breakdown cinematic elements in such detail. Overall it is refreshing to see such unique genres of work accompanied with knowledgable production teams to capture the essence of cinema.


                       

Trailer Update, All In

Tonight we finished up all of our shots for our poker trailer in Studio A. Overall, I'm really excited to see the final product on the big screen. We have a lot of cool closeup shots and montage scene that are going to make for a thrilling trailer. Our actors were great and we were really fortunate to get in the locations we wanted to shot in. The fresh your mind on the story line, two brothers (Josh and Dan) attend Ithaca College on academic scholarship. Dan loses his money grant due to poor grades, and the two resort to an underground poker tournament run by college graduates. Josh, the better played of the two, decides that he is better off on his own, and takes a loan from a loan shark. It just so happens the two meet up at the final table, one needing to win to stay in school and the other to pay back the loan shark riding on his back. Which brother will end up on top in this thrilling poker adventure.

Below are some pictures I found online that are similar to a couple of shots we used in our trailer:

In post, we are planning to do a lot of motion effects, including slow motion scenes and a scene similar to this clip from the famous gambling movie 21.

We also decided to go with an announcer based trailer, instead of a dialogue driven trailer. With a lot of camera movements and zooms, we thought it would be better for the actors to talk over the the shots they are in, almost like speaking about what they are thinking in certain situations.