Recently Digital Zoetrope Productions produced an Annual Report video for the Intersil corporation. The video is designed to inform the public of the company’s successes and direction for the upcoming year. To create the video, we used a mixture of live action footage, still photos and motion graphics. The project was done almost exclusively in Adobe After Effects CC 2014, with each scene as an individual composition that was then sewn together in Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2014. We then added the music and voice over.
Recently, Digital Zoetrope Productions worked with filmmaker Daphne Stacey to produce an independent film entitled In A Moment. The film was shot exclusively with our Sony F5 Cinealta Digital Cinema camera and utilized that camera’s S-Log2 gamma curve setting. What the Sony F5’s S-Log2 gamma setting allows you to do, is to record a scene with a “flat” picture profile that keeps most of the original information from the camera’s sensor. Essentially, this profile is as close as the camera can record to a RAW setting without actually using the AXS-R5 RAW Recorder with the Sony F5.
Shooting in S-Log2’s flat profile allows us to color correct the final image immensely without sacrificing image quality. S-Log2 preserves the dynamic range of a shot, meaning that information from both the highlights and shadows are recorded for use by your editing/color correction system. In the case of In A Moment, color correction was done exclusively in Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2014 utilizing a combination of built-in color correction filters and Look Up Tables (LUT) from James Miller’s excellent Deluts collection.
Here is a sample of the difference in the S-Log2 footage and the color corrected footage: (Click to enlarge to their original 4K size)
Original S-Log2
Color Corrected Canon F5
The above sample was color corrected using Miller’s Liverpool LUT at 20% opacity and Adobe Premiere Pro’s RGB Curves and Fast Color Correction effects. This helped us achieve a dark, somber mood look to the footage.
Original S-Log2
Color Corrected
This sample utilized Miller’s Lichfield LUT at 100% opacity and Adobe Premiere Pro’s RGB Curves and Fast Color Correction effects.
Original S-Log2
Color Corrected
Lastly, this scene was color corrected using Miller’s Lichfield LUT at 100% opacity and RGB Curves and Fast Color Corrector. The saturation was also increased to about 120% since the mood of this scene is more hopeful than the previous two scenes.
Recently, Digital Zoetrope Productions completed a corporate video for Melbourne, FL based semi-conductor company Intersil about their involvement on NASA’s Orion program. The video details how Intersil had several integrated circuits (ICs) in the Command Module on the Orion spacecraft.
The video was shot at Intersil’s Palm Bay, FL based facility where they make radiation hardened ICs. It was shot primarily with our 4k Sony F5 Cinealta camera package. We also utilized our Canon 60D DSLR package as a “B” camera. In addition to several interviews, we also filmed several scenes inside Intersil’s clean room facilities where they fabricate and test the ICs.
This project is one of many video productions that Digital Zoetrope has done for Intersil, but it certainly was one of their more interesting projects to work on. Not only was it a challenge to film in a clean room environment, but it was also a pleasure to work on a project that has to do with our nation’s space agency. The Orion project, with it’s eventual planned mission to Mars, is the United States’ next generation of space craft that will continue our country’s space exploration program.
On February 21st, Digital Zoetrope Productions won 5 ADDY Awards from the American Advertising Federation. The 5 awards were for three different clients, Intersil corporation, CruiseOne and Hear Gear. The first of the awards was for the video, “Power Your Future”, done for Intersil. “Power Your Future” is a video that details why Intersil is a great place of employment. The second award was for the “Power Your Future” campaign, which was a series of videos done for Intersil’s Human Resources Department. The third award was for the “Focus on Power Management” campaign for Intersil. This campaign was a series of videos that highlight the new Power Management technologies and direction for Intersil’s semi-conductors. The fourth award was for “Mason’s Surprise Cruise”, a heart warming video about a free cruise given to a needy family by CruiseOne. The fifth and final award was for “Free Wavez – Be Unstoppable!” done for Hear Gear with Tight Line Productions acting as the agency. “Be Unstoppable!” is a video that showcases Hear Gear’s innovative wireless earbuds.
The five ADDY Awards won by Digital Zoetrope Productions represent a perfect sweep as DZ had five nominated videos and won with all five. This marks the second year in a row that Digital Zoetrope Productions has won an ADDY award, winning an award in 2014 for a television commercial done for Computer Experts.
Digital Zoetrope Productions was hired by Tight Line Productions recently to shoot and edit a video highlighting the ease of use of the Free Wavz wireless headphones during workouts. The video was shot primarily with our Sony F5 Cinealta camera. A GoPro Hero 3+ attached to a Phantom Quadcopter also was used for a few aerial shots.
For many of the exercise shots such as the CrossFit sequence and Boxing sequences, we utilized the F5’s high frame rate capabilities and recorded at 180 frames per second. This allowed us to slow down and ramp up the video in post to create a unique look for the video.
Free Wavz are wireless headphones made by Hear Gear and are designed for workouts. So to show off the freedom wireless headphones give you, we shot four “Vignettes” with different workouts, Boxing, Weight Lifting, CrossFit and Running.
The first 3 vignettes were shot in a gym while the running vignette was filmed along the causeway and riverfront in Melbourne. The Sony F5 primarily shot with our 24-78mm f2.8 lens with a couple of shots utilizing our wide angle 12-24mm f4 lens and our 50mm f1.4 Zeiss prime lens. Lighting was primarily accomplished with Kino Flo Diva lights and Mole Richardson Baby and Tweeny LED lights.
Post-production was completed on Digital Zoetrope’s Adobe Premiere Pro editing system. The Sony F5’s robust codec and S-Log2 capabilities allowed us to really play with the color correction in post to give the video a more “edgy” look. Check out the finished video above.
Digital Zoetrope Productions just won a 2014 ADDY Award for our TV commercial for Computer Experts entitled, “Cell Phone Toilet”. The :15 TV spot follows a young woman who makes the surprisingly common mistake of putting her cell phone in her back pocket and then using the restroom. Let’s just say, water damage ensues. The spot was designed to highlight the fact that one of Computer Experts’ services is cell phone repair, even water damaged ones.
The spot was shot and produced in February of 2013 using Digital Zoetrope Productions’ Canon 60D camera package with our 28-74mm f2.8 zoom lens and our 30mm f1.4 prime lens. Post-production was completed on our Final Cut Pro edit suite and the titles and video were composited in Adobe After Effects CC. It then aired throughout Brevard county Florida on Bright House Cable across a variety of networks.
In addition to the ADDY Award for Computer Experts, Digital Zoetrope Productions also provided production services for several other ADDY Award winners including several TV spots for Space Coast Cancer and the Department of Space Coast Tourism.
The ADDY Awards are conducted by the American Advertising Federation. The ADDYs represent the true spirit of creative excellence by recognizing all forms of advertising from media of all types, creative by all sizes and entrants of all levels from anywhere in the world.
Recently, Digital Zoetrope Productions completed a corporate video for Melbourne, FL based semi-conductor company Intersil about their involvement on NASA’s Orion program. The video details how Intersil had several integrated circuits (ICs) in the Command Module on the Orion spacecraft.
This project is one of many video productions that Digital Zoetrope has done for Intersil, but it certainly was one of their more interesting projects to work on. Not only was it a challenge to film in a clean room environment, but it was also a pleasure to work on a project that has to do with our nation’s space agency. The Orion project, with it’s eventual planned mission to Mars, is the United States’ next generation of space craft that will continue our country’s space exploration program.
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