Slow Motion Video Booth

Valentine's Day 2014 was one to remember in Sonoma County. Ales for Autism hosted its 3rd Annual Black & White Beer Ball in Santa Rosa at the Veterans Memorial Building and was it spectacular! 28 local brews and two ciders on tap, accompanied by artisan food, some jazzy live music, sword swallowing, belly dancing and, of course, the amazing SLOW MOTION VIDEO BOOTH!

Last year we did a micro-doc before the event to help sell tickets. This year we wanted to do something different and were originally asked by, Greg Coll to look into a slo-motion video booth. He had found some examples of Weddings that had a video booth set up, but at over 5k for the shoot and edit, it was out of this charities budget.

Never-mind, reCurve recently purchased the GoPro Hero3, which will shoot 720p at a whopping 120 frames per second! For the uninitiated, that means super slick slow motion on a little-biddy budget.

Produced by Hannah Gart
Shot/Edited by Edward Seaton

music by Wildlight - "Twirl Me"

Wet Undies = Good TV

Making a living in the film/video business takes an ambidextrous soul. I've never been afraid to grab a camera and dangle from something precarious to get the shot. I like getting the shot. I would imagine that it produces in me the same cocktail of dizzying endorphins that a long distance runner might enjoy. Since I am not a long distance runner I can only surmise.

A few of the more bone-headed moves I pulled over the years include hanging out the side of a mini-van to shoot a moving bus, climbing a rickety old grain silo to film pigeons, or shooting any number of music videos in the "bad" part of Chicago.

In the 22 years I've been doing this, I can honestly say that I've only broken a couple of things. One was a monitor, and I'm blaming the c-stand on that one. The other was a light, but who amongst us hasn't shattered a light, or two?

I once heard a story of a camera-op who set his 90 thousand dollar digi-beta cam on a dock so that he might extend a hand to another getting off the boat. The camera was just a hair to close to the edge, and as the gentleman helped his friend ashore they both watched as the camera teetered, and then kur-sploshed into the drink. 90K - gone, just like that. It happens, and as I knock on my own head, I'll say I'm glad that it's never happened to me. Knock on wood.

The monitor was only 3K, and that hurt plenty. Damn you, cursed C-stand! By far the most dangerous piece of equipment on set!



Ted Lega, executive producer of HotCakes and Protein Editorial, calls me during a grey and chilly Chicago spring morning.

"It's gunna be run-n-gun footage of guys test drivin boats in Miami. You interested?"

"Does a rabbit bump it's ass a-hopping?"

I'd like to think that the reason that I have escaped injury, and for the most part, expensive repair bills, is because I take calculated risks. Calculated to be in favor of me not falling off a speeding boat, while not dead-ing myself in order to keep shooting, kind of risks. Often though, its just dumb luck that gets us through, and if you don't believe in luck, a sympathetic Universe.

Case in point, the Miami shoot was progressing nicely. Already on our second day the line of test drivers was shrinking and we had plenty of footage in the can to sell the spot. It was towards the end of the day and the setting sun was starting to make things look really pretty. We raced past each other at breakneck speed. We climbed an abandoned house in stilts-ville and zoomed past some more for overhead shots on the cheap. It was while the boat was at a dead stop that calamity nearly ruined the trip.

We were on a 20 foot long deep-sea fishing vehicle built for speed and there was limited room for myself and the audio technician to operate in. While we decided on the next direction to tear off in, the audio guy squeezed past me as I leaned backwards to give him more room. The decks were wet and my trainers slipped out from under me. I fell backwards over the side rail.

What happened in the next half a second was as follows: I could see the reflection of my own horrified face in the shinny sunglasses of the equally horrified sound guy as he looked up from his dials to see me receding overboard, camera in hand. He reached forward to grab me. I pushed the camera forward towards his chest, and yelled, "camera!" His arms closed around the Sony EX3 like a venus fly trap snaring a bug. I went over the side. Splash, tethered to the boat by my headphones!

I was back in the boat as quick as I went over.

On the way back to the dock we decided to leverage my dripping drawers to see if we could give Ted Lega, the director and producer of this gig, a mild aneurism by insinuating that the camera had been lost to Davy Jones. The south Florida, sun-kissed face of Mr. Lega went Chicago winter white when I threw my hands in the air cursing the rolling seas and gravity.

When we finished torturing Teddy there was one more shot to get.

"there's a spot, only 3-5 foot deep, we could zoom past about 10 feet away going 60 mph."

"well, my shorts are already wet."

So over I went again. On purpose this time.




written by: Edward Seaton

Food Porn!

"So, we represent Chicago's premiere rock-star chef, and he needs some image... adjustments."

PR people, in general, enjoy dramatizing the pitch portion of a new job. Everything is a big secret, too juicy to just explain. It's got to have drama, and mystery, and the most readily used form of those two vehicles is simply to withhold information.

"You don't say? What were you thinking? TV show? Photo shoot?"

"Oh, he's not going to spend any money on this."

I should rephrase my previous judgment of the general population of "PR People". The level of drama and mystery are directly proportional to how much money the PR firm has to pay for my services.

"I see."

"But, he's like Chicago's rock-stariest chef, and it will benefit your future business tremendously."

"Oh, so I'm doing myself a favor."

"Exactly."

"Great! Where do I sign up?"


A few years ago the term "viral video" popped up in the advertising community and it was hailed as the new golden ticket, a magic silver bullet, capable of launching your brand into the stratosphere with the mere click of a mouse. It became the buzz word of choice.

"Ok, so I could kick your rock-star chef in the balls, we'll film it of course, with a phone camera to make it look legit, and bingo, bango, you've got yourself a viral video!"

"I don't think he's gunna go for that."

"No?"

"I think he wants a different type of viral video."

It turns out that this particular rock-star chef's name was Paul Kahan, and he truly is one of Chicago's, and perhaps America's finest chefs. Here in Chicago he is the executive chef for Avec, The Publican, Violet Hour, Blue Bird, and I am probably missing a few. If you've dated any "Sex in The City" types here in the Chi over the past 10 years, you've probably been expected to go to one, if not all of Mr. Kahan's restaurants, and you're certainly familiar with the bill at the end of the meal. Mr. Kahan's various culinary experiences are definitely worth the price, and should not be missed, even if you aren't dating a Bradshaw wannabe.

Paul Kahan was throwing a Beer Dinner at his newest restaurant The Publican, later that summer. He would travel to a brewery in Michigan with his team of beer and food ninjas to brew a special, signature beer. The process seemed fascinating so we asked to tag along, promising the PR folks that there would be a "viral video" in there somewhere. I was happy to shadow a legend.




Making good content is easy when you are around talented people, and this little social media experiment was no exception. The content was released in 3 phases on the Publican's facebook page, and received thousands of views before the tickets to the Beer Dinner went on sale. The event sold out, and we returned to film people's reactions.

We ate, we drank, we were merry.


written by: Edward Seaton

Rob Lee goes to Paris

There once was a man named Mr. Lee. Who worked for a huge ad agency. They sell smokes to overseas folks, and are affectionately known as Leo-B.

Leo-B was a peculiar kingdom, and would often send its faithful Knights far and wide on the strangest missions. One day, Leo-B was acquired by its French contemporaries who waged advertising war under the banner Publicis.

The French had more money, better food, more attractive women, and much fancier pants, so in an effort to appease its new master the Lords of Leo-B decided to send their finest young Knight on a quest into the belly of the beast, so that they too might understand what it means to be French, and perhaps one day wear much fancier pants themselves. Mr. Lee was that Knight.

The video was edited after hours at Eightball Films, back in the day, by me, and was shown at the annual Leo Burnette Breakfast, where is was custom to make fun of each other while eating pancakes and waffles for 3 to 4 hours. I'm pretty sure that there is booze involved too.

Mr. Lee was sent to Paris with a new DV camera, bought for the occasion, daily pocket money, and the assignment, "go see what its like to be french".

The Knight, Rob Lee has long since gone on to different adventures, and is currently Sr. Producer at DDB in San Francisco. He now travels often to Argentina where he makes very expensive cat litter commercials.

The End.




written by: Edward Seaton

What is PrepWire

What the hell is PrepWire? Good question. It's the sports page in the back of the local paper, except it's all video. No inky fingers. It's a video magazine, a vlog, dedicated to local High School sports. Is that Derrick Rose!? Yes, yes it is. While they were still in High School we filmed Derrick Rose, Dwayne Wade, and Lebron James, just to name a few!

We started PrepWire when reCurve Media was still in Chicago, and was one of the first video publications we created from the ground up. We had a deal with NBC5 of Chicago to share our Prep stories! Then the economy went into the toilet, NBC was bought by a Cable provider, and reCurve Media moved to the West Coast to escape Chicago's deplorable winters.

Unfortunately, PrepWire didn't take off the way we had hoped in the 2nd city. On the West Coast however, here in Sonoma County, there is growing excitement around the concept. Perhaps it is because we are so near Silicon Valley. Maybe those on the West Coast are just more hip, but the interest in PrepWire, and well-crafted, local video content is on the rise once again. In this blog post, we've put up only a few PrepWire stories, from the original hundreds filmed and edited, to give you a better idea of what we're on about. If you are interested in the concept of PrepWire, please let us know. The stories are just too good to ignore.

 
PrepWire Football at the SuperDome from reCurve Media on Vimeo.

PrepWire Volley Ball Madness from reCurve Media on Vimeo.
PrepWire Basketball Coverage from reCurve Media on Vimeo.

Cubs Sing Along Contest

Cubs Sing Along Contestant from reCurve Media on Vimeo.


Recurve Media recently completed an "American Idol" type competition for the Cubs where the top ten contestants sang The Seventh Inning Stretch to a panel of high profile judges including Dutchie Caray, Billy Williams, Lee Smith, Steve Cochran, and others.

The video above is of Gonzalo Palacios from Elmwood Park IL. Gonzalo won the competion and claimed his prized when he got to sing the seventh inning stretch for real at a recent sold out home game.

With over 100,000 votes logged, two years running, the "Seventh Inning Stretch" competition has been a huge success for the Cubs and their sponsor for the event BabyRuth.

Chicago Car Show

Auto Show 2008 from reCurve Media on Vimeo.

Recurve was there to cover the 2008 First Look for Charity at the Chicago Auto Show. Shot, edited, and posted within 12 hours was the main objective and Crain's Chicago Business aired the clip the morning after the event!