When Lewis Black’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes – Naked Truth Tour” played the historic Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee, WI on May 13 & 14, http://pabsttheater.org/show/lewisblack2016
FRESH COAST was there.


Film and music producer Jack Guilick http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1065367/ known for his television documentaries ranging from Bruce Springsteen, and Metallica, to LA street gangs saw the Milwaukee performances as an opportunity to gather material for upcoming audio CD’s and a possible television special. Guilick reached out to FRESH COAST to provide multi-track audio recording and video footage of the performances. The last 30 minutes of each show would also streamed live on http://www.lewisblack.com/live

The audio requirements were very specific. In addition to two mics on Lewis Black, Guilick requested six matching shotgun mics strategically placed around the theatre to capture audience reactions. All eight mics were to be recorded on separate channels in 24 bit/96kHz with dual 8-track recorders providing system redundancy and hardware backup. We chose Sennheiser 416’s for the audience mics and a pair of Sound Devices 8 channel recorders. Thomas Beach engineered the recording.

To insure the video footage would be suitable for any possible future uses (broadcast or theatrical release), we choose a Canon Digital Cinema camera equipped with a 150-600mm lens to give us a waist-up framing from the back of the theatre.

Lewis Black has been hugely popular in Wisconsin since the early ninety’s and both performances were sold out. The producers were happy. The audiences had a great time and so did our crew. As Lewis put it: “It’s an extraordinary state. They’ve embraced me and they’ve embraced Scott Walker”. He had a lot more to say about Wisconsin’s Republican Governor, but we’re not going to go there.

Tags: Camera Packages, Audio Recording Packages

Those of you out there who are both sports fans and technology buffs have probably heard of something called “Free Dimensional Video”. Personally I hadn’t until we got a phone call from MLB Advanced Media. http://www.mlbam.com (MLB as in Major League Baseball)



Turns out that Free Dimensional Video, or “freeD”, is technology developed by Replay Technologies Inc. http://replay-technologies.com that uses multiple cameras to capture ultra high definition footage of sporting events… And then, through a type of computer magic they call “3D Pixel Recreation”, turn it into this: https://vimeo.com/124957068 Just watch the video. I’m not going to attempt to explain it here.

So what does all this have to do with Fresh Coast? Apparently even though Replay Technologies’ systems are used at major sporting events throughout the world, Major League Baseball was not totally convinced the resulting computer generated imagery was accurate enough for the official replays viewed by umpires and coaches. They wanted to test it for themselves and reached out to Fresh Coast for help.

Three high speed Phantom Flex 4K camera packages http://www.visionresearch.com/Products/High-Speed-Cameras/Phantom-Flex4K were rented from AbelCine in L.A. and Fresh Coast’s Chicago office provided three Phantom-certified camera assistants, three PA’s, and a key grip.


The testing took place over four days at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field. Actual and simulated game action was recorded in 4K slow motion with the Phantom Flex cameras. MLB Advanced media would then compare the Phantom footage with Replay Technologies’ “3D Pixel Recreations” to confirm its accuracy.

No idea what MLB learned from the experiment, but thanks to the efforts of our crew, Tim Moder, Mike Pavisan, Shaun Fleeger, Andy Cook, Nick Turner, Ricky Rudolph, Thomas Andrejek, and Eyliece Richardson, MLB Advanced Media left Chicago with a whole lot of terabytes of high speed, 4K footage to study and analyze.

Tags: Multi-Camera Production Crews, Major League Baseball, Phantom Flex4K Camera, Camera Packages

In October, Fresh Coast was given the opportunity to participate in a very ambitious documentary film project dealing with the complex issues of MS (multiple sclerosis). Produced by MBM Productions in Chicago (www.mbmproductions.com) with funding from a major pharmaceutical company, the film explores all elements of MS from the latest clinical research to stories of people living with the disease. Fresh Coast’s role was to provide crew and equipment for a profile on Lori Schneider – the only person with MS to have climbed Mt. Everest. (www.empowermentthroughadventure.com). Filming took place in Ms. Schneider’s hometown of Janesville, WI.

Immediately prior to the Janesville shoot, MBM’s producer/director team Steven and Lisa Sulkin, along with DP Chip Nusbaum had been filming in Italy and the UK. Since they would arrive in Janesville only one day before filming began, Fresh Coast’s field producer handled all the on-location pre-pro coordination and location scouting.

With the shoot only a few days out, we learned that DP Nusbaum had some very specific gear requests. Bob Donnelley at North American Camera came through for us and was able to assemble an extensive camera package that included two Canon C-300’s, both Canon and Angenieux cinema zoom lenses, and a long list of camera support gear.

Jed Henry at Recon Productions in Madison was able to locate a steadicam rig with the requested wireless audio and video feeds and had it shipped in from Kentucky. Jed also worked the shoot as 2nd camera and steadicam operator.

Blue Moon Lights provided a very robust lighting & grip package that included a full complement of HMI, KinoFlo, and LED fixtures.

But even the best gear means little without the right people behind it, so a big shout out to our 10-person crew whose talents and resourcefulness made this shoot a success.

Audio Recordist Tom Beach, Gaffer Chris Marks, Grip Kenny Somerville, Grip/AC Tim Moder, 2nd Camera Jed Henry, PA/Utility Grip Jake Demoske, Makeup Artist Susin Greenberg, PA Ben Ramsdele, Data Manager Jeff Taylor, and Field Producer Ralph Pabst.

Our thanks to all the Fresh Coast crew and equipment suppliers whose talents and resourcefulness made this shoot a success.

Tags: Multi-Camera Production Crews, Lighting and Grip, Camera Packages, Audio Recording Packages

When the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman (www.kattenlaw.com) asked us to record a live multi-media presentation by UCLA Law Professor Jerry Kang (www.law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/jerry-kang) at their Chicago offices, it seemed almost too simple. Film the professor speaking, get a copy of his PowerPoint, and then edit in the slides later. The finished video was to be distributed to Katten’s 13 offices in the U.S., London and Shanghai.



But then we learned that Professor Kang’s support visuals were not PowerPoint, Keynote, or anything else we had ever heard of. He was using a touch screen, interactive program called “Mind Manager” which allowed Kang to move through the visuals and link to a variety of different media more or less at will. There was no way we could re-create this presentation in post.

We needed to find a way to capture the Mind Manager visuals live in high definition during the presentation. After assessing Katten’s in-house AV system, we realized we would need to tap into their 5 BNC / VGA system. This would require scaling the image to 1920X1080 using our TV One Universal Scaler (http://www.tvone.com/video-scalers), convert the signal to HDSDI with a Black Magic Design Terranex 2D Broadcast Converter (https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/teranex), and then send it to an AJA KiPro hard disk video recorder (https://www.aja.com/en/products/ki-pro).

We ended up hauling in a little more gear than the IT people at Katten had probably expected, but everything worked and the finished video looked great.

Tags: Multi-Camera Production Crews, Audio Recording Packages, MultiMedia Recording Equipment

Fresh Coast Production Resources pulls off last minute filming of Sing-Off Live Milwaukee concert.

Every now we get the question: “Just what does Fresh Coast Production Resources do?” Well, we do a lot of different things, but foremost is we find ways to “make it happen” for our clients. Here’s an interesting example from last week.

Monday 3/17/14

11:00 pm: First email arrives.
“Subject: Sing-Off Live!
Message:
Hello, I am in charge of Video for the Sing-Off Live tour. We have 2 shows at the Pabst Theater on 3/20 (yes in 3 days) and I am looking for a crew to shoot the live show multicam (4-6 cameras) with the possibility of 1 jib and 2 steady cams. Please let me know ASAP if you have these capabilities.”

A quick Google search revealed that the Pabst Theater performance was part of a 32-city tour featuring groups from the popular NBC a cappella singing competition TV show “Sing-Off”, produced by Sony Pictures Television.
http://www.nbc.com/the-sing-off .

The touring groups included the 2013 season winner “Home Free” http://www.homefreevocalband.com/ along with “VoicePlay”, http://thevoiceplay.com/ and The Filharmonic. http://www.thefilharmonic.com/

11:41 pm. Fresh Coast’s reply email:

“We just might be able to pull this off but I will need to speak with you no later than tomorrow morning to discuss the details. Call my cell. 414-405-5850”.

Tues. 3/18/14

9:00 am - Phone call from the client:
The client initially wanted to shoot all Canon dslrs. Providing 6 dslr camera packages wouldn’t be a problem for us, but we suggested it would be a good idea to have a couple traditional HD video cameras in the mix. After clarifying the client’s expectations, we explained that getting a “real jib” into the Pabst Theater was probably not an option at this late date. We said we would try to convince the theater to let us bring in a smaller 10ft. Intel-A-Jib that would at least give them some dynamic camera moves. We also explained that finding two steadicam rigs and operators on this short notice was iffy.

10:00 am. We put the word out:
Phone calls, texts and emails went out to Fresh Coast’s Milwaukee crew resources with the hope we could somehow line up the needed people and gear on such short notice. The shoot was now only 48 hrs. out!

4:00 pm – We got lucky
OK. So we could only confirm one steadicam & operator (Carl Whitney). But all the crew positions were locked in by late afternoon. Jeff Thomas and Rich Clifford would be shooting Sony XDCAM from the house – hopefully one of them with the jib. Tom Caldardt, along with Carl and his steadicam would be on the stage with their 5D’s. Tim Moder was managing data backstage and shooting pick-up shots with his 5D. Fresh Coast producer Ralph Pabst also did double duty – roaming the house shooting performance and audience B-roll.

Wed. 3/19/14

9:00 am – Phone call from the client:
Question: Could we get them 4 Crown PCC mics?
Answer: Probably.
Studio Gear came through.

1:00 pm – Site Survey
We met with the theater’s technical director and house manager to finalize camera positions. Turns out both performances were sold out. No place for camera platforms and any hope for even a small jib went out the window. We broke the news to the client.

Thurs. 3/20/14 – Shoot Day

10:00 AM
We arrived at the theater; delivered the Crown mics; and finalized camera positions and scheduling with the client. Crew call was noon.

1:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Rehearsals, lighting & sound checks began at 1:30 with the first show at 4:00 pm. Over the next 8 1/2 hours, we filmed two performances, shot some special footage for a music video, and did fan interviews before and after each performance.

11:00 pm – We were done – sort of.
As the Sing-Off Live folks began their strike and load-out, Tim Moder was still off-loading cards and organizing the 350 plus gigs data. Everything was backed up over-night and FedEx’d to the client the next day.

The whole project was a little crazy and last minute. But thanks to our great crew, we made it happen – and “making it happen” is what Fresh Coast is all about.

But as we packed up and patted ourselves on the back for a job well done, the Sing-Off Live performers and crew were getting on their tour busses and hitting the road to Minneapolis, Kansas City, Denver, Seattle, Salem, OR , San Francisco, Riverside and Los Angeles. 8 performances. 8 cities. 8 consecutive days. Ahh ....the world of show biz!!

Tags: Multi-Camera Production Crews, Camera Packages, Audio Recording Packages

Fresh Coast teams with Time Inc. Studios for Chase Ink Chicago shoot

On August 2nd. Fresh Coast™ Production Resources’ Chicago office supplied production support to Time Inc.’s new video unit, Time Inc. Studios. http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/time-inc-ready-launch-its-ambitious-new-video-strategy-152446 .

The project was a Chase Business Ink “Inspirationists” small business profile featuring entrepreneur Shawn Smith, founder of “Shawnimals” http://www.shawnimals.com/ .

Time Studios sent their director and DP, and we provided the two Canon C-300 packages, 2nd camera OP, lighting, audio, and makeup. The video profile originally aired on CNN Money http://money.cnn.com/, but you can watch it now at http://vimeo.com/82052120

Tags: Camera Packages, Lighting and Grip, Audio Recording Packages