Houzz.com www.houzz.com is global online community/social media network providing information on architecture, interior design, landscape design and home improvement. Its websites and mobile platforms in 15 countries draw more than 40 million unique visitors each month. And at last count, videos on HouzzTV https://www.youtube.com/user/HouzzTV have attracted more than 33 million viewers. In other words, they’re a pretty big deal.



All Houzz videos have extremely high production values and we were honored they chose Fresh Coast Studios to film this series of 2-camera interviews with Wisconsin architects, interior designers and homebuilders. A total of nine interviews were filmed in our Milwaukee studio over a period of two days.

The technical specifications were very exacting. Houzz requested the A camera shoot 4K to allow their in-house editors to re-frame in post. We chose a Canon C300 MK II. Since only 1080p was required for the B camera, we used a Canon C100 recording Apple ProRes. The background was to be 100% white to match the look Houzz has chosen for all their interviews with “Houzz Pros” around the world.

Tags: Canon EOS C300 Mark II Digital Cinema Camera, Canon EOS C100 Cinema Camera

One of the challenges in this business is finding a way to provide high production value video solutions that will accomplish the client’s objectives even when the budgets are small. A perfect example is the new product introduction video we recently produced for InControl Medical www.incontrolmedical.com.

All InControl wanted was to have their VP of Clinical Services explain the product’s features and benefits in front of a camera - the preverbal “talking head”.

To add a little more production value, while still keeping costs low, we employed a green screen technique that would allow us to film the presentation in our studio, and then make it appear that the VP was speaking in an actual corporate office setting. Pretty simple stuff actually, but that extra bit of green screen compositing added a lot of perceived production value for very little additional cost.

We filmed using our Canon Cinema EOS C100 recording to an external Blackmagic Video Assist recorder. The resulting ProRes 422 video keyed perfectly. This is one of our favorite camera solutions for great looking video on a limited budget.

Tags: Canon EOS C100 Cinema Camera

We’ve been fortunate to have Chicago-based water conditioning equipment manufacturer RainSoft www.rainsoft.com as a client for nearly 20 years. During that time we’ve produced video and graphics content for their marketing efforts and annual dealer sales conferences. Our most recent project was an iPad-based product knowledge video to train Home Depot www.homedepot.com sales associates on RainSoft products.

On-camera talent portions were filmed on green-screen with store backgrounds added in post. When combined with in-store footage and graphics, the resulting video provided RainSoft with a highly effective, yet economical training solution.

Tags: Canon EOS C100 Cinema Camera

At Fresh Coast, we understand that every project we undertake is important to our clients even when it may not seem all that exciting or challenging to us. So when Ottawa Canada-based Innovateurs asked us to film a 3-day seminar in Chicago conducted by Canadian real estate guru Steve Martel, http://www.stevemartel.com we said “Sure. We can do that.”

The attendees had all come from Canada to learn about investment opportunities in the Chicago real estate market.


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On the first day, they toured Chicago neighborhoods on the verge of gentrification. We got some great footage of them cautiously poking their way through dilapidated buildings destined to soon be rehabbed into $300,000 condominium units.

Days two and three were devoted to speaker presentations at the J.W. Marriott. http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chijw-jw-marriott-chicago/
Normally for us this would have been a “no brainer”. Put a camera in the back of the room and try to stay awake for two days. But this one turned out to be a little more of a challenge.


Because the attendance was much larger than expected, the sessions were moved from a well-lit, video-friendly meeting room to a huge 6,000 square foot ballroom illuminated only by dim chandeliers hung from the 20 ft. high ceiling. There was no time or budget to bring in a lighting grid. We had to find a way to make it work.

Canon claims their C100 cinema cameras will make a perfectly acceptable picture at ISO 8000. http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/professional/products/professional_cameras/cinema_eos_cameras/eos_c100#Features
Actually they claim even more, but ISO 8000 would be enough to allow us to pull this off, and worked!!

The footage, shot from the back of the ballroom with a Canon 100-400 L zoom looked amazing. We were able to keep our promise of “providing solutions”, not just crew and gear.

Tags: Canon EOS C100 Cinema Camera, MultiMedia Recording Equipment