After talking this idea over with Teego, she gave me full access to all of her dancers. As a photographer, this was amazing because I was allotted full artistic freedom. It also opened many doors of possible film projects which we collaborated on throughout the next several years. On top of this amazing opportunity, Teego began introducing me to choreographers she brought over to Toronto from the United States, which allowed me to network with a dance crew from San Diego. I went over there and spent a week filming a mini documentary for Formality, about their journey to a major dance show.

Our most recent project involved a late night photo-shoot with her main dance crew that she has competing for major competitions. It was a tight shoot because Teego and her crew were practicing for an upcoming competition until late one night, and the Silverpoint team got together with Vybe to start the photo-shoot after the practice. As always there is always a challenge in every job and my biggest obstacle was making some of the dancers, who had never worked with me before, become quickly familiarized and comfortable so I could get them to pose for the camera. Everyone was open for direction and the shoot was a great success.

One thing I have learned over these five years is how to instruct a person to compose themselves in front of the camera in order to capture them in a flattering pose while they are in motion. This is also helpful in the corporate world because I am better able to direct executives in their business spaces. 

Teego is a wonderful person to work with and I have even recently signed-up my six year old daughter at her dance studio in Markham, Ontario. I have to thank Teego for all the great opportunities over the last five years, and I really look forward to continue our collaborations between the photography/film world and the dance world. 

The Silverpoint Team would really like to hear about your experiences with motion-photography and/or photographing dancers!

Keith

Recently we once again had the pleasure to work with Sonya Latreille, the Product Manager for All-Clad and Rowenta Beauty, on instructional styling videos teaching consumers and stylist on how to use the new Rowenta 2 in 1 Ceramic Ionic Curling Iron (Straight & Curl).  The idea was to produce a video that demonstrates to both professionals and amateurs alike, the tricks and techniques used to create 5 distinct hairstyles for the modern and fashionable woman.

Suffice to say it ‘s not very hard for us to agree to projects produced by Rowenta as we often find ourselves in trendy locales, surrounded by beautiful women, and working with familiar, smart, and kind people. But some of you might be asking; how do the “manly men” of Silverpoint accomplish the task of instructing women on how to use a feminine product successfully?

Well, apart from the guidance and vast knowledge from experts such as Sonya and Toronto Fashion Week lead stylist & Rowenta Beauty artist Dee Dagher. The key to our success when creating any instructional video has always been to produce a piece that not only effectively instructs the target demographic, but also has the ability to teach even our selves - no matter how familiar or foreign the product. So that’s right ladies, what we have here is in fact the first ever, media production house who can confidently and fabulously: straighten, curl, wave, and volumize your hair.

As a result the video itself was a huge success, receiving numerous compliments within the industry and countless DVD copies readily requested.  The video was also used through online distribution and on their website here with great exposure.

Josh 

P.s. If you would like an appointment with our lead hair designer and COO Vince Chan, please leave a comment in the comment section below with your appointment request and we’ll do our best to fit you into his busy styling schedule. 

I love my iPhone. My colleagues find me a little crazy but I love how this phone can be a powerful tool both technically and creatively. As filmmakers it enables you to slate, create storyboards, calculate DOF, dispatch release forms and even act as a light source. The great thing is that the features continue to expand as long as apps continue to be produced.

One example of these apps I use quite frequently is Sun Seeker. This app lets you know when and where the sun will rise and set, today or in the future. One of the amazing offerings from this app is the 3D View, which is an augmented reality view using the phone's GPS, accelerometer and camera to see the path of the sun with reference to time and the phone’s real time camera image. There are other views too, such as the angle of the sun overlaid on a Google Map of your current location or any location you choose to input.

This app is very useful when you are setting up a scene and need to be able to predict how the light will affect your shot a few hours later. It's also a huge benefit for planning the lighting for a time-lapse. In the example below numerous structures around us caused undesired lighting situations. Sun Seeker was able to tell me when and where to frame the camera in order to get our desired effect. It essentially also enabled me to see where the sun would situate during the entire time-lapse.

For $5.99 it's the price of a modest lunch. You can download it from here.

Stan

To our delight both issues have been addressed to varying degrees. First off the people at Technicolor collaborated with Canon to produce a "picture style" that allows the camera to pack more bits of info into that H.264 file and effectively increase dynamic range. It is great to see Canon willing to put continued effort into a camera that's  three years old. I won't go into detail about the Technicolor picture style or CineStyle as they call it, since there are very informative articles widely available on the internet already. But for us we have definitely found an improvement in quality after introducing the Technicolor Cinestyle into our workflow. There is more detail in the shadows and more flexibility in colour correcting without making a mess of the image. The greatest part is that it is free and available here.

In addition, you will need to apply an "S" curve to the image during post-production to bring it back to where it should be, as the image will be quite "flat". We use Magic Bullet's LUT Buddy to apply the curve in Final Cut Pro. You can find the LUT Buddy here.

However to achieve the results that CineStyle provides, while filming it makes the image extremely low contrast and flat. Unfortunately this could make a shot a mess to focus. Recently I was just on a shoot where I had to frame a woman's face from a three quarter angle. She didn't have alot of makeup, the lighting made her eyes lighter in colour, and I was on a Canon 135mm 2.0L at 2.8 (I had a depth of field of 1"). With CineStyle running on the camera it would have been super difficult to nail focus. There simply wasn't enough contrast on her face to confidently pull focus on her. I discovered this while viewing the image without peaking enabled on the new Zacuto EVF (electronic viewfinder)! I was shocked.

Here enters the other piece of an almost symbiotic relationship with CineStyle. Zacuto released an EVF that has a pristine screen that shows off an amazingly sharp image and brings those professional features that the 5D Mk2 has been lacking... zebras and peaking. I used peaking on the entire shoot, confidently pulling focus because I was able to clearly see her eye in the shot. A task a definitely could not have accomplished without the EVF. Life is easy now... well maybe easier. 

The EVF has buttons on the side where you can select a menu system or program quick select buttons so that you can select zebras and peaking right away without navigating a menu. The EVF has a wealth of other features as well, such as being able to view different frame lines, dual HDMI ports, false colour etc.

Another handy thing about the EVF is it's ability to assist in handheld shots. In one instance I had to be very light and portable, so I just had the camera with the EVF on a ball mount and ran around with it handheld. The EVF offered a third point of contact with my head and the whole form factor was Hasselblad style. It was quite stable and comfortable to use.

Again, i'm just briefly touching on CineStyle and the Zacuto EVF. You can find more detailed info on CineStyle here. And for the Zacuto EVF you can check out their website here. They have a series of videos that show off their product quite well. 

To tie off I just really wanted to share my experience with these two new innovations to our field. I think the combination of CineStyle and the Zacuto EVF is essential. The 5D Mk2 started as an amazing camera and three years down the road it is just getting better.

Stan

With the summer starting to draw to a close - sorry to point out this depressing truth - we at Silverpoint decided it was high time that the entire team set off on a shoot-off. This time, two new members accompanied Keith, Stan, and Josh: Caroline and myself. We arrived on location, at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto, at 8:30am and began scouting the area. Keith drew us all together and surprised us with the following rules:

1. We had from 9:30am to 12:00pm to shoot our footage

2. We were going to break for lunch and eat at the restaurant on location - which, by the way, was "off the charts" (as Keith would say)

3. When we got back to the studio around 2:30pm, we had until 5:00pm to compress, edit, and render out a final SDE of our footage

For those of us, like Stan and Josh, this was old news and they took on the challenge with smiles on their faces. Caroline and I, however, felt the stress level peak a lot more. Several amazing things struck me while I was at Brickworks. The first being that in a concrete jungle such as Toronto, there are still areas like Evergreen that allows one to escape the city, while still - ironically - being in the city. The busy street and crosswalk noises soon drowned away as we trekked deeper into the natural reserves behind the old Brick Work's factory.

Another thing that struck me is that nature is untamable, especially for a filmmaker. I have yet to hear of anyone, on location shooting, muster some kind of mother-nature force within them and command the sky and trees to do whatever he or she desires. Yet, there are these perfect, unchoreographed moments that appear just because the sun is at that particular angle at this particular time and the trees are blowing in this particular fashion. And I think it is the job of the photographer and cinematographer to be able to find those moments and capture them...

 CAROLINE

For the first time while interning here at Silverpoint, I finally had the opportunity to pick up my camera, shoot and edit a video on my own. The one-day edit challenge that Keith placed upon us was daunting to say the least, as I had never used Final Cut before and barely knew how to turn my camera on, but with a bit of help from the team and lots of perseverance , I was able to finish my shoot-off. 

To be honest, the most difficult part of the challenge for me wasn't learning how to use the equipment and software in a day, but choosing a specific aspect of Brickworks that I wanted to showcase. With so much going on, it was hard for me to find and tell a coherent story. Now I know for next time to pinpoint and focus in a specific direction that is best for me.

JENN

With the above reflections in mind, I also discovered some other important things to consider while shooting. This was my first shoot-off with Silverpoint and I learned afterwards that while the story and the moments are important, technique and consideration of equipment is equally important. I failed to consider that a rode mic would be a hundred percent better than my camera mic for an interview.

I also learned after my shoot that my monopod technique is still shaky and needs to be sharpened and firmly grounded such that my shots looks as if I were using a tripod. However, with colour correction, SmoothCam, and soundtrack pro, I was able to work with my footage and create some nice still nature shots.

JOSH

I had previously visited the Evergreen Brick Works a month ago on a complete whim. My girlfriend and I had been driving along Bayview Avenue when the combination of industrial red bricks, gardens, and park trails caught our eyes. Unfortunately on that day I was only caring my photography equipment, but knew that someday I would want to shoot a video there.  

So, it came as quite a pleasant surprise when Keith decided that our next shoot-off would be at, but of course, the Brick Works. Like all other shoot-offs that I participated in, I wanted to take the opportunity to practice a particular style or technique. So without hesitation I grabbed our trusty Philip Bloom Slider, and darted to the area which was originally the Don Valley Brick Works. Unlike the others in the group whom were more attracted to the picturesque natural trails present at Evergreen, I was drawn to the red brick, the industrial, and at times grungy counterpart. And so I slid...

STAN

This was my first opportunity to shoot with the Canon 100mm 2.8L and it was a great experience. The lens has a new hybrid IS that allowed me to go handheld when presented with situations that would not allow the time to setup a tripod. The shots of the monarch butterfly, woodpecker, and bees are examples of how stable the IS can be. Another plus for this lens is that when the rain came I had no fear because it is weather-sealed. I did not have an ND for this lens so exposure was a challenge. I had to increase the shutter to compensate which also created a pleasing staccato effect to anything moving such as insects.

KEITH

Shooting behind the scenes of the Silverpoint shoot-off at Evergreen was a nice change from the regular shoot-off challenge. I was able to capture the entire team out on a shoot. I interviewed each of the members and they told me... actually instead of me telling you, just watch the video:

We all learned many things that bright, yet rainy, day, which I think will drastically improve our skill sets. Thanks Brick Works for allowing us to shoot your amazing grounds. 

Jenn

1. They eat late – I mean they eat really late. Typically restaurants don’t begin to fill up until 10pm even on weekdays. Surprisingly this is no different from my typical eating schedule in Canada. Whether it is because of circumstance or appetite I often eat only when the sun goes down. 
2. They love their meat – I could eat Argentinian beef/steak everyday, for every meal, and believe you me, I did during my time there.
3. Beer and wine flow like water – In one instance while eating at a restaurant in Mendoza, I found it quite amazing to discover that a bottle of beer was equal in price to a bottle of water.  And I love a good beer. I’m no alcoholic, not by a long shot, but I easily might be one in Argentina, particularly because of the next point…
4. Wine is cheap and tastes amazing – My favorite type of wine has always been Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon. Therefore, I had an abundance of wine to choose from.
5. In general, they love to eat, drink, and lounge on patios, often in picturesque settings – although sharing candle-lit dinners with my girlfriend would have been ideal, it was still incredibly carefree and relaxing having a meal and drink with Stan on the beautiful streets of Mendoza and Buenos Aires.
6. Siestas – Because I was working for the majority of the trip, I wasn’t able to participate in this tradition. However, I love the idea. Keith, I firmly believe we should implement naps after lunch? But not with each other of course...
7. Beautiful people – Suffice to say, it wasn’t hard to spot good-looking people. The sidewalks could have very well been fashion runways. And lets face it, I fit right in! Yes? (For people who know me, it is not necessary to answer that question, thank you…)

In any case, Stan and I thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We had originally gone to Argentina to film a corporate video for Goldcorp, which you can see here. But with a couple extra days off in Buenos Aires, we thought it would be a great idea to capture the fantastic architecture, people, and streets of the city.  So with our trusty Canon 7D and 5D we set out to shoot two very distinct shoot-off pieces, which I believe turned out quite well. 

Now because the airlines had lost our tripods it presented us with quite a challenge. Yet, this also gave us an opportunity to try something new and innovative. In my case, shooting handheld with both the 50mm and 85mm lens with no image stabilizer, inevitably meant shaky footage. Therefore I decided to try a technique in post-production (After Effects) that would take the look of my DSLR footage and convert it to an imitated 8mm film effect. I was quite happy with how it turned out and thought that it really complimented the subject and the originally shaky footage, by adding a vintage and nostalgic feel.  

* Be sure to subscribe to our blog, as we’ll soon be releasing a tutorial on how to turn your DSLR footage into 8mm film.

Stan’s piece however had a completely different feel and look than mine. He spent the entirety of his shoot-off time at Recoleta Cemetery.  He captured some of the most unique and awe-inspiring mausoleums and statues I have ever seen. Through his composition, use of shadows, reflections, slight camera movement, coloring, and sound track he created an extremely eerie, yet incredibly beautiful piece. 

Lesson of the day: When shooting without a tripod, monopod, or image stabilizer on the lens, Final Cut Pro’s “smooth cam” and/or imitating 8mm film will save your shaky footage. 

Josh