Break A Cool Sweat

Here we are in the HOT HOT HEAT of the summer and there’s no way we are hanging up our bathing suits just yet! While breakin’ a cool sweat and trying to stay cool, Studio 3 brought in the Marquis Spas  ATV (Aquatic Training Vessel) for a much needed dip. The ATV was delivered on a trailer and was fork-lifted into Studio 3. From there, the team hauled that huge piece of heaven onto a custom-built stage. It took 2 days to fill it up and get it to a temperature that was juuuust right. Once the bubbles were flowing, the cameras started rolling. 
Marquis Spas
Studio 3 has had the pleasure of working with Marquis Spas for many years now. The California based company founded in 1980 strives to provide top-of-the-line aquatic products that aid in rest and relaxation for the “ultimate soaking experience.” 
For this particular shoot Studio 3 Film Director of Video Production, David King, filmed the features of the ATV while our Lead Photographer, Craig Wagner, caught some overhead and underwater shots. Craig gives a bit of insight on this splish-splash shoot:
“I was piggy-backing on the video shoot of Marquis’ new ATV. The client wanted to feature someone working out (water aerobics) from under the water’s surface. Since the tank was blue, we chose to give the image an overall blue hue by gelling the key lights.
I shot this using a Canon 5D MKIII in our underwater housing. I also mounted a Canon 5D MKIII above the tank for the overhead image. I remotely triggered the camera and viewed the images in Lightroom. Speedotron packs and heads were used along with our 8’x14′ lightbank with custom flash tubes.”
Marquis Spas
The end result was comprised of a five-star video and brilliant stills that capture the endless capabilities of a Marquis Spas ATV. If you think you don’t need one, just wait until you watch this.
There’s still a lot more sunshine comin our way for the rest of the summer. If you can’t take the heat, give us a call! Let Studio 3 take care of business while you enjoy the non-stop flow of ice cold drinks to keep you cool.

1 Second Everyday

“There are so many tiny, beautiful, funny, tragic moments in your life — how are you going to remember them all?”
Imagine a movie that includes everyday for the rest of your life…  That’s the motto of the  1 Second Everyday app. As of this May, director, producer, video maker, animator, and app creator Cesar Kuriyama has been recording one second of his life everyday for three years. Kuriyama started creating this video diary on his 30th Birthday and claims that if he lives to see 80, family and friends will have a 5-hour-long accurate depiction of his life. The “1 Second Everyday” app does exactly what the name implies. It allows users to create a video diary of their lives by providing them with platform to record, edit, and store one unique moment a day for a year at a time in order to create an irreplaceable memoir. Kuriyama said that his driving force for this project was the fact that he would gain the ability to flashback through his memories and re-evaluate how he approached each day.
In spirit of this moving idea, David King, our director of video production compiled a 30 second video of what one month with the Studio 3 team looks like… and we’ve all come to realize how lucky we really are! Here’s a 30 second glance at our random, crazy, and beautiful lives:

So, if you’re feeling stressed, excited, discouraged, confused, wired, or tired, go ahead and start your very own video. You might be surprised with the outcome. And if you’re looking for a little extra sunshine in your day, give us a call or pop by the studio. We’ll do everything we can to ensure it’s an experience so grand you won’t need an app to remember it.

 

Pick Up The Phone!

Stressed about your company’s visual needs? Would you rather spend time having fun in the sun? Let Studio 3 ease your mind this summer. We’ve been smashing out countless videos back to back, while continuously providing outstanding photography and flawless production. Oh, did we also mention that our digital team is amaze balls? Trust us, you don’t want to be the only tanless, overworked one at the company party because you didn’t know about Studio 3. Save the embarrassment of all the “are you kidding me?” looks. We’ll make sure you meet that crazy deadline. There’s no reason to miss out on all the perks of working with Studio 3. And no reason to keep on reading, you’re wasting precious beach time – make a Pina Colada, and start dialing!! Make that golden phone call!!!
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And to make it that much easier, if you didn’t have our number yet, here ya go:

Portland Studio 503.238.1748, ask for Dalcetta

Seattle Studio 206.282.0939, ask for Marcella

 
 

Happy Hour with Eastside Distilling

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, right? Well it sure is here at Studio 3! Join us for a glass (or two) with Eastside Distilling! Introducing their newest flavor, the sweet and delicious Marionberry Whiskey — made with Real Oregon Marionberries!
A review of the new liquor from Willamette Week’s Matthew Korfhage mentions “…it does not cloy, and the flavor maintains just enough complexity that it cries out for curdy after-dinner cheese and grassy tobacco to stuff into a pipe. Holy shit: It’s exactly what Hobbits would drink. We would too. Recommended.”  
Studio 3’s review: “Yes. More please.”
Our very own Director of Video Production, David King, makes our mouths water with this classic and cheerful 30-second clip of this tasty treat.

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Thanks to Koerner Camera Systems for lending us the P+S Technik Skater Mini Camera Dolly, David was able to match the smooth transitions and angles of this clip with the smooth taste of the drink. Notice in the video how we made it rain? Yea, we do that. Here you see Lead Photographer Craig Wagner assisting David by filling a developing tray that we spray-painted black, with water. This gives off the mirroring infinity pool look. With the brown wood backdrop, and glossy tabletop finish, we have a classic polished clip of tabletop cinematography.

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Studio 3’s teamwork did it again. Thanks to David King’s vision and assistance from Craig Wagner and Jonny Brandt, we were able to produce a classic clip of fine drink. We’re sure that the drink on-set helped them feel a bit more inspired and “spirited” 😉 As always, great job boys!

Teamwork Makes The Dream Work

Starting the New Year, Studio 3 reflects on our performance and progress. Always wanting to provide classic work while staying fresh and up to par with current trends, it is helpful to hear great feedback from happy clients to let us know we’re on track.
We have had the pleasure of doing photography illustrations for Marquis Corporation for over 20 years, which naturally progressed into providing video illustrations to show just how great their spas are. You can’t watch these videos without wanting to get into one yourself, we guarantee it!
It was an exciting and challenging project that Studio 3 was ready for. Our team shot over 20 videos in 5 months, 2 television spots, we set up 5 different spas in our studio at once, with our Video Director David King pulling 14 hour days for 23 days straight in post production. It was a busy time but we enjoyed every minute of it with Marquis Corporation on set with us everyday.

Marquis Spa

When completing a large project like this, we like to pat ourselves on the back and show our appreciation for the team that comes together to make it happen. But when we hear positive feedback from a client that is happy with our work and the affect it has, it excites us even more. It reminds us of our capabilities and the great people we are lucky to work with everyday. Teamwork makes the dream work!

Thanks to a simple yet powerful message from Jim Johnston, it has Studio 3 fired up and ready to take on the New Year. Bring it on 2014!

Raising the Bar with Anthro

Recently, our video department had the exciting opportunity of shooting for Anthro Corporation. Anthro started with a plan to make technology for furniture. Our plan was to take their vision, highlight their latest addition, and bring it to life. Director David King speaks more in depth about putting together this clean and subtly sexy clip!

For anyone who has a job where spending long stretches sitting at a desk is a requirement, I’m sure there are many a day you wish you could just stand up for a while, stretch the back, get the blood flowing back into the legs, and keep on working. When I’m wearing my editor’s hat, it’s not uncommon to pull 10-12 hour shifts sitting in front of the computer. Because of this, when we renovated our edit suite here at Studio 3 Films, finding an adjustable work surface that could be used while sitting or standing was top of the wish list. Once you do any research at all on the subject, the company that tops your search list is Portland-based Anthro Technology Furniture. As an editor, I’ve been aware of Anthro’s product line for many years and was thrilled to be able to build our new edit suite around a desk from the Anthro Elevate series. Motorized height adjustment, tilting keyboard surface, cable management and adjustable monitor arms make this workstation infinitely adjustable for maximum ergonomic comfort. I’m standing as I write this!

Shortly after getting the new desk, Anthro approached us with a need for a video, showcasing one of their desks for an upcoming trade show. While I knew Anthro for their creative field products, they are also very big in the education and medical furniture fields. The product that we were asked to feature is called “Steve’s Station”; a Radiology Desk, featuring acoustic panels, dimmable ambient light, as well as Anthro’s signature height adjustment. The folks at Anthro had a vision of showcasing Steve’s Station as if it were a luxury car, using sexy, low-key lighting, subtle camera movement and a moody music score. I’ve worked on dozens of car commercials over the years so I knew exactly what they wanted and thought it would be great fun to translate that look and feel to an adjustable workstation. It was certainly easier to light without all the reflective surfaces you get from an automobile.

-David King

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Meet the Team Video

Our video department at Studio 3 Films took a break in between jobs to create a story of the team at Studio 3. It was important for both directors to convey the story of each individual and what they like to do outside of the work place. Directors David King and Craig Wagner worked together to flawlessly intertwine the story of both cities. Read on for their individual perspectives and to view the video!

For our “Meet The Team” video, I was assigned the task of shooting all of the Portland based Studio 3’ers. I worked with each individual to come up with a little vignette that would showcase their personality, be visually interesting and fun to shoot.
We featured Henry whipping up a veggie stir-fry spectacular, Corban strumming away on the roof of the bar next door, Liz browsing a vintage shop around the corner, Nikki relaxing with a good book and her favorite snake, Elsie-Ann ripping it up on her skateboard and Craig out on his boat, cruising the Willamette river.
It was great fun spending a bit of time with everyone outside the office, getting some cool shots and discovering some hidden talents.
-David King

I traveled to our Seattle Studio to film the Northern teams clips for the project. I was really excited to showcase the aspects of Seattle, and really giving it that city feel. Upon arrival, I met with Megan, Seattle’s studio producer  and discussed the concepts of each teammates sequence, some were very defined while others were a bit loose and abstract, requiring some creativity to nail down the concept. After some brain storming I felt ready to help express each individuals unique personality.
Wanting to incorporate the city in as many ways as we could, I chose backdrops that would showcase both the individuals “talent’”and the city. I thought it would be important to show our team in the environments they call home. So off we went into the city, for street performances, driving fast cars, and getting supplies.
In the end, several of the clips required a run and gun style of shooting, while others were more controlled in a studio set environment. All in all it was a true team effort and so much fun!

-Craig Wagner

New Assistant Photographer! Welcome Jonny!

We wanted to welcome our new Assistant Photographer to our Portland Studio! A few words from Jonny!

Assistant Photographer

My interest in photography was born on four wheels. I received my first skateboard when I was 12 years old and haven’t been able to get off one since. I grew up in rural Wisconsin, which is not the most optimal place to learn how to ride a skateboard. But that didn’t stop me from sacrificing my elbows and knees to the concrete gods. As I quickly obsessed about all things skateboarding, so did my passion for documenting it. I watched every skate video I could, studying angles and dreaming of my first fish-eye lens. It was at this moment when I began to think about camera angles everywhere I went (that was skateable). I started out with disposable Kodak cameras. I photographed my friends at the local skatepark and inevitably moved over to video (Hi-8 and VHS-C). I spent almost all of my time skating, filming, and working at the local pizza shop. I spent the first year of college ‘undeclared’ until I came to my senses and joined the film production program. My junior year I landed a summer internship in Portland. After I graduated I packed up and made the journey westward.
My goal was clear: get into the camera department at all costs. After a couple of years freelancing in reality TV land as an assistant and as a local videographer shooting weddings and smaller jobs, I felt dissatisfied with the progression of my camera and lighting skills (reality TV doesn’t necessarily lend itself to creativity). So I took a chance and tried photo assisting. I instantly fell in love with photography and the amount of precision and tinkering to get that perfect shot. A half a year later I was a busy freelancer frequently working for Studio 3 when an opportunity arose and I swiftly jumped on it.

Time Lapse: Forest for the Trees Northwest

About two months ago, we were approached by Portland artist Gage Hamilton, the organizer of a public mural art project “Forest for the Trees Northwest“, as a possible site for one of 10 new murals that would be going up the week of August 19th. The south wall of Studio 3 was of particular interest due to it’s size, accessibility and well, it looked like it could use some artistic love. Just standing in the parking lot looking at the vast orange canvas that would be transformed into an original piece of art, we wanted to find a way to document the process. All we were told was that the artists would be painting for 5 days, that the outcome would be a surprise and that the result would be epic and spectacular.

Time Lapse Art Wall!

After much internal discussion around documenting this creativity, we decided the best way to document the week of painting was going to be the creation of a time lapse video. We set up a GoPro Hero 3 on the roof of our neighbor, the Jolly Roger Bar and Grill and recorded from dawn til dusk for 5 days. The GoPro also took an exposure every 30 seconds. Through our friends at Star Rentals, we were able to provide the two scissor lifts to the artists to assist with the project.
Hawaiian artist, Kamea Hadar (@kameahadar), and Australian artist David “Meggs” Hooke (@houseofmeggs), worked throughout the week and gave us an amazing addition to the studio and the Hawthorne neighborhood.
Check out the resulting time lapse video and the amazing art that the guys created. Better yet, drop by the studio and check it out in person. ~ David King / Director / Studio 3 Films

 
To see more of the “Forest for the Trees Northwest” art work located in the Portland area please visit their website at http://www.forestforthetreesnw.com/