Proper Medium RSS Feed

Think Maine | Mapping the Ocean Floor

Proper Medium — 2011-12-13T09:14:06-05:00

Way back in July we spent two weeks in Maine shooting a campaign for the university system up there. The campaign, headed by Mindpower, is designed to recruit students from Maine into the university system and ultimately to spur inovation in Maine's economy. Below is one of eight shorts we produced for the campaign (along with three TV spots). Check out the other shorts on the campaign website.

Tulane University

Proper Medium — 2011-09-08T18:41:01-04:00

Way back in April we were in New Orleans shooting five short films for Tulane University. One of the resulting films is posted here (view it in HD), but you can see the whole slew over at 4rankings.tulane.edu. Hats off to Mindpower, the agency in charge of the whole campaign and website. Also, thumbs down to youTube, which doesn't allow custom poster frames.

2010 was good

Proper Medium — 2011-01-14T14:35:17-05:00

2010 was a good year for Proper Medium. So good, in fact, that even as we are sinking our teeth into the first weeks of 2011 we’re thinking about the many projects that came to fruition in 2010 …

We had a great turn out at the Plaza Theater for the screening of May the Light Affect, our documentary about the 2009 art event Le Flash. Thanks to everyone who made it out. We really appreciate your support.

Narrative Building is a concept that emerged from Proper Medium in 2010 and came to life through series of short films produced for public art patrons Flux Projects and the Lovett School — Flux Films and Cinema Lovett, respectively. Both series continue in 2011. We also look forward to sharing other Narrative Building projects currently in the works.

We produced short films for business of all shapes and sizes in 2010. Recently we’ve begun working with local-cum-national deal brokers Scoutmob and the exquisite Spice Route supper club. Through close work with Atlanta-based marketing firm The Propel Agency we’ve enjoyed working with some of Atlanta’s most successful large businesses.

In short, we’ve been very fortunate to work with people doing some truly special things.

Last but certainly not least, one thing that made 2010 really fantastic was the attention and support we received (and continue to receive) from our extended network of friends online who graciously share our work with their own circles and provide encouraging feedback: Your participation in what we do is invaluable. Many, many thanks.

Here’s to a productive and happy 2011 for everyone.

Flux Film 001 | Morse

Proper Medium — 2010-12-10T17:58:57-05:00

Here's our first Flux Film, which for some reason didn't make it to the website when we first published it online. For this short, we travelled with Atlanta artist John Morse, who's "Roadside Haiku" public art project created some substantial buzz when it happened back in October (remember Ocbtober?).

2008 Accolade Awards

Proper Medium — 2008-09-08T16:19:13-04:00

We are pleased to announce that PROPERMEDIUM has been awarded a 2008 Accolade Competition Award of Excellence for our online documentary profile of Jim Curtin and Mount Everest 2008. This was a fun project for us, particularly following Jim's climb online. Check out the video below.

There is a flash video here, but the device you are viewing on either isn't flash capable or doesn't have the latest version of flash installed.

Proper Medium at Sundance

Proper Medium — 2008-12-10T13:06:03-05:00

PROPERMEDIUM will be going to the Sundance Film Festival for the opening weekend to attend the world premiere of Zion and His Brother, a film by Eran Merav. Blake and Mary (the president and resident composer at Proper Medium, respectively) wrote the original score for the film, which is a coming-of-age story set in Haifa, Israel. We worked with the director and sound designer, Gil Torren, to create a score comprised of electronic textures, orchestra, and detuned piano. The experience was a challenge - we had very little time to compose the music and the seven hour time difference between Atlanta and Tel Aviv made for limited communication.

Before we started composing music for the film, we created an online viewing interface where we could upload scenes with our music for the director and sound designer to view. This helped immensely with the composition process, as the director could listen to music as soon as we finished it and provide his feedback quickly.

Anyhow, we're really excited about going to Sundance for the first time, and will certainly keep you up to date about the film.

Scarlet

Proper Medium — 2009-03-09T22:49:17-04:00

Technology grows exponentially, and that certainly holds true for camera technology. But every decade or so, a new product hits the video industry that completely revolutionizes things overnight. In 2002, that product was Panasonic’s DVX100 camcorder. This was a special camera because it would shoot progressive video at 24 frames per second, the same rate 35mm film is projected at in the theater.

The DVX100 brought the film “look” to the masses. It opened up the industry, enabling anyone with vision and determination to make a motion picture that could finally look more like a movie than a home video. But the DVX100 still had a small sensor and still relied on tape-based media to record highly compressed, low resolution (especially considering the oncoming standardization of High Definition Video) footage. Small sensor size and high compression ratios introduce all sorts of creative limitations. It’s difficult to achieve shallow depth of field, for example, when your lens is resolving to a small sensor.

Things changed drastically again about a three years ago when a guy by the name of JIm Jannard announced he was going to develop a game-changing camera that records raw, uncompressed footage to the medium of one’s choosing. These kinds of announcements had happened before to no avail, but this scenario was different. Jannard was a millionaire who owned the Oakley sunglasses company and also happened to be a huge still and cinema camera aficionado.

To the astonishment of many and the delight of most, Jannard concept became a reality one year later with the Red One, a “digital cinema camera” that records uncompressed images at variable frame rates at the whopping horizontal resolution of 4000 pixels (thats more than twice the resolution of high definition video). At a price point of $17k, this camera certainly revolutionized the industry and is quickly becoming a standard for image acquisition with low budget and Hollywood films alike.

Which brings us to the present. Things took off for Red, and Jannard decided to sell Oakley to focus on the production of a new line of cameras starting with “Scarlet,” a camera which - should it make it through production - will flip the video and cinema camera industry on its head. Why? Because the entry-level Scarlet system will retail for less than $4k.

What does this mean for PROPERMEDIUM and the rest of the video production industry? It means images will originate in their most pure form possible. It means offering clients imagery that, before Scarlet, would have required an unrealistic budget. We’re looking forward to the release of this camera.

16.8 Billion Views in April

Proper Medium — 2009-06-11T18:47:21-04:00

Internet users view 16.8 billion videos online during the month of April (recently reported by ClickZ). That's a 16% increase over March and a 32% increase over the 12.7 billion who viewed video online in November 2008. Most were Youtube videos with durations around 3.5 minutes. Some attribute this to the slow economy generating more free time for users to kill watching videos (interesting to think that a slow economy could be generating things). I attribute the rise to a shift in the general viewing habits of internet users, technology improvements in content delivery, and the general improvement in the quality of online video content.

With this kind of exponential increase, it's a matter of time before online video is the standard for communicating ideas online. While obviating the necessity to utilize the medium, these numbers also represent the importance of quality, compelling, user-friendly content that stands out from the crowd.

Some other interesting facts from the report, which originated from a comScore study.
• 78.6 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
• The average online video viewer watched 385 minutes of video, or 6.4 hours.
• 107.1 million viewers watched 6.8 billion videos on YouTube.com (that averages out to 63.5 videos per viewer).
• 49 million viewers watched 387 million videos on MySpace.com (7.9 videos per viewer).
• Hulu accounted for only 2.4 percent of videos viewed, but made up 4.2 percent of all minutes spent watching online video.
• The duration of the average online video was 3.5 minutes.

Some Lovely Tilt Shift

Proper Medium — 2009-06-22T11:10:21-04:00

Check out this video by Keith Loutit. Keith uses a tilt/shift lens to make landscapes look like tiny models. Tilt/shift lenses are able to tilt and/or shift the plane upon which the lens projects, creating the same kind of depth of field effect a macro lens would have close up on small objects. A monster truck rally is really the perfect material for this kind of shooting.

Le Flash

Proper Medium — 2009-10-01T17:42:46-04:00

Proper Medium is currently filming a documentary about Le Flash, a one-night art event that takes place in the Castleberry Hill district of Atlanta from dusk to midnight on October 2, 2009 (one day away from this posting). Le Flash brings together over sixty artists to produce temporary light-based work. We're looking forward to shooting the event tomorrow. In the meantime... check out this preview video we put together. And click on the HD icon if you have a fast internet connection.

May the Light Affect

Proper Medium — 2010-02-08T12:50:25-05:00

We're currently finishing post production on an hour long documentary about Le Flash entitled "May the Light Affect." The film was commissioned by flux projects. Here's a preview for the film.

GloATL's Bloom | Lenox

Proper Medium — 2010-03-02T16:48:33-05:00

We documented this public dance intervention/performance by GloATL that took place at Lenox Mall in Atlanta. The project was commissioned by Flux Projects.

Run-N-Gun Rig

Proper Medium — 2010-05-10T17:47:28-04:00

For the past several months, we have been using this HDSLR rig for run n' gun documentary work. It's a rather simple shoulder-mounted double-system setup, using the Panasonic GH1 for 24p 1920x1080 for video mounted on a slightly modified Cavision RS1580S-SPE Shoulder Pad with Rod System. We're using a Sennheiser ME66/K6 mic going to a Zoom H4N audio recorder for sound, and generally roll sound continuously to sync in post. At some point, we'll probably switch to the Juicelinked DT454 for audio straight to the camera for audio, but it can be nice to have all that audio. The lens pictured here is a 55mm f1.2 Canon FD lens we purchased from KEH, a great supplier of new and used cameras and lenses based here in Atlanta.

This shift to DSLR cinema is really quite exciting. Once you've overcome all the limitations of shooting video with a still camera (like rolling shutter artifacts and the lack of image stabilization), it's possible to produce images that rival much more expensive cinema cameras. These lower production costs make it possible for our clients to utilize digital cinema in ways that have never been possible. Stay tuned for more on that.

Film Premiere

Proper Medium — 2010-07-12T17:36:28-04:00

We will be screening May the Light Affect for FREE on Wednesday, July 14 2010 at 7:30pm at The Plaza Theater. We hope to see you there! Thanks to Flux Projects for helping to make this happen.

Artstar by Laura Stone

Proper Medium — 2010-08-11T17:21:40-04:00

We just recently completed this profile on Laura Stone, an extremely talented wedding photographer based here in Atlanta.

Flux Films

Proper Medium — 2010-08-20T15:38:12-04:00

We've had lots of excitment at Proper Medium recently. One particularly exciting development is our new partnership with Flux Projects. Starting this month, we are producing and distributing a series of short online films about artists and events commissioned by Flux Projects. The series, titled Flux Films, focuses on the ideas underneath particular works of art. Our first film follows Atlanta artist John Morse as he installs a public exhibition titled "Roadside Haiku." We'll be posting that one next week, so keep an eye out. In the meantime, here's a frame from our shoot with Morse.

Robby Handley | Garden Tour

Proper Medium — 2010-09-20T15:23:22-04:00

Robby Handley is an exceptional musician and organic gardener who lives in Lake Claire, a neighborhood of Atlanta. We made this short about Robby and his garden for the Lake Claire Home & Garden tour. Hope you like it.

Cinema Lovett 02 | The Studio

Proper Medium — 2010-12-06T14:40:51-05:00

Lovett has a new recording studio with all the bells and whistles. We stopped by to see what all the fuss is about. These kids have it made.

Flux Film 003 | Weathersby

Proper Medium — 2010-10-01T16:52:12-04:00

Watch Douglas Weathersby (Atlanta native, now living in Boston) abate the first few gallons of paint for his public art project (commissioned by Flux Projects) "ES Paint Shed."

Cinema Lovett 01 | Sara Cameli

Proper Medium — 2010-11-23T13:00:14-05:00

Sara Cameli is one of many professional artists who teach at The Lovett School. Here's a short we did about her work.