Category: Upcoming Productions

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We Need More Sweat!

On Thursday, we spent the afternoon at Vaught Hemmingway stadium on campus filming an upcoming commercial for Ole Miss Football with Senior star running back Brandon Bolden. The spot is a “Nike-esque” commercial with Brandon going through a rigorous training regimen in preparation for the upcoming season ending with a leap that’ll make Superman jealous! I wanted to quickly share a few notes of the shoot in case you’re interested.

It was a crazy hot day and we only had a limited amount of time with Brandon to get all the shots we needed so we shot with multiple cameras to double our coverage. The primary camera was the RED One Digital Cinema camera which filmed at 4K resolution and 2K resolution for some of the shots that were filmed at 100 fps. Former Producer, Micah Ginn (now the Creative Director for Ole Miss Sports Production) filmed with Panasonic’s new AF100 camera with a PL mount Red Zoom lens. Pictured here you can see most of our crew including student workers Matt Minshew and Chris Williams,  summer high school intern Joseph, and Athletics Producer Bethany Peters. Not pictured is our summer college intern Felicity Flesher. An additional shout out goes to Darrias Thomas and Ole Miss Track long distance runner Logan Waites for their help on the shoot.

I’ve been experimenting a lot lately with my old Glidecam 2000 after seeing some really nice uses of it online. We recently purchased a vest and arm for it so this was the perfect opportunity to put it to work. My Glidecam could only support up to 8lbs so we used the Canon 5D with it which was great since it shoots at such a high resolution anyway. I knew there was absolutely no chance that I would ever be able to keep up with Brandon at a dead sprint so I shot out of Athletics gas powered cart (our electric cart was no match for Brandon’s speed!).

All in all I was pretty happy with the way the glidecam footage turned out and it was actually pretty cool to wear the vest and arm. Although looking at this picture I realize it’s very difficult to determine who the star athlete is and who the camera guy is.

One of the more challenging shots to pull of was this shot that happens at the beginning of the spot where Brandon spins the football down toward the ground to start his workout. I wanted to basically have the camera at ground level looking up at him. Unfortunaly, Ole Miss Athletics was not into the idea of digging a giant hole in the football field for me to get the camera low enough, so we got Brandon as high as we could with the camera below him. We clamped a sheet of plexi-glass onto two tripods just above the camera lens and had him spin the ball right down onto the camera. I think it turned out pretty well and will be a cool way to start the commercial.

It was a fast and furious shoot but I really felt like we got some great footage. A huge thank you again to Matt, Chris, Felicity, and Joseph from MDP and Micah, Bethany, Darrias, and Logan from Athletics for setting up the shoot. And of course, an ENORMOUS thank you to Brandon Bolden for his time, patience, and stamina running sprints on camera for me for 2 hours! Keep an eye out for him this season!! I really enjoy short projects like this because you totally get to flex your cinematic muscles in terms of visual storytelling. Check back soon for the final spot!

– Matthew

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Meet Me in Southaven.

Last week we spent a few days in Southaven to produce a 30-second regional spot for the Ole Miss Southaven campus. The commercial will showcase several Ole Miss students from all walks of life who are earning their degree at Southaven. It was a great chance to use our Red One Digital Cinema Camera and really test its legs in a variety of locations. Special thanks to Karen Tuttle and Matt Minshew for their hard work during the shoot and Pam Starling for producing the spot. Check back soon for the finished commercial.  – Matthew

 

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Let's Break it Down

It’s been a while since I’ve posted so I wanted to come back with a bang. Micah and I recently wrapped up the 2010 Summer Film Workshop where 12 high school and college age kids put up with us for a week of film theory lectures, tutorials, and film screenings. As part of the class we shot a movie trailer of a fake action movie entitled “The UnRetireds”. We tried to throw in a bunch of silly over-the-top action movie moments into the trailer and here a few of the shots broken down by their elements to show how they were put together. I always love these little videos in the behind the scenes extras they put on DVD’s so I figured I’d take a crack at one. Special thanks goes to Andrew Kramer and his invaluable Action Movie Essential Elements. We’ll post the finished trailer online soon but until then enjoy this sneak peak.

-Matthew

Visual FX Breakdown Video

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Rock It!

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As a part of the week of service leading up to the inauguration of Chancellor Jones, we will be producing a retrospective look at the variety of service projects that are happening on campus. One of the events that happened last night was the “Rock the Bus” where Graduate School members collected school supplies for Mississippi Teacher Corps teachers. In addition, we’ve been following work done by the previous Academic Network piece, the Civil Legal Clinic, the School of Accountancy’s Tax Aid clinic, Computer Science’s grade school computer refurbishment program, and the Intensive English Program’s world mural fundraiser. Check back soon for more info and the finished video.

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The Giants Are Coming

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Here are some set-up pics from today’s shoot at Tad Smith Colliseum. Micah Ginn and Matthew Graves are producing an update to the successful “Basketball Giants” spot for the Ole Miss Men’s Basketball team. Apparently, this blue cloth was all that was holding Karen (pictured) back from grabbing the players. Check back soon for the finished spot.

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Sounds like the South

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This semester the Media and Documentary Projects Center has been working with The Center for the Study of Southern Culture to create a radio series called “Sounds of the South.”

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These short profiles will showcase articles from the  New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture Music Volume.

MDP’s Joe York and Southern Studies graduate intern Jesse Wright are producing the pieces along with Ted Ownby, Director of the CSSC.  Charles Reagan Wilson,

former CSSC director, and General Editor of the New Encyclopedia is the on-air talent.

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Listen to a sample from the first batch featuring Jelly Roll Morton.

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It's All Academic (Network)

Matthew Interviews Provost Stocks
Matthew Interviews Provost Stocks

Matthew Graves has been hustling this last couple of weeks to produce the first 5 profiles to be featured on the Ole Miss channel of the SEC Academic Network.  Pictured here is an interview with Provost Morris Stocks about the School of Accountancy’s success in placing its graduates in jobs and graduate school .  This channel, broadcast on ESPN360 and part of the contract with ESPN to broadcast SEC sports, is designated solely for academic content.  The Media and Documentary Projects Center is pleased to be selected to provide that content for the University of Mississippi.  We will make an announcement when the channel goes live August 12 and then over the course of the next year look for new segments showcasing the Ole Miss academic community.

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It's Engineering Time Again

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I went out to the Biological Field Station today to shoot footage of Engineering students touring the facility for the upcoming promotional video we’re doing for the School of Engineering. Pictured is former Engineering student Max Woolsey demonstrating the submarine he is working on in a joint project for Ole Miss and Southern Miss. This is just one of many of the promotional videos we’ve been producing for programs across the campus to promote the variety of options that students have at Ole Miss. Come back soon for more updates.

– Matthew

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Are you ready for more?

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We were at the Desoto Campus today shooting footage for three new spots in the “Are You Ready?” campaign series. These spots will feature current students at the University of Mississippi Desoto Campus who are all working and taking classes full time. Look out for these spots highlighting a Detective, a Teacher, and a Social Worker. It was a long (and rainy) day but we got a lot of nice footage for the spots. Check back soon for the finished cuts.

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Chinese Language Promo – Rough Cut

 

Here’s the rough cut of the promo. Please note that this version does not have all the names of individuals on camera which will be added as well as a few additional background images featuring the summer classes and Qingdao which will be added in next week. The green halo around everyone will not be present in the final cut.

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In the Garden

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Here’s a look at what (hopefully) will be the last shot needed for the promotional spot for the Natural Products Research Center we’re producing featuring U.S. Senator Thad Cochran. We finally had some sun today so it proved to be the perfect time to get the footage we needed at the Medicinal Plant Garden. Special thanks to all the staff who stepped in to serve as extras today.

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Chinese Anyone?

Here’s the Chinese Language version of the Intensive English Program Promotional Video that Matthew Graves is producing for Outreach. Aesthetically it’s identical to the Spanish language version with a few changes here and there based on the translation. Come back soon for the next version: Korean!

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Meet Coach Skipper Green

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Producer’s Micah Ginn and Matthew Graves along with Hunter Palmer were at the Athletic offices yesterday and this morning filming footage for the upcoming “Skipper Green” commercial for Green Week. Local actor Johnny McPhail stars as the hard nosed conservationist coach. You can watch the finished commercial this Sunday at the Ole Miss Baseball game.

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Planning for the Chucky Mullins Courage Award

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Today I met with several of the organizing members of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award banquet.  The event, April the 16th, will be the 20th such banquet, a number that just doesn’t seem possible.  Was it really two decades ago when we were all brought to awareness of this fantastic human being?  Was it really two decades ago that we learned the definition of bravery, of determination, of the unbreakable human spirit?  Indeed, it has been twenty years ago this fall when the number 38 became a legend and touched not only this University, but the nation.  It is an extreme honor for me to work on this banquet and plan for the 20th year of the Courage Award.  There is no greater honor for an Ole Miss football player than to earn the number 38.  We will be collecting memories of Chucky for the banquet to be played on the big screen throughout the evening.  If you are a former teammate, coach, friend or fan that was touched by Chucky, give us a call or email us.  We’d love to hear from you.

Micah Ginn

915-3475

email:  micah@olemiss.edu

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Getting the word out…


We reworked our promo for the 2009 Oxford Film Fest so as to feature a few more clips from the 95 films that will be playing during the 4 day event. We’re still only able to give you a brief glimpse in the :30 spot, so you’ll have to come to the festival and see for yourself. It is a great line up of films.

UMedia is a proud sponsor/supporter of the festival, using it as an opportunity to bring University students into the mix. This year, we’ll be using students to produce on-screen materials for the festival, as well as “imbedding” some of our documentary-minded students with cameras to capture the sights, sounds, and celebrities on video. It’s a great opportunity for our students as it exposes them to an exciting industry and some incredibly talented filmmakers.

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First Look at Upcoming Graduate School Promo

Matthew Graves is currently in production on promotional videos for the Graduate School and the School of Business. The Graduate School’s promo is nearing completion and here’s a low res look at how it’s shaping up. The Grad School selected the students and wanted to show the diversity of the varying Masters and PhD programs across the University. What we get is a nice cross-section of University of Mississippi students that highlight some of the exciting programs that are available. The shooting for the spot took place the last week before the Christmas holidays and the video will be premiered in February at an Ole Miss Women’s Basketball game. Check back for the final version and the upcoming Business School promo as well as the QEP Writing Center spot.

 

First cut of a promotional video for the Graduate School of the University of Mississippi