Biscardi Creative Media – WalterBiscardi.com http://walterbiscardi.net Creative Director, Branding, Original Content Sun, 18 Feb 2018 15:54:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.20 eLearning Project Underway http://walterbiscardi.net/elearning-project-underway/ Sun, 18 Jun 2017 12:29:20 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4839 BCM has started production on the largest eLearning project we’ve been a part of.  We’re working with Interactive Advantage Corporation to bring this training course to life.  Focused on safety, BCM is producing over 20 video elements featuring over 1 hour of video content to be part of the interactive eLearning product.  Walter Biscardi, Jr. is leading the video production team with field producer Ann Kellan and DP Marion Laney overseeing the location filming.  Filming started in June 2017 and is expected to be completed by August 2017.   We can’t share any details at this time, but once the job is finished we’ll follow up with more details and hopefully some images. ————– In a progressive career with renowned creative agencies as well as up-and-coming and well-established brands, Walter Biscardi Jr. has conceived and implemented numerous successful and often award-winning creative campaigns. Guiding all aspects from media, video, print, and animation, he consistently delivered premiere, revenue-generating solutions that surpassed result forecasts.  He is known as a leader who bridges the gap between creative and operational processes, ensuring on-time and within budget delivery for clients and organizations such as Food Network, PING, CNN and Georgia-Pacific. Creative Strategy & Implementation / […]

The post eLearning Project Underway appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
BCM has started production on the largest eLearning project we’ve been a part of.  We’re working with Interactive Advantage Corporation to bring this training course to life.  Focused on safety, BCM is producing over 20 video elements featuring over 1 hour of video content to be part of the interactive eLearning product.  Walter Biscardi, Jr. is leading the video production team with field producer Ann Kellan and DP Marion Laney overseeing the location filming.  Filming started in June 2017 and is expected to be completed by August 2017.   We can’t share any details at this time, but once the job is finished we’ll follow up with more details and hopefully some images.

————–
In a progressive career with renowned creative agencies as well as up-and-coming and well-established brands, Walter Biscardi Jr. has conceived and implemented numerous successful and often award-winning creative campaigns. Guiding all aspects from media, video, print, and animation, he consistently delivered premiere, revenue-generating solutions that surpassed result forecasts.  He is known as a leader who bridges the gap between creative and operational processes, ensuring on-time and within budget delivery for clients and organizations such as Food Network, PING, CNN and Georgia-Pacific.
Creative Strategy & Implementation / Concurrent Project Management / Branding / Communications / Operations / Budget Creation / PR / Animation / Art Direction / Video Production

The post eLearning Project Underway appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
Sailing the Celebrity Silhouette: With an iPhone and iOgrapher! http://walterbiscardi.net/sailing-the-celebrity-silhouette-with-an-iphone-and-iographer/ Mon, 16 May 2016 23:39:48 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4767 While on vacation recently, BCM Principal Walter Biscardi, Jr was able to combine two of his passions. Video production and cruising. Just before sailing on the Celebrity Cruises “Silhouette,” to the Caribbean, he picked up an iOgrapher which makes a very useful camera platform for the iPhone and iPad. Featuring interchangeable lenses, cold shoe mounts and tripod mounting points the iOgrapher essentially turns the iPhone into a professional camera giving the videographer great camera stability. The cruise was the perfect testing platform as we’re looking for new ways to work with video, especially in social media. We’re also testing some new ideas for the upcoming Contemporary Living Network and we can see the benefits of creating original content with this setup. The one thing he didn’t have on this trip was a shotgun microphone. Since the phone is mounted sideways on the iOgrapher, the microphone on the phone is not great for picking up natural sound and spoken word. Before the next vacation, he’ll be adding a shotgun mic. We also didn’t know about some additional apps for the iPhone that allow for manual Iris and Color Balance controls on the phone. You’ll see the auto-iris kick in quick in quite […]

The post Sailing the Celebrity Silhouette: With an iPhone and iOgrapher! appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
While on vacation recently, BCM Principal Walter Biscardi, Jr was able to combine two of his passions. Video production and cruising. Just before sailing on the Celebrity Cruises “Silhouette,” to the Caribbean, he picked up an iOgrapher which makes a very useful camera platform for the iPhone and iPad. Featuring interchangeable lenses, cold shoe mounts and tripod mounting points the iOgrapher essentially turns the iPhone into a professional camera giving the videographer great camera stability.

The cruise was the perfect testing platform as we’re looking for new ways to work with video, especially in social media. We’re also testing some new ideas for the upcoming Contemporary Living Network and we can see the benefits of creating original content with this setup.

The one thing he didn’t have on this trip was a shotgun microphone. Since the phone is mounted sideways on the iOgrapher, the microphone on the phone is not great for picking up natural sound and spoken word. Before the next vacation, he’ll be adding a shotgun mic.

We also didn’t know about some additional apps for the iPhone that allow for manual Iris and Color Balance controls on the phone. You’ll see the auto-iris kick in quick in quite a bit with all the bright / dark areas. And the color balance does change from time to time. We’ll add those apps before the next vacation as well.

All in all, very impressive to see the picture quality and especially the stability of the images. This entire project was filmed with the iPhone 6. Absolutely NO camera stabilization was added to any of these images in the video below.

Also VERY impressed with Celebrity Cruises and their Silhouette. This was our first time on Celebrity and we were so impressed with the ship, the crew and of course, the food that we booked another cruise on the Celebrity Reflection. Celebrity is just top notch, white glove treatment but without the stuffy attitude. Beautiful ship, wonderful people and a great time.

To read more on the iOgrapher: http://www.iographer.com

To read more on Celebrity Cruises: http://www.celebritycruises.com/

To find those light leaks and many other effects: http://rampantdesigntools.com

 

The post Sailing the Celebrity Silhouette: With an iPhone and iOgrapher! appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
Biscardi Creative Completes “The Impossible Project.” http://walterbiscardi.net/biscardi-creative-completes-the-impossible-project/ Fri, 15 Apr 2016 14:39:57 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4716 BCM completes “The Impossible Project” 7 Days.   5 Shoots.  11 Locations.   8 Cameras.   5 Completed Videos. The call came in on Friday.  “Our client saw the 4k culinary work you did and would like you to create 5 original videos with a mix of 4k and HD formats.  And we need it by next Friday.  Can you do it?”  It became what we called “The Impossible Project” and we were just insane enough to agree to do it. Blackmagic 4k Cinema Camera on the slider at the Tannery Row Ale House The parameters were laid out by the client needing our team to create 1 – 3 minute videos of 5 specific types of genres and elements.  Interior architecture, Urban Life and City, Parks and Nature and elements like that.  They wanted all original photography and the idea was to utilize as many 4k and HD cameras and formats as feasibly possible.  Blackmagic 4k RAW image of a skateboarder catching air in Atlanta Led by  Principal Walter Biscardi, Jr., a plan was quickly formulated to make this project a reality.  “Marion Laney and I have collaborated on a lot of projects since our ‘Good Eats’ days and with a project this crazy and with […]

The post Biscardi Creative Completes “The Impossible Project.” appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
BCM completes “The Impossible Project”

7 Days.   5 Shoots.  11 Locations.   8 Cameras.   5 Completed Videos.

The call came in on Friday.  “Our client saw the 4k culinary work you did and would like you to create 5 original videos with a mix of 4k and HD formats.  And we need it by next Friday.  Can you do it?”  It became what we called “The Impossible Project” and we were just insane enough to agree to do it.

Blackmagic 4k Cinema Camera on the slider at the Tannery Row Ale House

The parameters were laid out by the client needing our team to create 1 – 3 minute videos of 5 specific types of genres and elements.  Interior architecture, Urban Life and City, Parks and Nature and elements like that.  They wanted all original photography and the idea was to utilize as many 4k and HD cameras and formats as feasibly possible. 

Blackmagic 4k RAW image of a skateboarder catching air in Atlanta

Led by  Principal Walter Biscardi, Jr., a plan was quickly formulated to make this project a reality.  “Marion Laney and I have collaborated on a lot of projects since our ‘Good Eats’ days and with a project this crazy and with so many elements to pull together, he was the first person added to the team.”

 

While Walter pulled together the plan to execute the overall project, Marion formulated a 2 day shooting schedule throughout the Atlanta metro region that would cover the City and Urban life along with Architectural interiors.  His input on locations was invaluable to get the imagery needed in a short amount of time.

Panasonic GH4 4k image of the wheel in downtown Atlanta

Walter shot for three days on his own and he teamed up with Marion for two days to shoot all over Atlanta, the Caribbean and Dauphin Island, Alabama.   “The Caribbean materials that I had shot in 4k and with my iPhone while on vacation turned out to be fortuitous because some of that fit perfectly with what was needed for this project and Marion happened to be in Dauphin Island so he was able to film some materials there.”

Blackmagic Design URSA Mini 4k detail of a Chevy Camaro ZL1

The key to the entire project was media management from the start.  “If we overshot with the cameras, which honestly I typically do, it would have overwhelmed the post production process.  So I made sure that we limited the raw photography to just ‘quality selects.’  We essentially shot as if we only had one camera card to use in an entire day so we both focused on just getting the best images for the project,” notes Walter

Sony a7rII 4k detail of the Tannery Row Ale House

In total around 10 hours of new original materials were shot using the 8 various cameras and all of this was edited down about 15 minutes in 5 videos for the event.  Not only did we finish the project, we delivered it at 10am on Friday.  “It was a lot of long hours, very little sleep, but wow did have a great time working on this project.  It was satisfying to not just deliver an original project of this magnitude to quickly, but to exceed the client’s expectation and deliver outstanding quality imagery.  That’s what makes it all worthwhile,” said Biscardi.

Sony a7rII 1080HD slo-mo at the Centennial Olympic Park fountain

We can’t divulge the specific details about what the project was produced for except to say that they’re being used for a private event and the footage will most likely be re-used for marketing into the future.   Here’s the specs on the cameras and formats used.

Cameras:
iPhone 6:
Panasonic GH4:
Canon 70D:
Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera:
Sony a7rII:
Blackmagic Design 4k Cinema Camera:
GoPro Hero 2 and Hero 3:
Blackmagic Design URSA Mini:

Formats Shot: 
4k RAW:
4k 3:1 RAW:
S-Log:
S-Gamut3.cine:
4k ProRes HQ:
ProRes:
ProRes HQ:
4k H264:
1080 HD H264:
720p H264:


Shooting 4k RAW details at the Tannery Row Ale House

Very special thanks to Lake Lanier Islands Resort and the Tannery Row Ale House for accommodating us on short notice.  Special Thanks to Flanders Scientific Inc for their assistance with the MYT Works slider / skate combination and for all the fun with the URSA Mini and the drift trike.

The post Biscardi Creative Completes “The Impossible Project.” appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
Where You’ll Find Walter Biscardi at NAB Show 2016 http://walterbiscardi.net/where-youll-find-walter-biscardi-at-nab-show-2016/ Sun, 10 Apr 2016 19:07:00 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4709 The view entering South Hall Lower   NAB Show 2016 is upon us and my schedule is coming together.   I’ll be primarily appearing in the Studio Network Solutions booth SL11113 giving the presentation Adobe Premiere Pro Project Management and Project Sharing Best Practices.  (full details below) I’ll also be at some of the evening events and just hanging out.  So if you have the chance, come say hello and let’s chat!   Heck, if you want to meet up for a coffee and talk shop, ping me on Twitter, @walterbiscardi or drop me an email walter (at) biscardicreative.com.  Look forward to seeing you all! LOVE Stef and Sean from Rampant Design Tools   Saturday: Arriving in the afternoon and honestly, this is my quietest day.   If you’re in town and want to meet up to chat, ping me!  I’m staying over in the MGM Grand / NY NY area of the Strip. Sunday: If anyone wants to meet up for breakfast, ping me.  I’m also around in the early afternoon.   9pm I’ll be at the #PostChat meet-up outside the O’Shea’s Bar in The Linq restaurant district.  Outside between The Linq hotel and Flamingo.   I might even go up in the High Roller observation wheel Sunday night. Meeting Vashi! at the #PostChat […]

The post Where You’ll Find Walter Biscardi at NAB Show 2016 appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
The view entering South Hall Lower

 

NAB Show 2016 is upon us and my schedule is coming together.   I’ll be primarily appearing in the Studio Network Solutions booth SL11113 giving the presentation Adobe Premiere Pro Project Management and Project Sharing Best Practices.  (full details below) I’ll also be at some of the evening events and just hanging out.  So if you have the chance, come say hello and let’s chat!   Heck, if you want to meet up for a coffee and talk shop, ping me on Twitter, @walterbiscardi or drop me an email walter (at) biscardicreative.com.  Look forward to seeing you all!

LOVE Stef and Sean from Rampant Design Tools

 

Saturday: Arriving in the afternoon and honestly, this is my quietest day.   If you’re in town and want to meet up to chat, ping me!  I’m staying over in the MGM Grand / NY NY area of the Strip.

Sunday: If anyone wants to meet up for breakfast, ping me.  I’m also around in the early afternoon.   9pm I’ll be at the #PostChat meet-up outside the O’Shea’s Bar in The Linq restaurant district.  Outside between The Linq hotel and Flamingo.   I might even go up in the High Roller observation wheel Sunday night.

Meeting Vashi! at the #PostChat meet-up

 

Monday: I’ll be in the SNS Booth SL11113 all day and presenting Adobe Premiere Pro Project Management and Project Sharing Best Practices at 10:30am, 2:00pm and 4:00pm.

In the presentation I will take you though best practices for Adobe Premiere Pro Project Management and Project Sharing.   These management tips can apply to other NLEs as well.  I’ll demonstrate the techniques I developed for managing the wealth of digital data created in today’s video production world, whether you’re in the corporate, broadcast or digital marketplace.   I’ll cover the basics of standardizing your project management including: Media Management & Organization, File / Folder Renaming, Transcoding, Media Cache, Shared Projects (2 or more editors sharing the same project),  Cross Platform (Mac & Windows), Archiving.  This is a must presentation for anyone looking to bring order to an expanding digital media workload and library. 

I’ll also be available all day in the booth to answer any questions you have about Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Shared Storage Workflow, 4k, UHD, Post Production and of course, anything to do with cooking.  Pizza On the Grill is my favorite!  So stop on by and say hello!

Monday Evening: You’ll find me at the Media Motion Ball located in the Monte Carlo.

 

Tuesday: I’ll be in the SNS Booth SL11113 all day and presenting Adobe Premiere Pro Project Management and Project Sharing Best Practices at 10:30am, 2:00pm and 4:00pm. (see full description above)  Again, I’ll be available to answer any questions you have on all matters Post and of course cooking.  So stop by and say hello!

Tuesday Evening: You’ll find me for a little while at the Supermeet located in the Rio.  I don’t stay for the entire event and I generally just hang out in the vendor area to chat with folks.   Generally I end up going out for dinner after a few hours here.

Wednesday: I’ll be in the SNS Booth SL11113 all day and presenting Adobe Premiere Pro Project Management and Project Sharing Best Practices at 10:30am, 2:00pm and 4:00pm. (see full description above)   Again, I’ll be available to answer any questions you have on all matters Post and of course cooking.  So stop by and say hello!

Wednesday Evening: I’m attending a private event and then will be on my way back to Atlanta bright and early Thursday morning.

I really hope I get to meet up with you this year.  Have fun!

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.

 

The post Where You’ll Find Walter Biscardi at NAB Show 2016 appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
Elevating Your Brand Through 4k Ultra High Definition Imagery http://walterbiscardi.net/elevating-your-brand-through-4k-ultra-high-definition-imagery/ Sun, 13 Mar 2016 02:32:59 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4683 [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] “4k” and “Ultra-High Definition” are more than just buzzwords today.  For elevating your brand marketing and messaging, they should an essential part of your strategy. First off, what exactly is 4k and Ultra-High Definition?   When we talk about video production and televisions, we’re actually describing pixel dimensions, the height and width of the image.  The high definition television you might have at home today is most likely a 1080p model, the screen displays 1920 pixels across and 1080 pixels vertically. For the purposes of video production, 4k and Ultra-High Definition are essentially the same thing with slight differences in the image width.  A 4k / Ultra-High Definition television displays 3840 pixels across and 2160 pixels vertically.   Here’s a handy image to show the difference. [/av_textblock] [av_image src=’http://www.biscardicreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/4k-Frame-Size-Comparison-1030×556.jpg’ attachment=’4685′ attachment_size=’large’ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ styling=” hover=” link=’lightbox’ target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’][/av_image] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] As you can see, the Ultra-High definition image is equal to four HD images. True 4000 pixels across is achieved on some cameras, which we’ll discuss shortly.   The image quality achieved in 4k UHD video production is far superior to that of standard HD cameras.   The best […]

The post Elevating Your Brand Through 4k Ultra High Definition Imagery appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]

“4k” and “Ultra-High Definition” are more than just buzzwords today.  For elevating your brand marketing and messaging, they should an essential part of your strategy.

First off, what exactly is 4k and Ultra-High Definition?   When we talk about video production and televisions, we’re actually describing pixel dimensions, the height and width of the image.  The high definition television you might have at home today is most likely a 1080p model, the screen displays 1920 pixels across and 1080 pixels vertically.

For the purposes of video production, 4k and Ultra-High Definition are essentially the same thing with slight differences in the image width.  A 4k / Ultra-High Definition television displays 3840 pixels across and 2160 pixels vertically.   Here’s a handy image to show the difference.

[/av_textblock]

[av_image src=’http://www.biscardicreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/4k-Frame-Size-Comparison-1030×556.jpg’ attachment=’4685′ attachment_size=’large’ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ styling=” hover=” link=’lightbox’ target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’][/av_image]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]

As you can see, the Ultra-High definition image is equal to four HD images. True 4000 pixels across is achieved on some cameras, which we’ll discuss shortly.   The image quality achieved in 4k UHD video production is far superior to that of standard HD cameras.   The best way I can describe it is that the 4k UHD video looks like a window and the element is right there behind the window.  It’s that sharp and rich with a level of depth that used to be only available with film.

So how do we elevate your brand with 4k UHD?  First, we shoot everything in Cinema Mode with true Cinema Lenses.   Both elements work together to emulate the richness of film, giving your work a cinematic look.  They add a clarity, depth and richness to your image that is far and above what “standard HD cameras” can provide.

BCM_BMD4k_Grill

Blackmagic Design 4k Cinema Camera with a Sigma 24 – 104mm Art Lens.

[/av_textblock]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]

BCM_Potatoes_Small

Click to see the full resolution 4k frame.

Notice in the image above how the camera is tightly focused only in the center.  The foreground and background being out of focus adds a tremendous depth to the image and gives it a cinematic quality.   We can focus the audience’s attention to specific details and offer a wide canvas for your product and story.

Next we use a super high quality recording format called RAW which records the media as individual 300dpi 4000 x 2160 images.  24 images per second of video (at 24 frames per second).   10MB per frame, 240MB per second, 14.4GB per minute.   This offers incredible detail and quality in the video and offers you literally thousands of print quality still images from a 4k UHD video shoot.  Repurpose any image for all manner of collateral and marketing, essentially performing a still and video shoot with the same camera.   Click to see the full resolution of the following images and remember, this is NOT still photography, these are still images from moving video.

[/av_textblock]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]

Click to see the full resolution 4k frame.

Click to see the full resolution 4k frame.

BCM_Steak_Small

Click to see the full resolution 4k frame.

BCM_RedPeppers_Small

Click to see the full resolution 4k frame.

[/av_textblock]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]

Finally, we edit and manipulate the imagery to give you incredible material that sells your brand.

On the trade show floor or at special events, 4k UHD imagery pops in all image sizes from 50” screens to 100 foot projection or digital walls.  There’s that window, almost 3D aspect to the image that just isn’t available in HD photography.

However, shooting 4k gives all all sorts of options for presentations in HD.  In HD, the imagery can be manipulated to zero in on specific details.  Remember when we started this article, I told you that the UHD image is the size of four HD images combined.   So look at that amazing steak here.

Steak_4kto HD Frame

[/av_textblock]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]

You can see how much of the steak is available beyond the frame in HD.  So we can either scale the image down so you can see the entire steak in HD like you saw it earlier in the article.  Or, we can leave the steak full sized and simply reposition it in the frame to get an incredibly detailed image of the cook on that steak, like below.

BCM_SteakHD

[/av_textblock]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]

I’ll remind you again, this is not still photography, this is a single frame of extremely high quality, high resolution 4k Ultra High Definition video.

One production, many repurpose possibilities, ultra high quality imagery and storytelling to elevate your brand.  Call us today and let’s talk about how Biscardi Creative Media can add ultra high quality storytelling to your brand.

———-

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.  www.biscardicreative.com | 770-271-3427

[/av_textblock]

The post Elevating Your Brand Through 4k Ultra High Definition Imagery appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
BCM Upgrades Include Two 4k UHD Camera Packages http://walterbiscardi.net/bcm-upgrades-include-two-4k-uhd-camera-packages/ Tue, 26 Jan 2016 03:06:14 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4668 Left to Right: Panasonic GH4 with Rokinon 24mm Cine Prime Lens, Sigma 24-105mm zoom, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, Rokinon 85mm Cine Prime Lens, Blackmagic Design 4k Cinema Camera with Rokinon 35mm Cine Prime Lens. Over the Holiday break Biscardi Creative Media began upgrading our camera and field video production packages to bring more cinematic capabilities in house.  Paramount to this was to add a set of cinema quality prime lenses.   While most people tend to focus their attention on the camera, it’s the lens or “glass” that really brings an image to life.  We added a set of Rokinon Full Frame Cinema T1.5 Prime Lenses (24mm, 35mm and 85mm) and a Sigma 24-105mm “Art” lens.  All of these lenses are Canon EF mount making them versatile across many different camera types including our Blackmagic 4k Cinema Camera.  This extremely versatile camera can be used to create anything from a corporate story to feature film with the ability to shoot in 4k RAW for the ultimate in image quality. We then added the Panasonic GH4 Lumix camera which brings HD and full 4k functionality to small form, handheld cameras.  We’ve tested the GH4 extensively with our lifestyle programming production for Contemporary Living Network and love […]

The post BCM Upgrades Include Two 4k UHD Camera Packages appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
Left to Right: Panasonic GH4 with Rokinon 24mm Cine Prime Lens, Sigma 24-105mm zoom, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, Rokinon 85mm Cine Prime Lens, Blackmagic Design 4k Cinema Camera with Rokinon 35mm Cine Prime Lens.

Over the Holiday break Biscardi Creative Media began upgrading our camera and field video production packages to bring more cinematic capabilities in house.  Paramount to this was to add a set of cinema quality prime lenses.   While most people tend to focus their attention on the camera, it’s the lens or “glass” that really brings an image to life.  We added a set of Rokinon Full Frame Cinema T1.5 Prime Lenses (24mm, 35mm and 85mm) and a Sigma 24-105mm “Art” lens.  All of these lenses are Canon EF mount making them versatile across many different camera types including our Blackmagic 4k Cinema Camera.  This extremely versatile camera can be used to create anything from a corporate story to feature film with the ability to shoot in 4k RAW for the ultimate in image quality.

We then added the Panasonic GH4 Lumix camera which brings HD and full 4k functionality to small form, handheld cameras.  We’ve tested the GH4 extensively with our lifestyle programming production for Contemporary Living Network and love that we can produce gorgeous UHD cinematic imagery in a very unobtrusive way.   We’ve been able to shoot in a variety of situations without attracting undue attention or interfering with the normal operations of retail and commercial spaces.

Of course we still have our Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera for a third HD camera.  This extremely versatile little camera can literally fit in a pocket and we currently have it fitted with vintage Canon FD lenses.

For field recording we added a new Sennheiser wireless microphone pack along with a Countryman Isomax microphone bringing the flexibility of wireless movement and the high quality of Countryman sound together.  We’ve used Countryman mics for years now and love their rich, full bodied sound.

On the grip side of things, we’ve added a new floating stand for our FSI field monitor and will be upgrading the lighting package as well.   We’ve come a long way from our Post Production roots.   Give us a shout for more details on the gear and our current rates.  770.271.3427

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.

 

The post BCM Upgrades Include Two 4k UHD Camera Packages appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
BCM Brings Explosive Speed to Bridgestone Golf. http://walterbiscardi.net/bcm-brings-explosive-speed-to-bridgestone-golf/ Tue, 19 Jan 2016 15:39:29 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4549 [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] We recently got the opportunity to work on an awesome Bridgestone Golf project led by Producer Dana Popoff of Popoff Enterprises.  She came to us with a spot for their JGR line of golf clubs that had been produced by a Japanese agency.   Our task was to reversion the spot for the US market while maintaining the high production values and strong pacing of the original.   “The original spot was so well produced, we had to make sure we not only re-versioned it for the US market, but did justice to the work of the original artists,” notes BCM Principal, Walter Biscardi, Jr. [/av_textblock] [av_image src=’http://www.biscardicreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Explosive-Speed-1-1030×579.jpg’ attachment=’4555′ attachment_size=’large’ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’][/av_image] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] Biscardi started by bringing the spot into Adobe Premiere Pro and re-timing the spot with the new music from The License Lab.  “We love LOVE the License Lab both for their high quality music and their searches,” said Biscardi.  Matt Fischer and his team at the License Lab listened to the original spot and in short order sent 12 cuts with similar energy to choose from.   It’s huge to […]

The post BCM Brings Explosive Speed to Bridgestone Golf. appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
We recently got the opportunity to work on an awesome Bridgestone Golf project led by Producer Dana Popoff of Popoff Enterprises.  She came to us with a spot for their JGR line of golf clubs that had been produced by a Japanese agency.   Our task was to reversion the spot for the US market while maintaining the high production values and strong pacing of the original.   “The original spot was so well produced, we had to make sure we not only re-versioned it for the US market, but did justice to the work of the original artists,” notes BCM Principal, Walter Biscardi, Jr.
[/av_textblock]

[av_image src=’http://www.biscardicreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Explosive-Speed-1-1030×579.jpg’ attachment=’4555′ attachment_size=’large’ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’][/av_image]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
Biscardi started by bringing the spot into Adobe Premiere Pro and re-timing the spot with the new music from The License Lab“We love LOVE the License Lab both for their high quality music and their searches,” said Biscardi.  Matt Fischer and his team at the License Lab listened to the original spot and in short order sent 12 cuts with similar energy to choose from.   It’s huge to have a service like that because Walter was able to move ahead to start creating the new graphics instead of spending time looking for music.

With the spot re-timed to the new music it was on to the motion graphics and style.  Biscardi utilized a lot of elements from Rampant Design Tools“The spot is essentially comparing the golfer’s swing to an automobile engine revving up and then accelerating.  Rampant has oodles of great elements including light flares, sparks, smoke and light leak film elements that really enhance that metaphor of the the swing and the club as an engine,” said Biscardi.   Some 20 elements from Rampant were blended together to create the final look with the Rampant Impact Lights allowing for seamless transitions between the original spot and the newly created elements.
[/av_textblock]

[av_image src=’http://www.biscardicreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Rampant-Light-Leak-1-1030×579.jpg’ attachment=’4559′ attachment_size=’large’ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’][/av_image]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
The motion graphic elements were created in Adobe After Effects with everything built in 3D space.  Even though all the elements were 2D, working in 3D space adds tremendous creative options with the lighting effects and camera movements.  Text and other elements gain a sense of depth when lighting effects are applied.   Some grunge from Rampant Design along with texture effects were applied to the words to give them more energy.
[/av_textblock]

[av_image src=’http://www.biscardicreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AE_ExtremePower-1-1030×564.jpg’ attachment=’4552′ attachment_size=’large’ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’][/av_image]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
The biggest challenge was showing the acceleration of ball down the golf course fairway.  There was no actual video shot of a golf course fairway.  Breaking down the original spot, we realized that scene was built from multiple still images and then composited to look like it was video.  So Walter went back to his animation roots and created a new composite using nearly a dozen images from Pond 5.   “Pond 5 is our go-to stock library as they not only have a ton of images, but their still images are really high quality and so reasonably priced,” said Biscardi.   The scene was again built in 3D space using multiple layers of trees, sky and fairways.  Motion blur and camera shake complete the illusion of motion.
[/av_textblock]

[av_image src=’http://www.biscardicreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AE_GolfCourse-1-1030×558.jpg’ attachment=’4553′ attachment_size=’large’ align=’center’ animation=’no-animation’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’][/av_image]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
Biscardi got a huge assist from Rampant Design’s Sean Mullen with making the ball shatter the screen.  “In the original spot you didn’t actually see the ball shatter the screen, so I wanted to make sure the ball came from behind the camera and shattered the screen on its way down the fairway.”  Mullen and Biscardi worked together to make the ball come through with a lot of energy as it powers down the fairway.

The final touches for the spot was adding grain and color grading to match the original along with a fantastic audio mix from Company 3 adding some great SFX to further enhance the automotive metaphor.

This was definitely a challenging but super fun spot for us to be a part of. Thanks to the strong production tools from The License Lab and Rampant Design Tools, the project came off flawlessly.  We were thrilled to not only be able to provide the spot for Dana and the Bridgestone Golf team, but to get the tremendous feedback from the clients really makes it all worthwhile.
[/av_textblock]

[av_video src=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKAe-YvkkY4′ format=’16-9′ width=’16’ height=’9′]

The post BCM Brings Explosive Speed to Bridgestone Golf. appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
5 days. 4 Principal Locations. 127 Scenes of Video Production! http://walterbiscardi.net/5-days-4-principal-locations-127-scenes-of-video-production/ Mon, 29 Jun 2015 00:45:20 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4316 Our 5 days of principal production has been completed on the Gwinnett County Water Science project featuring 3 scripts inspired by Bill Nye Science Guy!   After 3 days in our main ‘studio’ location in a high school laboratory, we spent a full day at Lanier Islands Resort utilizing their PineIsle location.  It was perfect for what we needed with plenty of shoreline and we were well away from the main activities of the resort so it was quiet and we were out of the way.   Day 5 was spent on the Lake itself and we finally ended up at one of the water treatment facilities. Final Tally for the Week:  5 days.  4 Principal Locations.  127 Scenes.   Yep, you read that right.  127 Scenes shot for three videos in one week.  That’s the nature of emulating Bill Nye’s show, a LOT of cuts and a lot of variations on the same shot.  We finished one hour early on Wednesday and Thursday and we finished 3 hours early on Friday. How were we able to do that?  A young, energetic crew and most importantly, our host, Ian Gregg.  Ian was able to memorize complex dialogue so quickly we could […]

The post 5 days. 4 Principal Locations. 127 Scenes of Video Production! appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
Our 5 days of principal production has been completed on the Gwinnett County Water Science project featuring 3 scripts inspired by Bill Nye Science Guy!   After 3 days in our main ‘studio’ location in a high school laboratory, we spent a full day at Lanier Islands Resort utilizing their PineIsle location.  It was perfect for what we needed with plenty of shoreline and we were well away from the main activities of the resort so it was quiet and we were out of the way.   Day 5 was spent on the Lake itself and we finally ended up at one of the water treatment facilities.

Final Tally for the Week:  5 days.  4 Principal Locations.  127 Scenes.   Yep, you read that right.  127 Scenes shot for three videos in one week.  That’s the nature of emulating Bill Nye’s show, a LOT of cuts and a lot of variations on the same shot.  We finished one hour early on Wednesday and Thursday and we finished 3 hours early on Friday.

How were we able to do that?  A young, energetic crew and most importantly, our host, Ian Gregg.  Ian was able to memorize complex dialogue so quickly we could roll through scenes and multiple takes in a hurry.     I’ll have a full article coming soon on the entire process from start to finish, but that will come after we complete Post.   For now, here’s more images from one incredible shoot.   If you missed the first blog on this shoot, check it out here.

Oh and if you need a versatile outdoor location for filming, Lanier Islands Resort was so accommodating and they have so many places to shoot from shoreline to forest types of places to the pools to the hotels to the trails, golf and so much more.   Definitely look them up for great outdoor and indoor locations.

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.

The post 5 days. 4 Principal Locations. 127 Scenes of Video Production! appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
Bill Nye Inspired Video Production Underway! http://walterbiscardi.net/bill-nye-inspired-science-project-underway/ http://walterbiscardi.net/bill-nye-inspired-science-project-underway/#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2015 02:46:16 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4286 [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] For the past 6 months we’ve been working closely with a client on a Water Science project for a local school system with the overall feel and scripting inspired by “Bill Nye, Science Guy.”   The scripts were written by BCM Principal, Walter Biscardi, Jr and he’s also serving as the Director for the project.  We’re finally in Production after having spent last week loading in and rehearsing. With Walter’s past experience on “Good Eats with Alton Brown” which was greatly inspired by Bill Nye, it’s been a very smooth process to take the needs of the school curriculum and give it the “Bill Nye” touch.  We’re shooting at a local high school laboratory and we’ve brought along 4 high school students to serve at Production Assistants and Science Assistants.  Their energy has been incredible, even whipping around a set change in just 15 minutes so we could knock out the most complex shot of the entire 5 days of shooting before breaking for the day. Here’s some looks at the shoot so far! Two days down, three to go in production. Actor Ian Gregg has just been amazing nailing his lines most every take. We’re actually […]

The post Bill Nye Inspired Video Production Underway! appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
For the past 6 months we’ve been working closely with a client on a Water Science project for a local school system with the overall feel and scripting inspired by “Bill Nye, Science Guy.”   The scripts were written by BCM Principal, Walter Biscardi, Jr and he’s also serving as the Director for the project.  We’re finally in Production after having spent last week loading in and rehearsing.

With Walter’s past experience on “Good Eats with Alton Brown” which was greatly inspired by Bill Nye, it’s been a very smooth process to take the needs of the school curriculum and give it the “Bill Nye” touch.  We’re shooting at a local high school laboratory and we’ve brought along 4 high school students to serve at Production Assistants and Science Assistants.  Their energy has been incredible, even whipping around a set change in just 15 minutes so we could knock out the most complex shot of the entire 5 days of shooting before breaking for the day. Here’s some looks at the shoot so far!

Two days down, three to go in production. Actor Ian Gregg has just been amazing nailing his lines most every take. We’re actually ahead of schedule by one shot going into our final day at our main Lab studio at a local high school. A long grueling, outdoor day is coming up Thursday with temps in the low 90’s and high humidity outside.  Our crew is up for the challenge.   We’re shooting for the first time with the Sony a7s being manned by Cheryl Collins.  Full article will come after we’re done but here’s a quick look at the first two days of Production!
[/av_textblock]

[av_masonry_gallery ids=’4287,4308,4306,4304,4305,4303,4307,4301,4299,4296,4295,4294,4300,4297,4293,4311,4292,4310,4291,4290,4289,4288,4309′ items=’24’ columns=’flexible’ paginate=’pagination’ size=’flex’ gap=’large’ overlay_fx=’active’ caption_elements=’excerpt’ caption_display=’always’ container_links=’active’ id=”]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.  www.biscardicreative.com | 770-271-3427
[/av_textblock]

The post Bill Nye Inspired Video Production Underway! appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
http://walterbiscardi.net/bill-nye-inspired-science-project-underway/feed/ 1
BCM Completes PSA with Victoria Stilwell for Fix Georgia Pets http://walterbiscardi.net/bcm-completes-psa-with-victoria-stilwell-for-fix-georgia-pets/ Sun, 31 May 2015 21:29:45 +0000 http://www.biscardicreative.com/?p=4263 [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] BCM Completes PSA with Victoria Stilwell for Fix Georgia Pets BCM teams up again with Dog Trainer Victoria Stilwell. June 1, 2015; Atlanta, GA; – Biscardi Creative Media (BCM) has completed post-production on two Public Service Announcements for Fix Georgia Pets featuring world-renowned dog trainer Victoria Stilwell.  The PSAs remind all of us the importance of spaying and neutering our pets to help cut down on animal overpopulation.  This topic is near and dear to our hearts at BCM with our own Molly the Wonder Dog being a rescue. BCM Principal, Walter Biscardi, Jr. and Victoria’s production team talked through the PSA before principal photography.  “We’re thankful that Victoria and Van got us involved in pre-production because that is so important to communicate prior to photography,” said Biscardi.  “This is especially true when working with lower budget projects to make sure we all are on the same page and we can provide the client with the best possible message in the production time we have to produce the spot.” Producer Van Zieller and Biscardi also discussed the style of spot prior to photography wanting to avoid something overly ‘depressing.’  “The problem with a lot of these […]

The post BCM Completes PSA with Victoria Stilwell for Fix Georgia Pets appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]

BCM Completes PSA with Victoria Stilwell for Fix Georgia Pets

BCM teams up again with Dog Trainer Victoria Stilwell.

Screen Shot 2015-05-31 at 5.25.45 PM

June 1, 2015; Atlanta, GA; – Biscardi Creative Media (BCM) has completed post-production on two Public Service Announcements for Fix Georgia Pets featuring world-renowned dog trainer Victoria Stilwell.  The PSAs remind all of us the importance of spaying and neutering our pets to help cut down on animal overpopulation.  This topic is near and dear to our hearts at BCM with our own Molly the Wonder Dog being a rescue.

BCM Principal, Walter Biscardi, Jr. and Victoria’s production team talked through the PSA before principal photography.  “We’re thankful that Victoria and Van got us involved in pre-production because that is so important to communicate prior to photography,” said Biscardi.  “This is especially true when working with lower budget projects to make sure we all are on the same page and we can provide the client with the best possible message in the production time we have to produce the spot.”

Screen Shot 2015-05-31 at 5.24.40 PM

Producer Van Zieller and Biscardi also discussed the style of spot prior to photography wanting to avoid something overly ‘depressing.’  “The problem with a lot of these animal rescue / welfare spots is that they are just so depressing and beat you over the head with super sad imagery that you tune away immediately,” notes Biscardi.  “That completely defeats the purpose of the spot if our audience won’t watch.  While there’s no way to sugarcoat what’s happening to these animals in shelters, we made creative decisions in the music and the pacing of the piece to make this a spot that is built on hope, not despair.”

Van and his crew spent a day at a local shelter photographing both the animals, some adoptions and the workers.   Biscardi utilized a combination of Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects and Rampant Design Tools to drive the look and feel of the spot.  “I had to turn this spot around basically in one day, but still create a unique style to keep the spot moving.  Production mattes from Rampant Design gave me a lot of movements options without needing to keyframe and allowed me to achieve a pretty unique look for a spot of this type in a very short amount of time.”  One line in particular about one dog potentially resulting in 60,000 puppies over 5 years drove the use of the animated mattes to create a unique look for the spot.

Screen Shot 2015-05-31 at 5.25.03 PM

Both a 30 and 15 second version of the spot was created both for broadcast and web based use.   The spots are the latest in a long running commitment by Biscardi Creative Media to support causes through our work.  We appreciate the opportunity to help tell these important stories.

[/av_textblock]

[av_video src=’https://vimeo.com/129212228′ format=’16-9′ width=’16’ height=’9′]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]

You can learn more about Fix Georgia Pets at www.fixgapets.org

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.  www.biscardicreative.com | 770-271-3427

[/av_textblock]

The post BCM Completes PSA with Victoria Stilwell for Fix Georgia Pets appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

]]>