Tips for Shooting a Video in Miami

South Florida offers a diverse backdrop for shooting a production; including: South Beach, Star Island, Key Biscayne, and other historic sites throughout the tri-county area. If you are a video producer looking to film in South Florida, here are some tips from our Miami camera crews, about location destinations.

Traveling. Miami is very spread out, unless you are staying on South Beach and shooting on South Beach, a car rental is necessary. Unlike metropolitans like New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, and Chicago where you can use other forms of transit, a car is necessary for a Miami production.

Sea Bound. One of the beauties of South Florida is the ocean. Get your camera crew in Miami on a boat to shoot the ultimate, unique scene on the water. After all, you can shoot a city scene anywhere, get a real feel for Miami from the view of the sea.

Hit the Landmarks. Like most cities, Miami is known for its signature staples that are unique to the city. Some of these famous Miami landmarks are locations like South Beach in front of the Colony Hotel, the Hispanic flavor of Hialeah, and the beauty of Downtown Miami / Bayfront Park.

Filming a Movie in Miami
Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) came all the way from Italy to shoot a series of 14 commercials featuring the Miami sights and sun and starring July 2009 Playboy cover girl Bélan Rodriguez and Italian comedic actor Christian De Sica. Moving Picture was right there with them providing Video Assist and Location Sound Recording services.

If you are interested in shooting a video in Miami, our Miami Camera Crews can help. In addition to providing camera crew rentals, we offer production concierge services for finding film locations, booking production friendly hotels, grip truck rentals, and more. Contact Moving Picture Crew today at 305-522-1361 to learn more about our services.

Ten Movies You Never Knew Were Filmed in South Florida

Miami is known for its beautiful beaches and extravagant nightlife, but so many us of overlook how common the city of Miami is featured in movies.

Since Miami’s original appearance in Flying Down to Rio, starting Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in 1933, Miami has been a destination for producers worldwide.

From the signature staple of South Beach to the Miami Police Department, moviegoers can’t get enough of the 305.

Famous Movies Filmed in Miami, Florida
Miami Vice (2006) leading men Collin Ferrell and Jamie Foxx sit down on location at the Opa Locka Executive Airport with Director Michael Mann. Opa Locka Executive airport has long been a production friendly aviation facility and a favorite for South Florida production teams.

Most of us know the notorious movies filmed in Miami; such as: Ace Ventura, Iron Man 3, Something about Mary, Bad Boys, Caddyshack, Scarface, and Miami Vice (both the movie and TV Show). But there are plenty of movies that didn’t receive the kudos they deserved for filming in sunny South Florida.

Ten movies you probably never knew were filmed in South Florida are:

  1. Godfather II
  2. Marley and Me
  3. Any Given Sunday
  4. Blow
  5. 2 Fast 2 Furious
  6. Donnie Brasco
  7. The Birdcage
  8. William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet
  9. Out of Time
  10. Meet The Fockers

With the perfect amount of sunshine, filming in Florida ranks number three for top U.S. locations for camera crews. Miami has been, and will continue to be, one of the most popular locations in the entertainment industry for years to come.

Moving Picture provides a complete shooting solution for Spotzen’s production of the LPGA 2015 Branding videos.

Moving Picture was hired again by Austin, Texas production company Spotzen to provide  crew and equipment for the LPGA’s 2015 branding videos shot in the days preceding the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Resort in Naples, FL.

PR1
Director Rich Tlapek discusses the shot with LPGA golfers Paula Creamer and Belen Mozo.

For the grip team we provided a 3-ton grip truck with ARRI M40 and M18 HMI lighting, generators, and a 4ft CamRunner slider. Camera department worked with Canon C300 and Canon 5D MkIII camera packages with Zeiss CP.2 Compact Primes and Canon 16-35 and 24-70 zoom lenses.

PR2
Day two had us fighting the elements with a constant stream of rain. Nothing a 20×20 Half Soft Frost and a couple of pop-tents can’t fix!

We used two shooting styles during this production. There was the sit-down-interview portion with proper lighting and grip support and then more of a run-and-gun style skit setup using available lighting throughout the golf course. Light and lean was the name of the game to get our skit shots in quickly without needing to close down a portion of the course.

PR3
During the coldest Florida day this year, DP Greg Daniels lines up his shot on the Canon C300 with LPGA golfer Lexi Thompson.

LPGA 2015 Branding Videos was a Spotzen production on behalf of Sacred Cow advertising agency. Produced by Amanda Fox, Production Manager Kate Eads, Directed by Rich Tlapek, Director of Photography Greg Daniels. (www.gregdanielsdp.com).

PR4
It’s a wrap!! Ending another fantastic shoot on the 18th tee with the Spotzen production team, Sacred Cow agency team, Moving Picture crew, and our LPGA handlers.

 

 

 

iPhone App Review: Artemis Director’s Viewfinder

 

Artemis Icon
The Artemis Director’s Viewfinder is a great tool to have in any filmmaker’s toolbox.  Camera Crews Miami wants film directors to know that if utilized to its full potential, Artemis can potentially eliminate the need for a scouting camera package. Artemis comes preloaded with nearly all of the popular camera systems in use today, this includes all the ARRI Alexa versions, all of the RED cameras, Canon DSLR, Broadcast Cameras, pro-sumer camcorders, and of course film cameras from 8mm to 65mm. As for lens selection, Artemis provides a vast selection from Canon, Cooke, Leica, Panavision, RED, and Zeiss.

Artemis main interface with multiple frame lines representing the lenses in your package.

After you have selected your desired camera and lens package (shown at top-left and top-right of your Artemis screen), a shot-framing window is displayed with multiple frame lines. Use the “plus” and “minus” buttons to change the lens selection, click the “full screen” button and Artemis will push in showing you only the framing with the chosen lens.

Artemis, shown “punched in” with your selected framing.

If you’re happy with this framing, tap the camera icon. An image will be saved to the Artemis Image Bank containing the camera and lens selection, lat/long, tilt angle, and sunrise/sunset time for that location. When you finish your scout, go into your Image Bank and select the images you want to export, then save those images to your Camera Roll or email yourself a PDF file with the imagery and META data.

Sample Artemis Camera Roll output with META Data

Just like the bow-wielding Artemis of Greek lore, you’ll be sniping your tech scout photos on your iPhone or iPad with efficiency and accuracy.

Artemis is authored by Chemical Wedding from Los Angeles, CA. Chemical Wedding has also released other apps for the film industry, the Helios Sun Position Calculator and Toland – ASC Cinematography Calculator.

App Store Page: Artemis Director’s Viewfinder
Cost: $29.99

 

Orsini Studios Uses Camera Crew Miami for Natural Gas Commercial

Camera Crew Miami provides Media Manager for

Orsini Studios production of Connecticut Natural Gas’s commercial, “You Know You Want It”.

Boston-based Orsini Studios recently came to South Florida for their production of “You Know You Want It,” a commercial for Connecticut Natural Gas. Originally a still photographer, Craig Orsini has recently grown into a director/producer/DP and partnered with fellow Bostonians, Element Productions.

 

With plans to shoot at New Art Studios in Miami, Orsini went to Moving Picture for lighting, grip, camera package, lens package, and HD monitors. To supplement their equipment rental, Camera Crew Miami provided a supporting crew that consisted of a camera assistant, gaffer, media manager / downloader, and production assistant.

While an experienced DSLR shooter, Orsini chose to shoot this spot with the more robust Sony PMW-F3. We coupled our Zeiss Compact Prime CP.2 lens set with Orsini’s F3 package to create a film-quality package at a fraction of the price. With the help of his camera assistant, Orsini was able to change lenses quickly to capture exactly what he needed with each individual subject. Recording to Sony 32GB SxS cards, Orsini was also able to rely on our media manager to download and back up footage throughout the day.

 

Subjects were placed in front of a white backdrop for a clean, studio look. The gaffer worked with Orsini to accomplish the ideal lighting scenario. This was done through the construction of a “book light.” A book light makes use of bounced, diffused light. A lamp is directed onto a reflective surface and effectively bounced through a diffusion material onto the subject. The surface (usually white) is adjoined on one side to the diffusion creating an open “V” shape, like a partially open book standing on its end. In this case, the gaffer bounced a 12000W ARRI Fresnel off of a 12′ x 12′ Ultrabounce and then directed it through a 12′ x 12′ light grid cloth. First the Ultrabounce and 12000W Fresnel were set up to achieve the correct angle and then the light grid was brought in. The result was a very soft, directional light that wrapped around the talent. Additional support included ARRI T2 2000W Fresnels, ARRILITE 2000W Open Face fixtures, Matthews Grip Mombo Combo stands, and and an electrical distribution package.

Directed and Lensed by Craig Orsini, Gaffer Jim Pescrile.

Keep your Crew Productive with “Producteev” Task Management System – For Free!

Lets face it. Producers have a hard job! Managing the details, responsibilities, pickups, and drop-offs for a shoot can get overwhelming at times. Throw a half dozen PAs into the mix, each with different job assignments and expectations, and there are bound to be some mistakes made along the way. At this level, mistakes cost time, money, or both. Every Producer has their own method of managing pre-production and wrap duty madness — some methods are more successful than others. At Camera Crew Miami, we’ve found a great collaborative tool to help organize and distribute information and tasks to team members in the form of Producteev, the social task management solution for teams.

There are many task management solutions on the market, with varying degrees of functionality and complexity. What makes Producteev so attractive is it’s cross platform support, ease of use, and it’s free! The Producteev system can be accessed via a standard web browser, a Mac desktop application, or an iPhone or Android mobile app. All three interfaces are intuitive, easy to use, and informative.

DETAIL VIEW OF A PRODUCTEEV TASK 

Today’s recent grads have grown up using collaborative tools in their classrooms, something older generations did not have the benefit of experiencing. These tools have developed new ways of organizing information and most have nothing to do with making “hardcopies”. We’ve found that using ‘old school’ methods like relying on printed documents do very little to organize our younger subordinates.

Let’s give you an example of Producteev in action. Assume that another stop for your delivery PA comes up suddenly. In seconds you can enter a new task from your laptop at the Production Office and a real-time notification will pop up on the PA’s iPhone/Android while they’re making stops around town. You could attach a JPG of a map or even a list of the equipment they are supposed to pick up. Upon completion, the PA would simply check off that stop as ‘complete’ on their phone app and the task will show up as complete on your laptop. Confirmation emails can also be sent to all involved parties for each task, stating the task issue time, completion time, and any notes about that task that were entered during the process. This is all great documentation that could be incorporated into a job’s wrap book for future accountability.

Production Assistance for Project 10’s “4 Days in April”

Camera Crew Miami provides Camera Support

For Project 10’s Documentary Production “4 Days in April – The Mike Weir Story”

B-Unit DP Justin Lovell shoots B-Roll during the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa

Camera Crew Miami recently spent three days on-location in Miami, Palm Beach Gardens, and Jupiter for Project 10’s documentary titled “4 Days in April – The Mike Weir Story”. The film is about the Canadian PGA golfer Mike Weir, who started his career with nothing, then came within one putt of winning The Masters in Augusta in 2003. Some amazing material was shot at one of the country’s most beautiful professional golfing venues, the PGA National Resort and Spa during the Honda Classic Tournament. We would like to extend a special thanks to the wonderfully helpful grounds staff at The Dye Preserve in Jupiter, who gave us total access to their facility for all of our production equipment and provided us with several of their Ranger carts to haul our gear around.

DP Vinit Borrison and Gaffer Tony Vagnuolo rehearse dolly moves at The Dye Preserve in Jupiter, FL.

Moving Pictures provided a complete 5-ton grip truck with 575w, 1.2k, and 1.8k ARRI HMIs, a full selection of Kino Flos, Fisher 11 Dolly, and more than 60ft of dolly track. Camera Department received a set a Zeiss CP.2 Compact Primes, a Fujinon 19-90 Cabrio Compact Zoom, and a Canon CN-E 30-300 Cinema Zoom as well as ARRI matte boxes and follow focus and an O’Connor 2575 fluid head for Project 10’s RED Scarlett. “B” Unit used a handheld rig with a Silicon Imaging SI-2K Mini camera system.

Directed by Kevin Foley, Produced by Byron Wong, “A” Unit Director of Photography Vinit Borrison, “B” Unit Director of Photography Justin Lovell, Gaffer Tony Vagnuolo, Camera Assistant Josh Baker, Sound Mixer John Zuleta.

Check out the trailer for “4 Days in April” on YouTube.com