It's Not You, It's Me

Dear Blogger,

By the time you read this, I'll be gone. I know that a while ago I left in a huff and we thought maybe a break would do us good, but I'm afraid the distance has only made my heart grow fonder of Wordpress. I feel like Wordpress really gets me. I'm just at a different place in my life and I don't think it's fair for me to update with you when we're just not meant to be. I'm sorry I couldn't be the blog administrator that we both wanted, but I'm really growing up. I'm updating often. I'm learning to communicate. Writing this letter was the hardest thing I've ever done, but it's for the best. Let's be adults and move on with our lives. Take care of yourself.

Sincerely,
laura@kinetopictures.com


P.S.
Don't be afraid to visit. Wordpress and I would love to have you over.
www.blog.kinetopictures.com

Wordpress

We just changed over to a new blog.

The Envelope Please

About a month ago, KINETO received a call from BYU-Broadcasting about a documentary we shot for them in 2006 entitled "Acts of God." The piece was divided into four different episodes that each focused on the LDS Church's humanitarian aid efforts. The project involved Travis, Matt, Damian, and Isaac traveling to Indonesia, Ghana, Guatemala, and the hurricane-torn cities of the United States. It was shot entirely on HVX200, edited using Final Cut Pro, and originally aired in 2007 on BYU-TV and BYU-International. A year later, BYU-Broadcasting was calling to inform us that we received a Cine Golden Eagle Award in the category of People and Places for "Acts of God." This is really exciting news because the CINE has a 50 year history of honoring great film, video, and media arts. I mean, I hate to name-drop, but Cine has been awarded to such talents as Ron Howard, Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Ken Burns. And as of this year, KINETO Pictures, Inc. We're now looking forward to having an Apple "effect" named after us, i.e. move over Ken Burns.

We're really proud of this award and hope that we'll have more opportunities to create such quality work. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this happen!

You can still catch "Acts of God" on BYU-TV, and for clips and production stills, visit our website.

SLC Thug

For a few days back in July, Isaac was asked to do audio for the History Channel's program, Gangland. If you haven't heard of Gangland, it's a television series that documents the rise and power of American gangs. Having not watched the program before, I thought it sounded like East LA finally got its own reality show (about time, considering how boring The Hills has become). But actually, the show exposes the nitty-gritty truth about gang issues and not all are reserved for alley-ways and streets lined with skyscrapers. In fact, Isaac worked on an episode that took place in the Salt Lake valley. The program focused on the fact that Salt Lake City is known for its religious standards, but it's far from the McGruff House we may have thought it was. This last Friday, the Salt Lake episode "From Heaven to Hell" aired. It was educational, fascinating, and absolutely shocking. I think the show has the potential to raise a lot of awareness about a topic that continues to be relevant, and I highly recommend it. So please, go check it out!

New episodes of Gangland air on the History Channel, Fridays at 9:00 PM/8 Central.

You can also purchase Gangland, or find "From Heaven to Hell" on itunes.

"From Heaven to Hell" will be rerunning on October 24th at 1:00 PM/12 Central.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir? Meet High Definition.

Throughout this year, Matt has been working with BYU Broadcasting to rebrand their networks. This campaign has produced a series of identifying ad pieces for KBYU Channel 11 and BYU-TV. While he was doing this, BYU-B teamed up with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to help usher their new version of “Called to Serve” into the 21st century. The choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square recently released a new CD under the direction of Mack Wilberg and wanted a fresh view of the song. Matt was up to the task and made a video that showed the progression of the choir as technology has advanced and included footage of LDS missionaries throughout a typical day. The video seems to be generating a lot of positive feedback, and the choir had this to say about it:

“If you watch KBYU TV in Utah or BYU Television [...] you may have seen something that has the look and the feel of an MTV music video but featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you.”

I know what you’re thinking, MTV doesn’t even play music videos anymore. But really! This video is cool! So for those of you who don’t remember what it was like when videos killed our radio stars, I re-worked the sentence to better suit the iphone-addled generation:

If you watch Channel 11 or BYU-TV, you’re facebook-invited to look for Matt Eastin’s awesome video for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It features vintage TVs! Txt me l8er.

Click HERE to view it in standard definition.
And to appreciate it in full high-definition glory, click HERE .

Filmmakers of Salt Lake, Unite!

Well, it’s officially fall in the Salt Lake Valley, and with it brings the falling leaves, a fallen economy, and the fall of my break from blogging. That’s right, I’m back on the blogwagon and with so much news. But before I break into the very long list of what’s been going on, I want to talk about something that’s beneficial to anyone interested in Final Cut Pro or video production for that matter. Travis has been working hard to launch a Final Cut Pro Users Group for Utah. There are already several user groups throughout the nation, mostly in big cities and hubs for the film industry. But with so many opportunities for local filmmakers in Utah, why not break the ice with all our independent film up-and-comers along the Wasatch Front? A Final Cut Pro Users Group basically offers answers, advice and information about new technology, and it allows for more filmmakers (no matter their experience) to collaborate and inspire for some professional growth. Locally, we have a lot of combined education and experience - with this group, we’ll all have the advantage of exchanging our ideas and knowledge about video production. The site will be launched later this week, so you’ll definitely want to sign up and check it out. And don’t forget to find our very own Damian Dayton’s articles about his experience at NAB this last spring and how to become a "Preditor."

If you're interested in getting more information, make sure to sign up for the Final Cut Seminar at TV Specialists this Wednesday, October 1. It's at 10:00 AM and it's free to sign up here.

http://www.slccut.com/

GM Shoot for Plug In

It’s been a while since our last post, so here’s what’s been going on.

Back in March, KINETO was approached by McCann-Erickson Worldwide to do a shoot for GM. This year, GM is will be sponsoring a concert series called "Plug In" involving festivals such as Rothbury, Lollapalooza, and Pinkpop - basically, an eclectic collaboration of the best international music festivals around. The concept involved shooting three “band members” on a green screen, adding a lot of graphic development, and then editing and manipulating the subjects to create an old-school meets new-school quality. The ad is the introduction to the concert series website. The graphics, band members, and overall look of the intro will be used throughout the year as part of the GMNext “Plug In” branding. The project was a lot of fun to take on and we enjoyed working with McCann to pull everything together. Here’s just a look at what it took to get “Plug In” on its feet.


The initial idea was drafted to look something like this:







After reworking the idea, the concept was changed to involve a drummer rather than a saxist and to make the musicians appear as a garage band. Maht Paulos was cast as the drummer, Liz Lightfoot as our singer, and Josh Aker was cast as the guitarist (and provided the music). We owe plenty of thanks to Matt McLelland for his bursting graphics and his ability to adjust and refashion each intricate design whenever it was needed (sorry, Matt). Also, thank you to Coal Umbrella for the great clothes. After long hours of planning, keying, editing, designing, and revising, HERE is the finished product.


Check it out and let us know what you think!