London's Greenest Restaurant at DVinfo.net

Phil Bloom · July 14th, 2007, 02:53 AM

This is my first commission for my new company making "corporate films". I have shot a few corporate videos recently and was shocked at how mind numbingly dull they were, so I set out with my new company to try and make films that are of a quality that could easily be shown on TV.

Shot on XDCAM HD, it obviously looks better in HD than it does on you tube, but as the internet is where most people will see it, it will have to do!

It's twelve minutes long and was made to promote award wining and London's "greenest" Restaurant, Acorn House.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ASklFbwa3VM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=edvhG3M9mow

Thanks for taking a look!

Marcus Marchesseault · July 14th, 2007, 06:01 AM

Well, my mind isn't numb. My only complaint is that now I'm hungry and I'm low on groceries.

Alex Amira · July 14th, 2007, 02:05 PM

I liked it. Sound was good (listened to it with my V6 cans).
A few suggestions:

I would say for the Internet version bigger text when you identify people.

I was looking @ the identifier for Jamie-Granger and esp. his title. The title was tiny. He is the restaurant Director and General Manager. Tom the small time cook has his name in huge letters. Now I know that Jamie-Grainer-Smith is a long name but there is a lot of space to shift it to the left and make it bigger (since this is for the Internet video version and you don't have to worry about TV safe areas)....

Also when you are interviewing Arthur I want to see the "green"....I noticed that when he went to the outside garden I saw some green vines on the building...I would've loved to have seen that as the background for Arthur at least for a few shots...

next -window shot---I wanted to see a shot of the cooks working shot through the window from the garden...same with a door shot

minute 5:33 part 1 -- gooze breeze plant (sp?)...shot of Arthur through the plant from the point of view of the plant...

I liked th soft focus shots...5:51 minute part 1....I would've liked at rack focus with the plant and Arthur....

more angles!!!more shots wide-lower-linking-opposite....you had DOF shots so that was cool.

triple DOF shot...people in the foreground....people in the background (customers) and Arthur speaking in the middle....

PART 2 second 6 pan shot....link it with another pan for a linking shot

second 43 use the dish as the background for some nice background framing with the cook in the same shot...

I would've liked to have seen a shot from within the oven (like a beer commercial where you see the shot from inside the fridge)...I know that you can't do that easily and with the size of XDCAM...but a nice DVC30 could've been used with the oven off:)

May I ask how much footage did you shoot to end up with 12 minutes?

Overall really nice...keep up the good work.

Phil Bloom · July 14th, 2007, 02:44 PM

Hi Alex

Thanks for your thoughts. Agree with you about text. It was done for a dvd, i will probably change it for the proper internet version.

Your other thoughts are slightly confusing. Are you suggesting shots that you would like to have seen but didn't or shots you saw but liked?!

Anyway everything is subjective. I wanted to get a balance between kinetic hand held camerawork and beautiful tripod shots. Shots like camera inside oven, nice idea. But totally impratical in a very busy (and as you can see tiny) working kitchen and bit unnecessary for this sort of film, if it had popped up it would have taken away from the "realness", after all your example is a beer commercial, a world away from this project. Most of your ideas are nice but far too staged. Nothing I did was staged. Everything was real. As soon as you start positioning people to get a shot you cross the line into something quite different! Something which unless you are very careful makes a lot of corporate films staged and stodgy! This is a cross between an observational doco and corporate film. By keeping people natural and let them do things they way they do things, in the places they do them you make them much better on camera, much more, well natural!!

I don't know if you have done a project like this but the important thing is to get everything but also not get in the way!

I was filming there for 14 hours throughout the day. I had just over 4 discs of rushes. A lot of actuality and a mammoth logging task!

I have made a lot of documentaries over the years for British TV, I wanted to bring my experience here to the corporate world, bring some of my ideas and style to the genre.

They are absolutely delighted with it. Am also very happy with it. It told a story very well, got all the points across, had the necessary depth all without the need to use voiceover, something I was keen to avoid.

Appreciate you taking the time! Take a look at this doco from Cambodia that i did in a similar style for Sky TV. http://web.mac.com/philip.bloom/iWeb...%20GIbson.html

It's not youtube, it's high quality so will take a long time to download!

Cheers,

Phil

Alex Amira · July 14th, 2007, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

Hi Alex

Your other thoughts are slightly confusing. Are you suggesting shots that you would like to have seen but didn't or shots you saw but liked?!

Cheers,

Phil

Yes this is what I would've wanted to have seen. Overall I liked it.

Phil Bloom · July 14th, 2007, 02:53 PM

cool thanks

Alex Amira · July 14th, 2007, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

cool thanks

No problem. Keep up the good work.

As far as me doing projects like this I can't say that I have. I normally do 30-60 seconds spots, and interviews.

I see what you mean...I'm more of a staged type of person

The Cambodia doco was nice.

Marcus Marchesseault · July 18th, 2007, 07:23 AM

I'm still hungry for a lean steak and some fresh vegetables.

I thought of one thing that I didn't understand from the Acorn video. I wanted to know how their produce (veggies) distributor can manage to deliver to them so frequently. Perhaps that is an altogether separate documentary? I was a bit confused about how much produce they can grow themselves and why they seem to only plant one or two of some items. It seemed like they were using their own plants to gauge the season of the distributor's availability? I'm going off a single viewing as would a typical TV audience. I was also curious about the growing methods of the farmers to know if the restaurant has made sure they are "green" fields.

I watched a good part of the Eddie Gibson video. I thought it was very well done but too sad to sit through entirely. I have a technical question or two. I liked the clarity and quality of the audio from the father but I couldn't see the wireless. From a few shots that seem much too far for a shotgun I am assuming it could only be a wireless. My technical question is what mic setup was used and also what camera? Also, were you the only camera operator? There were a whole lot of shots for just one camera operator. How long did it take to shoot?

Phil Bloom · July 18th, 2007, 07:54 AM

There is a market in london that has fresh produce every day. Their driver gets it from there.

The garden is purely so the trainees can understand seasons.

With regards to eddie gibson...radio mic used, taped inside shirt (I hate seeing mics on things like that) and everything was done by me and the reporter. No other cams, no sound recordist

thanks for watching

July 14th, 2007, 02:53 AM	#1
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	London's Greenest Restaurant This is my first commission for my new company making "corporate films". I have shot a few corporate videos recently and was shocked at how mind numbingly dull they were, so I set out with my new company to try and make films that are of a quality that could easily be shown on TV. Shot on XDCAM HD, it obviously looks better in HD than it does on you tube, but as the internet is where most people will see it, it will have to do! It's twelve minutes long and was made to promote award wining and London's "greenest" Restaurant, Acorn House. http://youtube.com/watch?v=ASklFbwa3VM http://youtube.com/watch?v=edvhG3M9mow Thanks for taking a look! __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

July 14th, 2007, 02:44 PM	#4
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	Hi Alex Thanks for your thoughts. Agree with you about text. It was done for a dvd, i will probably change it for the proper internet version. Your other thoughts are slightly confusing. Are you suggesting shots that you would like to have seen but didn't or shots you saw but liked?! Anyway everything is subjective. I wanted to get a balance between kinetic hand held camerawork and beautiful tripod shots. Shots like camera inside oven, nice idea. But totally impratical in a very busy (and as you can see tiny) working kitchen and bit unnecessary for this sort of film, if it had popped up it would have taken away from the "realness", after all your example is a beer commercial, a world away from this project. Most of your ideas are nice but far too staged. Nothing I did was staged. Everything was real. As soon as you start positioning people to get a shot you cross the line into something quite different! Something which unless you are very careful makes a lot of corporate films staged and stodgy! This is a cross between an observational doco and corporate film. By keeping people natural and let them do things they way they do things, in the places they do them you make them much better on camera, much more, well natural!! I don't know if you have done a project like this but the important thing is to get everything but also not get in the way! I was filming there for 14 hours throughout the day. I had just over 4 discs of rushes. A lot of actuality and a mammoth logging task! I have made a lot of documentaries over the years for British TV, I wanted to bring my experience here to the corporate world, bring some of my ideas and style to the genre. They are absolutely delighted with it. Am also very happy with it. It told a story very well, got all the points across, had the necessary depth all without the need to use voiceover, something I was keen to avoid. Appreciate you taking the time! Take a look at this doco from Cambodia that i did in a similar style for Sky TV. http://web.mac.com/philip.bloom/iWeb...%20GIbson.html It's not youtube, it's high quality so will take a long time to download! Cheers, Phil __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

July 14th, 2007, 02:53 PM	#6
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	cool thanks __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

July 18th, 2007, 07:54 AM	#9
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	There is a market in london that has fresh produce every day. Their driver gets it from there. The garden is purely so the trainees can understand seasons. With regards to eddie gibson...radio mic used, taped inside shirt (I hate seeing mics on things like that) and everything was done by me and the reporter. No other cams, no sound recordist thanks for watching __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

July 14th, 2007, 06:01 AM	#2
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	Well, my mind isn't numb. My only complaint is that now I'm hungry and I'm low on groceries.

July 14th, 2007, 02:05 PM	#3
Alex Amira Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Muncie, IN Posts: 74	I liked it. Sound was good (listened to it with my V6 cans). A few suggestions: I would say for the Internet version bigger text when you identify people. I was looking @ the identifier for Jamie-Granger and esp. his title. The title was tiny. He is the restaurant Director and General Manager. Tom the small time cook has his name in huge letters. Now I know that Jamie-Grainer-Smith is a long name but there is a lot of space to shift it to the left and make it bigger (since this is for the Internet video version and you don't have to worry about TV safe areas).... Also when you are interviewing Arthur I want to see the "green"....I noticed that when he went to the outside garden I saw some green vines on the building...I would've loved to have seen that as the background for Arthur at least for a few shots... next -window shot---I wanted to see a shot of the cooks working shot through the window from the garden...same with a door shot minute 5:33 part 1 -- gooze breeze plant (sp?)...shot of Arthur through the plant from the point of view of the plant... I liked th soft focus shots...5:51 minute part 1....I would've liked at rack focus with the plant and Arthur.... more angles!!!more shots wide-lower-linking-opposite....you had DOF shots so that was cool. triple DOF shot...people in the foreground....people in the background (customers) and Arthur speaking in the middle.... PART 2 second 6 pan shot....link it with another pan for a linking shot second 43 use the dish as the background for some nice background framing with the cook in the same shot... I would've liked to have seen a shot from within the oven (like a beer commercial where you see the shot from inside the fridge)...I know that you can't do that easily and with the size of XDCAM...but a nice DVC30 could've been used with the oven off:) May I ask how much footage did you shoot to end up with 12 minutes? Overall really nice...keep up the good work.

July 18th, 2007, 07:23 AM	#8
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	I'm still hungry for a lean steak and some fresh vegetables. I thought of one thing that I didn't understand from the Acorn video. I wanted to know how their produce (veggies) distributor can manage to deliver to them so frequently. Perhaps that is an altogether separate documentary? I was a bit confused about how much produce they can grow themselves and why they seem to only plant one or two of some items. It seemed like they were using their own plants to gauge the season of the distributor's availability? I'm going off a single viewing as would a typical TV audience. I was also curious about the growing methods of the farmers to know if the restaurant has made sure they are "green" fields. I watched a good part of the Eddie Gibson video. I thought it was very well done but too sad to sit through entirely. I have a technical question or two. I liked the clarity and quality of the audio from the father but I couldn't see the wireless. From a few shots that seem much too far for a shotgun I am assuming it could only be a wireless. My technical question is what mic setup was used and also what camera? Also, were you the only camera operator? There were a whole lot of shots for just one camera operator. How long did it take to shoot?