"SNOW" | Megan & Narbeh's Sweden Thriller Concept at DVinfo.net

"SNOW" | Megan & Narbeh's Sweden Thriller Concept · August 31st, 2009, 09:06 AM

Can a love story be told as a thriller? That was the dramatic challenge I hoped to tackle with our latest concept, Megan & Narbeh's Love Story-Thriller "SNOW."

Megan was a fan of our first Bollywood concept, and wanted to produce something special her friends abroad could appreciate; the couple would soon make Los Angeles their new home. When Megan first told me that Narbeh was a member of the Swedish Air Force, and that he used to sneak off the base at night just to spend time with her, I knew we had the makings of an international suspense film on our hands. The challenge was how to do that while celebrating the couples’ hometown of Uppsala, Sweden, and simultaneously spotlighting the moments that made this couples’ journey to marriage unforgettable.

I made the journey to Sweden with my second shooter, Ben, (who plays the other Swedish soldier in the movie) back in March. It's been very tough holding this film back for five months, but Megan & Narbeh had no idea we commissioned an aerial shoot and I really wanted to keep that a surprise. I’m proud of what we pulled off on a European production with no crew, shooting non-actors in the dead of winter. But the thing I’m most proud of when I watch “Snow” are Megan & Narbeh’s performances. Neither have ever acted before, so they were naturally nervous, and admitted to us that they were close to cancelling weeks before we arrived. By the end, they were sad our shoot was over.

The premiere at their L.A. wedding on 8.22.09 was intense (we posted a short reaction on our blog). The film was shot with an XHA1 paired with a Brevis MP.2 and good old Canon FD primes: 50/1.4 and an 85/1.8.

I'm proud to finally be able to share "SNOW" with you all here on DVinfo and I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for watching!

"SNOW" on the Pacific Pictures blog - MEGAN & NARBEH’S SWEDEN THRILLER CONCEPT “SNOW” PACIFIC PICTURES | The Official Blog | 800.677.7206 | info@pacificpictures.net

"SNOW" on our Vimeo channel - Pacific Pictures | Concept Productions on Vimeo

"SNOW" (great encode) on Exposure Room - http://exposureroom.com/members/Paci...5f868c6f8547e/

Ken Diewert · August 31st, 2009, 09:29 AM

Wow... Kevin,

You just one-upped yourself. I thought Neil & Jigna's was sensational - and I really thought this was even better. The aerials really added the over-the-top production value. And the story... epic stuff. The new standard for the genre.

Noa Put · August 31st, 2009, 11:39 AM

We shouldn't ask what the production cost was for this shoot, right? ;)
It looked great, that's for sure. That you choose to include an aerial shoot was a very good choice, it gave the whole film a higher value, the aerial images also looked very professional.

Travis Cossel · August 31st, 2009, 01:12 PM

As I've said elsewhere .. words can't describe how awesome this was, Kevin. You have a gift and a talent and obviously a big heart for what you do.

Roger Van Duyn · September 1st, 2009, 11:12 AM

I saw this at the recent In Focus in Orlando, and it is exceptional, inspiring work! It is very, very polished. You have amazing story making skills.

Kevin Shahinian · September 1st, 2009, 02:59 PM

Ken - Thanks. Hoping to always improve.

Noa - I can answer that but it's an indexed forum & I'd prefer you PM me. Thanks for the kind words.

Travis - Thanks again for the support.

Roger - Great seeing you in Orlando. Glad we got to premiere it for you in-person. See you soon.

Best,
-K

Dimitris Mantalias · September 1st, 2009, 03:47 PM

Totally jaw-dropping. Congratulations!

Oleg Kalyan · September 2nd, 2009, 12:30 PM

Well done, Kevin!
Your incredible effort to elevate the level of wedding film making make me feel proud of
chosen path! Together I feel we bring wedding video beyond videography in traditional sense and what is known as wedding clips, something that dominates the market at the moment.

Cheers!

Lukas Siewior · September 2nd, 2009, 06:05 PM

It's a full blown production which just proves that with a good idea you can turn a "normal" wedding into very special piece of filmography. Maybe there will be new kind of movies soon recognized and there will be awards for it :-)

Jason Robinson · September 2nd, 2009, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lukas Siewior

It's a full blown production

And the crazy part is it was shot with one camera op and one assistant. Tum Hi Ho had a much bigger cast & crew, yet this seemed to eclipse the previous ones from a compellign story POV.

Absolutely fantastic. Lord help me if I ever get a client that "wants what that Kevin guy in LA does, but for less money!" Hah! I'd just as soon pay Kevin to do it up here so I could watch and take notes!

Bill Vincent · September 2nd, 2009, 06:17 PM

Hi Kevin,

All I can say is that this is wonderful work. You have a gift for storytelling - and this video is more than a wedding video, it's really a short film. I loved the aerial shots - amazing and something we all should keep in mind for giving clients that extra special something!

Beautiful work!

Jim Snow · September 2nd, 2009, 07:44 PM

Last week a friend and I were discussing some of the gimmicks that people use to give the illusion of the cinematic look. One of those gimmicks is frame rate. While frame rates such as 24P can be artistically used, the simple use of 24P doesn't magically make it cinematic. I made the comment, "Produce a truly cinematic piece and no one will ask what the frame rate is." You just illustrated my point with your fabulous production. You really produced a terrific love story.

Did you use Magic Bullet for color grading? Whatever you used, you did a better job than some of the stuff coming our of Hollywood.

Susanto Widjaja · September 3rd, 2009, 12:17 AM

I have just seen one of the biggest leap in wedding videography!

The industry has never been more exciting!!!

Santo

Kevin Shahinian · September 3rd, 2009, 04:01 PM

Dimitris, Lukas, Bill, Susanto - thank you all for watching and for your comments. Much appreciated.

Oleg - thank you, sir. I look forward to meeting you at Re:Frame.

Jim - it's so true. Story is everything and it should motivate every technical decision we make. At this level it's easy to get bogged down by camera choice, workflow, etc and leave production, story, character at the bottom of the list. I did use Magic Bullet in CS4 but I try to be very careful & subtle with color. Thanks again for your comments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Robinson

And the crazy part is it was shot with one camera op and one assistant. Tum Hi Ho had a much bigger cast & crew, yet this seemed to eclipse the previous ones from a compellign story POV.

Thanks, Jason. Truth be told there wasn't much of a crew on "Tum Hi Ho" either, just a behind the scenes shooter on a few of the days. We had help on the second Bollywood piece, but the travel on this made it by far a bigger challenge than anything I've ever done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Robinson

Lord help me if I ever get a client that "wants what that Kevin guy in LA does, but for less money!" Hah! I'd just as soon pay Kevin to do it up here so I could watch and take notes!

Hilarious! I'm there.

Bryan Gilchrist · September 5th, 2009, 08:06 PM

Kevin: Awesome work! I posted some comments on Vimeo as well. I came here to post a link to the video, but found that you already had. :)

I posted this on my Facebook page as well.

I'm going to make the prediction that this video is going to go viral.

Keep up the good work!

PS - What is the name of that song at the end of the video? It was beautiful... :)

August 31st, 2009, 09:29 AM	#2
Ken Diewert Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Vancouver Island, Canada Posts: 1,200	Wow... Kevin, You just one-upped yourself. I thought Neil & Jigna's was sensational - and I really thought this was even better. The aerials really added the over-the-top production value. And the story... epic stuff. The new standard for the genre. __________________ C100, 5DMk2, FCPX

August 31st, 2009, 01:12 PM	#4
Travis Cossel Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,933	As I've said elsewhere .. words can't describe how awesome this was, Kevin. You have a gift and a talent and obviously a big heart for what you do. __________________ Black Label Films www.blacklabelweddingfilms.com

September 1st, 2009, 11:12 AM	#5
Roger Van Duyn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Lakeland Florida Posts: 693	I saw this at the recent In Focus in Orlando, and it is exceptional, inspiring work! It is very, very polished. You have amazing story making skills. __________________ Roger My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAp...2AHr_pHFID5LDA

September 1st, 2009, 02:59 PM	#6
Kevin Shahinian Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Southern California Posts: 116	Ken - Thanks. Hoping to always improve. Noa - I can answer that but it's an indexed forum & I'd prefer you PM me. Thanks for the kind words. Travis - Thanks again for the support. Roger - Great seeing you in Orlando. Glad we got to premiere it for you in-person. See you soon. Best, -K __________________ www.PacificPictures.net

September 3rd, 2009, 12:17 AM	#13
Susanto Widjaja Major Player Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 622	I have just seen one of the biggest leap in wedding videography! The industry has never been more exciting!!! Santo __________________ If a picture is worth a thousand words, what about motion picture? website: www.papercranes.com.au \| blog: www.weddingvideosydney.net

August 31st, 2009, 11:39 AM	#3
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	We shouldn't ask what the production cost was for this shoot, right? ;) It looked great, that's for sure. That you choose to include an aerial shoot was a very good choice, it gave the whole film a higher value, the aerial images also looked very professional.

September 1st, 2009, 03:47 PM	#7
Dimitris Mantalias Major Player Join Date: May 2009 Location: Arta, Greece Posts: 342	Totally jaw-dropping. Congratulations!

September 2nd, 2009, 12:30 PM	#8
Oleg Kalyan Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: MOSCOW Posts: 860	Well done, Kevin! Your incredible effort to elevate the level of wedding film making make me feel proud of chosen path! Together I feel we bring wedding video beyond videography in traditional sense and what is known as wedding clips, something that dominates the market at the moment. Cheers!

September 2nd, 2009, 06:05 PM	#9
Lukas Siewior Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Lyndhurst, NJ, USA Posts: 408	It's a full blown production which just proves that with a good idea you can turn a "normal" wedding into very special piece of filmography. Maybe there will be new kind of movies soon recognized and there will be awards for it :-)

September 2nd, 2009, 06:17 PM	#11
Bill Vincent Major Player Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 253	Hi Kevin, All I can say is that this is wonderful work. You have a gift for storytelling - and this video is more than a wedding video, it's really a short film. I loved the aerial shots - amazing and something we all should keep in mind for giving clients that extra special something! Beautiful work!

September 2nd, 2009, 07:44 PM	#12
Jim Snow Trustee Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 1,104	Last week a friend and I were discussing some of the gimmicks that people use to give the illusion of the cinematic look. One of those gimmicks is frame rate. While frame rates such as 24P can be artistically used, the simple use of 24P doesn't magically make it cinematic. I made the comment, "Produce a truly cinematic piece and no one will ask what the frame rate is." You just illustrated my point with your fabulous production. You really produced a terrific love story. Did you use Magic Bullet for color grading? Whatever you used, you did a better job than some of the stuff coming our of Hollywood.

September 5th, 2009, 08:06 PM	#15
Bryan Gilchrist Major Player Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 224	Kevin: Awesome work! I posted some comments on Vimeo as well. I came here to post a link to the video, but found that you already had. :) I posted this on my Facebook page as well. I'm going to make the prediction that this video is going to go viral. Keep up the good work! PS - What is the name of that song at the end of the video? It was beautiful... :)