After an initial site survey, Director of Photography Luisa Mendoza Kirby equipped our team with carefully selected lighting elements. Employing our brand new Sony F3 with the Angeniuex Optimo 17-80 T2.2 lens, the Litepanel LEDs and Kino Flo 4 Bank brought the furniture to life in dazzling HD.

“Initially, we were really challenged with the shot, because the surfaces were very shiny and reflective,” said producer, Tom Rubeck.  “Thanks to Luisa and the team’s pre-production and scouting, we were able to capture the exact look and feel that the client wanted in about seven different areas, two of which required setting up for sound. We had a monitor set-up to review the shots as we went, so that the client could see their vision come to life.”

The VP of Marketing at Cantoni had this to say: “When it came time to do a new TV production, we didn’t think twice about calling AMS Pictures.  We first worked with AMS back in 1997, and though many things have changed over the years, one thing remains the same. AMS Pictures  is awesome.  They always deliver a great final product that makes our brand look incredible!  They are a cool group of individuals in an amazing facility that makes production fun.  I highly recommend them.”

From pre-production through to production and post, the Cantoni spots are a great example of teamwork, preparation and collaboration with the client.  For more great brand work, check out AMS Pictures Commercial Production’s Brand Portfolio.

Tom Greco, President of Frito-Lay North America, shares a heartwarming and sincere message to the national viewership, congratulating both Oklahoma State and Stanford for impressive seasons. He then shares how proud he and the Frito-Lay team are to have their products be a part of American family traditions.  We’re proud of that too.

And what a game it was! Congratulations to Stanford on a great season and to Oklahoma State on an exciting overtime victory, and we hope everyone enjoyed the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

This year we decided to have the party our facility here in Dallas.  The event starts with the traditional picture by the tree in town square along with delicious appetizers passed on trays.

Studio A was decked out for all the guests to relax and enjoy while being entertained by a couple of comedian dueling pianos.  They were even able to get some of our guests up on stage to perform and sing for us.  Check out the boys of AMS rockin’ out to YMCA.

And our own Pat Benatar signing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”…Go Cari!

This year we added a new spin to the party.  About a month before the event, we challenged employees to team up with each other to create a fun, unique and creative holiday video.  And they had to use the plane in the back of the building as a prop, except for the Austin team do to location restrictions.

We had four teams enter and they all did a FABULOUS job!   Check out all the entries here on YouTube!

But in the end there could only be one winning team.   And that was our own Team Christmas Whatever with Randy Martin, Burley Vandergriff and Ryan Sprinkle.  I think it was the sock puppets that put them over the edge!

This is a great time for our employees to mingle and jingle with co-workers and their guests.  And we do it all in the spirit of having a good time for all the hard work we did throughout the year.  2012…Here we come!

AMS Pictures recently purchased a Sony F3 PMW-F3K camera system from Abel Cine in California.  We acquired this versatile camera for a variety of reasons. We have an ever increasing need to shoot with faster cameras. We also appreciate the Sony F3′s ability to control the depth of field, especially when paired with certain lenses, to deliver film-quality picture and sound.

We are pairing our new Sony F3 PMW-F3K with various zoom lenses like the Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm and the short Angenieux 17-80mm zoom lens, Arri Master Primes and the Cooke Panchro/I primes.  We are now using our Hot Rod modified Canon 7D as our second unit camera and on smaller budget productions.  All of these various lenses when paired with the various PL cameras we use allow us to achieve images that represent the depth and breadth of the traditional film cameras.

Prior to 2010, PL digital solutions from Sony and Panasonic that allowed you to use a PL lenses did not exist.  This is also the era in which you saw so many productions switching to the Canon 5D and Canon 7D cameras that have been modified by companies like Hot Rod, allowing you to use PL lenses on the DSLR camera.   We can all remember when we started seeing the images from the modified DSLR cameras, right?  They looked really nice and definitely didn’t have the 2/3” focal plane.  I personally feel the DSLR cameras were one of the great catalysts to help move our digital industry forward.

Now, it’s true you can achieve very nice images with the DSLR cameras but you have to wrap a DSLR with several supporting accessories to make it a useful camera package.  You also have to be very aware of the camera’s innate challenges, like the overheating problems and the limitations of the Canon H.264 format in color correction. Even with some of its issues, we’ve found these to have their place in our workflow. I know several DPs as well as our DPs at AMS Pictures that utilize the DSLR format. They have a clear understanding of the limitations, and they make beautiful images with that camera.  One thing is still true: no matter how advanced digital cameras become, you are still at the limitations of the skilled DP operating that camera.

The key to leveraging the digital camera evolution is to ensure you are testing each format out to truly understand each format’s limitation.  For example, our new Sony F3 PMW-F3K is amazing without a doubt was the right camera for AMS Pictures to purchase at this time, but I would never use the Sony PMW-F3K on a green screen without recording to an external device like the Gemini or the AJA KiPro Mini.  Why? Simply, the MPEG-2 MP@HL, 35 Mbps codec of the Sony F3 PMW-F3K is inferior to our Panasonic AJ-HPX2700 recording format of AVC-Intra 100/AVC-Intra.

So remember, the key to your success in the digital acquisition age comes from experience. Experience comes from extensive testing and hours behind the various digital camera systems to ensure you understand the digital camera you’re using on your production.

♫ Paranaue…Paranaue…Parana! ♫ Don’t ask me how that translates in English, because I couldn’t exactly tell you. However, I sang it all weekend long at the First Capoeira Resistência Dallas Batizado and Convention. It happened right at AMS Pictures, which was the perfect venue for this fun-filled event.

Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art played in a circle or ‘roda’ (pronounced ho-da), as other people sing, clap, and play several musical instruments, most notably the berimbau. Capoeira players are known as capoeiristas. Sparring is a centerpiece of capoeira just like other martial arts practices.  However, the sparring in capoeira is also considered a light-hearted game amongst the capoeiristas, and playing does not usually focus on overpowering the opponent, but rather emphasizes speed and skill. As a student you learn history, Portuguese, music, self defense, dance and gymnastics. It is a great exposure to Brazilian culture and an awesome way to unite people.

Over 90 people from around the United States filled AMS Pictures’ Studio A to watch and play capoeira or study with capoeira master instructors (Mestres) and professors who traveled quite a way themselves, some even from Brazil. The large room was great for practice and the actual ceremony had special lighting which set the mood just right.

The batizado or “baptism” is a special ceremony where capoeira students receive their cords and present all they have learned to the capoeira community. The music and instruments are loud and the singing and clapping is forceful. You can’t help but move to the beats. Students ages 3 to 30+ sparred with each other and with the visiting mestres to receive their first cords, including myself. I now wear my first cordão – verde (green) proudly.

So I say congratulations to my teacher, Professor Molejo and Capoeira Resistência for the successful event. Thanks to all of the mestres and professors who came to share their capoeira wisdom. Congratulations to my fellow students short and tall who received their cords, and thank you to AMS Pictures for the awesome space.

By the way, I’m still humming, ♪ Paranaue, Paranaue, Parana! ♬ I’ll figure out the meaning at some point…

Our AMS Pictures team, headed by Producer Corey Jones, crafted and delivered an exciting, audience-specific spot that defined a need, overcame potential objections, and demonstrated product value across multiple scenarios.

Boasting an open bar, DJ, and an interactive social media entertainment experience, the event was not only fun it also benefited a great local cause: the DREAM Fund.

A cohort of AMS Pictures creatives were in the house, and they were proud of the turnout.

Senior Account Director Eileen Yedwab said, “It was so encouraging to see the vibrant creative community that is thriving in DFW.  From ad execs and graphic designers to authors and painters, it reminded me of why Dallas is such a great place to work in the creative communications industry.”

Also in attendance were Mark McGovern,VP of Creative Services; Randy Martin, Executive Producer/Senior Director; Tim Wylie, Executive Producer; Corey Jones, Senior Producer/Director; and Margaret Starnes, Account Manager.

For us at AMS Pictures, events like this are a great reminder why we work so hard to serve our clients. Check out the pics below and have a great day!

]]> http://cp.amspictures.com/buzz/amsers-and-area-creatives-live-it-up-at-the-dfw-jingle-mingle/feed/ 0 http://cp.amspictures.com/buzz/ams-pictures-and-friends-support-those-in-need/ http://cp.amspictures.com/buzz/ams-pictures-and-friends-support-those-in-need/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:53:21 +0000 Brett Reisman http://cp.amspictures.com/?p=3890 AMS Pictures, through generous gifts from clients, friends, and employees, recently completed a very successful holiday packaged goods drive benefiting the North Texas Food Bank.  Every year we are thinking about those in need, and especially around the holidays we feel it’s important to help out as much as possible. According to the NTFB, there is a need for nearly 300,000 nutritious meals a day to feed hungry  people in North Texas – that’s equal to three sold-out Cotton…]]>

AMS Pictures, through generous gifts from clients, friends, and employees, recently completed a very successful holiday packaged goods drive benefiting the North Texas Food Bank.  Every year we are thinking about those in need, and especially around the holidays we feel it’s important to help out as much as possible.

According to the NTFB, there is a need for nearly 300,000 nutritious meals a day to feed hungry  people in North Texas – that’s equal to three sold-out Cotton Bowls every day of the year.  They provide access to nearly 90,000 nutritious meals a day, and the demand is sure to grow. There’s always a need for community support, and we’re proud to say that this year, we personally delivered over 130 lbs of food! The US Department of Agriculture estimates that the average person eats about 4 pounds of food per day. That means we just provided enough food to feed at least 43 people today, and we know there’s more work to be done.

We want to thank our clients for their continued support of AMS Pictures and our philanthropy efforts in North Texas. Join us in ushering in the holidays with good cheer and charity, and consider making a donation to the North Texas Food Bank today!

In early September, the Tech Group approached AMS Pictures to craft a spot that would drive American kids to the SupaSplat website and convince their parents to make the purchase. AMS Pictures Producer Corey Jones and his team set to work on creating an American DRTV spot that was crafted with a kid audience in mind.

The result is a high-octane, ‘in-your-face’ 30 second spot that creates a product desire in kids while stressing a safety message for parents. The energetic, colorful advertisement shows that the SupaSplat Multi-Blaster is most-of-all fun, irresistible, and only a website away.

I came across this extremely well done video by a company in the UK. Wonderfully done.  Simple.  And, while powerful it so clearly does exactly what companies like ours are working so hard on each day for our clients.  Don’t get me wrong.  I am by no means taking credit for this amazing video.  What I am reminded of however is the power of good communication when it’s told through an emotional story.  All of us get very caught up each day in the data points the feedback and the creative meetings looking for the best way to connect an audience to a simple message. Perhaps that is the very essence: keep the message simple and relevant, and hook the viewer with a good story that completes the analogy in the mind.

Kudos to the agency and filmmakers who put this short piece together.  If you enjoyed the story, great.  If you got the message the advertiser wants, outstanding. If it even made you tear up a bit, even better.  And, if somehow you got all three from this… well, that’s perfection and laser focus.  Facts and data became a marketing expectation which were converted into a concept that became an emotional hook which connected the audience to the message with clarity. We’re talking a creative strategy executed with purpose and result.

This is why I got into this business.  To work on complex marketing challenges and to navigate through all of those challenges to arrive at the target in way that makes you smile, think and then act because you want to.  I love this stuff.