News
Delta Education, October 09
Delta Education, a subsidiary of School Specialty, has hired Granite River to produce a promotional/sales piece to showcase their science kit refurbishment program. Shooting has already been completed, and we're in the final stages of the edit/approval process now. What a great bunch of people to work with.
Grappone Collision Center, October 09
Granite River has just completed a promotional piece for the Grappone Collision Center to highlight their new "lean and green" way of doing things. Amanda Grappone, the 4th generation of Grappone's in the business and Director of Operations for the Collision Center, has brought some revolutionary changes which are paving the way collision and repair businesses will operate in the future.
The Kingsmen's Redeemer, October 09
Check out the new trailer for "The Kingsmen's Redeemer". Peter's doing a fantastic job editing and gathering momentum for this movie. I'm proud to have been a part of it. You can find it here: kingsmensredeemer.com.
The BALSAMS, September 09
Post production of the videos on The BALSAMS website has started. Many will be going up over time, so check back often to see the progress. You can see them at www.thebalsams.com.
The Elliot, September 09
The RED workflow turned out to be a little more cumbersome than I imagined it would be, but the spots came out well. Compositing was done in After Effects, keying in Keylight, grading in Apple's Color, and the final edit and output on Final Cut 7. Due to time constraints, the third spot had to be completed by Clover Creative Group's Shawn Dixon. You can see them all on the portfolio page in the broadcast section of the site.
The Elliot, August 09
It's a wrap for shooting. We had a great crew, most of the same players we had for the movie in January; Peter Shanelaris on camera, Jen Schwab as AC, Matt Marcil on sound, Donna Cotnoir did the hair and makeup, and a handful of PAs. I acted as Producer/Director. We shot on the RED One over two days. It was a very relaxed set, and we came away with some great imagery.
The BALSAMS, July 09
Shooting has begun at The BALSAMS. Currently, everything is scheduled to go to the web, but we're shooting in HD with a Panasonic HVX200 camera, a SGblade 35mm adapter and a beautiful set of Nikon primes. It's going to be beautiful footage; appropriate for The BALSAMS I think.
Focalcast Media, July 09
The Focalcast Media Group has partnered with Granite River to produce a television commercial campaign for The Elliot Hospital in Manchester, New Hampshire. We're very excited to get the opportunity to work on such a high caliber project. The campaign will be a set of :30 spots to set The Elliot apart as offering the best in children's emergency care.
Amtren Corporation, January-Present 2009
After fighting with this corporation for several months, I've decided to take things into my own hands and just report some of my experiences with this company. Hopefully, someone will read this while researching Amtren, and stay clear of any merchandise from them. Here goes.
I first got this equipment in January of 2009, a Flexwriter II CD/DVD Publisher, which is a fancy way of saying it burns and prints automatically or robotically. A personalized instruction session was offered by Amtren as a way to get new customers up to speed quickly. Good tech support; appealing. It never happened. Personally, I feel I should be able to take it out of the box, install the drivers, hook it up, and it should just work! I'm not an idiot for crying out loud! I've installed hundreds of pieces of hardware and sofware over the years, and it's not that complicated; challenging at times yes, but nothing like this thing.
I've used a first generation Primera Bravo for years, and I just wore it out. Primera couldn't get the parts to fix it anymore, and they weren't willing to work with me on the price of a new one after all my years of loyal service, so I decided to go with someone else. BIG MISTAKE!
The bottom line is this; I've had nothing but problems with my Flexwriter II from Amtren since I took it out of the box. I've opened up ticket after ticket, and left scores of phone calls to tech support. The trouble tickets go unanswered, and my phone calls are ignored. I can't actually believe the company is still in business considering the support they have for their products. It's the most horrible product support I've ever experienced in my almost 30 years of working in technology. Stay way clear of anything Amtren sells because their products don't work the way they should, and they don't support what they sell.
I hope by writing this that I'm able to help other people avoid the problems I've had.
The BALSAMS, June 09
After a hurculean effort by the crew at bobdonpaul.com, we're finally going to work on a major campaign together. We're already partners on "The Great Ice Fishing Derby" documentary (see below), but we've been hoping to land a much bigger fish. (get it; fish - fishing documentary. Nevermind.)
Bob Manley truly pulled out all the stops on this one, assembling a top-notch crew to handle all marketing and advertising for The BALSAMS Grand Resort, in Dixville Notch, NH.
Our plan is to return this beautiful resort back to the premiere travel destination that it once was. Granite River is tasked to produce small documentary style productions of long-time resident of The BALSAMS, Steve Barba. Steve is a walking history book; nobody knows more about The BALSAMS than he does.
Bobdonpaul's unique web design, combined with beautiful footage of the resort and interviews with The BALSAMS history major, Steve Barba, will create a unique viewer experience like no other in New England, and that's before you even get there!
Congratulations to Bob and crew for accomplishing such a momentous task. Now let's get busy!
The 48 Hour Film Project, June 09
Granite River joined Banded Light Pictures and NOTSOX to form a team for this years 48 Hour Film Project. If you don't know anything about the 48 Hour Film Project, you can find out here www.48HourFilm.com.
The gist of the whole thing is you have 48 hours to draw one of 12 or so genres out of a hat, write a script, find actors, locations, etc, shoot it, edit it, and submit it to the 48 Hour Film Project staff.
How did we do you ask? It was a blast! A little stressful at the end; we submitted the tape with only 5 minutes to spare. Hey, one minute after 7:30 PM, and you're out! That's a lot of no sleep to count for nothing.
We had a great crew, and I have to hand it to the producers Adam Volkmann and Scott Webster, they came into this thing prepared. I'm proud of the work we accomplished. It was shot here on my property and West Manchester in a little diner named "Chiggy's Place". Cindy Kenney, the owner, really went out of her way for us, so go in and check out her place some time. She's on 372 Kelly Street. They have a breakfast to die for!
The name of the film is "Order Up" and you can find it here after it screens at the Apple Tree Cinema in Londonderry, NH on the 22nd of June, 2009 at 6:30 PM. Courtesy of Jeff White of NOTSOX, most of what we shot was on a HVX-200 with a SGblade 35mm adapter. The pickups were shot with a DVX-100. I was the Director of Photography and Editor, with Jeff as the right hand. The film was edited on Final Cut.
The "Traveling Rose" Pilot, April 09
Jason Rose is quite a guy. He's got a great heart for God, and a truly infectuous positive outlook on life that is rare these days. Jason's quest was to produce something on television today that's worth watching; a family friendly show about cost effective weekend getaways.
The pilot was set in the Coco Key Resort in Danvers, MA. We really had a great time shooting and producing this pilot. We'll just lift it up and see what happens. You can see all three segments in the broadcast section of the video portfolio.
The Kingsmen's Redeemer Wraps Production, March 09
We started principal photography on January 20th, and with exception of a few scenes, wrapped up shooting in early March. What an experience! There were long days and big personalities, but we were well taken care of by the producers, and we came away with some awesome imagery.
My role was Assistant Director, Assistant Director of Photography, Camera Operator, Data Wrangler, and whatever else needed to be done. I really enjoyed shooting with the RED One camera. It's in a class all by itself. The footage is now off to edit for release in late fall/winter 2009. To check on the film's progress and see a trailer, go to www.hangdogsthemovie.com.
You + Action = Change, November 08
The needs of this world are many, and Mark Warren, founder of Global Benefit decided to make a difference by creating an organization with a very simple message, You + Action = Change. Find out how you can make a difference at www.GlobalBenefit.org. The solution may surprise you.
Jeff Yalden, October 08
Granite River just finished with another promotional video for the always dynamic motivational speaker, Jeff Yalden. You may recognize the name from MTV's MADE program, where Jeff was the Life Coach for a young girl failing out of high school. That episode was ranked number one by the viewers in 6 seasons of the series. You can find out more about Jeff at www.JeffYalden.com.
The Williamson program was taped in September of 2008 at Williamson, New York's Williamson High School. Jeff's unique way of blending humor with real-life situations enables him to relate to today's young people, but more importantly, young people tune into Jeff's message like no other motivational speaker before him, and probably after.
The Kingsmen's Redeemer, October 08
Granite River Studios will be working with Purple Crayon Productions, LLC, Petros Tsanlaredes to start production on the writer/director's next feature film, "The Kingsman's Redeemer". The principle photography is scheduled to begin in January of 2009 on the industry shaking RED One digital cinema camera. We're all very excited to bring this action packed feature production to New Hampshire. Check back often for updates on the entire process.
The Great Ice Fishing Derby, September 08
Granite River is selected by the creative team at bobdonpaul.com to join the crew to create their first documentary film about the Great Rotary Fishing Derby right here in New Hampshire. You can visit the new web site at The Great Rotary Fishing Derby. Check back often to get additional details.
The NH Court System Tour Video, September 08
The New Hampshire Supreme Court chooses Granite River Studios to produce a video to help 4th grade students learn about the court system in our state. The video will also be featured on the NH Court System website.
Field trips for the 4th grade students throughout the state typically include a trip to the NH Supreme Court, but with the rising costs of fuel and petroleum based products, schools have had to cut some costs. This video will provide a brief tour of many courts, without ever leaving the classroom!
Even kids who do travel to the Supreme Court don't get to see some of the places in this video, such as the judges chambers, and a Superior Court jury box.