Litewave Media Produces Comic Con TV Commercials

Litewave Media Produces Comic Con TV Commercials

What happens when Spider-Man crosses paths with a Lady Gaga playlist in our Tampa video production studio? This year’s Comic Con TV commercials of course! For the last five years, our Tampa vIdeo company, Litewave Media has had the pleasure of working with the team behind one of the largest Comic Con franchises in the country to produce TV commercials and YouTube spots.

This year, our production company produced spots for San Francisco Comic Con, Atlanta Comic Con, Indiana Comic Con, Michigan Comic Con, and of course, Tampa Comic Con. The commercials will begin airing this March through the end of 2018. The one and only Spider-Man made an appearance and brought with him an arsenal of toys and collectibles for the spots.

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Got comics? Spidey strikes a pose on our Tampa video studio floor.

The 30 second TV spots as well as shorter commercial segments for YouTube were filmed on our ARRI Alexa Mini camera in 4k with Canon lenses. The spot was lit with our ARRI Skypanel s60 as well as a few Litepanel Astras, and our Altman Spectra 100 cyc lights. Check out our Tampa grip and lighting rental page for more info on our lighting packages.

The director sets up the next shot as the talent gets ready for his scene.

Director, Christian Cashmir, films on our ARRI Alexa Mini while Spidey gets into character for his dancing scene.

Our Tampa video crew had a blast spending the day with the web-slinging superhero. With shooting wrapped, post production and editing of the project took place in one of our 4k Tampa video editing suites. To finish off the spot in true Comic Con fashion, our own Christian Cashmir composed a Lady Gaga-inspired song just for the commercials.

That's a wrap for this Tampa based film crew.

Comics, action figures, trading cards, and of course Spidey…just another day at the office here at Litewave Media!

We had a great time on this project and look forward to doing it again next year! In the mean time, check out the first commercial for Indiana Comic Con right here!

 

Don’t forget to visit Tampa Bay Comic Con this coming August! May the Nerdiness be with you!

Do you have a Tampa TV commercial production you would like to produce? Please contact us to discuss your next project. Be sure to like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest video projects and keep up with our blog for more Tampa video production news!

 

Tampa Video Production Company Produces STAR WARS Fan Film!!

Tampa Video Production Company Produces STAR WARS Fan Film!!

A few weeks back, our Tampa video production company had the chance to write, shoot, and edit a Star Wars fan film for the official competition sponsored by Lucasfilm and Disney! The challenge, put on yearly, encourages filmmakers to write, produce, and edit their very own fan film set in the Star Wars universe. There are various categories in which filmmakers can garner recognition: best visual effects, filmmaker select, audience choice, and more. When our Tampa video production company heard about the competition, we just had to throw our lightsabers into the mix!

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Our Tampa film crew getting a low angle shot of young actress Lennon Brock (just 5 years old!).

We started out with an idea from Litewave Media founder Christian Cashmir and developed it into a short story with the help of writers Mike Garland, Mario Graniello and Steffen Thiel. We wrote in a bit of mystery, intrigue, sprinkled in some tragedy, and of course an epic lightsaber battle (what Star Wars fan film is complete without one?)!

An professional team of stunt choreographers and performers helped to plan out the intricate battle scenes. After a few days of choreographing in detail, our Tampa video production crew were ready to capture our fight scenes on film.

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Director Christian Cashmir, actress Mary McDonnell, and camera operator Jake Jalbert review footage on the set of our Star Wars fan film. (Photo: Courtesy of Anthony and Estelle Brock)

With scripts in hand, prosthetics and makeup on, and fight choreography fresh in our minds, the Litewave Media team drove our Tampa grip truck to our first location in Dead River, part of the Hillsborough Wilderness Reserve. Using our Tampa video equipment rental package, our fearless crew hauled gear through the dense woods to our filming location. Miles out, in the middle of a swamp, not unlike Dagobah, our crew setup camp for the first day of principle photography.

Working alongside park rangers, our Tampa independent film production went off without a hitch. Working around the clock, we were able to successfully film all scenes and finish the production on time despite the many challenges presented by the location.

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Steffen Thiel, in his (potentially award-winning?) American film debut, as Stormtrooper TH-137.

Director Christian Cashmir and Cinematographer Eric Coughlin worked together using gear from our Tampa video equipment rental package including the Canon C300, and C300 mkII, SteadiCam, MoVi M5 with Sony A7s mkII, and plenty of lighting to give the film a cinematic look. We even brought out our portable generator to the forrest so we didn’t have to stop at Tosche Station to pick up more power converters!

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Actor/Stuntmen M. Joshua Todd and TJ McDonnell ready themselves for battle during our Star Wars fan film shoot. (Photo: Courtesy of Anthony and Estelle Brock)

After a successful shoot, it was time to head back to our Tampa post production suites to start the editing process. We had a ton of excellent footage, but we needed to add in lightsaber effects and, of course, the epic sound design and music that makes every Star Wars film so unique. We utilized our Tampa recording studio to record ADR for the main characters, replacing their dialogue with studio quality recordings of their voices – much like the original Star Wars did.

Next, we reached out to our friend Angelo from Panetta Studios to partner with us on the sound design for the film; He and his team created soundscapes, brought the lightsaber battles to life, and transformed the swamp into a character in its own right. They gave our antagonist a unique voice effect as well! Our editors and visual effects team put in a few sleepless nights to make the deadline, and with the hard work of our dedicated team, our film was ready to compete!

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Our editing and special effects teams work to finish our Star Wars fan film.

Finally, we submitted our completed film to LucasFilm and Disney for the Star Wars Fan Film Awards, and it was time to celebrate! aarrragghuuhw! That was Wookie for “Partaaaaay!”(seriously, we looked it up). We had the whole team over for a cast/crew screening of the finished film, which we projected on the large white cyc in our Tampa video production studio. What a blast!

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Two young padawans (Zack with actress, Lennon) practice lightsaber skills during the cast/crew screening of our Star Wars fan film.

Check out the finished film below:

Do you have a feature film or Tampa short film you would like to produce? Please contact us for a free consultation. You can like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest independent films. Be sure to keep up with the blog for more Tampa video production news!

 

Tampa Post Production Company Teams Up With Dolphin Tale Producer

Tampa Post Production Company Teams Up With Dolphin Tale Producer

Leading Florida video production company, Litewave Media, has recently partnered with the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA), made famous by the major motion picture Dolphin Tale, to produce Rescue-Clearwater. This bi-monthly web series gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at all the great work done by the staff and volunteers of the CMA right here in the Tampa Bay area.

Our Tampa post production company has been working closely with Rescue-Clearwater’s director David Yates (executive producer on the Dolphin Tale movies) and editor/videographer Joe Malo on post production. The Litewave Media video editing team has been hard at work creating 3D graphics and titles, color grading footage, as well as mixing and mastering audio for each episode at our Tampa video studio.

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Litewave Media’s Tampa video crew films with Dolphin Tale stars (Nathan and Cozi) and the CMA team!

Our Tampa video crew also assists as needed on additional filming and interviews, and this week we were fortunate to film with the stars of the Dolphin Tale movies while they were in town at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium for a visit. And, for the upcoming episode on Sea Turtles, our St. Petersburg video production crew assisted with lighting and filming interviews at the aquarium as well. Litewave Media’s Tampa grip truck went on location to CMA to film with their team.

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Litewave Media films with Clearwater Marine Aquarium staff for an upcoming episode of Rescue-Clearwater about Sea Turtles

 

“When David [Executive Producer: Dolphin Tale 2] asked our Tampa video production company to be a part of this project, we were thrilled.” says Litewave Media founder, Christian Cashmir, “It’s exciting to work with such a great team that does wonderful things for animals and for our community.” CMA not only helps rehabilitate wildlife, but their community outreach goes much further to educate and inspire. “It’s a truly great organization.”

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Bay News 9 interviews David Yates (Director of Rescue-Clearwater) at Litewave Studios

The project has already gained media attention here in Tampa Bay. Litewave Media’s Tampa video company was spotlighted when Bay News 9 came to visit our production studio as we put the finishing touches on the first episode with David and Joe.

SEE THE BAY NEWS 9 NEWS STORY about Litewave Media’s partnership with Clearwater Marine Aquarium below.

The world premiere of Rescue-Clearwater took place February 1st at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium while simultaneously live-streaming to audiences around the globe. Episode 1 tells the history of CMA along with a behind-the-scenes look at many of the rehabilitated sea turtles, dolphins, and other wildlife. Hundreds of thousands of viewers have already tuned in on Facebook and YouTube.

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The Rescue-Clearwater web series is produced right here in Tampa Bay by the CMA team with Litewave Media

On March 1st, the second episode premiered with the inspirational story of Winter (from the Dolphin Tale movies) and how the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and Hanger Clinic worked together to give her a second chance at life.

On March 15th, episode 3 premiered online and covered the second part of Winter’s story as well as the inspiring story of Anni and how Winter and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium helped changed her life.

Each episode runs about 15 minutes in length and can be viewed on Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s YouTube channel HERE: http://www.seewinter.com/rescue-clearwater-tv-series

Viewers will get to know the real people behind the great work at CMA and can even expect some special guest appearances along the way from Dolphin Tale stars: Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Nathan Gamble and Austin Highsmith.

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Litewave Media founder Christian Cashmir with Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s Joe Malo prepare for an interview scene with actors from the Dolphin Tale movies

Our Tampa post production company is excited to help bring this new series and the great work done at CMA to viewers around the globe! Do you have a Tampa video production, TV show, or web series you would like to produce? If you need video production services including crew and camera packages or grip truck rental in Tampa, FL, please contact us for details. We invite you to visit and like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest video projects. Be sure to keep up with our blog for more Tampa video production news!

Litewave Media Films TV Commercials for Tampa Comic-Con

Litewave Media Films TV Commercials for Tampa Comic-Con

Star Wars legend Carrie Fischer?!

Bad-to-the-bone Terminator actress Linda Hamilton, aka Sarah Conner?!

And guess who’s Back…to the Future…. star Lea Thompson?!

They’ll all be visiting this year’s pop cultural phenomenon, Tampa Bay Comic Con. This fan favorite event has been getting bigger and better every year! This year’s convention will be held from July 31st till August 2nd at The Tampa Convention Center, and it’s poised to be the biggest one yet! The convention will be bringing famed movie and TV actors as well as comic book authors and artists, and cosplay enthusiasts. Our Tampa video production company had the exciting opportunity to film TV and radio commercials for Tampa Bay Comic-Con 2015 to promote this year’s convention.

Our Tampa video company worked with Comic-Con at last year’s convention, filming a promo video for Tampa Bay Comic-Con 2014, and we were thrilled to get to work with them again this year for their TV commercials.

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Litewave Media crew with the Tampa Bay Comic Con team at our Tampa video studio

Tampa Bay Comic-Con hired our production company and rented our Tampa video studio to film a 30 second TV ad that began airing Monday July 27th. The commercials were filmed on our White Cyc studio wall. Our Tampa video crew lit the studio with 2 Kino Flo Diva-Lites, 1 LED light and an array of our state-of-the-art Altman LED Spectra Cyc lights from our Tampa lighting equipment rental. Our director of photography, Christian Cashmir, filmed the commercials with our Canon C100 with cinema lenses from our Tampa camera equipment rental. Ana Christina Sanchez was the Production Coorinator during the shoot and Litewave Media’s intern Taylor Blake took behind-the-scenes pictures with our Canon 5D mark III.

Litewave Media films commercials for Tampa Bay Comic Con

Actress, Victoria, dressed as Katniss from the Hunger Games for Tampa Bay Comic-Con’s 2015 TV commercial

Tampa Bay Comic-Con had a number of costumes for the talent to dress up in for the commercials. Our Florida video company along with the make-up artist on set, did our best to emulate legendary characters from movies and TV series such as Princess Leia, Daenerys Targaryen and Katniss Everdeen.

Litewave Media films commercials for Tampa Bay Comic Con

The make-up artist transforming actress Victoria into Princess Leia

Tampa Bay Comic also came into our Tampa recording studio to record the radio commercial for the Con as well. Our Tampa post production company edited and color corrected the commercials at our Tampa editing suites. Some visual FX were also added to enhance the TV advertising including a Star Wars blaster effect.

Litewave Media films commercials for Tampa Bay Comic Con

Christian Cashmir films the Princess Leia TV spot for Tampa Bay Comic Con

Check out the TV spot below!

The commercials will be featured on the following networks ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX at the end of July 2015.

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The cast and crew celebrates wrapping the Tampa TV commercial

Do you have a Tampa TV or radio commercial you would like to produce or a video production Tampa? Please contact us for a free consultation. You can like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest video projects. Be sure to keep up with our blog for more Tampa video production news!

Litewave Media Adds MōVI Rental Package to Tampa Equipment

Litewave Media Adds MōVI Rental Package to Tampa Equipment

It’s amazing how technology has evolved in the digital cinema industry the past few years. With new cameras that can practically see in the dark, to LEDs and lightweight, low energy HMI lighting, to aerial video drones, to our latest addition in camera support: The Freefly MōVI M5 with Spektrum Transmitter. Our video production company is thrilled to add this new camera support system to our Tampa video equipment rental. This new technology drastically improves the quality of hand-held camera moves and replaces, in many cases, what a very costly and heavy Steadicam system would have done in the past. If you are looking for a Tampa MoVI m5 rental give us a call today.

Litewave Media is adding the Freefly MōVI M5 to their Tampa camera equipment

Litewave Media’s new camera stabilizer, Freefly’s MōVI M5 (photo courtesy: Freefly)

The Movi M5 is built with ultra lightweight construction which makes it easy to move around and get unique angles while also being strong enough to handle heavy cameras. We’ve already tested our Canon C300, C100, 5D, and the Sony A7S and FS100 cameras with great success. In addition, changing lenses or adding camera accessories is fast and easy. It’s extremely versatile and has enabled us to film creative shots without many of the stresses that other camera stabilization systems can have.

Litewave Media is adding the Freefly MōVI M5 to their Tampa camera equipment

Litewave Media’s new MoVI M5 rental package now in Tampa, FL

“The MōVI has amazing stability. We can control its sensitivity using the Freefly Configurator App which also gives us the ability to have two people operating the camera. One focuses on maneuvering the camera while the other can concentrate on framing the shot,” says Litewave Media founder Christian Cashmir. “It also has a solo mode for when you only have one camera operator on smaller jobs. It’s really amazing technology.”

Litewave Media is adding the Freefly MōVI M5 to their Tampa camera equipment

Our Tampa video production team films with Freefly’s MoVI M5 at Fort De Soto

The MōVI M5 has really enabled our DP’s and directors to get shots they were not able to in the past either because of cost, weight or speed. We’ve had a great experience using it on a recent pirate-themed film, that Litewave Media filmed at historic Fort De Soto in St. Petersburg, FL. Our Tampa video production company is excited to use the M5 next on an upcoming music video shoot.

Litewave Media is adding the Freefly MōVI M5 to their Tampa camera equipment

Our Tampa video crew films with the MōVI M5 on a pirate-themed short

Do you need a Tampa MōVI rental, or Tampa camera equipment for your next video project? Please contact us for a free consultation. You can like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest video projects. And be sure to keep up with the blog for more Tampa video production news!