Hold onto your armor, Gears of War fans! Recently, Dave Bautista visited Litewave Media for a shoot for GEARS 5! It’s not everyday a Guardian of the Galaxy comes to hang and film on our Florida Sound Stage, and we were honored to host the project.
Our Tampa Bay video studio was used to film the trailer announcing Bautista as a playable character in the new GEARS 5 game!
Check out the behind-the-scenes video below and two announcement trailers featuring footage shot in our Tampa Video studio. See below!
Of course, only the live action content of Dave Bautista and the replica of his character’s in-game armor was shot in our studio. Also, the same people who made the Guardians of the Galaxy costumes built the armor Bautista wears in the video! The military case used in the video below was from a local St. Petersburg business as well! And most of the crew including the gaffer, photographer, makeup, stylists, production coordinator, etc were all local St. Petersburg and Tampa natives.
It was an honor to have the Guardians of the Galaxy star in our studio. And can’t wait to play the game!
Behind the Scenes of the GEARS 5 Shoot!
Additionally, our team coordinated the project and hired local crew for multiple departments. Namely in Grip and Electric, Costume, Audio, DIT, and Production! As we have done in the past for companies like Bic/Koozie‘s “The Original Chill” and a Culver’s National TV spots.
Along with our studio and office space, our client used our Lighting Grip Van and a variety of Camera Equipment from us. These included our ARRI SkyPanels, Quasars, hazers, and more in our lighting package.
Dave Bautista in our Tampa video studio in his GEARS 5 getup!
For filming the Director of Photography used our ARRI Alexa Mini for the project. Some of our favorite cinema lenses: the Cooke Anamorphic Special Flare lens set was also added to the package.
Check out this cool behind the scenes video from the GEARS 5 shoot featuring Dave Bautista!
Overall, we’re very grateful this opportunity came knocking on our door. We cannot wait to see Bautista in GEARS 5!
Do you have an upcoming project you’d like to discuss with our St. Petersburg Video Production Company? Contact us today to see how we can help. Find us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the Litewave Media blog to stay up to date on all of our St. Petersburg video production company’s news.
Back in August 2017, our St. Petersburg video production crew at Litewave Media teamed up for our 8th year taking part in the 48 Hour Film Project. The competition started in 2001 and has had more than 900 competitions take place around the globe. Teams spend two sleepless nights together writing, producing, editing and scoring a 4-7 minute movie in hopes of winning their city’s Best Film. Those Best Film winners from 130 participating cities around the world go on to Filmapalooza where they compete for the international title of Best Film. Litewave Media’s team has been lucky enough to win the competition (Tampa/St. Pete) in both 2012 and 2016!
Kelly slates the next scene while David, our Monk gets into character.
The rules are simple: each team must include a specific character, line of dialogue and prop as chosen by the festival. The weekend kicks off with a representative from each team drawing their genre from a hat. This year our team drew the “Sports” genre.
The Litewave Media cast and crew shot through the night as our ping pong players perfected their skills.
“You really need to look at what you have available around you” said Cashmir, founder of Litewave Media, “and we just so happen to have a fancy ping pong table right here in our St. Petersburg video studio!” Using the table as inspiration along with a lot of caffeine and snacks, the team brainstormed and worked their way into a script for our Sports-themed film.
Actor Josh and Kelly (PA) channel their inner pong player at a bay area park.
Steadicam operator Eric films the Monk character played by David.
The film was shot using two Canon C300 MkII’s, a combination of Litepanel Astra lights, Joker 800 HMI, and an ARRI Skypanel. Check out our list of St. Petersburg film equipment rental for a full list of our available cameras and lens packages.
Boom Operator Nat, strikes a pose while our sound technician Mike makes some adjustments.
After a most productive 48 hours our film, The Battle for the Paddle, was submitted with seconds to spare into the competition. The Battle for the Paddle took home Awards for Best Costumes, Best Editing, Best Special Effects and Best Supporting Actor – Zachary Vasquez from the 48 hour Film Project!
The Litewave Media crew poses with 4 of their 5 awards won at the Tampa Bay 48 Hour Film Project Festival.
That’s a wrap! The Battle for the Paddle cast and crew after a long day of filming.
Thanks to the awesome cast and crew that made our film possible!
In December, The Battle for the Paddle was also selected to screen at Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival. The film played in the comedy shorts block, and we were awarded Best Comedy Film!
The Battle for the Paddle cast and crew pose on the red carpet at the Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival.
Ever wonder how a man’s love for ping pong takes him on journey to find his true calling? Check out our film right here! Let us know what you think.
Do you have an upcoming project for our St. Petersburg Video Production Company? Contact us today to see how we can help. Find us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the Litewave Media blog to stay up to date on all of our St. Petersburg video production company’s news.
Our Tampa Video Production Company, a veteran of the Gasparilla International Film Festival (Litewave Media screened 2 films last year in the festival: Jules Dongu Saves the World and F ), was proud to be a part of a very exciting film premier this year. Litewave Media’s Christian Cashmir was the director of photography on the film Sisters, directed by Sabyn Mayfield and produced by Vivian Alvarez and Grant Johnson.
Christian (Cinematographer), Sabyn (Director), Vivian (Producer/Writer/Actress), and Grant (Producer/Actor)
Sisters was among another round of amazing talent and creative independent films this year at the festival. Sisters is a suspenseful drama about a mother who becomes blindsided by a soul-scorching event and finds a way to get through it, while also exacting a bit of revenge on the way. ABC came out to do a news story on the film at our Tampa video studio. (See the link below)
Litewave Media began work on the short movie last September after getting a call from Sabyn who had worked with our gaffer Andrew on his last film. The entire short was filmed within three days in locations all around Tampa Bay. One of the locations we used was the Bank of America building in downtown Tampa. The room was luxurious and the epic view was perfect for the ending sequence of the film.
The Tampa video crew filming from atop the Bank of America building in downtown Tampa
A number of the Litewave Media video production team worked on the film. Our Tampa film crew’s Christian Cashmir was the Director of Photography. Andrew Ortoski was the gaffer for the shoot. Mike Barnitt served as audio tech with Rachel, his boom operator. Anya Yuschenko also assisted with makeup. Josh Long, Pinky, Lyssia Roussel and Sasha Sebesta were all grips on the film. The remaining production crew were brought on by Vivian and her producers, who all worked so hard to bring her project to life.
The Sisters‘ Film Crew
After the screening, there was a quick Q&A session with Director Sabyn Mayfield, Actress/Producer Vivian Alvarez, and Director of Photography Christian Cashmir. The responses were positive and we received a lot of compliments on our hard work. Following the session, the Litewave Media crew attended the Gasparilla Film Festival’s after party and met up with actor R.J. Mitte from TV’s Breaking Bad, who also happens to be a huge steampunk fan (like us!). We got to talk about future plans for our next film The Skyship Chronicles with him. Blake Berris, known for Days of Our Lives, also joined in to talk about upcoming projects.
Left to right: Blake Berris [Days of our Lives, Big Bang Theory], RJ Mitte [Breaking Bad], Cathy Cromar [GIFF Coordinator], Christian Cashmir [Litewave Media]
The Litewave Media team also discussed a new film project with C.S Lee from Showtime’s Dexter.
Litewave Media Team with C.S Lee [Dexter]
To top it all off, Sisters recently found a distribution deal on the Shorts HD TV Network this fall….so keep a lookout to watch it on your local cable station soon!
Overall, the event was a blast! Litewave Media loves going to the Gasparilla International Film Festival to support the local Florida talent and encourage local independent films. We will definitely be there again next year!
Do you have a video project coming up? You can email our Tampa video marketing company at [email protected] for a free consultation. Please like us on Facebook, and be sure to keep up with the blog for more Tampa video production news.
Our Tampa video production studio had the unique opportunity to work alongside Sims Crane & Equipment Co. to produce their reality show “Heavy Lifting” which gives viewers an inside look at the crane industry. Sims Crane is Florida’s premier Crane and Equipment provider and partnered with Litewave Media to make their vision a reality. Litewave Media also produced a series of training videos at their Tampa location. The entire project spanned a total of over 20 videos.
With a number of reality shows under their production belts, including ABC’s Shark Tank, TLC’s Extreme Couponing, and the Cayman Island’s Paradise Pawn, the award-winning Litewave Media film crew brought their expertise to the “Heavy Lifting” film set. The crew explored the daily trials of Sims’ crane operators, from erecting entire buildings to lifting whales at a theme park.
When Sims Crane first contacted our Tampa video production company, we set up a series of meetings to plan the logistics of the shoot. Director and cinematographer Christian Cashmir alongside producer Andrew Ortoski collaborated with Sims Crane’s director of marketing, Dean Sims on the creative direction for the show.
The Crane Yard at Sims Crane in Tampa, FL
With the use of GoPro Hero 3, the Litewave Media camera crew was able to film stunning overhead shots of the crane’s movements. Other video production equipment including the Canon C100, 2 Panasonic HVX200’s, 1 Panasonic HPX-170, and a Canon 5D Mark III were used for filming.
Sims Crane Crew with Litewave Media’s Andrew Ortoski (Producer/Camera) and Mike Barnitt (Audio)
Camera operators Christian Cashmir, Taylor Girard, John Jones, and Andrew Ortoski captured all of the action, while Jeff Zampino scripted the show along with Dean Sims. Mike Barnitt and Tom Hurxthal handled audio and Jamie Parslow served as grip. Christian Cashmir and Andrew Ortoski edited and tackled post-production work at Litewave Media’s Tampa post-production company.
Sims Crane also teamed up with our Tampa video crew in creating a number of training videos on crane safety called “Sims Crane Minutes”. These educational videos inform viewers on how cranes function and the potential dangers of operating a crane. Several of the videos were even selected by O.S.H.A. as official crane safety and training videos.
Candace LeRae with Litewave Media’s Tampa Film Crew
These safety videos were a unique opportunity for Litewave Media to get creative with Sims Crane. One video had the distinct style of “Film Noir”, beginning the video in black and white, as if it were an old-style detective movie. Andrew Ortoski created dramatic lighting and even simulated a thunderstorm in the rain. Candace LeRae was the beautiful femme fatale actress who brought the scene to life along with Sims Crane’s very own Safety Director, Bob Berry. The scene was shot in the Sims Crane headquarters in Tampa, Florida.
Litewave Media also produced another training video for Sims in the style of ABC’s hit TV series “Lost”. The video makes an homage to the Dharma Initiative videos within the series and was filmed as if they were found on an old film reel.
Litewave Media’s Video Crew Sets up for the Dharma Initiative-style Training Video
Do you have a Tampa video project coming up? Give us a call for a free consultation. Please like our Tampa video company on Facebook, and be sure to keep up with the blog for more Tampa video production news!
