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.

Litewave Media films video production Tampa commercials for Tampa Bay Comic Con

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.

Litewave Media films commercials for Tampa Bay Comic Con

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 New Tampa Lighting and Grip Truck to Our Services

Litewave Media Adds New Tampa Lighting and Grip Truck to Our Services

2015 has been an exciting year for Litewave Media. Our Tampa video production company has been very busy. We’ve added new equipment to our Tampa camera rentals and some exciting new gear to our Tampa lighting rentals. Our newest addition to the company is our Tampa grip truck. Litewave Media is proud to offer a fully equipped Nissan NV with high roof (with 6′ 3″ of standing room!) that carries up to 1.5 tons of grip and lighting equipment. Our grip truck rental is available for local Tampa Bay video productions as well as Sarasota, Orlando and beyond.

Litewave Media adds new grip and lighting truck

Christian, Ana and Pinky next to Litewave Media’s new Florida grip and lighting truck

Litewave Media’s grip and lighting equipment package includes a standard kit with tungsten lights, apple boxes, c-stands, combo stands, sand bags, flags and silks (See the full list below), but can also be tailored to each customer’s individual needs. We’re happy to make additions and/or substitutions. Kino Flos rentals and HMI lighting, including our new Tapa Joker 800 rental are available as add-ons to the package. Just give us a call and our Tampa lighting experts will ensure you get exactly what you need for your production.

Litewave Media adds new grip and lighting truck

The Litewave Media crew enjoys the freedom of 6′ 3″ headroom in our new grip truck!

Our new Tampa grip truck rental is available for hire with experienced crew members including grips and gaffers or just a driver. Depending on your needs, Litewave Media also offers full Tampa video crews with camera operators, sound techs, coordinators, etc.

The 1.5 ton van grip package includes:

LIGHTING EQUIPMENT

• Arri Light Kits (1K’s, 650’s, 300’s, 150’s)

• Mole-Richardson (1K’s, 2K’s)

• Additional lighting (including Kinos, LEDs and HMIs) available as add ons.

GRIP AND ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT

• C-Stands with Grip Arm Kits (QTY 10)

• Mini C-Stands with Grip Arm Kits (QTY 2)

• Combo Stands (QTY 4) / Low Boy Combo Stands (QTY 2)

• 1k Dimmers (QTY 2)

• Arri Lighting Stands (QTY 6)

• 24×26 Flag/Silk/Net kit  /  18×24 Flag/Silk/Net kit

• 14 Sand Bags

• Apple Boxes (3 Full Sets)

• 4×4 Frames (QTY 2) / 4×4 Floppy (QTY 2) /  4×4 Silk (QTY 2)

• 8×8 Frame with 1/4 silk

• Matthews 42″ x 42″ Shiny Board Reflector (QTY 2)

• Collapsible Reflector – Silver/Gold (74″ x 41″)

• Extension Cords (50 foot – QTY 5/ 25 foot – QTY – 10/ cube tap – QTY 10)

MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT

• 6′ Step Ladder

• Gels, diffusion, black wrap (billed as used)

• Gaff Tape (billed as used)

• Assorted clamps, quackers, Cardellinis

• Clothe’s Pins (C-47) (50 pack)

• Tool kit (screwdriver, scissors, measuring tape, pliers, etc)

• First aid kit

ADD ONS

• Kino Flo Diva-Lite 400

• Kino Flo 4 foot 4 bank

• Joker Bug 800 watt HMI

• LED Lite Panels 1×1 (Daylight/Tungsten)

• Honda 2k Putt Putt Generator (EU2000i)

Litewave Media adds new grip and lighting truck

Christian, Ana and Pinky get ready to load up our new Tampa grip truck rental package

Do you need a Tampa grip truck or Tampa grip and lighting rental 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. Be sure to keep up with the blog for more Tampa video production news!

US Open Winner Graeme McDowell films with Litewave Media

US Open Winner Graeme McDowell films with Litewave Media

Our Tampa video production company was excited to film for Golf Magazine and Golf.com today for a segment with Graeme McDowell who won the US Open in 2010. Hailing from Northern Ireland, Graeme is one of the top 10 players in the world and has 9 European Tour and 2 PGA tour wins already under his belt.

Tampa Video Production Crew with Graeme

Graeme with our Litewave Media Tampa video crew

Our Tampa video crew filmed a reality show-style segment where Graeme snuck up or “ambushed” amateur players on the course. He then would show them a few tips to help better their game, and even gave away some prizes including new golf clubs and his signature balls. Our longtime friend and client John Ledesma produced the show and worked closely with the Litewave Media team to ensure his vision was brought to life.

Tampa GoPro Video Crew

Litewave Media’s crew (Lyssia, Brandon) set up one of the GoPro video cameras

To capture all the action in a candid fashion, a combination of 3 hand held cameras and 2 GoPros were used. The crew only had one chance to get it right to maintain the element of surprise, but everything went off without a hitch. The Litewave Media team was able to capture a total of 4 candid “ambush” segments in the 3 hours they had with Graeme. The videos will run on Golf.com and be featured in Golf Magazine in the next few months.

Tampa video crew filming with Graeme

Mike (sound) and Christian, Litewave Media’s director of photography, prepare to film with Graeme.

If you need a Tampa video production company or a Tampa video crew for a TV commercial, music video, reality show, indie film, corporate video or any other type of video production in Tampa give us a call today for a free consultation on your project. Until next time!

Litewave Media Releases Trailer for New Steampunk Action Film

Litewave Media is proud to announce the trailer release for our upcoming independent film, “The Skyship Chronicles”. The movie is inspired by the Steampunk aesthetic and has elements of Sci-Fi and fantasy as well. Taking place in the late 1800’s, all aspects of the film had to look aged and authentic. The film was written & produced by our very own Jeff Zampino and directed by Christian Cashmir founder of Litewave Media.

The film was shot primarily in Tampa Bay, Florida. Movie sets including two airships and a post office were built right here in our Tampa video studio. The exterior of the downtown St. Petersburg library was also used for a climactic sword-fight battle scene. The crew even traveled to Tavares, Florida to film on one of the last steam trains in the country, as well as a ghost town set in Parish.

Post Production for the film is now nearly complete. A generous amount of visual effects has kept our our video editors and animation department on their toes. Our Tampa post production company is handling all editing here in our studio at Litewave Media. We invite you to view the trailer and let us know what you think. Please share it if you like it!

Our production company is planning a summer 2014 release for the movie online. Please check out the trailer and connect with us on facebook for more info on the film!

Tampa Video Production Company Films for ABC’s The Chew [UPDATED]

Tampa Video Production Company Films for ABC’s The Chew [UPDATED]

Litewave Media recently filmed two segments for ABC’s daytime hit TV show, The Chew. Now in its second season, The Chew hired our production team to film a Guiness Record attempt at making the world’s largest cup of hot chocolate. The other segment was filmed at the world-famous Columbia restaurant and focused on the history of the Cuban sandwich.

Producers from The Chew, which stars celebrity chefs Mario Batalli, Michael Simon and Carla Hall, connected with our Tampa video company through our website. “After speaking with our team and confirming that we had the camera, lighting gear, and experience they needed, we were hired,” says Litewave Media founder, Christian Schwier.

Our Tampa video crew filmed the official Guinness World Records attempt for the largest cup of hot chocolate!

Directory of Photography, Christian Schwier, shoots the process of filling the gigantic cup.

The first shoot was at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). To wrap up its Festival of Chocolate, the museum attempted to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest cup of hot chocolate. “We filmed different interviews and segments all over the museum,” says Schwier, “but the main event revolved around a gigantic cup of hot chocolate that was stationed in the courtyard.”

Christian uses a Panasonic HPX-170 to capture Chef Jason stirring the record-breaking cup of hot chocolate.

When the record was broken, five large catapults launched marshmallows into the 880-gallon cup of cocoa as a 30-foot fountain of chocolate spouted from the cup. “It was a fairly windy day,” says Schwier. “So more than a few of the closest onlookers got soaked in cocoa! Our cameras even got a little on the lenses, but we survived!”

Our Tampa video crew, headed by Schwier as the Director of Photography, also included Mike Barnitt as Sound Engineer and Rachel Lappe as Production Assistant. They were joined by ABC field producer Lawrence Weibman, and on-camera host Jason Roberts, a famous chef and restaurateur from Australia.

Footage was shot on two Panasonic HPX-170’s in HD. To capture the sound, our crew used three Lectrosonics lavalier mics, a Schoeps boom mic, and a multi-channel Cooper sound mixer.

Chef Jason gets ready to sample from the giant cup of hot chocolate.

The second segment was shot at the historic Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. “The focus was Columbia’s Cuban sandwich and its cultural significance to the Tampa Bay area,” explains Schwier. Originally called the mixto, the sandwich is made of ham, roast pork, swiss cheese, and mustard on Cuban bread that is buttered and pressed.

Chef Jason, Christian and Andrea Gonzmart, the great-great granddaughter of Columbia founder, Casimiro Hernandez Sr., make Cuban sandwiches in the restaurant’s enormous kitchen.

Although the history of the Cuban sandwich is a bit murky, some claiming it was brought from Cuba and others swearing it all began in Florida, there is no denying how popular it was with 19th century Ybor City cigar workers. As Sicilians and immigrants from other parts of Italy joined Spanish and Cuban immigrants in the cigar factories, Genoa salami and pickles were added, transforming the mixto into the Cuban sandwich. The Columbia has been making them since 1905.

Christian captures the beauty and architecture of the famous Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City.

“In addition to seeing the huge kitchen where we watched Jason and the great-great granddaughter of the original owner make Cuban sandwiches together, we got a tour of the restaurant, including areas most have never seen before,” Schwier says. “We also interviewed patrons, but best part of course was when we got to sample some of the fine food ourselves at lunch!”

Chef Jason interviews Andrea Gonzmart in the dining room of the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City.

This was our Tampa film company’s second gig with ABC in the past year, having shot footage for an episode of Shark Tank last fall. “The ABC crew was really great to work for and we had a wonderful time with Jason and Lawrence,” says Schwier. “We hope The Chew will come back to Tampa for another story in Season 3!”

To keep up on all of our video projects, be sure to like our Facebook page, and if you have a video project coming up, contact our Tampa production studio today: e-mail us at [email protected] for a free consultation. Are you ready for your close-up?