Jul 27, 2015
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Jan 8, 2015
Happy 2015! We hope everyone is enjoying the new year so far. A common New Years’ resolution is to get back into shape, after the holidays and so the Litewave Media film team decided to start working on this goal with the help of Renegade Soccer’s Training Videos. Our Tampa video production company filmed a soccer training DVD series with co-founders Billy and J.R. from Renegade Soccer. We filmed a total of 12 discs with content that included ball technique tutorials as well as fitness training with some top soccer athletes from around the country.
Our production crew films the Renegade Soccer Fitness Training Videos at our Tampa video studio
The soccer workouts and exercises were filmed at our Tampa video production studio. We used three Panasonic P2 video cameras to get a variety of angles on the talent. We also used our 10 foot EZ FX Jib to incorporate more dynamic shots. To light the studio, we used a combination of Kino Flo lights and our new state-of-the-art Altman LED Cyc lights which have the ability to change colors without the use of gel. The soccer workout team decided to use a blue look to unify the branding of the DVD.
Renegade Soccer co-founders, Billy and J.R, lead the training video
Christian (Litewave Media founder) operated the first camera which was mounted on the jib, Kenny Strawn was in charge of the second camera and Harold “Pinky” Hood worked the third camera handheld. Jeff Zampino acted as script supervisor and Mike Barnett captured audio. Ana Christina Sanchez worked as production assistant. It was a long three days of soccer workouts, but we captured a lot of great footage. At the end of the shoot our Tampa production crew even got to try the workout…(we didn’t last very long, but it was fun!)
Ana, Jeff and Pinky get to try out the soccer training with Billy…(don’t worry they’re not on the DVD!)
Our Tampa post production company edited the DVD for Renegade Soccer, which will be available later this year for purchase. The Litewave Media crew will keep working hard and hopefully make lots of “goals” this year…we hope to make Pelé proud!
Do you want to film a Tampa fitness training video? 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!
Nov 17, 2014
Over the past few months, Litewave Media has had the opportunity to experience the wonderful fall weather in Florida, filming several projects outdoors with our new jib and Tampa video drone. Our Tampa Video Production Company was excited to film with the DJI Phantom 2 Drone on some of our most recent projects.
The DJI Phantom 2 video drone in action filming over Bayshore Blvd. in Tampa.
The Phantom 2 video drone has changed the aerial video industry enabling production companies to get amazing aerial video footage and photography at a fraction of the cost of years passed. Litewave Media founder Christian Schwier says, “We love the Phantom 2 Quadcopter. It’s easy to use, affordable, and accessible for filmmakers including us. Our clients love the unique shots we are able to achieve too. We’re really excited about where aerial video is heading.”
The Litewave Media production crew and MBC crew members film with the video drone on Bayshore Blvd., Tampa
Korean News Station MCB recently contacted our Tampa Production Company to film an upcoming special about sinkholes and how they are affecting more and more cities. We filmed around Bayshore Blvd. in Tampa, Clearwater Beach and Winter Park. With the Phantom 2 video drone armed with a GoPro HERO4, we captured majestic aerial footage to support MBC’s news story.
Our Tampa video drone pilot and production crew films with the Phantom 2 at Walsingham Park
On another recent drone project, Litewave Media had the opportunity to work with our long-time client Health-e-Systems. Jill, their marketing director hired our Tampa Production Crew to film aerial video for a corporate brand identity project. The Litewave Media drone team captured stunning aerial footage of a stately oak tree and pond at sunrise in Walsingham Park in St. Petersburg, FL.
Pinky and Nick set up the jib
We’ve enjoyed filming with the video drone, and we’ve also been able to play with one of our other new toys this fall, the 10 foot EZ FX Jib. We captured a variety of angles for the Health-e-Systems corporate video with the jib as well as the drone, to give the editors lots of footage and angles to cut the video together with.
Nick and Jill from Healthesystems check out the EZ FX jib at Walsingham Park
We had a blast filming with the Phantom 2 and our new video jib for these two projects. Check out our Tampa video equipment list which includes the Phantom 2 video drone and the 10 ft. EZ FX Jib from our production company’s gear page.
Nick and Jill from Health-e-Systems with Litewave Media founder, Christian Schwier
If you are looking for a Tampa aerial footage or video drone company or any other type of Tampa video production services contact us today. Please like Litewave Media on Facebook and be sure to keep up with our blog for more Tampa video production news!
Sep 5, 2013
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?
Jul 10, 2013
Litewave Media recently stepped onto the green as the Tampa corporate video producer for a project with Golf Magazine and Nike. We traveled to The Players Club at Sawgrass in Ponte Verde Beach, Fla. for The Players Championship – a legendary stop on the PGA Tour.
The Players Club at Sawgrass made an incredible set!
For this A-list assignment, director of photography Christian Schwier and camera assistant Jamie Parslow filmed live interviews and video segments with golf pros Russell Henley, Charl Schwartzel, and Charles Howell III who dished on their Nike gear and life on the tour.
DP Christian Schwier flashes his badge
Jamie Parslow served as camera assistant
The top-caliber athletes awed our St. Petersburg film crew. “It’s inspiring to meet people who are super-successful and at the top of their game,” said Schwier. “You can learn a lot from their work ethic and apply it to your own life whether that’s on the golf course or in the production studio.” Our Tampa video crew also enjoyed working with Golf Magazine’s video producer John Ledesma on yet another project. “We’ve worked with John for a number of years now. He led the team on the course and is always a pleasure to work with,” Schwier said.
Shooting practice tees with Charles Howell III
Christian films Russell Henley
Our Tampa video company is proud to be a go-to producer for top sporting events. Previously we worked with Golf Magazine at the Derek Jeter Golf Classic, and we’ve also filmed the New York Yankees’ spring training as well as the 2009 Super Bowl for the Associated Press. “With sports, you have to capture those special moments as they are happening – you can’t be afraid to move right into the action to get that perfect angle or shot,” said Schwier. “It’s what makes shooting sports so exciting.”
Christian and Golf Magazine’s John Ledesma at work on the fairway
The famous 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass
We always love working on new and challenging projects, and we’d love to hear from you. Contact our Tampa production studio for a free consultation. Be sure to keep up with our latest adventures on Facebook and right here on our video blog.