One Family’s Story

Bringing Clever Motion Graphics to Samaritan Ministries

Samaritan Ministries’s promotional video for the CLA Conference 2012 in Orlando, Florida www.claconference.org
Client: Samaritan Ministries, Inc.
Produced by: Cellar Media www.cellarwebs.com
Art Director: Matt Blick
Motion Graphics by: The Effects Forge
Voice Over Talent: Anthony Hopp, Rachel

More information can be found at: www.samaritanministries.org

Film Festival Winner

at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival

You read that right.  Our commercial for Liberty Day – Conference and Celebration won first place at the SAICFF 2012  for the Best Commercial Advertisement award.  It was an honor sharing in this experience.  You can read about our speech and others who won that night here… www.saicff.org/news/blog/2012/02/move_over_oscars_san_antonio_i/  Enjoy some pictures from the awards night.

Here are all the winners standing with SAICFF founder Doug Philips.

The film Courageous won the BEST OF FESTIVAL award and took home the $101,000.00 cash prize.  If you haven’t seen it, purchase it here: www.courageousthemovie.com

Matt Blick of Cellar Media giving an acceptance speech for the Best Commercial Advertisement award.

Come Join Us

Samaritan Ministries’s promotional video for the CLA Conference 2011 in Dallas, Texas www.claconference.org

Client: Samaritan Ministries, Inc.
Produced by: Cellar Media www.cellarwebs.com
Director of Photography: Matt Blick
Music by: Jurgen Beck
Gaffer: David Price
Grip: Jed Stuber

More information can be found at: www.samaritanministries.org

Things On Set

7 different techniques you should know while on set

In the next seven posts I’ll be sharing sections from Evan Luzi’s post on techniques to have while working on a film set.  You can read his full article here.  Whether you know these techniques already… it doesn’t hurt to refresh your memory once again.  Enjoy.

——

7 G&E Techniques Useful to Camera Assistants

The G&E department, otherwise known as the Grips and Electrics, are amazing.

During long scene setups, you could spend all day watching them place flags, lay track, strike lamps, drop scrims, and fly in sandbags. I have a lot of respect for them because their efforts go largely unnoticed by audiences and, at times, production itself.

But what is also fascinating about G&E is the crazy amount of techniques they have for very specific purposes — there’s a lot to learn from them.

As a camera assistant (AC), you have to continually improve and evolve your knowledge to be better at your job. And the grips and juicers have a lot to teach us if you’re willing to watch and listen. To start, here are 7 techniques you should be stealing from them to use in the camera department.

1. Place the Sandbag on the Foremost Leg of a C-stand

This is Gripping 101 — make sure you place the sandbag on the tallest leg of a C-stand and make sure that leg is underneath the weight.

But let’s back up a bit further: you should always add a bag of dirt to stands that are holding something valuable, heavy, or high in the air.

In the camera department, there isn’t much we place on stands besides the camera and a video village monitor. For the monitor, you should keep a sandbag on it at all times and make sure it moves whenever the location of video village moves.

For the camera, it’s much more circumstantial. Whenever you’re feeling uneasy about the tripod, use a sandbag to counterweight whichever way you would expect the camera to fall.

So there you go. Kind of a no brainer… but a very valuable piece of information!

1. Who are you and what do you do?

I thought this was Creative People Anonymous? My name is James McDonald. <Hello James> I am a graphic designer.

2. Where are you from?

Houston, TX

3. What led you into your career field?

My father was a marketing executive, which influenced my interest in the field.  I had always been involved in art, which prompted my father to suggest I look into graphic design.  I tried it and seemed to be naturally talented in it, so I stayed with it.

4. What inspires your creativity/work?

Usually talking with clients, getting to know who they are and what their ideas/goals are.  I try to put myself in their shoes and think “how would I want my business represented?” etc.  Usually the more projects I have at any given time helps fuel my creativity.

5. What do you bring to the table that’s unique?

A lot of designers specialize in one area of practice such as logos, illustration, etc. Or they have similar themes and/or styles that you see repeated in other projects. I tend to have a broad skill set and my designs are significantly different from one client to another.

In the past, I’ve done design work for magazines and the contrast in the designs (specifically with the feature articles) were so different, people were always shocked it was one designer doing all the work.

6. What are you currently reading and watching?

I’m reading “Liberty or Equality” by Erik Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn.  You probably wouldn’t be interested in it.  However, I’m watching a documentary series from the Military Channel called Combat Zone–its pretty cool.

7. What are you obsessed with at the moment?

Scotland.  But then I have been for years.

8. What is your favorite meal?

Probably a tie between T-Bone Steaks Florentine with roasted red potatoes and asparagus (one of my specialties) or my mom’s Roast, Rice, Gravy, and Peas.  Either way, beef is what’s for dinner.

9. Drink of choice?

Mmmm. Chimay Bleue.  A Trappist beer.

10. Where can others view more of your work?

My website isn’t up yet (I know right?), however Matt can keep you posted or I can give samples upon request.  You can also take my word for it, I mean…I’m really a prestigious designer.  Cross my heart.

Film Festivals 2012

We made it!  Not sure one but THREE submissions made it into the San Antonio Independant Christian Film Festival 2012.

Check out the submissions here:

http://www.saicff.org/festival/program/films/

]]> http://cellarwebs.com/1542/saicff-2012-finalist/feed/ 0 http://cellarwebs.com/1526/indiegogo-notforgotten/ http://cellarwebs.com/1526/indiegogo-notforgotten/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:42:51 +0000 Cellar Media http://cellarwebs.com/?p=1526 Not Forgotten on IndieGoGo You can now donate to Not Forgotten on IndieGoGO here: http://www.indiegogo.com/Not-Forgotten-the-Movie?c=home&a=382804 Our Story This 20 minute documentary, titled “Not Forgotten,” exposes the secret Read More...]]>

Not Forgotten on IndieGoGo

You can now donate to Not Forgotten on IndieGoGO here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/Not-Forgotten-the-Movie?c=home&a=382804

Our Story

This 20 minute documentary, titled “Not Forgotten,” exposes the secret of Autism in Ukraine and what can be done to aid and educate professionals and parents.

Our primary mission? To aid in education of professionals who work with Autism in Ukraine and to create a support system for parents of children with Autism.

Our success stories with our mission?

We have worked in the field of Autism for the past 5 years, taking professional and parents of children with Autism who are Americans and have worked with teachers both on the university level as well as in the classroom. We have successfully taught parents basic skills with living with and raising a child on the Autism Spectrum.

How can you help produce the film?

• The goal of this campaign is to raise $13,000.
• The campaign has a hard deadline of 11:59pm on February 14th.
• If you decide to help, you pledge whatever you want in exchange for cool rewards (for example, a DVD of the documentary when it’s done, an HD download, your name in the credits, a dinner with the writers/producers… the list keeps going on).
• The more you pledge, the better the rewards! Take a look at the column on the right to see what’s available.
• If we make the goal by the deadline, your credit card is charged what you pledged (but not until then). We get to finish the documentary, you get your rewards, and everyone’s happy.  Actually, we’ll be extremely overjoyed in getting to get this project out to the public!
• If we don’t make the goal by the deadline (falling even a penny short), your credit card is not charged, we get nothing, you don’t get any reward(s), and Autism will continue to stay a secret in Ukraine.

1. Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Matt Blick and I’m the Owner/Founder/Director of Photography for Cellar Media.

2. Where are you from?

Born and raised by loving parents in a small town in Illinois.

3. What led you into your career field?

I’ve always been an artist, but it wasn’t until the beginning of college that I discovered the beauty of story telling through film/video.  Besides the films themselves, behind-the-scenes featurettes captured my attention.  I was amazed at how everything fell into place in order to create an amazing story on screen.

4. What inspires your creativity/work?

Just like with Tim Miller, it’s Jesus.  My creative ideas/work/vision comes from the One who gives that creativity in the first place.  I don’t create so that I can “express myself.”  Whether directly or indirectly, I create so that He is given the glory in each project.  On top of that, the daily discoveries of other professionals and their work inspire my creativity/work.

5. What do you bring to the table that’s unique?

I bring my creative vision, learning experiences from past mistakes and artistic eye to the production table.  The most important lessons I’ve learned are the ones from which I’ve taken a creative gamble.  Whether it works or falls flat on its face, the most important lesson is to learn from it and press on.  Chase Jarvis said it correctly,

“7. MAKE MISTAKES, LEARN QUICKLY
Simply put, you need to be able to learn from your mistakes. Avoiding failure is not the goal. The goal is recovering from mistakes quickly. That goes for ever element of your photography–creative, business, vision…you name it. If you’re not willing to make mistakes, you’ll be paralyzed with inaction. That is the devil. Get out there and do stuff. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn’t work, change it. Quickly.” Chase Jarvis – 10 Creative Things Every Creative (That’s You) Should Know

Shooting aerial shots with Christ Leclerc (on right) of Leclerc Brothers Motion Pictures.

6. What are you currently reading and watching?

Currently I’m reading “David” by Walter J. Chantry and “DSLR Cinema” by Kurt Lancaster.

7. What is something you are obsessed with at the moment?

Besides cinema and crafting stories through digital media… the political primaries and traveling at the moment.  I can never get enough of Scotland.  Love that place.

8. What is your favorite meal?

A home-cooked meal.  If I had to be more specific… I’d say a nice steak with a glass of dry red wine or Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo.

9. Drink of choice?

Sweet Tea, Samuel Adams Octoberfest or a nice dark beer.

10. Where can others view more of your work?

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cellar-Media/114472051937731

Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/cellarmedia

Vimeo http://vimeo.com/channels/cellarmedia

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/cellarmedia

Behance http://www.behance.net/cellarmedia

An Ever Present Secret

Call to Action by W. Thomas Saxon

The waves of the sea ebb and flow, coming upon the shore with great beauty and force only to recede quietly and secretively back into its own. Such is the ideology of post-Communist Eastern European ideology. Decades of Communist thought and ethics melded with an enforced Godless mandate has wounded the inner men and women of generations past, present and for the foreseeable future. These scars can be seen clearly in a society’s attitude and approach to disabilities, specifically in children with Autism.

For the past twelve years I have been traveling with teams to Odessa, Ukraine, the last four years of which have been to work in a school dedicated to teaching children with Autism.  It is the only school/facility we have been able to identify in Ukraine that serves the children with these special needs.  Taking Autism Specialists from the US to help instruct Ukrainian teachers who have little to no training and a modicum of success with these precious children of Autism and offering help for parents ill-equipped to relate to their children has been primary in our time in Ukraine.

Fear, shame, exhaustion and hopelessness permeate each consultation with parents.  These parents love their uncommunicative, chaotic and incomprehensible children, though questions regarding the condition plague throughout the world plague them: Why? What did we do to cause this?  Will my child get better?  Children with Autism live secretively and alone.  Eastern Europe keeps disabilities, especially Autism, hidden from view in order to hide the shame, culturally and individually.

On our trip in 2010 we met with one particular couple in Odessa, Ukraine who yearned for so many answers about their nine-year-old daughter.  As they began their story, they immediately dissolved into tears and shame.  They had not allowed their autistic daughter to leave the house since they discovered she was ‘different’.  Personal and societal shame and humiliation hovered in the room like a thick smog, suffocatingly unbearable for all.

The project presented in this packet is a vision to bring Autism in Eastern Europe out into the open and to eventually establish a center for Autism in Ukraine.  Raising awareness of this heartrending problem and offering some practical solutions enables those without hope or future to envision life afresh.

My prospectus is in three phases.  1) Produce a 15 minute, quality video telling the story from the parent’s perspective of children with Autism in Eastern Europe.  2) Use the 15 minute video to raise enough revenue to make a 60-75 minute documentary about Autism in Easter Europe which will be marketed in a broader way. 3) Establish and initially fund an Autism Center in Ukraine where children can be evaluated professionally and education can be offered both for the child and parent.

Plan of Action

Phase I.

May, 3-20, 2011 travel to Eastern Europe to interview and record parents of children with Autism.  This will be done in Odessa, Cherkassy and Kiev, Ukraine as well as Sofia, Bulgaria.  Parents and professionals who work with disabilities have volunteered to be interviewed in each of these cities.

Phase II.

In 2013 return to Eastern Europe to do an in-depth documentary on Autism to include more interviews in the countries mentioned above adding Romania, Poland, Moldova and the Czech Republic.

Phase III.

With this documentary we will bring the Autism in Eastern Europe into the open and raise enough revenue to establish a for-profit Autism Center in Ukraine where children from all over Eastern Europe can come to be evaluated and educated.

Pledge Here

www.notforgottenthemovie.com