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  • Posted on February 17, 2012

Behind The Scenes With The Leapyear Project

How do you film a behind the scenes video, treading the streets of Chicago “run and gun” style, while trying to keep your gear slim? Enter the iPhone. A wonderful tool for calling, texting, taking retro photos, and filming behind the scenes videos of your crew. As some have said, “The best camera is the one that’s on you.” A sentiment that led to the creation of this short behind the scenes video of our shoot, with Leapyear Project founder, Victor Saad, all filmed on the iPhone.

Last August, our friend, Victor, had a defining moment. He created a platform that pushes the boundaries of comfort, to take risks intended to change your life, your community, or your world for the better. So, we helped Victor tell the story of The Leapyear Project. Not only did we film a video for The Leapyear Project, we also decided to take a leap ourselves. We created an organization, Stories For Good, that works to help non-profits connect with photographers and filmmakers to tell their life changing stories. Check out our very own leapyear project at Storiesforgood.net.

  • Posted on January 27, 2012

How We Pink Differently

Sometimes you have to see different to pink different.

A rule that translated quite literally as we found ourselves on set, upside down, on our backs, and in oddly uncomfortable positions during production of the “Making Strides Illinois” TV spot for the American Cancer Society. It was part of an integrated campaign to promote a cancer walk. With the weather uncooperative, we ended up recreating the look and feel of the sunny outdoors inside the controlled conditions of our very own Wonderkind Studios. Armed with tons of sod, some bright lights, live models and loads of patience, we ended up creating a fun and quirky stop-motion animated spot for the American Cancer Society that was both challenging and fun to produce.

Take a look at our behind the scenes video to watch our full day’s shoot unfold, and get some insight into how we at Wonderkind Studios see different to pink different.

  • Posted on November 28, 2011

See Different

Picture something that you love, something that has always been with you.  Now picture yourself losing that “something”.  Not a sudden loss, but a slow journey down a road that has no detours or reststops. How would you react?

This is the story of Wendi. She is going down one of those roads. The way she is responding is nothing short of incredible. If you feel challenged by the what the world is offering you lately, take a few minutes to be inspired by watching this. It just may help you to see the world differently.

This piece is part of a new series we are helping to produce called Stories Matter. It is a series of shorts that help show the power of story and how it can help change and shape the world we live in.

  • Posted on November 18, 2011

A Little Twilight Anyone?

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Recently our friend and director Bob Davidson was asked by Ryan O’Neal of Sleeping At Last to direct a music video for him. Ryan wrote and performed one of the songs on the new Twilight- Breaking Dawn soundtrack. Turns out it is the song in the much anticipated “honeymoon” scenes. We were asked to help with the production and post-production of the live studio recording of “Turning Page” and soon to be released music video of “Emphasis”. We headed to Electrical Audio along with Rule29 to make a little music video magic. Here is some behind the scenes footage. We will soon be posting the live recording video of the Twilight song.

 

 

  • Posted on October 25, 2011

Leap Year

If you could follow your dreams and go after that crazy idea that is lurking in the back of your mind, what would it be? If you could break out of the grind we all find ourselves in, what would the risk be you are willing to take? Changing jobs? Moving to another part of the country, or overseas? Running a  marathon? Repairing a broken relationship? My friend Victor Saad starting to ask himself those questions recently. He had built himself a comfortable life but started to wonder what his life could be like if he took some major risk. Thus, the Leapyear Project was born. I wanted to help him tell his story so I offered what I do best, visual story telling. This is the video my studio put together for him. Please watch it and check out his website for the Leapyear Project. So, as Victor is asking, what “Leap” will you take?

  • Posted on September 22, 2011

Pink Differently

Standing out in a crowd is always a challenge. When the American Cancer Society needed a new television spot to grab some attention they turned to us and our friends at Rule29. With the challenge of promoting a cancer walk in a crowded marketplace, we took the approach of using stop frame animation in a nontraditional way. We had many technical challenges to overcome to make it happen. The weather forecast also chased us into the studio where we found it takes an amazing amount of sod to build a set that looks like a yard.  One model almost passed out during the two hour long tracking shot needed to make the animation work. We also shot stills that are being used in everything from billboards to print placement. It was a fun and challenging project we will not soon forget.

  • Posted on July 14, 2011

For My Fellow Tech Geeks

I am of the opinion that all the technology and tools I use in my craft are just that, tools. But….there is also a need to have a proficient knowledge of how to use these tools and be up to date on changes and advances in technology. At the studio, we are also always in search of ways to bring up the level of the imagery we produce. To that end, we are testing some new camera profiles and color grading. We are testing the Technicolor Cinestyle profile for our Canon cameras. The images out of the camera have so much tonal range, and look so flat, they look like RAW Red footage. We are then using the Magic Bullet LUT Buddy to apply the Technicolor S-LUT. (Told you this was for tech geeks). We are then grading this in MB Looks. We are also excited to get the Glidecam HD-4000 here at the studio. We are in the middle of getting that dialed in and ready for production. We ran outside the studio yesterday and quickly shot this sample. We used the new workflow I just mentioned for the grading.

  • Posted on May 25, 2011
Girl In India

90 Seconds In Kolkata

Recently, I was fortunate enough to take a trip to Kolkata, India where I traveled with a group to see the work that Compassion International is doing with children in a village about an hour outside the city. I worked on capturing stills along with motion imagery to help tell the story of the project. This short piece shows clips that were part of a larger project we produced. It gives a glimpse what our time was like in this dense, colorful and vibrant land. Please take a few seconds to take in the view, just about 90 seconds. There are more stills on the “Global” section of my site macdonaldphotography.com.

  • Posted on March 01, 2011
Pressman

Behind The Print

We are working on a story telling project for our friends at O’Neil Printing in Phoenix. We recently traveled there to capture some motion and stills. We spent several days shooting portraits and capturing motion that Rule29 shall incorporate into a new website launch. As is our normal around here at the studio, we captured some behind the scenes footage of our time. Check out some of the creative ways we managed to get dolly shots with minimal equipment.  Serious innovation going on.

  • Posted on February 21, 2011

Another Cinematic Story

I really love this new series we are working on. We spent a fun filled winter morning filming another short for our “Cinematic Story” series. We captured it all, from breakfast to making cupcakes to building a snowman. The energy and joy you find in children doing the simplest of things is a good lesson to take to heart. Take a minute to watch this video. It will bring a smile to your face.