Over the past two years, Studio 84 has worked to capture the entire cotton process, all the way from planting the cotton in the field to making it into a fabric used and worn around the world. Alan Underwood, president of the Texas Cotton Association for 2011-2012, along with the rest of the Underwood family, contributed this cinematic piece to the Texas Cotton Association. Underwood Cotton Co., based in Lubbock, Texas, is a family business that trades all U.S. growths to domestic and foreign markets. The 101st Annual Convention of the Texas Cotton Association convened at the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort, in San Antonio, Texas. The video was first presented at the convention. Studio 84 was able to take the Underwood’s vision of the Texas farmer and convey the spirit, heart, and work ethic of the individuals in the cotton industry through the use of our cinematic style and production.

Click here to view all of the behind the scenes pictures

Intro/Preproduction:
One of the most exciting and interesting projects Studio 84 has worked on to date, The Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office Recruitment video, proved not only to be a privilege, but a challenge as well.

The Studio 84 crew with Sheriff Rowe

As we began the production process, we could see through our research that most of the recruitment videos for other departments around the country were pretty bland and dry, generally consisting of a slideshow and a stand up with a few department personnel. We began to think of ways to make this video have quality and flare , while still communicating the message desired by the client.

Discussing the plan with Lt. Stewart

Preproduction began with numerous meetings with Sheriff’s Office personnel in order to decide what divisions needed to be covered and how to capture them with efficiency. We knew the Bomb Squad, K9 and SWAT divisions would easily add the high-energy glamour that most people would expect from a job in law enforcement, but the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office is much more. From dispatch to warrants, medical to clerical, there are many areas within the Sheriff’s Office that an average civilian, who may watch law enforcement shows on TV, may never think about or see. For this project, a wide range of jobs and skill sets would need to be shown in order to properly convey all of the opportunities available to a new recruit of the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office.

Reviewing footage with the DRT team

Shooting:
The acquisition stage of this project consisted of an intense three-day, highly coordinated shooting schedule that began at the Detention Facility and expanded to include the firing and bombing ranges, training facilities, the courthouse and various field offices located throughout Lubbock County. It was through this process that we began to see the surprisingly wide range of personalities and talents that work together to form the men and women of the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office.

One of the most exciting sequences to shoot was the tactical team making an explosive entry into a house. It’s one thing to watch this on a reality TV show but its totally different when you are there, feeling the anticipation of the flash grenade followed by the smell of burned gunpowder as it fills the air. Our crew was in the middle of the action, within feet of the blast; once for the exterior shots and again for the interiors.

TACT team breaking into a house

Another memorable sequence was with the K9 unit. Being dog lovers ourselves, you would think that our crew members would not be scared of these creatures, but it’s a different feeling when you realize that these dogs are trained from birth to chase and subdue you at any cost. As we watched the footage in playback from the trainer’s point of view as the dog runs toward him, we began to sense the certain terror felt by any suspect who chooses to be on the wrong side of those teeth.

Dog attack

Watching the meticulous work of the Crime Scene Investigator, or the dedication of the support staff, there are just too many great memories of the acquisition stage of production to share here. I could not begin to communicate the pride and professionalism that exuded from Sheriff Kelly Rowe and each and every officer and support staff member we encountered.

Post Production/Summary:
The post production process was difficult if only for the fact that we had so much great footage to use but such little time to fit it in. We started with finding appropriate and motivating music, knowing this would set the mood for the entire production. After putting the music together, the shot selections and editing fell quickly into place, first with the major hits including explosions and lunging dogs, and then filling in with SWAT, suspect arrests, cell extractions and everything else. The hardest part was not showing all of the hard-hitting footage too soon, but using it to help sustain the attitude of the project throughout its entirety.

The recruitment video project for the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office was a new adventure for us. It allowed us close access to interesting subjects and new situations. It also allowed us the great opportunity to meet many of the men and women that work to protect the citizens of Lubbock County. This was more than just another project, it was a chance to challenge our talents and at the same time push the conventions of what a video of this kind could be.

The Studio 84 crew with the sniper team

Click here to view all of the behind the scenes pictures

Photographs courtesy of Linda Schilberg Photography.

We asked Linda to come along to document this project. This project was a blast to work on and we knew we would get to see things that we would probably never see again. Although, we did joke around about who was the most likely to see the inside of the detention center again Linda did a great job, got the images we wanted and was a pleasure to work with.

Here’s a little about Linda:
It all started out with a wooden camera my dad made me and dreams of running off to California to pursue my other passion: surfing photography. But it wasn’t until my senior year at Texas Tech University that wedding and portrait photography captured my heart. I dove right in and haven’t looked back. I live by the phrase “Photograph Your World®”. My camera enables me to keep moments of time from running away. Photography is the way to my heart.

Linda Scilberg

Website: www.LindaSchilbergPhotography.com
Contact: 281.414.4378
Linda Schilberg Portfolio

Every year the Chancellor’s Office sends out a Happy Holiday e-card to a large number of email addresses. In years past they have created their own and while they have been OK in years past, this year they wanted something great.

Since we have an outstanding relationship with Tech we were fortunate enough to be asked to work on this e-card. We were approached with a couple concepts and we worked with Tech to narrow down and develop one concept, produce and deliver. As in any creative process, there was discussion and tweaking to get ideas from a team of creatives down and agreed upon to produce a creative and effective video that pleased everyone.

Here’s the video that was sent to over 172,000 people.

Planning is key for quality video productions. The women’s basketball team at Texas Tech understands this concept and it shows. We’ve worked with women’s basketball for several years now, producing player intro and fire up videos as well as year-end highlights. They are in need of high-quality and creative video/audio… and we happen to love both. Therefore, we are all very happy with the results.

One area we’ve already starting shooting for and conceptualizing is the 2012-13 fire up video. Having a plan from the beginning is crucial to achieving the final product everybody wants. Yes, we could come up with a sweet intro video from just highlights that we happen to capture, but having that plan in place allows for focused creative juices to flow.

We’ve been shooting specific basketball games and getting the shots we need for next year’s video. Sometimes you get lucky (or you are working with one of the top teams in the country) and have a perfect storm unfold in front of you. A large crowd, a #16 vs #19 match-up, energy and an underdog win that came down to the wire. We were lucky enough to be there. We got the shots, we made the edit and we are all (us and Tech) are enjoying the benefits.

Here’s our take on experiencing Texas Tech Women’s Basketball

For the man outstanding in his field. The punch line for these spots was a clever concept from almost 40 years ago. Malouf’s ran a spot in the 1970s that was a huge hit, basing the spot around a well-dress and successful man standing in a field. It’s funny how how this concept is still clever and interesting to today’s audience.

We worked with Malouf’s on how to reproduce this concept. We all know that the West Texas cotton industry struggled this year with the lack of rain and consistent high temperatures. So, finding a good looking cotton field was not the easiest. The field we finally did find was drip irrigated and was about the best in the region.

We waited on the perfect light, wanting to capture the beautiful West Texas sunsets we all enjoy. We also fought the not-so-perfect high-plains wind. We wanted a little natural movement in the hair and clothing and after about 20 takes finally found one that worked.

Malouf’s was great to work with. They had a clear vision and communicated effectively. We took the information they provided and ran with it, coming up with 2 spots that we are all proud of.

Here’s Texas Tech University Men’s Basketball Fire Up video. This first video is an edit we put together from the 2010-11 season that never saw the light of day for one reason or another. It features Tech mens basketball’s finest historical highlights and some of tech’s finest basketball coaches. The incredible basketball timeline from the United Spirit Arena’s lobby was used. If you haven’t ever seen the lobby in person you have to check it out!

Oh, and the video aspect ratio is nice and 4:3 to cater to the USA’s RaiderVision screen.

We edited in clips from the first exhibition games of the 2011-12 season to give it an up-to-date feel for today’s team. Check it out!

Check out our latest video for Texas Tech Women’s Basketball. Working with this program has been great, they have a clear vision of high-quality and high-impact video to get the crowd, players and coaches fired up. We get to be as creative as we want which is always fun for our team.

The concept features the beautiful campus of Texas Tech and highlights from the 2010-11 season. Almost each shot was composited to add more interest. Obviously the magical flying ball is composited along with the sky and highlight video on the sides of building structures. The final step was enhancing the audio with sound effects and color-enhancement.

We’ve been so caught up conceptualizing, creating and producing everyone else’s project we’ve neglected our own! We wanted to get our Media Packet to you all to be able to see more about us summed up in 11 pages. Since this has been in the works for about 6 months it’s already outdated! Isn’t that how it usually goes? Of course, for the latest of what we’re up to stay tuned right here to our blog or check out our Facebook page.

Working out lighting on the train scene

Stuart Blalock – Producer
From a manager and Producer’s standpoint this was a really fun project to work on. 2 of my biggest passions combined into one video. It doesn’t get better than having a career in video production and getting to work with a team and school which I am a huge fan of. I had the responsibility of getting everything in place for this production, from costume design and make up to getting horses to making sure my crew were set up for success.

One area of work that most people aren’t aware of it we do our job correctly is to ensure 100% quality of playback at the football game. We spent several hours working with the Texas Tech media team to get the video formatted and delivered to work with their system. After an initial preview at the Jones we noticed several needed adjustments, made the adjustments back at the studio and delivered a second version.

Overall our team here at Studio 84 were proud to work with Texas Tech football to produce a video that Lubbock, West Texas and TTU Football fans alike seemed to enjoy watching on it’s debut on Sept. 3rd

Using any light available

Joseph Mullins – Cinematographer/Editor
I always try to challenge myself with every project and this one for Texas Tech Football’s 2011 Fire Up video was no exception.  I could visualize in my mind the look and feel of the video but it is always fun to turn those visions into reality.

We arrived on location at 5 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and before the sun began to rise, we had already scouted each of our locations.  We knew that we were going to have to run.  The gorgeous cast of light from a sunrise only lasts a short while so the scenes would have to be shot with the accuracy we needed to create the visual effects in post but the speed to have access the quality of light we wanted.

By six a.m., we had our first shot of the day set up and waited for the sun to come up and the actors to get finished in wardrobe, props and makeup.  As the sun peaked over the horizon, we wrapped up the first shot, Tommy’s boots, and quickly knocked out the last shots in the sequence; the epic rise over the hill, tight faces and “Guns Up” shots.  After that was finished, it was a matter of run-and-gun as we raced the sun to complete the rest of the sequences.

In post, the biggest issues were color grading and sky replacement.

We knew we wanted a gritty but sharp feel and the sky had to be dark with the clouds rolling in, an analogy of the raw grit and power of the team this project would represent.  We also knew we wanted the clouds to appear as a time-lapse but with our action happening in slow motion, two completely opposite and impossible feats to happen in reality.  We knew that having to replace the sky in every shot would be much too time-consuming for our tight deadline so we chose and designed those particular shots carefully and picked off the supporting shots along the way.

The most challenging effects shots were the scene through the train station window and the highlights.  Every shot is this project was a digital composite but these in particular combined a time-lapsed sky, a slow-motion play and a real time scene. The train station scene added a very real sun, burning its way into the middle of the shot.  The key was motion tracking.

When the camera moved in the real shot, the sky and highlight would have to be individually tracked to match the move of the camera.  We employed several techniques in our digital compositing software that used markers in the scenes to essentially tell the computer how the camera was moving in the real world and replicate those moves in 3D in-order to tell the sky and highlights where they should appear and how they should be oriented in relationship to the camera.

For color grading, we knew we wanted a cold blue world surrounding the warmth of our actors.  For most shots, this was a matter of simple color correction, for others we had to separate the foreground actor and background scene into two separate layers and apply color effects differently, stitching the scenes back together into a final composition.

Over all, the actors did a fine job and the raw cinematography looked incredible but the look and feel of this project was completely made in post production and the visual effects really added a lot to the feel of the finished product.

Lauren keeping up with our shot list

Gary Moyers – Copy Writer
When the assignment to write copy for this video came through, I immediately went to my old friend, Mr. Google. Growing up in Texas, I knew there was a vast sub-culture of western language. A quick search provided a long list of colloquialisms that fairly screamed “West Texas.” From there, it was a simple matter of matching images… six-shooter and shooting six-footers, barbed wire and tattooed biceps, etc. I wanted it all to lead up to the final two words, which Coach Tuberville delivered so succinctly… Guns Up.

DP Joe on Tommy's close up

Thomas Dulin – Audio Engineer
The sound effects for the TTU western video were so much fun to work on. All of the imagery is really dramatic and larger-than-life and that allowed me to be as creative with the sound as I wanted. As with any sound effects project, my main goal was to make the pictures stand out and I think we accomplished that. My favorite parts are when Coach Tuberville’s boots come down. I used a combination of a dirt sample and some sidechain gating on a 40Hz sine wave so you can really feel the low end in your chest. I also used this technique on some of the thunder samples. It really brought the video to life for me.

The crew watching Tommy's 2nd scene

Production Assistants:
Lauren kilpatrick
Alison Blalock

Special Thanks:
Texas Tech University national Ranching Heritage Center
Wesley Welch – Spade Ranches

"Guns Up"