Sambujak Productions is currently working on post-production of their upcoming project “Trees”, which will be screening on Friday, December 9th.  Keep an eye on the Production Website, and check them out on Facebook and Twitter!

By strange coincidence, the first two commercials this year are alcohol-related!

For a bit of background, each student production company (usually group of 5) is required to produce two 30-second commercials this term, and we stipulate that at least one of them must be a real client (to give the project a bit more of a reality-check).

First up was a project for Heineken Beer which illustrates the old saying about, boy meets girl, boy chooses the wrong beer, other boy who chooses the “right” beer gets the girl.

Second up, was a spot for Industry Bar & Grill in Richmond selling on the idea that no matter what might happen by accident, it’s all good for this bar’s patrons!

“Complicity” won for best Drama.

Written and Directed by Dylan Adkins, Produced by Lauren Weidel, Edited by Justin Li, Director of Photography – Jordan Lee, Assistant Director – Courtney Dunsmoor-Farley, Audio Supervisor – Denis Falardeau.

Judges’ Comments:

• Initial impression- STYLISH!
• Great sequences with good composition
• Superior use of music to create tension
• Excellent editing, music transitions/fx and timing
• Lighting was very good
• While the story was slightly campy and silly, it still grabs your attention, keeps you involved and is well constructed.

And their mockumentary, “Shadow Hands” won for Best Comedy!

Written by Denis Falardeau and Dylan Adkins, Produced by Courtney Dunsmoor-Farley, Directed by Denis Falardeau, Edited by Justin Li, Director of Photography: Jordan Lee, Assistant Director: Lauren Weidel, Audio Supervisor: Dylan Adkins.

Judges’ Comments:

• Great delivery- were they professional actors?
• Excellent!  Drew me in after the slow beginning
• Professional Actors?  Well crafted and good storytelling
• Very well done, truly enjoyed it!

It’s worth noting that their second production, Complicity, was shot in HD on the Canon 7D, our first production to use a digital SLR for a major project. Very cool!

Shadow Hands: A Mockumentary from Zut Alors on Vimeo.

Complicity from Zut Alors on Vimeo.

We’ll have the HD versions of these commercials coming to Vimeo in the near future as well (they’re uploaded in standard-def 16:9 widescreen on YouTube for the time being).

Standard Def Commercials ( January 19 to March 11 )

Hi-Def Commercials ( March 16 to April 8 )

Hi-Def on Vimeo

First off on Tuesday was a spot for helping asthma sufferers using the “Buteyko Breathing Method“, where a couple spending a nice warm summer day in the park deals with an asthma attack using a special breathing technique.

On Thursday we made our way to Tsawwassen and onto the Boundary Bay beach to shoot a commercial for Kayotics Skimboards.  Our actor made a fairly quick transition from his day-to-day work in a cubicle to a more exciting work locale.

Also this week was a commercial spot for ZipCar, a short-term car rental service available in the metro-Vancouver area.  In this case, it’s particularly useful for short shopping trips, especially when your hands are full!

First up this week was a commercial for Fruit of the Loom underwear.  Thanks to the kind folks at Knowledge: for allowing us to use their studio for the white cyc background.

Next up was a commercial for Purdy’s chocolates – allowing a young businesswoman who has a less than successful presentation, but melts the hearts of the board members with a box of tasty chocolates!

Coming up soon – our first commercial productions using our new P2-HD HPX-300 cameras.  We are happy to be teaching tapeless workflows!  When combined with our Facilis and Omneon servers, it’s a potent combination.

First up was SoftMoc shoe cleaner.  Shot in-studio and on location, showing the product and giving an example of the real-world messes it might have to clean up!

Next was a commercial for Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey – illustrating the hazards of attempting a romantic encounter when alcohol is involved…

Some of our second-year students showed up with a bit of HD production gear to shoot behind the scenes video for use in a promotional video which should be showing up in a few weeks.