Sweet Pictures announces new Discovery Channel commission

Sweet Pictures are excited to announce that we have been commissioned to make a new six part series for Discovery  Network Europe's 3D channel.

The project is currently under wraps - as soon as we have a broadcast date we will let you all the exciting details.

Follow our progress here - https://www.facebook.com/sweetpicturestv

Gearing Up

Sweet Pictures has been investing in some cool kit recently.

 

We have developed a slider for our Canon 5D kit which has eight internal bearings running on four titainium rails and can take a load of up to 250kgs. Maybe a little over engineered but it produces great results!

Check out this vid we put together for Honda recently. The opening and closing shots are filmed with our slider and Canon 5D kit.

We have also added to our collection a full broadcast kit that we are currently using on Sweet Pictures projects as well as hiring it out. The Sony XDCAM HD422 PDW f800.

To compliment this great camera we have bought Canon HJ11 and a Canon HJ22 lenses, a Sachtler tripod and several other must have accessories.

 

 

All our kit goes out on location in professionally fitted peli cases.

This week the kit has arrived back from the Moto GP in Aragon where it was used by Century TV to produce the BBC's coverage on BBC2.

 

The Sony f800 working in Israel filming a feature for Uefa Champions League Weekly.

 

 Don with presenter Azi Farni working on the MotoGP

It has been a very busy start to 2012 for Sweet Pictures. This year has brought a shift to more DSLR shooting on the Canon 5D and a continuation of stereoscopic work, this time with the new Sony TD300.


On a trip to Cyprus in February, we filmed a sequence with a football coach for IMG Media on a Sony F3 and Canon 5D. To give grading options in the edit we used the S-Log recording option on the F3 and to help with clarity, we worked with some mint Angenieux lenses which made our day.

London

Also in February Sweet Pictures worked with London based NZ band 'Melic' to shoot a music video for their single, Nowhere I'd Rather Be. This was shot on 3 Canon 5D's and a Canon 7D and edited by Kieran Humphries.

Korea!

 Shooting from the front window of a Seoul subway train created a fantastic 3D travelling sequence for an episode of a new doco Don shot in March. Using the new Sony TD300 was a joy and with it's depth budget guidelines built into the viewfinder, much of the guess work was eliminated.

The camera is a similar size to a Sony PMW500 and about the same weight. This made it perfect for Steadicam work.

Hong Kong

Working for IMG Media once again, Don headed to Hong Kong to help cover the 50th Rolex China Sea Race. A yacht race that starts in Hong Kong and finishes in Subic Bay in the Philippines.

We played around with some Canon tilt shift lenses which worked well for timelapse photography in a big busy city like Hong Kong.

Don sailed on the a Dubois 90 named Genuine Risk, taking with him a Canon 5D kit and a Sony HXR-NX70U. 

Ukraine

Shooting in the Ukraine for UEFA was next on the agenda where Don was producer for some pick ups of newly finished stadiums for the UEFA EURO 2012 competition.

We filmed the stadiums with a cineflex ball and although the weather let us down, we managed to capture just enough footage to get the job done.

3D Production

Sweet 3D has been busy with a 4 week long 3D shoot on our new Panasonic 3D camera.

With the details of the shoot still under wraps we can't publish any production information but here are some photos of the team on location.

UEFA Aerials

With the 2012 Euros on their way, UEFA sent Don out to Eastern Europe to produce aerial footage of the host cities and their stadiums.

The aerials were filmed on a cineflex owned and operated by ACS (Aerial Camera Systems).

The production coordinator on location was Sylviane and the pilot was Louis, both from Heliandco in Belgium. The 3 week shoot went without any major problems and UEFA were satisfied with the result.

'once again, we're really happy with what has been filmed'.  Alex Ingham, Producer, UEFA

 

Warsaw Stadium.

Man vs Mito

Don was recently employed to film this exciting race between and Alfa Romeo and Iwan Thomas.

Check it out!

Sweet New Video for 'I Am Giant'

Sweet Pictures has been busy directing and producing the latest music video for rock band I Am Giant.



The video was shot on 2 Canon 5D's with Jon Hill as the director of photography and Max Friswell was the director of photography on 2nd unit.

Their rushes were cleverly cut together by Kieran Humphries, who has put in some long hours on the edit.

Alongside I Am Giant, the video starred Lucy Drive and was shot in an old church in Paddington, London.


Make Up - Nikki Springall and Leila
Lighting Assist - Leon Menzies
Camera Assist -  Andy Smith
Production Assist - Kieran Hall

 

I Am Giant performing.

 

Lucy Drive

Production assistant Kieran Hall helping out by doubling as an extra.

 

Director Don Rutherford working the clapper board.

Moto GP

Last week Don worked for Century TV providing the BBC with a live broadcast at the Silverstone Moto GP.

 Working on a Sony PDW F800 XDCAM, Don shot features in the days leading up to race day and went live on BBC2 from the starting grid before qualifying and racing. The program had a record number of viewers - 2.2 million people watched the race on Sunday, twice as many as in 2010.

Windsor Express

The Windsor Express has picked up on our recent success with The Last Duel and have written a great article here.

Sweet Pictures wins Best Short Film at B.I.F.F.

Sweet Pictures is delighted to announce that we are the winners of Best Short Film at the British Independent Film Festival. Our film 'The Last Duel' was produced by Anna and written and directed by Don here at Sweet Pictures. Many of our friends and colleagues put long hours into the making of this short film so it is fantastic that we can be recognised for all our hard work.

You can read more about our film on the official website - www.thelastduel.com

And here is and article by Surrey Life magazine about our recent success. News reports can also be found in the Wairarapa Times Age and the Staines Informer this week.

A Busy Start to 2011

Sweet Pictures have been super busy so far this year. As well as working hard on a few exciting projects which are in development, we have also been out on location. The highlights so far are; producing a behind the scenes film for Loop TV featuring England footballer Peter Crouch in a Mars advert.

And working for Wing Productions to film behind the scenes footage for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 team.

Volvo Ocean Race, Camper Promo Video

Last week Don was in Palma, Majorca shooting a promotional film for the Volvo Ocean Race. It was great to work with some of the sailors and also to visit Camper's flagship store.

Here is the video - enjoy!

Toy Soldiers TX

Check out the latest documentary by John Walsh on BBC 1 tomorrow...

 

Don shot the majority of this compelling documentary about what children go through while there parents are abroad with the Armed Services.

Karate Kids - a Bafta Nomination!

Good luck to John Walsh (Walsh Bros) the Bafta's this weekend with his BBC documentary: Karate Kids.  Producer/Director of this documentary; John has been nominated for a Bafta in the Childrens Factual category and Sweet Pictures will be crossing fingers and toes for the win. Don from Sweet Pictures was the director of photography on this documentary and it was edited by our good friend Si at Green Rock.

Karate Kids, narrated by David Tennant, follows the lives of two mates who have cerebral palsy.
One young man has more ability to communicate than the other, so between them they help each other out and have a good laugh along the way. It's a really touching insight into the world of young people and their tough attitudes to life. Good luck John!

Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride Video

Sweet Pictures was commissioned to produce a short promotional video for The Prostate Cancer Charity.  The video was to help promote the Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride and you can view the video on their video page (click me!). The video is the second video from the top and is called Training ride with Rapha Condor Sharp.

The video was very well received and The Prostate Cancer Charity were stoked with the results -




"Thanks for sending video through - we all think it is great!!"

The Last Duel Private Screening

The week Sweet Pictures held a private screening of our short film, The Last Duel, for the Englefield Green community.

About 40 people came to watch the film and it was very well received. Local historian Chris Rowley requested a copy of the film for the Egham Museum and also offered to put us in touch with the Great Great Granddaughter of Cournet (one of the main characters in the film).

 

 

Anna catching up with Michael Dacre, who played Cournet in the film.

Don chatting to Chris Rowley. Local historian and author of the book "The Last Duel".

Thanks to the Village Centre for having us in their newly renovated hall.

"The Tell"

Several months ago Sweet Pictures helped produce a short film called "The Tell" for a competition called Straight 8.

Directed by Kieran Humphries, the film made it through to the official selection for the Straight 8 festival. The film was shot on one roll of super8 film and could not be edited in any way. The sound track was added 5 days after the film was shot and both the film and sound track were delivered to be judged alongside 250 other films.

We now have a copy of the film and you can see it HERE!

The Great Tour

Sweet Pictures has been working for The Great Tour to produce daily content for their blog... It was a tough job but involved cycling some of the most spectacular coastline the UK has to offer. 

Check out one of the videos Sweet Pictures produced - HERE

The Last Duel is Finished!

Sweet Pictures has been working on a short film called The Last Duel for the past year.
We are happy to announce that it is now finished. We put together a big push to get the film finished to meet the submission deadline for the The London Film Festival. While we are waiting to see if we have been selected, we have decided to hold a private screening.

If you are interested in joining us please don't hesitate to get in touch - info@sweetpictures.tv