Taste Bud Overdrive with The Fresh Olive Co!

Our taste buds were maxed out last week as we filmed a series of recipe films showing off a range of tantalising new 'Belazu' products from The Fresh Olive Co. We shot the preparation of sumptuous dishes such as Butterflied Spiced Chicken and Pomegranate Couscous and Chargrilled Beef Kefta with Tomato and Smoked Paprika. Nice! Needless to say it was rather hard concentrating on what we were filming with the waft of Rose Harissa, fresh mint and toasted almonds in the air...

Shooting over 3 days at the fabulous Faith House (a kitchen frequently used by Jamie Oliver), we filmed a total of 10 Moroccan/Mediterranean recipes using the awesome Canon C300 and the Canon 5DMk2 (our camera B). We used various primes for some juicy close-up shots (when the couscous reminds you of Laurence of Arabia, you know you're doing something right) and a tall yellow ladder came in rather handy when getting those ever important overhead shots of steaming chicken, spinach and chickpea stew (and the like).

DOP Mark created a soft lighting design with a little bit of shape using a 400wt HMI (the 5ft Deido Oxodome), Kino Diva lights and the Lowell Blender for perfectly backlighting our packshots. 

Save for a couple of steamy lenses and a mysterious beeping sound (finally discovered to be a dying landline phone hiding behind a curtain) the shoot was a pretty smooth affair and all involved were quite remarkable at sticking to the rather tight schedule (a running theme for Hi-Gloss it seems!).

Come July we have another 10 delicious recipes to shoot. Watch this space for more info re film release dates (so impressed were we, we haven't been short of homemade packed lunches all week). 

  

The Team: (From left) Producer Lorna Pitman, Hair & Make up artist Patrizia Lio, Director Sam Harvey, our presenter George (FOC), Ali (FOC), DOP Mark Moreve and Sound Recordist/1st assistant Craig Connibeare

Lights, Camera, (bedroom) Action!

So, we are very happy to announce that the shoot for our comedy short film, Position Filled was a resounding success! Last weekend we took to Stratford's rather fabulous Staybridge Suites and managed to shoot every shot on the storyboard (and then some) in the space of just 14 hours. It was a LONG day but we ploughed on through thanks to the absolutely fantastic cast and crew assembled, and the utter ridiculousness of the screenplay (keeping us all highly amused along the way).

Our lead lady Juliet Catton was absolutely sensational as the fragile Helen whom attends an intense interview after an extremely heavy night of partying. Never before has it been so hard to stay tight lipped during a take and never before have we laughed so hard at the end of one. The panel of 3 interviewers (George Collie, Amanda Reed and Andrew MacDonald) were also excellent and managed to convey just the right level of intensity/confusion needed for the scene. Director Sam Harvey did a grand job of keeping the energy raised on set whilst watch tapping producer Lorna Pitman kept us all in check. DOP Mark Moreve was on superb form and were it not for his fast thinking/acting attitude we would never have gotten through the shot list. He and his boys were a joy to work with and their humour also helped carry us through to the evening when the hotel suite we were using had morphed in to something akin to a crack den/brothel! Runners Stuart and Jorge were on hand to help us clear the mass of equipment, refreshments, costumes and props we had amassed within that little room. Hot and sweaty is an understatement, speaking of which props must also go to hair and make up artist Selen Hurer. We've never seen such realistic sweat as it glistened on the foreheads of two of our main players during a particularly intense exchange. At the end of the shoot we left just as exhausted as these two (but absolutely thrilled with the results!).

We shot with the Canon C300 (seems to be our go to camera these days) and some awesome Canon primes (14mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 100mm) and a Canon Zoom lens (24 -70mm). 

We achieved 3 very different looks over four scenes (Bright morning/stuffy board room/late night) and one hell of a nice glint on a sequined party dress (below!). 

We intend to start the edit next week to follow on with the grade (with Davinci Resolve) next month. We're also very excited about the original score being penned by talented musician Thomas Aplin (Some Planes Land). Thanks also to Behind the Scenes man Alex Valls for these wonderful pictures and BTS video (coming soon!).

More news re Position Filled and various other projects soon. Over and out.

This week, we've been sucking up fashion culture like Meryl no doubt did for her role in The Devil Wears Prada! We started out filming the gorgeous star of The Hills, WhitneyPort (below with Director Sam and DOP Alex) for a top secret add campaign. It was all glitz, glamour and wind machines and we're sure the footage and pictures are going to be STRIKING. Watch this space for more info on the films release.

Next we shot an interview with the lovely Philip Treacey at his amazing work shop in South London. Philip walked us through the creative process and talked to us about his inspirations behind the truly magnificent hats he's created for artists such as Lady Gaga, Madonna and Naomi Campbell. Here's a picture of Director Sam with Phillip and in the diamante bowler hat made famous by Grace Jones!

All of this and we've still found time to knuckle down and start the storyboarding process for 'Position Filled', the comedy short we are due to shoot on the 20th of this month (ie, NEXT WEEK!). Props have been arriving all day today and we've booked in the location for a rehearsal with our actors next week. EXCITED doesn't cover it.

>

Position Filled: Short Film Prep!

Just a quick heads up re a cool comedy short we are planning to film in April - 'Position Filled'. We are again shooting with the trusty Canon c300 (with some NICE prime lenses) and have a worthy crew assembled. We are now just looking for a make up artist and sifting through colourist applications to grade said project (as well as casting, of course). If anyone else out there looking to be involved (we have some budget not a lot), do get in touch. The final product is going to rock and we plan on submitting to a plethora of festivals. Exciting!

Also, here are a few more production shots from last months fun shoot with actor Drew Davies.

Up and Over

Well some of the Spinning Glass Films team scaled the O2 arena in Londons windy wet weather... IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE IT...DO IT....IT'S BRILLIANT!!!

Bed, Blending & Brandy

Plenty of fun was had on our short shoot... two locations in eight hours with twelves pages of story boards to motor through and 24 sugary doughnuts to munch....

..the end product looking great! (Just heading into the grade!)

Storyboard Madness for short film shoot.....

Whats behind the door in Studio 4?

You will have to wait and see!!

Hello 2013 what delights will you bring?

Another year is over and a new one begins! The latter half of last year was jam packed with Gloss teams scattered around the globe developing, creating and producing dynamic concepts and content for online, broadcast and print, but most fun was had in our home town, London, working on capturing the vibe of the 2012 London Olympics and interviewing some of our sporting heros such as Louis Smith and Alistair Brownlee.

2013 promises to be an exciting year, as Hi-Gloss continues to successfully work alongside high profile artists and corporate brands it is also in pre-production of an in-house, London based feature film. More details to follow... over and out..