Sensory Launches New Site for Nothing Special Productions

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Adam FLiK

Nothing Special Productions Website

Nothing Special Productions Website

Nothing Special Productions, a theatre group preforming in Chicago as well as the Elgin Arts Showcase, needed a website. And who better to get the job done than Sensory Productions? When Nick Cardiff, Brian Rohde and Mikey Laird came to us with the project, we knew it would be a good one. We have worked with the group on a few short film projects, and have seen many of the plays they have produced. We love their creativity and sense of humor, and knew working with them to create their online identity would be an awesome collaborative process.

To start off, we knew that the goal of this site would be to allow visitors to really get to know the cast members of Nothing Special. The best way to do this would be through the use of photography. We started with the header of the site. Probably the most important piece of any website is it’s header. The first image you see, and the most prominent part of any page, the header has to catch attention or people may just pass by. For Nothing Special, we wanted to do something different than the standard logo at the top of the page. We wanted to capture the playful nature of the group.

What we decided on was a stop motion animation of the three founding members at the park. We had three signs printed out that read “NOTHING” “SPECIAL” and “PRODUCTIONS” giving each of them one to hold. Then we set them loose in Wing Park. The final product is an interactive image with the three members swinging on the swings. We continued shooting for hours, capturing them throughout the park with the signs.

website header

The next goal was to capture them in their natural environment: the theatre. With lots of stage props around, we set up some lighting, gave them a little direction, and let them do what they do best: be characters. We now had enough great photography to build 4 websites. The hardest part would be to pick just a few images.

With all the imagery we created, the rest of the site was pretty simple. We wanted to let the characters themselves shine, so we built a nice clean Flash website with a virtual stage to showcase everything. Being writers themselves, they had no problem coming up with lots of text content for the site.

NSP Blog

NSP Blog

The last step was to give the site a way to really stay alive. The best way to do this was to create a blog for the site. With a blog, Nothing Special Productions can continually update the content, keep people informed of upcoming shows and events, and really give the site a life of it’s own to keep people coming back for more. We used the WordPress structure and created a theme to match the site, and the rest was history. So check out the site, and if you get a chance, see one of their upcoming shows in Elgin or Chicago.

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Sensory Productions Launches New Website for Trace

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Adam FLiK

After the grand reopening of the bar in Wrigleyville last year, Trace made the move to relaunch their website to showcase the remodeled space. Trace is a rock ‘n’ roll themed bar in Wrigleyville, less than a block North of Wrigley Field, and is a great place to grab a craft beer before or after a Cubs game, or to just hang out and enjoy some great music. The bar received a 4 o’clock liquor license and changed the slogan to “Rock ‘N’ Roll in Wrigleyville ‘Til 4AM.” With all of the redesigning of the space, the logo and the late night atmosphere, it was time to redesign the website as well.

Trace Website

Trace Website

Sensory Productions has been working with Jason Akemann and Nathan Hilding of Bottleneck Management for over 2 years now, doing graphic design, web design, and photography for their 2 other locations in Chicago, Boundary and Sweetwater. Sensory also worked with Bottleneck last year on the redesign of the Trace logo and signage. It was a great opportunity to give Trace a unique new online presence, while delivering a visually engaging Flash based website that matched the overall visual style of the other Bottleneck locations.

Bottleneck Websites

Bottleneck Websites

After brainstorming some ideas, we wanted to stick to Trace’s rock ‘n’ roll theme, so the site was designed to look like a guitar amplifier. And this amp goes to 11! Each one of the knobs brings the viewer to a new page with more visuals and information about the establishment. For the background of the site, a wall of torn and distressed rock posters litter the wall. But these aren’t just any posters, they are copies of the originals hanging throughout the rooms of Trace. The rock poster theme is also mirrored in the event posters that Sensory creates for Trace.

Andrew Fraker Poster designed by Sensory

Andrew Fraker Poster designed by Sensory

And what website would be complete without some great images of the establishment itself? Sensory did a 2 night photo shoot at Trace to really highlight the remodeled space. Using the HDR (high dynamic range) photography technique we used when photographing Boundary and Sweetwater, we really brought out the detail of the beautiful new space. Hopefully people will feel like they’ve been there before they even walk through the door.

trace-1

http://tracechicago.com

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Harley Davidson and Sensory Productions ride out for a noble cause

Posted on April 28, 2010 by Jordan

The Lovely ladies of the JSB & Sensory Productions

Jordan, Adam and Gregger pose with the lovely ladies of the Elgin Junior Service Board

Sensory Productions partnered with the Elgin Junior Service Board to produce a commercial for Zylstra Harley Davidson. The JSB is a philanthropic organization made up of local women volunteers who together have created a wide range of social welfare programs for under-served women and children in the Fox Valley area. The lovely ladies of the JSB suited up in denim and leather and choreographed a dance routine for the piece.

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Sensory Productions Acquires New Production Package

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Adam FLiK

Sensory Productions' new Production Package (click for full size)

As a growing company, we felt that it was time to step up our production value to the next level. Shooting standard definition, interlaced footage is quickly becoming a thing of the past, especially for a professional film and video production house like Sensory Productions. After a year and a half, we decided that it was time to upgrade to a broadcast quality HD package. After shopping around for suppliers, we chose Able Cine Tech after talking with Gregger Jones.

Sony PMW ex3

The lifeblood of this package was of course, the camera. Careful consideration went into choosing a camera that would fit our needs and our budget. In the end, we went with the Sony PMW EX3 for the following reasons:

  1. 3 full 1920×1080 pixel sensors.
  2. ½ inch sensors
  3. switchable lenses
  4. broadcast quality
  5. frame rates from 1-60 frames per second
  6. tapeless recording

Arri light kit

But no matter how good a camera is, an image won’t look great without good lighting. We chose an Arri 3 light kit with one 650 watt, one 300 watt, and one 150 watt Fresnel light. With the 300 watt Altman we already had, we now have a nice variety of lighting for most shooting situations.
As supplemental lights, we picked up 4 clip on lights from Ace Hardware for $10 each. With 150 watt bulbs in them, they put out some good fill light for backgrounds at a great price.

Sensory Productions Mobile Recording Package

Field Recording Package

In film and video, the sound is just as, if not more important than the image. We put together an audio bag for external sound mixing and recording. The kit includes a Sound Design 302 3 channel professional field mixer, a Sennheiser ME66 Super Cardioid Shotgun Condenser microphone, an Samson wireless mic system, a Zoom H4N Mobile 4 Track recorder, and a power distribution system to power all of the gear from one battery. Along with a boom pole, a bag, and all of the cables we would need to make everything work nicely together, we now have a complete mobile sound recording studio.

With the main components taken care of, we could then focus on rounding out the package. For camera support, we chose the Sachtler 0750 FSB-8T tripod for it’s professional grade fluid head. We also invested in a hard camera case, lots of audio, video and electric cables, and plenty of extra batteries and SxS cards (which the Sony records to, and are still pretty pricey at $800 for 32 GB). Although there will always be more equipment to be acquired, we now have what it takes to create some stunning image and sound. Mix that up with Sensory Productions creativity, and you’ve got a recipe for cool.

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Trace Re-launch

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Adam FLiK
Trace Chicago

Trace Chicago

Sensory Productions collaborated with Jason Akemann and Nathan Hilding, owners of the Wrigleyville bar known as Trace, to help re-brand and enhance their logo. Both Jason and Nathan have a profound love of rock ‘n’ roll and wanted to see this reflected in the theme of the bar and their new logo and print campaign.

We worked closely with the owners of Trace to develop and refine their existing logo, and now we are taking it to the next level by designing a series of rock ‘n’ roll-themed posters that will showcase the bar. This imagery can be used on posters, fliers, and coffee cups, all of which draw parallels between great rock bands and the bar. Building your brand along thematic lines that have pre-established cultural relevance is an amazing way to gain widespread acceptance from public opinion, as people are already emotionally invested in what you are emulating.

After we redesigned the logo, Trace had it made into a light box sign and a painting that was reproduced for the upstairs bar. We also designed an awning with their slogan, “Rock ‘n’ Roll in Wrigleyville ‘til 4am.” When designing the exterior media for a building, it is important to take into consideration how it will mesh with the environment and the lighting. So, we paid close attention to the layout and the staging.

After working for a month on the project, we came down for the grand reopening of Trace and were blown away by the translation of our work and the amazing renovations that were executed at the bar. The reopening was a smashing success, and we look forward to working with Trace to evolve their iconography through the use of rock ‘n’ roll and graphic design.

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Large Scale Photography for Elgin Dentist

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Adam FLiK

Large scale photography by Sensory Productions

On February 25,”Tongue ‘n Chic,” a new dental boutique in downtown Elgin, had its grand opening. Sensory Productions was commissioned by Dr. Brandon Becker to create a large-scale photographic mural for the front waiting room of the office. At 18 x 11 feet, it was our largest scale project to date.

Located at 14 Douglas, the Elgin office is Dr. Becker’s third dental facility in Illinois, with an office in Lancing, and another on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. He describes his boutique as “a completely digital/paperless high tech dental office that combines general dental care with head/neck med spa services.” A far stretch from your average sterile dental office, Tongue ‘n Chic offers a warm and inviting atmosphere with amenities that you wouldn’t expect from a dental office. A comfortable waiting room, large screen TVs, and artistic décor are just the beginning of what sets it apart from other dental practices. Along with traditional dental procedures, Tongue n’ Chic offers an on-premises medical aesthetician who provides counsel for feeling and looking more youthful and healthy. These services include many treatments you would find at an upscale spa. Altogether, we found the idea to be unique, certainly to this area, and we were happy to see the idea come to Elgin.

Dr. Becker came to us with a basic idea of what he wanted in his reception area, and so the process of creating the large-scale artwork began. We first went to the location to see exactly what we were working with. The space was a reception room with an 18 x 11 foot back wall where he wanted the mural. At that size, we knew we would need a lot of camera resolution, and that could only be achieved with a medium format camera.

Our next step was to find 3 models for the photo shoot. We looked through shots of over 300 models and narrowed it to a manageable list of about 30 that Dr. Becker could choose from. We then sat down with him and chose 3 models that would achieve the aesthetic he was looking for. After contacting and hiring all 3 models, we were ready to begin the shoot.

As mentioned earlier, we needed a a high-quality, medium-format camera, in order to capture the resolution necessary for a picture of that scale that would be viewed close up by customers in the reception area. A standard 35 mm SLR (single lens reflex) camera, or its digital equivalent, would not be enough. We chose to go with the Hasselblad H3DII-39,which boasts an amazing 39 megapixels of resolution and the largest image sensor currently available—48×36 mm—more than twice the size of even the largest 35mm camera sensors. Working with this camera for the duration of the photo shoot was a great experience. We were able to hone our lighting and directing skills, and ended up with some great results.

Kelly in front of her photo at Toung 'n' Chic

After completing the photo shoot, we began the post process. This started with narrowing down the nearly 900 photos to a selection of the 10 best from each model. We then had to determine how they would best fit together, since we photographed each model separately. We came up with 5 variations of the final piece before coming to a final decision. Then began the long Photoshop process of putting the images together and enhancing them. If you have ever looked at a photograph on a billboard or in a magazine and thought that’s how the image came out of the camera, you’re not even close. Many hours, even days, go into each photo during the digital “airbrushing” process.

Finally, our job was done. We sent the digital image (almost 2 gigabytes uncompressed at this point) to Andres Imaging out of Chicago, where they printed it to vinyl and put it up on the wall at Tongue ‘n Chic. The image was unveiled at the the opening on February 25th, where we got to see our largest photograph to date for the first time. Although a lot of work goes into a project of that scale, it was well worth it when we saw the final product.

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Welcome to Sensory Productions!

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Adam FLiK

Sensory Productions

Welcome to Sensory Productions’ blog.

We will be posting our news and information here, as well as any inpiration we come across. Keep checking back to find out what’s going on at Sensory Productions, as well as what’s new in the the worlds of film, design, and technology. Don’t forget to subscribe so that you can keep up to date with everything that’s happening.

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