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Kvibe Productions Student Interns

Kvibe Productions have hired 6 interns, 5 of which are from New Jersey City University (NJCU). They’ll be working  with Kvibe for 3 months and will decide if they would like to stay with Kvibe Productions for a longer term commitment.

Three of the interns have said they are committed to Kvibe even after their internship because they have learned so much within a couple months from learning avid, being on set, producing a film, working with Red Cameras, DSLRS, aesthetics of filmmaking, and much more. Because of their commitment, Kvibe has a vested interest in their careers and are helping those future employees to become official at Kvibe.

As the result, we would guide the interns as much as possible and steer them in the right direction. As we moved through that process, the interns had to come up with a short film concept and script. Kvibe did their best to steer them in the right direction rather than run and gun without a plan. The interns were required to pre-visualize the scene, storyboard, scout locations, test cameras and lenses, and figure out all the logistics they can think of. The most challenging part is finding the balance of guiding and directing them. It was only right for Kvibe to watch over them and have them go through the painful mistakes they encountered.

Some examples of their mistakes of creating their own perfect storm.

Examples:

1) They were late to their own film including their cast by 1 hour.

2) Upon arriving to the gas station location, they did not assess that there was going to be any business. Cars would roll in and take 5-10 minutes to refill their car. Then more cars would line up. When the lot was empty, they were able to take the shot, however, because they did not practice the shot, they missed it and struck out 4 times.

3) They did not do enough camera testing and understand what was needed. The cinematographer should have had an understanding of photography basics, but had no idea. Kvibe had to jump into the mix to help them with their photography.

4) The direction skills were unprofessional. Being a director, you need to have all the answers, rather than ask the questions. Their needs to be empathy and that was not there. Actress wasted many hours of being idle because the production was not ready at all. That’s usually blamed on the producer and director

5) In the storyboard, all shots were written out, but wasn’t even used. I don’t remember them looking at the shot list once and staying on track with what was happening. The AD was very new to the position and did not push the crew hard enough to get things done.

Those are a few examples and there are much more on the mistakes that the students made for themselves. If you can think of any mistake, they made it. The most important thing now is to assess and to find solutions to why they made those mistakes. Is it laziness, perception, poor teaching from the school, or no work ethics?

Filmmakers who are hungry are more than eager to spend many many sleepless nights to get things right and to learn as quick as possible. These students do not have that mindset yet. Until they do, it will take them many years to get them to a better spot in their careers. Kvibe only hopes that students who do intern with Kvibe Productions understand that we don’t make “your career”, we only guide your career and it’s up to you to take advantage of the guidance with the work we bring into the company.

 

 

Maino working with Kvibe Productions

 

Director: Khoa D. Le
DP: Christian Vogeler
Assistant Director: Elia Adler
PA: Frank Bull & Mark Bowen
Main Artist: Akini
Featuring: Maino, Fred The Godson, and Godsend

Recently, we shot a music video in Long Island, NY with Akini, Maino, and Fred the Godson. It was a 1 scene performance music video titled “Living Dreams” starring Akini. This was our 2nd shoot with the Red Scarlet-X and it held up  very well. However, just like every project we do, there were issues on set that could have gone really bad. However, as Kvibe Productions, we always find a solution.

First, it was set in a location where we had to run power all over the place so we didn’t blow out the circuit. Unfortunately, we kept blowing out the circuit where we had one PA ready to flip it back on “during” the performance. That was a huge headache and a task to overcome. Since Maino and the other artist didn’t have much time to stay and work, we really had to nail these shots with one take per shot. Amazingly, we nailed many money shots that came out fantastic.

In addition, we had to wait for the cars to be moved into the facility. There were some miscommunications with the owners of the vehicles which caused a lot of delays. Just as we thought we had time to work, we ended up having to be rushed. Luckily, we were fully prepared for all of that and we easily found solutions to make it work for this project while keeping the clients very satisfied.

We lit the scene up with a 4x Arri 640w, 1x Arri 2000w, 3x Arri 150w, and a few customized kinos. Our DP was Christian Vogeler who was just fantastic. I gave him the idea of the look I was after and he really did his thing to make it eye popping.

The crew which were the Kvibe interns did a fantastic job as well! The shoot could not have happened without the skeleton crew. There will be behind the scenes footage and more still images to come in the next few blogs. Subscribe and stay tuned to our news updates!

redcine-x-595x361

Kvibe Productions is delivering a written out documentation of the Red workflow with Redcine-X Pro and Avid Media Composer 6. We think this is one of the best workflows for Red as of now since we think AMA is not ready for Red footage yet.

Please leave us comments or questions of our workflow. We are here to help!

Redcine-X Pro and Avid MC6 workflow

1)     Create New Project in Avid with appropriate name

2)     Create Bins called DNxHD36, DNxHD175, Pull Down List 36

3)     Go to Redcine-X and import all .r3d files by selecting folder

4)     Select all clips and ensure it is “Center Crop” (tool side and scroll all the way down)

5)     Export via DNxHD36 to Avid Project > Project name > Converted DNxHD36

6)     After exported, move MXF files to the Avid Mediafiles > MXF > 1 (or any number you choose)

7)     Go to Avid and import the AAF files into the DNxHD36 BIN

8)     Then import additional Metadata by selecting all clips > File > Import > ALE file

9)    Start Editing

10) After locked edit, we need to re-link to desired final quality. Within Avid, we will relink to DNxHD175 or something better. Create a bin called “Decompose”

11) Duplicate the edited sequence and move it into the Decompose Bin

12) Right click on sequence then click on Decompose

13) Create new sequence

14) Select all new clips and drag it into the timeline of the new sequence

15) Rename Sequence to “Pulldown List 175” (or whichever final format you are trying to go online)

16) Select the new sequence > tools > Output EDL

15) Go to the EDL manager window and ensure it is File _16

16) Click on “Get Sequence”

17) Save As to the Avid Project

18) Color grade footage in Red Cine-X

19) Export to DNxHD 175 or another format

20)Move MXF files to Avid Mediafiles

21) Go to Avid, import new MXF files from “MEDIA TOOLS” into the DNxHD175 Bin

22) Highlight all and import the ALE file

23) Go to Original Rough Sequence and change clip color to source

24) Highlight all DNxHD 175 clips to another color by going to Bin > Clip Color

25) Go to original sequence > right click > Relink

26) New relink sequence should appear as with new color indicating it is the new clips

27) Render out final output.

 

Be sure to write back to us and let us know your thoughts.

Red Scarlet X Test (Workflow with Red Cine-X and Avid MC6)

Kvibe Productions finally was able to get hold of the Red Scarlet X. We went outside to the park at high noon in the bright sun to test. We shot without using any filters or ND filters. We wanted to see what we were going to face if we didn’t have any of it. We packed it with just the bare minimum. Battery, Shoulder Rig, 1 Lens 85mm, follow focus, and a lot of excitement to using it in candid style.

 

Challenges:

1) We had to shoot everything at F16 (max aperture for zeiss 85) because we didn’t have any ND filters.

2) Everyone says you have to shoot at iso 800 to avoid clipping since it’s the neutral setting when bringing it in post. I tested and also tested going against that common rule and shot at iso 250 and 320. Didn’t seem to have any problems in post.

3) Hard to focus without an EVF. The monitor on the camera is awkward which is mounted on the top of the camera. It’s just extremely hard to see and focus.

4) I didn’t have the back mount for my red brick, so I bought this rope from home depot and tied it around my rails. Yes it was pretty ghetto and it had a chance of falling off ripping the cord with it. But eh, we wanted to shoot!

5) The Cinevate Durus follow focus has a problem using short lenses. The LCD cord is attached to the front part of the Red Scarlet X. The Durus Follow Focus has a very large body which gets in the way. It’s unfortunate because it’s a good follow focus.

6) The LCD could have a better touchscreen. It’s no IPAD that’s for sure.

Great things about this camera:

1) The number one thing we noticed when we used this camera was the latitude of this camera. We are so use to the DSLR that seeing footage not clipping and being able to see the details in the shadows in the BRIGHT SUN was utterly amazing!

2) It’s not heavy as I expected it to be with the rails, battery, and other gear.

3) You really don’t need a Red Rocket Card. We transcoded and edited this all within 4-6 hours.

4) Red Cine-X is a really nice free app from Red to use with this camera. The color grading is amazing without having to lose detail compared to DSLR or other compressed formats

5) The camera is built like a tank. I have so much confidence in this camera.

6) 4k lets us crop or re-frame when needed

7) It’s future proof until cinema are ready for 8k resolutions.

 

Stay tuned for another blog about the workflow from Red Cine X to Avid MC6. We will provide complete documentation step by step!

inspiration at Kvibe

Everybody picks his working place for different reasons. For me the most important feature in a working relationship is a good climate. Having dedicated colleagues, a boss who knows what he’s doing and a clear path for the future. That’s my inspiration, my backup and and my dedication.

Hope to be working with you for a long time. – Let’s do this

Red Scarlet X

Kvibe Productions will officially be working with the red camera starting this week for all future projects in films, commercials, music videos, and other related media. We will be mixing it with some DSLR footage, but hoping that we can invest into a few more Red cameras this year as the work continues to grow.

The tools and resources we have in house enables Kvibe to be a one stop shop. We are very opened to all sorts of work from full production to specific job base. If a client or another company needs a DP, we have that resource ready. If you need post production or color correction work, we are much well prepared for that task to deliver at a fast pace. If you need more creative writers on board, we house very talented staff to make it happen for you!

We are based out of New Jersey and New York, but are willing to work all over the US. Please contact us for any inquiries!