Black Ice Media

Ice Skills

emery — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:10:54 +0000

Well its been a busy bit since I last posted. A lot has happened, Christmas, a Ski Trip, 10 Pats Games. ice fishing, a sick week and loads of visiting with family and friends. But I am finally back in the groove and getting done what I have to get done. The emails for weddings has drastically increased so I guess that is in the air as well. In the mess of all this I did manage to get some work completed rather quickly that I can post and will have a few more vids coming in the next few months. For now its my monthly stronghold and some work I did with the Regina Pats. Below is the video from the Skills Competition they had. Really a fun time for me as I get to strap on some skates and follow the action. If your a local Regina-ian and you don’t check out the Pats I strongly suggest you do. Its great entertainment and they love fans that get involved. You can check them out on their website and youtube or if you follow Black Ice on facebook or twitter you can connect through those avenues. See you at the Rink.

Cleanrite

emery — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:46:48 +0000

Recently I have been working for a company out of Hamilton shooting some video’s for a new option DirectWest has. I have been shooting them but not doing the editing work. Which works out fine for me as I have lots to finish on my own anyways. So here is the first video I’ve done for this.

Social Twit

emery — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 22:51:11 +0000

Anyone who follows my website has no doubt seen some major changes very recently. You may have also noticed the addition of two familiar icons on the home page. Black Ice is now on Twitter and Facebook trying out this social media thing. More often than not it will point back to the website. But this is not to say I don’t have other ideas.

Essentially it shouldn’t matter where you look or what you do, it will be easy to get in touch with Black Ice Media. So keep in touch whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, web bookmarks, Linkedin, RSS (yep I’m working on the last two) or whatever else they come out with next.

November Nostalgia

emery — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 03:20:25 +0000

I was trying to pull my act together and post something different. Then BAM, my website had issues. Actually it got hacked. Jerks. Anyway, instead of posting what I was going to I figured I would save it for later and post something better late than never. A few years back, I think ’06 when I was still in film school, I did a project for class that was going into a national competition. The competition was put on by the NFB. They supplied some stock footage and we created videos about peace. While making the video, I looked back in my life and realized 2 things.

1. Being in Canada, I have always experienced peace.

2. In all the time I experienced peace, I couldn’t think of a time the world wasn’t in some turmoil or at war.

I began to question the idea of peace. Our soldiers, people that could have been my neighbour, were giving their lives through my entire life and I realized this wasn’t really peace. I got angry and I wanted to make a stance. My initial idea was out of raw emotion, which I canned because it only conveyed anger. So with some time and thought, I re-edited my video and came up with a concept I hoped would make people realize that war is not the answer for peace. In fact, it’s the opposite. And at the same time I wanted our military to look at this and feel that I still supported them personally. Not sure if I truly accomplished that.

As it turned out, my video got short listed to the top 10 English videos in Canada. It was voted on week by week where it made it to the final four before the NFB picked a winner. If I had to guess, I think mine would have been out the next week if the public still voted. But 4th isn’t bad. To this day, I have mixed emotions about this project. I think there is something really direct about what I did with it which made it a little more unique and what I think some people connected to. The thing about this video that make me most proud is that in the top ten there was no other one like it. My message was loud and clear. My tone was dark yet somehow patriotic. Every other project top listed was overly light and bubbly. Mine felt like the truth rather than smoke and mirrors. But I guess it would seem like that to me.

Understanding Prescriptions Video

emery — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:59:44 +0000

Below is a corporate video shot last year around this time. It has a little animation, a two camera set up and incorporated slides. Corporate videos are what they are. The serve a purpose and this is how is one way to make them a little more appealing. The more flexible you are on style the more entertaining and engaging the video can be. This simple set up is fairly standard when it comes to this sort of corporate video. All the video’s can be found here.

Every End Is A New Beginning

emery — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:12:59 +0000

Well It was a bit of a rollercoaster, it always is, with this years weddings coming to an end and next years requests all ready coming in. Its kind of relieving that this past weekend was the last of my shooting but realistically there is lots of work left. The end of my wedding season only marks new endeavors, the Regina Pats start their season Friday night and when I am not doing that I am locked in my dark basement finishing up the years work. Hopefully I can move on quickly and even spare some time to update my own personal work. Its a nice thought anyways. On top of all this I turned 30, yikes! So to sum it all up, heres to turning the page.

Photo From Bailey and Blair Wedding Courtesy of Jess Laine Elise Photography.

Getting Ready For Tonight: Regina Pats Pre-Season

emery — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 20:11:06 +0000

Tonight is the first night back to work for the Pats. We are testing out a new wireless camera system and if all goes well you will get a taste of it in the season. In honour of the start of the season just around the bend, I’m posting the Play Shop Pats promo from last year. We used one of the cameras the hockey team owns so unfortunately its not HD quality. I am hoping we re-do some of these with my gear just to make it look a little better/plus add a few vids to K9′s belt, but we’ll see what this season holds.

Another note, the version I have posted is the full version, so it’s a little different than what you have seen at the rink but I’m sure you will only notice the length. There were 4 versions made, 3 of them in varying lengths went to the Pats and this is the 4th. Enjoy.

More Pre-Shoot

emery — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 00:54:54 +0000

There are always different ways to make your wedding stand out for your guests. Video is one of the ways people are creating a memory or capturing moments. Whether you want to create something totally original or you have an idea based on something you saw at another wedding or online.

If you want to copy something you have seen before, find a way to personalize it for yourself. Take for example, Melissa and Derek who felt inspired by Carlo and Kate Melino. So when you add Melissa and Derek’s life to this clip you end up getting the video below. If you want something similar or something totally original you know where to come. Enjoy.

Music
Baby One More Time – Britney Spears Taking Care Of Business – BTO Good Vibrations – Marky Mark
I Like It – Enrique Iglasias Behold A Lady – Outkast Flying Home – Marius Vries

Music Video vs. Photo Slideshow

emery — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 19:11:57 +0000

One of my pet peeves at weddings is the photo slideshow. Not because I hate the idea, in fact the sentiment of it is beyond great, I just hate the platform. Video is so much more powerful than slide programs. With video you have the strength to do what ever you can imagine and you can time it. I find with slideshows when you want pictures to show up at a specific time you can’t get them to and often the pace runs a lot slower than they should because it’s defined by the transition. I also find the transitions to be tacky, dated and for the most part overused. People tend to stick as many effects in as possible and nothing seems to flow. A simple video with animation is much nicer, smoother and less dated because you can control everything. The problem with this is cost, animation takes time. So really its a toss up of what you want.

With that said if you do want to stand out, video is the way to go. The possibilities are limitless and no matter how creative you want to be video is already prepared to handle it. I’ve done a few animated shows and this year I have done a few pre wedding shoots. So just to show you an example of the flexibility of video, here is a video we shot to replace a photo slideshow. It does have elements of the slide show to personalize it a little more. We didn’t go straight into video so that their guest were expecting a typical slideshow. Basically the video is our version of Rodney Atkins video for Farmer’s Daughter. The song is obviously the same so if you like it you can find it on iTunes.

Put Me In, Coach

emery — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:40:23 +0000

Long overdue, here are the top 4 pictures (action shots) that I promised/got permission for from the Fighting Saints ball team this year. Each shot is raw and unedited. Enjoy.

(Nov. 10. 2011 WordPress changed the picture settings so these can only be displayed in this small form)

Batter Up

Catchers Ready

The Pitch

The Swing