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San Diego Video Production
San Diego a Perfect “Set”
for Ford shoot
Inland San Diego County became a perfect backdrop for a series of recent Ford shoots. Every year Ford calls on Solana for this HD video production. It involves finding the right background to match Ford’s marketing goals for the vehicle. That’s complicated with the requirement for complete secrecy.
The cars arrive on an unmarked tractor-trailer rig. They’re rolled off disguised with custom-made canvas covers. There are cutouts for the windows so the driver can see out but the entire exterior is concealed.
Shooting the cars presents a series of complications. We usually start shooting static shots of the cars parked at interesting angles. Every time it’s moved the handlers tape over all identifying badging that is not visible to the camera. It’s a long process but it’s designed to prevent anyone from getting photos of the vehicles before they’re revealed to the public.
The real fun begins with shooting the car-to-car video. To keep the location secret we try not to pull permits or close streets. It’s a challenge to find stretches of road long enough to get the cars up to speed and capture the shots. But having spent nearly twenty years cruising around Southern California for various video productions we’ve gotten to know the area well.
We’ve also perfected a system of coordinating the cars and shooting out of the back of vans. It’s a little unorthodox, and tends to raise eyebrows with the California Highway Patrol, but it produces great shots. And the officers are generally more interested in the latest car designs than writing us tickets!
This year’s video was shot with the Sony XDHD camera. The disc based system offers some huge advantages in the field. We could play back scenes and return to recording in seconds. The HD video production was edited into short programs and distributed to local television stations around the country.
Los Angeles Video Production
Solana Wins with 'Biggest Loser' Trainer
Solana Productions captured all the drama as Jillian Michaels, fitness trainer on TV's "The Biggest Loser," invaded a former Hollywood star's home for a complete diet and fitness makeover. ...more
Client Testimonials
"Thanks again for the remarkable video production services provided for our series "Animal Miracles with Alan Thicke." Each time we are more and more impressed with your team when we shoot at various locations throughout the western United States."
Client Video Production experiences...
Oscar Night at Sir Elton's Bash
March 8, 2010
Fashion, fun and flashbulb frenzy last night -- and I was lucky enough to be in the middle of another eye-popping LA video production! That's yours truly photographed right after interviewing Sir Elton at his annual star-studded Oscar bash. The eclectic celeb turnout included past Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson, Simon Cowell, K.D. Lang, The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Tim Allen, Heidi Klum, Michelle Rodriguez, Olympic skaters Apolo Anton Ohno and Johnny Weir, Victoria Beckham, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne, Ricki Lake, Betty White and Slash (wonder what they talked about?) Loved the sparkly, dark blue sequined shoes that Elton wore -- and I must say, Simon and fiancee Mezghan Hussainy make a surprisingly stunning couple. (Her engagement ring is ginormous!) It was also a kick working right next to former Spice Girl Mel B, reporting for British TV, and alongside the friendly team from "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." For some reason, they decided to bring Costco snacks for the stars to sample. You can catch my interviews on tonight's edition of "The Insider."
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San Diego Webcast Video Production
San Diego webcast video productions come in all shapes and sizes. We began webcasting five years ago with Hewlett-Packard. Their printing division is based in San Diego. The CEO of this billion dollar business decided to address his employees world-wide on a quarterly basis.
Using four cameras and a portable production studio, this has grown into a very complex and professional-looking show. Each one is different. We’ve had live questions from China, presenters from Germany and India and web content from all over the world.
Our crews are responsible for the live production for an audience of hundreds, an overflow room with separate projector, screen and additional plasmas and the feed to the web. It usually involves a crew of about 30 and several days of production.
At the other end of the spectrum is the live San Diego webcast we recently did for “Entertainment Tonight” at the 2009 Comic-Con convention. With just one person and a laptop, we fed the “Twilight: New Moon” press conference live to the ET website.
As you can see, webcasts can be as big and complicated as a live sports production or as simple as one person and a laptop. Both put an image on the web and they both send very different messages.
Whatever your message is, you can count on Solana Productions to deliver it.