The Art of the Live Stream

Remember what it was like to stand shoulder to shoulder with strangers? Concerts, festivals, tradeshows, expos, launch parties, you remember? Prior to pandemic life, experiential marketing through live events was a bread-and-butter layup for many ad agencies, but nowadays, it’s all about the live stream.

Luckily, our studio is literally right down the street from our friends over at MeyerPro. They have all the audio/video/broadcast gear you could ever dream of and they also know how to use it!

Partnering with them in our controlled studio environment has created the perfect live stream setup for a host of clients over the past year. Since live event streaming has only become more common, and it looks like it’s here to stay, we thought it would be fun for the MeyerPro team to drop some knowledge and help us all feel a little more saavy. Here are some important takeaways to implement on your next live stream project:

Remote Onscreen Talent
You never know what you’re going to get with remote onscreen talent, so it’s important that you test their video and audio before the event goes live. Their picture, sound and lighting will most likely be all over the place, so they may need to move to a different room with better lighting or connect earbuds to avoid feedback from their laptop microphone.

Internet Speed
10Mbps is the bare minimum speed required for a successful live stream. Not just on site from your location, but for any remote onscreen talent as well. Use an ethernet cable and avoid WIFI for a more dependable connection.

The Power of the Pre-Record
Any content that can be pre-recorded should be pre-record. While that concept doesn’t sound very “live”, it will undoubtedly make for a smoother production that looks just as “live”. Not only does this take some stress away from the crew, but it gives you the opportunity to pick from a number of takes, allowing you to edit together the best of the best. Pre-records are especially useful for any long dialog that requires a teleprompter, or any artistic performances that require a higher level of control. It also, creates an environment where you have less people in the studio, which benefits health and safety.

Pre-Production
Proper planning is the most important part of pre-production. This is the oil that keeps the gears turning! A little rehearsal on the script will go a long way with the crew and talent beforehand. This will give you the chance to make sure the overall message is being clearly communicated in a way that engages your audience.

Client Communication
There is a lot more to it than just starting up Zoom and sending out email invites, which is why virtual events take time to get right. Manage your client’s expectations by helping them see the end result. A better understanding of their vision will allow you to fine tune your technical process and achieve the project’s goals.

Go to https://www.meyerproinc.com and learn more about their top-notch audio-visual & broadcast solutions!

Groundhog's Day Dithers?

Did anyone else feel like January was exceptionally long this year? Cold weather and closed tap rooms can make a long month feel even longer, but fear not, Spring is just around the corner! Luckily, we know of some fantastic February festivities that should break you out of that Groudhog's day monotony. These pandemic-friendly shindigs will be happening throughout the entire month and should hopefully keep us all a little saner as we wait for the warm weather to return. Check 'em out. Only boring people get bored...

The Cascade Festival of African Films
FEBRUARY 5 – MARCH 10, 2021

In celebration of Black History Month, make sure to check out the Cascade Festival of African Films! They’ll be hosting virtual screenings through their website all month, as they show us “Africa through the eyes of Africans”. Admission is free, but we encourage you all to donate to this important festival.

https://www.africanfilmfestival.org/

10th Annual McMinnville Short Film Festival 
FEBRUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 28, 2021

This all-virtual format will allow you to stream all 127 short films from anywhere in the world!  At only $85 for an all-access pass, this festival utilizes culturally diverse screenings to help grow the local arts community and connect local filmmakers.

https://msff2021.eventive.org/welcome

PORTLAND WINTER LIGHT FESTIVAL
FEBRUARY 12 & 13, 2021

The Portland Winter Light Festival (PDXWLF) has free admission and brings art and technology together for everyone with some much-needed February fun! They have a new format this year with art installations displayed throughout the entire city.  Check out their website below for map info.

https://www.pdxwlf.com/

2021 Biamp PDX Jazz Festival
FEBRUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 27, 2021

The PDX Jazz Festival has been a Portland staple for the last 18 years. Since limitation on gatherings prevent live in-person concerts, they’ll be adopting the virtual format with livestream performances in Portland, Havana, London, Johannesburg and Brooklyn.  Some of the performances will be free, while others will have an admission fee. Check their calendar for details on who’s playing when!

https://pdxjazz.com/festival/schedule/

Portland International Film Festival
MARCH 5 - MARCH 14, 2021

Next month, don’t miss this Portland film lover’s classic.  PIFF44 is currently selling Early Bird Passes for both virtual screenings, as well as drive-in screenings.  The 10-day festival has 80+ films, programs, and events planned from over 34 countries. Help them celebrate “the ever-changing connection between cinematic creators and audiences”.

 https://cinemaunbound.org/

Celebrating 20 Years!

CRW’s frist Portland shoot in 1994

It’s hard to make sense of the world we live in today, especially after the events that took place at our Nation's Capitol this week, however at CRW, we hope to set aside the sobering reality of the current events and reflect back on what Sergeant Pepper once said, "It was 20 years ago today…"

On January 8th, 2001, Chris Crever made the leap from freelance camera assistant to owner and operator at Cine Rent West.  Prior to the studio’s 1994 relocation to Portland, it was originally founded in 1976 by the Snazelle Film Group in San Francisco.  We can prove it with this antique shovel, which still digs just as well as it did back then.

Chris petitioned the local community to evaluate and improve the old stage on Upshur Street, which allowed him to stay connected with the film industry, while gaining a foothold in Portland's commercial real estate market. Equipment upgrades and studio renovations began bringing in a host of new clients, but after only 7 months, that renewed optimism was halted with the September 11th attacks. 
 
However, by 2002, Portland had established itself as the infomercial capital of the world. We hosted several Bowflex shoots, (you remember those!) and we began to accommodate regular projects from R2 (now RAIN), Big Shot Pictures, Z Films and Tyee. Kroger’s purchase of Fred Meyer also brought in a lot of steady food shoots with our kitchen being in close proximity to the stage. Being at the center of the sportswear apparel industry, Nike and Adidas were no strangers to coming in and using our facility.

Studio life was prosperous and plentiful, but when the 2008 economic recession hit, all the ads dried up and we had to reinvent ourselves. Tyee had become one of our biggest clients and when their production department pulled out of Portland in 2009, we used our survival instincts to start the Cine Rent West Movie Camp. With an offering of 2 eight-week courses, we partnered with school districts and the film community to provide practical instruction on script writing, acting, producing and directing. This culminated into a fun collaboration with the School of Rock where the kids produced this amazing Bohemian Rhapsody cover.  Check it out right here!

As advertising budgets started to realign across the country at the start of the 2nd decade, the iPhone and this little thing called social media began to change the entire game. Traditional broadcast spots shifted to interactive web platforms and still shoots got booked more frequently. Wieden & Kennedy became a studio staple with their award-wining Old Spice Campaigns, while Nike and Adidas continued to keep us busy with their athletic apparel rivalry.
 
Riding that digital wave through the twenty-teens brought us some much-needed LED lighting upgrades and the hiring of our top-notch stage manager, Brynden McNew.  This was also congruent with Portland’s housing boom, which led to our 2018 studio upgrade in the Northwest industrial district of Portland.  If you haven’t seen our new location, take a virtual tour right here: https://vimeo.com/396349934

Resilience in the face of adversity has been a common thread in our studio’s history, but 2020’s unparalleled pandemic might take the cake.  Luckily, the limitations on in-person gatherings have brought a silver-lining with the production of live events. Our controlled studio environment gives companies a space to record and broadcast, without the crowds. Despite this past year’s hardship, we plan to continue to provide a vital community space for Portland production. Thank you to everyone that has planned, created, and produced with us over the years.  Here's to the next twenty years!

First Looks at the ARRI Orbiter

Thanks to our friends over at PDXpenables, we recently had the chance to demo the new ARRI Orbiter at the studio.  Since tradeshow turnout was mostly non-existent over this past year, the industry hasn’t had much of an opportunity to get their hands on it.  With very few reviews on the internet, we were excited to fire it up and test out ARRI’s latest creation.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Orbiter is an LED, point source, luminaire. Our first impression as we got it mounted and lit on the stage was its versatility. With several interchangeable lenses, domes and softboxes, it provides a wide variety of options to shape and focus the output. Additionally, it has six shades of LED, (red, green, blue, amber, cyan and lime) creating more color combinations than any of ARRI’s previous LED fixtures. It also boasts a wider CCT range (2,000-20,000K) with four times the processing power and 125 times more memory than its Skypanel ancestors.

Another groundbreaking feature on the Orbiter is the ambient color sensor that matches unique color temperatures in any given environment, making it a valuable tool on location. Furthermore, it has a plethora of connectivity options (USB-C, USB-A, EtherCON LAN, camera sync, DMX, wireless DMX, SD) with a control panel that can be physically removed via tether, making it easier to manipulate if mounted high on a stand.

ARRI’s product specs describe it as “ultra-bright” so we were a little disappointed when comparing it to their M18. The Orbiter’s lumin rating hasn’t been released yet, but after seeing how much brighter their flagship HMI was, it’s hard to imagine this light as a key on set.  Lastly, like many fixtures in the ARRI family, it’s quite pricey. You can purchase the fixture for around $6K, but the light does not turn on without an ARRI made lens. So, by the time you’ve bought all the accessories and a case, you’re looking at $10-15K out the door. As rental houses begin to offer the Orbiter, we’ll be interested to see how much that day rate will be.  If it’s not priced competitively, it could be challenging for producers and DPs to utilize it on set.

Changing the Game with LED Video Walls

There will probably always be a place in this world for green screen, but that methodology is becoming outdated as LED video walls become more prevalent in VFX production.  We recently had a local client install a 40X18 back wall with 2 side walls and a ceiling, all built out of monitors that displayed content seamlessly throughout the entire set. As the camera moved and changed perspective, the content displayed on the walls itself would move relative to the camera position. While there are lots of different types and sizes on the market, most models use a real-time game engine to represent dynamic, digital landscapes on LED screens.

BTS footage from The Mandalorian has famously shown us what the technology can do on a large scale. Actors can say goodbye to goofy motion capture suits, allowing their performances to become more authentic in an environment that feels real.  In addition, scene changes on set take a fraction of the time, all of which can be done from the comfort of a controlled studio environment.  

Check this video for more info on how this technology is changing the game: BTS The Mandalorian

Make a Plan to Vote!

The Oregon Voter Registration Deadline is October 13th, 2020

Since we're now less than 30 days away from Election Day, we're going off book a bit to share some important information on voting. We've recently seen one presidential debate, one vice-presidential debate and one housefly that blew up the internet. Bizarre national politics aside, we can't forget about our local government. There are a lot of measures on the ballot this year in Multnomah County, so we thought we'd discuss some of the basics.

If you've been hiding under a rock, we don't blame you, it's been a crazy year.  However, that probably means you have some reading to do on a whole bag of really important issues. It also might mean that you need to get registered to vote if you haven't already. To help with that, we've provided some descriptions and links on several of the upcoming ballot measures in our area, as well as some information on registration.

Multnomah County Ballot Measures

For those of you based in the Portland area, here's a list of local county measures that will be on your ballot. You should be receiving your voter's pamphlets this week in the mail.  These provide a lot of objective information on our state ballot measures as well as information on each candidate running for office at the local, state and federal levels.  Make sure to read it thoroughly to help inform your decisions!
(Source: ballotpedia.org - click each title for more information)

Measure 26-211 (Library Bond Issue)
-A "yes" vote supports authorizing the county to issue $387 million in bonds to finance library renovations and imposing a property tax of $61 per $100,000 of assessed value to repay the bonds.

-A "no" vote opposes authorizing the county to issue $387 million in bonds to finance library renovations.

Measure 26-213 (Recreation & Parks Levy)
-A "yes" vote supports enacting a tax at the rate of $80 per $100,000 of assessed property value for five years beginning in 2021 to fund recreational programs and park services.

-A "no" vote opposes enacting a tax at the rate of $80 per $100,000 of assessed property value for five years beginning in 2021 to fund recreational programs and park services.

Measure 26-214 (Income Tax - Tuition Free Preschool)
-A "yes" vote supports establishing a tuition-free preschool program; imposing an additional 1.5% income tax on households with income over $200,000 and an additional 3% income tax on households with income over $400,000; and increasing the additional rate for households with income over $200,000 to 2.3% in 2026.

-A "no" vote opposes establishing a tuition-free preschool program and imposing an additional income tax to fund it, thus maintaining the existing income tax rate of 1.25%

Measure 26-215 (Portland Public Schools Bond Issue)
-A "yes" vote supports authorizing the district to issue $1.2 billion in bonds to fund school renovations, technology, and safety without increasing the existing property tax of $250 per $100,000 of assessed property value to repay the bonds.

-A "no" vote opposes authorizing the district to issue $1.2 billion in bonds to fund school renovations, technology, and safety.

Measure 26-217 (Police Oversight Board Charter Amendment)
-A "yes" vote supports: amending the city's charter to establish a new police oversight board, giving the board the power to subpoena witnesses and request police documents and evidence to investigate complaints made against the Portland Police Bureau, allowing the board to impose disciplinary actions up to termination of law enforcement professionals, and authorizing the board to recommend policing policy to the Portland Police Bureau and Portland City Council.

-A "no" vote opposes amending the city charter to establish a new police oversight board, thereby maintaining the existing Independent Police Review that was established by ordinance and operates under the city auditor.

Measure 26-218 (Infrastructure/Transportation Payroll Tax)
-A "yes" vote supports authorizing the Metro Council to impose a payroll tax not to exceed 0.75% on employers with 26 or more employees, excluding local governments, beginning in 2022 to fund infrastructure improvements and transportation programs.

-A "no" vote opposes authorizing the Metro Council to impose a payroll tax not to exceed 0.75% on employers with 26 or more employees, excluding local governments, beginning in 2022 to fund infrastructure improvements and transportation programs.

Measure 26-219 (Uses of Water Fund Charter Amendment)
-A "yes" vote supports amending the city's charter to authorize the city council to spend monies from the Water Fund and increase rates to cover expenses for general public uses, such as neighborhood green areas and community gardens.

-A "no" vote opposes amending the city's charter to authorize the city council to spend monies from the Water Fund on general public uses, thus maintaining that monies from the Water Fund can only be used to provide water service to residents.

Important Links for Voting in Multnomah County

• How to Register to Vote

• How to Vote by Mail in Oregon

• Who Can Vote in Oregon?

As it turns out, democracy works best when everyone votes!  So please, remind your friends and family to take action and exercise their fundamental right as a citizen.  GO VOTE!

We Have New Lighting Options!

As we’ve continued to grow into our upgraded studio location in NW Portland, we're excited to announce the addition of an entire new fleet of in-house ChromaQ Space Force Octo space lights.  We now have the ability to evenly fill our grid with a total of 12, LED soft-light sources that provide an affordable and easy lighting option for your next production at Cine Rent West. You gotta check these out! 

After renting a whole truck full for a recent beverage commercial with Droptree productions, we decided they looked too good to leave the studio, so we worked out a deal with our friends at Felix Lighting in LA to buy a dozen.  Comparable to a traditional 6kW fixture, they have a no fan, no noise design, which makes them perfect for capturing quality audio on our sound stage. The variety of mounting options and accessories have also come in really handy. All 12 are currently paired with a manual yoke, a bridle, a low profile bale and a soft lantern. 

What else do we like about them you ask? Well, since each light only weighs 17.6 lbs, they're easy to setup and hang from the grid.  They're also extremely versatile with variable white light (2,800K – 6,000K) and built-in theatrical grade dimming (the wireless DMX/RDM function can be easily routed to a dimmer board).  Additionally, their efficient design helps keeps the stage at a comfortable temperature and our power bill low. 

For more information, check out this video from ChromaQ: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzuH-mS5DHw&feature=emb_title

On Set with the Soul of the City

We had a great time this Summer working with Heart & Hustle Productions on a very special project called Soul of the City.  It was a virtual fundraising event for an extremely important non-profit organization called Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI).  The event aired live on KATU this past weekend, which raised a total of $1.2 million in funding! 

In 1981, SEI was originally established as a basketball camp in North Portland. Today, they provide vital educational and social services throughout the entire city. As they've grown into a one-stop, comprehensive resource for thousands of people, SEI has continued to serve the underserved with a culturally specific perspective. On average, 16,500 students and families receive support from SEI each year with a 98% high school graduation rate.  It was an honor to assist in the production of this year's Soul of the City event and we hope to work with them again on more projects this year.

We'd like to encourage you all to learn more about SEI by visiting their website.  There are lots of ways to get involved by volunteering time or donating money.  Check the links below for more information:

DONATE: https://www.selfenhancement.org/donate
VOLUNTEER: https://www.selfenhancement.org/volunteer

Game Time? Nah... It's Dame Time!

With the pandemic hiatus on professional sports, the entire city has been itching for some serious Dame Time.  It's not just because of his explosive scoring ability or his commitment to stay in a Blazer's jersey.  We love Dame because his passion for the game goes well beyond basketball. That message was clearly delivered last month when he joined his fellow Portlanders by peacefully protesting against systemic racial injustice.

That being said, we were beyond excited when we heard that the Rip City Kid himself (AKA: Dame D.O.L.L.A) would be gracing us with his presence for a project on the new NBA2K21 video game.  Using a series of comedic green screen clips, the entire production team did an amazing job in hyping his front cover spot. In a relatively smaller market like Portland, his time on the court is too often overlooked with East coast pundits not staying up late enough to watch him play, which has no doubt contributed to multiple NBA All-Star snubs. The 2K franchise is the most popular NBA video game in the world, so his placement on the cover is a big deal for sports in Oregon.  Here is a link to the spot!  https://youtu.be/BR_A7lG6qCg

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: Later this month, Portland will be facing Memphis for a playoff position on 7/31 at 1pm. At Cine Rent West, we never miss watching a Blazer's game.  If our studio manager, Brynden, is unable to watch a game live, he records it for later, so please don't ever text him any spoilers...

Safety-Oriented Productions at Cine Rent West

Amid this global pandemic, there has been a lot of uncertainty about the best way to get back on set.  Our production community is correct to approach this new normal with concern, but at the end of the day, we all have bills to pay.  This makes getting back on set an eventual necessity.  So the question becomes, how can we create a safety-oriented production that limits community spread?

Let's not kid ourselves, the very nature of a production is community based, so we need to reimagine our workflow.  It literally takes a village.  This inherent challenge will continue to push the industry to rethink our most basic procedures.  Luckily, we’re already off to a great start in following the OMPA’s new guidelines.

We'd like to highlight some of the basic things we've been implementing at the studio.  Please reference the OMPA's website for their full-list, here: https://ompa.org/general-production-protocols-for-covid-19/

• Remote pre-production

• Screen for symptoms on set

• Keep your distance (6 ft.)

• PPE and hand sanitizer 

• Work in pods

• Assign bathrooms (We have 6 of them)

• Individually wrapped, single serve meals & utensils

• Talent handles their own hair and make-up

• Extra monitors

• Boom instead of lav microphones

• Regular sanitation of high-touch areas and equipment.

• No visitors

• Off-set post-production.

During one of our first shoots back last week for the American Heart Association, we were delighted to have some old familiar faces back at the studio.  Although they were covered with a mask the entire time, we could still mostly recognize them.  Using the broadcasting prowess of our neighbors, MeyerPro Inc. , we were able to have the client telecommute on set in high-resolution, allowing them to approve shots remotely, which greatly reduced the amount of personnel at the studio. Everyone will be safer down the line if we keep each other in the loop on new procedures. So, for all you producers out there, please keep this trick in mind as an option for your next production.

Teaming Up with Neighbors

As we all do our best to respond to restrictions on large gatherings, it has certainly created an inherent challenge for traditional productions at the studio.  Pre-pandemic, we would typically have 20-60 people working on-site on any given day of the week.  Adapting to these changes hasn’t been easy, but when the going gets tough, you have to lean on your community. So, we’ve been teaming up with our neighbors over at MeyerPro who provide audio-visual and broadcast solutions you can count on.  This has enabled us to assist several educators and non-profits in these crazy times. With their help, we are now offering a full suite of tools to bring your gathering into a virtual environment. 

By combining our sound stage with their audio-visual services, the studio has been operating as a fully functional broadcast facility.  As teachers reconcile with the hurdles of distance learning and organizations lose their ability to communicate effectively, we’ve been able to assist them in overcoming these challenges. By working with small crews that follow stringent sanitation guidelines, we've continued to make safety our top priority.

We recently had our friends from TEDx Portland at the studio to capture some important updates and messages for the community.  Sadly, they'll be cancelling their Year 10 event which has now been rescheduled for May 29, 2021.  Organizations that rely on in-person events need community support more than ever right now.  That’s why we were more than happy to have them in and help them stay connected with the public. 

Are You Staying Studio Fit?

If you're like many of us working in the production industry, your day-to-day has changed significantly. As creatures of habit, our routines have gone out the window, and let's be honest, a canceled shoot here and postponed project there can really get a person down. Maybe you've been watching more Netflix than normal?  It's ok if the answer is yes, you're not alone. With all this unprecedented couch time, our team at Cine Rent West decided to come up with a few activities that could be easily put together at home. So, without further ado, take a look at this comprehensive set of studio based workouts that will cut the "stay-at-home" flab and help you stay fit. 

#1 - The Box Jump - (Studio Formula: [1-3] full apple boxes) Try to do one to three sets of three to five reps, stacking the boxes as high as you can muster, but be realistic and don't hurt yourself.  Alternatively, you can also set up one low box, then try jumping up and down continuously for 5 minutes. Feel the burn!

#2 - The Pull Up - (Studio Formula: [2] roller stands +  [1] 6 ft. speed rail)  The current world record for number of pull-ups per minute is 59. With all this quarantine time, why not give it a try and see if you can beat that record? Please just make sure to put the breaks on the roller stands before you start.

#3 - The Bench Press - (Studio Formula: [9-12] full apple boxes + [2] furniture pads + [1] 6 ft. speed rail + [2-6] sand bags)  Please make sure you have a spotter before attempting this one.  Be responsible and use somebody that you've been quarantined with.  Keep a tight grip on the bar with your chest up and your elbows tucked at a 45 degree angle from your sides. 

#4 - The Obstacle Course - (Studio Formula: [6-12] c-stands + [6-12] sand bags) Ankle support is everything on this one, so make sure you have the proper footwear before attempting.  

Timing yourself with a quarantine friend from start to finish is good way to track your progress and improve.  If you're home alone, have them time you remotely via webcam.  It's also highly customizable, so feel free to add in whatever you have around the house!