Much Ado About Nothing
Alantana Productions partner of Shakespeare at the Bury put on the great Shakespearean comedy of Much Ado About Nothing set in 1920s England directly after WWI. This large scale production was a year long project that culminated in a Multicam video and a live performance. We built a three stage set that contained a garden, bedroom, and dining room. It was massive production design undertaking to transform the studio into an old English Manor house.
Interning with Chip Swetnam
Over last summer, before my excapades in Oxford, I interned at Big Sky Digital Media under Chip Swetnam. It was a time of studying skills and stepping up as a media professional. I found most of my time editing things from demo reels to business videos to derby interviews. It was a deep moment of learning how to professionally edit and to come in everyday for an extended period of time.
Once More Unto the Breach
So as you have noticed if you follow our partners, Shakespeare at the Bury, you know by now that we helped partner to produce Henry V.
Check out our link to some footage taken by a guest
Highbridge 2015….The Wow Factor
The Highbridge Film Festival…
The Big Moment…
More than four years in the making, my goal upon first realizing at fourteen that my dream college had a film festival was to run the show. Freshman year, I had been mentored by the senior that ran it in 2013. Two years of volunteering. Five years of attending. Junior year of college, I had made it. Leader of the Hughes team. In charge of the show, I went to work. Everything from marking out VIP seating, getting and directing talent, coordinating with our decor and technical operators, making sure the limo was ready, the red tape was up, and finally getting the film reel.
The Asbury film reel was my biggest project from day one. I was determined to make our university’s film festival more than just a college display of work. It was going to be the whole package. The student Oscars, the grand performance and what better way to show the awards off than to have a giant 7ft metal figure of Asbury’s own awards, a film reel. After calling many places and coordinating with Dr. Jim Owens, Dean of the Media Communications department at Asbury, he finally found someone willing to make the reel. Things got rolling and finally the day arrived when people entered the Hughes auditorium saw the lights and the glamor, but probably the most special, at least to me, was the fantastical giant film reel lit up on the stage that night. 
Check it out here. https://www.asbury.edu/highbridge/showcase/2015
Oxford…Lewis…and More Lions
Pre-Production was rushed ahead and filming has begun on Alantana Productions’ new documentary about the great Oxford Professor Clive Staples Lewis. After several weeks of learning about the esteemed writer, we have started exploring more about his life by interviewing Oxford Professor Jonathan Kirkpatrick about the life of the creator of some of children’s most beloved characters. We took off to filming yesterday on the punt and we shall see if this adventure takes us into the world of Narnia and beyond..
Back Again at Last…
After a year of school work, holidays, and mindless work; it was that time of the year again- Time for the Asbury Steadicam workshop. After months of planning, talking to Svenson on the phone, and asking Don Mink plenty of questions, they were finally back and Steadicam was reimagined in my mind. There were returning friends and new faces. The difference this year was that this time, I was an assistant, hands on, and excited. I was able to pick up tips from the operators by working more closely with them, having meals with them, and all the time in between groups of students. It was exhilarating to meet and talk with Garrett Brown, the inventor of the Steadicam. Never have I been this overwhelmed with taking in knowledge and wisdom from those that have not only put in their 10,000 hours of time invested in a career but I was able to work some one who had built the original product that had provided my fellow operators with a career.
Click here to see our peers
Open Eyes
Producing Open Eyes directed by Rica Wiseman was the first Producing job, I had ever worked. It was both a challenging experience due to the lack of time, and the emergency dilemma that occurred right before filming started….
The Monday of the week of shooting I was diagnosed with phenomena and sent home to rest. Shooting was to start on Saturday, so the best solution was to work as much from my laptop coordinating with people to make sure the shoot was still lined up. Then on Friday I returned, directed another project Saturday morning, then continued over to the film shoot and because of coordinating between actors, equipment, and the director, the shoot went as smoothly as possible.
Operating Steadicam
Last year mid semester, I was suiting up in the vest for the first time. Looking back I never would have imagined that I would be suiting up for Steadicam at least three times a semester, working on various projects, but it’s a challenge and a joy every time.
Assisting a Pro
Last semester, I was offered the job opportunity of working for the Christian Medical and Dental Association for a television program for their medical professionals. I was hired as the assistant director to one of the great television professionals in the area, Professor Doug Smart. Setting out in the ‘hallowed room’ of the TV Trailer, I had no idea of the learning experience it would be. I discovered that not everything that should go quickly, does. It was a trial of patience when you have two non-experienced medical professionals trying to advise your director of over thirty years on how to direct television. However, this experience soon turned into a learning curve of what to do to assist someone experience in multi camera production, with only so much experience yourself. The experience taught me a great deal about the problem solving, the hard work, and the patience that goes into not only creating a great television work, but directing it. I had a great teacher.
alantanaproductions.com 