Founded 17 years ago by Walter Daroshin to support the film community, the Leo Awards honours the excellent work of the many people who contribute to film and TV productions around B.C. Actors, stunt people, producers, costume and set designers, camera operators, and sound engineers gather for the three-night event. This year, Digital Cyclops was proud to have been part of the team tasked with creating comedic interstitial material to be shown at the Leo Awards ceremonies.
The colourist board at Finale Editworks
With 14 sets of interviews, 21 interviewees, and only 9 hours in which to shoot, the crew had to be very fast and efficient. We had three camera operators at a given time and two people handling audio, working together with a team of three data handlers to ensure that great visual and sound capture would be stored and organized for easy post-production. Two producers made sure things were well prepared and everyone was where they needed to be at the right times. Triple threat, director, producer, and host Kalyn Miles used her vision, drive, and humour to pull the show together. In addition to equipment brought in by the crew, a significant amount of gear rental was donated by Fusion Cine and Gear Base. Finally, we couldn’t have done any work without our shoot location, contributed by Finale EditWorks. The crew did a fantastic job. Especially for a group of people who came together for this one project, everyone worked amazingly well as a team.
Lights, Camera, Action!
Wardrobe! Makeup!
Since this shoot day was so packed, we needed to maximize both efficiency and quality. In order to concentrate on the interviewees’ performances, we shot on three 4K cameras, which are unobtrusive compared with the HDSLR’s and Sony F55 we used last year. These small 4K’s allowed us maximum mobility during the shoot, while still allowing us the freedom to crop down in post-production without losing high definition standards.
This production was lit entirely with high power, low draw LEDs. LED lights have really come a long way in the past five to ten years. We even shot outside with one of these fixtures powered only by battery. Gone are the days when interviewees sit sweating beneath blazing lights. Those in front of the camera were quite comfortable, yet beautifully lit.
We also had our editor on set for the majority of the shoot. Because he was able to communicate what he needed, we were able to adjust camera angles, check dailies, and adjust what we shot. The editor and director have been working furiously these past few weeks to put the interviews all together into five 2-3 minute compilations.
Yeah, shooting in the alley!
Keep it all together crew!
During the Leo Awards events, the audience can expect to be entertained by the wonderfully talented and very funny host, Kalyn Miles. Producers, writers, and actors sat down to be interviewed by Kalyn, who would ‘ambush’ them verbally, putting them (and of course, herself) in awkward, absurd, uncomfortable, and invariably funny situations. Interviewees included nominees for the TV series “Motive,” actors from film festival submissions, and the person in charge of Telus’ StoryHive intiative.
Keeping it all in focus
2015’s Leo Awards ceremonies take place on June 6, 13 and 14. The first night honours those who work behind the scenes. The second and third gala nights include awards for best picture, television series, children’s programming, and acting performances. The comedic material we filmed over the May long weekend will be shown on the weekend gala nights. For a list of last year’s full cast and crew, see us on IMDB. Find out more about much of the camera crew at BCPVA.com.
Here are some shots from the Leo’s ceremonies!
Our three camera shoot in 4K
The Leo’s award crowd enjoying the night
Photo credits: Joseph Kafka and Scott Finding
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