Moonstruck Productions

Stolen Items!!! Canon T2i taken from Cleveland Marriott Key Center

2011-07-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

It's sad but true, at a wedding we were shooting on July 2nd, 2011, someone stole our Canon T2i and Glidecam HD 4000. It was taken from the Grand Ballroom at the Marriott Key Center in downtown Cleveland.

It was customized for our business and has some very tell-tale markings. First of all, there was no lens cap for the 18-55 kit lens. Whomever stole it did not get the battery charger, book, or any accessories. There was a battery grip attached to the camera containing two batteries. Each battery has the word MOONSTRUCK and a letter/number combination "T2, T3, etc" written on it.

There is a metal frame glued around the LCD screen, this frame is for a special magnetic, aftermarket viewfinder. The theif did not get the viewfinder.

There are over 3000 actuations on the shutter. If you take a picture or movie, the numbers will be in the high 3000's or more.

The memory card was an ADATA 32GB SD card with light amounts of pink nail polish on the outer edge and the card was full of footage from the wedding we were shooting.

The glidecam HD 4000 only has two balance plates and is well used. There is a Manfrotto 577 camera plate assembly on it and their is a screw missing from the camera plate on the glidecam.

If anyone happens to find any of the items that were taken, please contact us! We are most concerned with the footage on the SD card as it contained all the footage from the reception for the bride and groom.

Call us at 440-357-8633 or email scott@moonpro.us

This is the actual camera and glidecam unit being used at the wedding before it was stolen.

This is the battery.

This is the SD card with nail polish.

This is the camera plate.

This is the Canon T2i.

This is what the glidecam looks like.

This is what the metal frame looks like, it is glued around the LCD screen.

The New Year

2011-01-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

What an amazing year 2010 turned out to be! We had the privilege of creating custom wedding films for 25 wonderful couples. We continued to supply STACK Media with custom video production including the Gatorade Performance Series. Moonstruck Live allowed STACK to broadcast live from Tampa Bay Florida, D.C. and Nashville. We helped Clark Graphics create a 5-part video series for TRI-C that was distributed to every school in the Cleveland school district to help get kids interested in math, science and reading. We helped Inspirational Media with web design, marketing and promotional video production to help them promote their world peace campaigns including the "Mission Improve" program and the "Santa Cause".

And 2011 is looking to be even brighter. We are proud to announce a new daughter company, "Blu-Booth". Blu-booth is a custom designed hybrid video booth and photo booth. Perfect for weddings, bar/bat mitzvah's, family events, birthday parties, corporate events and more!

We are also adding to our arsenal of cinematic equipment to enhance the production value of our wedding films as we continuously evolve our style of wedding cinema in the Cleveland and Northeast Ohio areas!

We also have a few special production projects planned for late summer 2011, so keep us on your facebook page and watch our blog for the latest news.

That's about it from team Moonstruck. We hope you had a great 2010 as well, and we wish all of our friends and colleagues a wonderful 2011!

Moonstruck Productions presents Rinula and George

2010-12-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

During any pre-production meeting, I always ask my brides if they are planning on anything out of the ordinary that I should be aware of. Rinula smiled and replied, "With George and our families, be ready for anything." And was she ever right. There were many impromptu moments of fun and laughter as well as a true passion for life shared among all of the members of their families.

One of my favorite moments was when the heat in the church caused the priest to gently wipe the sweat off of George's forehead, or when Rinula chased George around the reception hall with a rolling pin before dragging him in by his pant leg!

Besides a wonderful family to share the day with, we were also blessed to be shooting with one of Cleveland's best photographers, Rich Pappas.

The wedding and reception were held at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church on W. 14th st in Cleveland with 450 guests attending.

It was truly a wonderful day and here is the highlight film to prove it. Congratulations Rinula and George!

Moonstruck Productions is Cleveland Wedding Cinematography!

Moonstruck Productions presents Chris and Kristie

2010-11-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

I believe the secret to a long and happy marriage is laughter. In fact, I think it is the key ingrediant to life itself. And judging by how much fun these two have together, I would guess they are in for a very long and happy life as husband and wife. Chris and Kristie always had a smile on their face and truly enjoyed each others company. I especially loved their interaction together when I handed them my Super 8mm camera and let them shoot each other. Check it out in their highlight film below!

Moonstruck Productions is Cleveland Wedding Cinematography!

Moonstruck Productions presents Sarah and Scott

2010-11-17T18:16:00.000-08:00

Sarah and Scott were married at the always beautiful Club Hillbrook. The day was calling for rain and wouldn't you know it, Sarah and Scott had planned an outdoor wedding. But as God would have it, the ceremony went on without a problem even as dark clouds rolled in overhead. And then, literally 5 seconds after being announced "Husband and Wife", the rain came down. All of the guests were given umbrellas and Sarah and Scott made it safe and dry inside. Fifteen minutes later the rain stopped and the guests enjoyed a wonderful evening outside on the patio. It was almost as if God himself decided to stop by and offer his blessings. Here are the highlights from Sarah and Scott's wedding...

Moonstruck Productions presents Rosie and Lance

2010-11-17T16:59:00.000-08:00

Rosie's cousins performed a special song for her and Lance at the reception. It was a beautiful performance and it goes well with the highlights from the day...

Moonstruck Productions presents Tye and Eileen's Wedding Highlight Film

2010-09-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

Tye and Eileen had a perfect day for a wedding and an all-star cast of wedding professionals working with them. Moonstruck Productions started the day at St. Patrick's church in Ohio City, one of our favorite historic churches in the Cleveland area. We hit the town for pictures with Tom Forrest and ended up at the Old Courthouse.

George Skourtis of Studio Z Floral Design was the mastermind behind the flowers, centerpieces and lighting. I've shot a million weddings at the courthouse, but this was the first time I had seen anyone do such an amazing job with uplighting and table settings. Brenda Kucinski at Catan Fashions helped transform the room from old to extraordinary and kept things running smoothly all day long. A Taste of Excellence provided the catering and David Palmer from Network Sound hooked up the audio and spot lights for the intro's and dances and Bill Bowen from Jerry Bruno played the tunes for the night.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, especially Tye and Eileen. A happy day for a very happy couple. Congratulations Tye and Eileen!

Moonstruck Productions is Cleveland Wedding Cinematography

Moonstruck Productions presents Bindu & Vishal's Wedding Highlight Film

2010-09-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

We have completed the finishing touches on Bindu and Vishal's cinematic edit blu-ray disc and the last piece of the puzzle was to upload their highlight film. If you read our earlier blog post about Bindu and Vishal, you will remember how much we loved the colors, traditions and hospitality of the Hindu weddings. After viewing their highlight film you will see why.

All of us here at Moonstruck Productions have loved being a part of Bindu and Vishal's wedding and are happy they chose us to be their cinematographer!

Ryan & Kristen's Highlight Film

2010-08-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

This wedding was a lot of fun and full of wonderful moments to capture. I absolutely loved the mix of unique and classic tastes that Kristen and Ryan shared. To start, they chose the Amasa Stone Chapel for the ceremony. If you don't know, it is a beautiful historic chapel in University Circle. During the ceremony, Ryan's brother Rob played the piano during the candle lighting and a string duet played the entire service.

Then we headed to the west side of the flats for some breathtaking pictures taken by Lindsey Beckwith. Kristen and Ryan weren't afraid to take a chance and get a little dirty by taking pictures on the bridge over the river. With the sun starting to set, the light was perfect for some very unique images.

We then drove over to the Van Sweringen Arcade where Kristen and Ryan used their creative talents to hand craft all of the table decorations, the invitations and place settings. And as you watch the video, look for the large vase full of origami cranes. Kristen, being true to Japanese tradition, hand folded 1000 of them before the wedding!

We continued the night as guests danced to the sounds of the Grand Avenue Band and ended the night with Ryan sharing his break-dancing skills.

Without further ado, here is the video...

Copyright 2010 Moonstruck Productions

Super 8mm from Michael and Melissa's wedding

2010-08-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

This was shot on Ektachrome 100D. The song was composed by Michael (the groom) and was played live for their first dance that night! I love the song and it fits so nicely with the vintage super 8...

Michael and Melissa

2010-08-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

Michael and Melissa are one of those couples brimming with talent and creativity. Michael is an extremely talented musician and he not only hand-picked all of the music for the ceremony but he composed a song just for their first dance. We had a great time sharing the day with them.

Here are a few screen grabs from their wedding day...

Getting started, Scott headed over to the Renaissance in Cleveland with the girls.

Melissa's Dad glued a real sixpence to her shoe for good luck.

Michael and the guys.

The ceremony was held at St. Paul's Shrine and afterwards we headed to the Art Museum with another one of our favorite photographers, Tom Forrest.

Mike road along in the limo to capture some great toasts.

I love Tom Forrest's poses and ability to find the best natural light.

At the end of the day I let Michael and Melissa shoot each other with the Super 8mm camera. Check out my next post when I share some of this vintage footage!

Bobby & Aileen's Wedding

2010-08-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

Our coverage began with Carla capturing Aileen and the girls while Mike and I headed over to Bobby and the guys. We were accompanied by one of our favorite photography duo's, Genevieve and James Nisly.

Aileen and Bobby went with the Moonstruck Package which included unlimited all-day coverage and the use of our new HDSLR format. Besides offering stunning images, the SLR format allows us to work faster and lighter and we are able to blend in with the crowd. The funny thing is, since we are using the same cameras the professional photographers use, we are often mistaken for the photographer! Case in point, that morning Carla was with Aileen for 2 hours as she prepared for the day. Later that afternoon, the Bride's brother wanted to know why the videographer never showed up to the house that morning. :)

The ceremony was held at Mt. Carmel in Youngstown and the reception at Mr. Anthony's.

When we walked into the reception hall it was magically transformed into a beautiful dreamscape of candles and flowers thanks to the talented hand of Joe Mineo and his crew from Something New Events.

Joe had candles and flowers on every table and hung votive candles in crystal globes all over the ceiling above the dance floor.

Equally stunning was the cake created by Melissa from Blue Iris Cafe. Simple, elegant and delicious. Just the way I like them. :)

After dinner, the doors opened to a cake and candy room filled with decadent chocolates, cookies and sweets. Just writing this blog and looking at these screen grabs is making me really hungry! :)

The guests danced the night away to music provided by the always entertaining, Jerry Bruno Orchestra. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

*All images are actual screen grabs taken from the final Blu-ray Disc and are the property of Moonstruck Productions, Inc.

Bindu & Vishal's Wedding

2010-08-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

You know you are going to have a busy wedding season when you start the year off with a wedding like Bindu and Vishal's. We traveled to Pittsburgh for a 2-day celebration at the Omni William Penn hotel and the beautiful Pennsylvanian. We absolutely loved the wonderful Hindu wedding traditions, the colorful outfits and the extreme kindness and hospitality of the Swamy and Lockre families.

We were also extremely excited to get to use our new HDSLR workflow to capture every moment in stunning quality. Checkout some of our favorite still images captured from the actual wedding film and watch the video clip at the end to witness Bindu and Vishal's first dance!

Bindu's Mehndi.

Chris and Julie First of Z Media hard at work.

Bindu watching Vishal's Barrat from the 4th floor of the Omni.

Bindu and Vishal practicing their first dance before heading to cocktail hour.

Bindu and Vishal's first dance. Shot with the 7D, T1i and Z1U on a Glidecam.

Learn more about Moonstruck Productions by visiting our website for the best in Cleveland wedding videography!

Laura & Stephen

2009-07-22T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well here we are, almost to the end of July and we are knee deep editing weddings. I am finally getting around to posting some screen grabs from the wedding films we have shot this year. Beginning with our second wedding in May, Laura and Stephen.

The day began with a little anxiety as rain moved in on the outdoor wedding being held at the Blair Center in the beautiful Westfield Center country club. Luckily the Blair Center has a gorgeous tent just for such occasions.

As the Sonata Strings (Jerry Bruno Productions) began playing, the flower girls let their spirits fly, along with the rose pedals. Instead of gently letting them fall to the ground, they hurled them over their shoulders and showered the guests.

And as luck would have it, the rain stopped and the sun came out just as Laura began to make her way down the aisle.

Stephen shared a few joyful tears as his bride made her way to his side and they recited their vows from heart in the cool spring afternoon. With the ceremony over and the rain gone, the weather was perfect for a walk around the pond for pictures with Scott and Julie at Easywind Studios. Everything was on time and went smoothly as Valarie Kirkbride coordinated the event. As always she did a great job decorating the reception hall from the nameplates to the wonderful leaf gobo that brought a touch of the outdoors to the otherwise plain ceiling.

In the end it was another classic wedding with a wonderful couple. The day couldn't have been more perfect, even with a few rain drops.

As Seen On TV!

2009-06-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

Meghan and Simon share a cute and funny moment during their vows on the TLC show Wild Weddings. The clip was shot and edited by Moonstruck Productions.

Be sure to tune in to TLC this Friday, June 5th at 7:00 pm to watch a Moonstruck couple, Meghan and Simon, on the show "Wild Weddings". Watch our blog for updates on more Moonstruck wedding clips being featured on future episodes of the show!

Grace and Leon's Wedding

2009-05-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

I would have to say that we are always blessed with such kind and sincere couples. Grace and Leon were no exception. Carla spent the morning at Grace's hotel as she prepared with her bridesmaids and I got to visit with Leon and the guys at Leon's house.

Afterwards, we met up at St. Paul's Greek Orthodox church in North Royalton. The ceremony was wonderful, even with a tired ring bearer and a couple of flower girls who decided to stop half-way down the aisle and pick up the pedals they just dropped. :)

After the ceremony we headed to Severance Hall where Genevieve and James Nisly worked their magic and found a million ways to creatively bring out the best of Leon and Grace. Be sure to visit Genevieve's blog to see the wonderful photographs they took! http://www.genevievenisly.com/

With lots of outdoor pictures, we had plenty of time to shoot some Super 8mm film. The camera absolutely loved Grace!

The entire day was a wonderful compilation of Greek and Asian traditions.
The Embassy Suites on Rockside Rd. was adorned with a red and gold theme complete with goldfish on the card table, fortune cookies and chopsticks on the guest tables and red and white balloons hanging from the ceiling. The glamorous red and gold cake was created by Marianne and Lauren at the White Flower Cake Shoppe. http://www.whiteflowercake.com/

I mentioned earlier how kind and sincere Grace and Leon were, here is a simple testament; at the end of the evening Grace learned that Genevieve, James, Carla and I had not gotten a chance to taste the wedding cake. She personally went into the kitchen and had the staff bring us two to-go boxes full of wedding cake. And yes, it was delicious. :)

NY Mets Spring Training on Super 8

2009-05-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

Some Super 8mm clips from a recent photo/video shoot we did at the NY Mets' spring training camp in Port St. Lucie Florida. Fun times with Josh from STACK http://www.stack.com/ and Danny and Herb from Danny Vega Photography http://www.dannyvega.com/

Shawn & Amy

2009-05-12T17:39:00.001-07:00

Shawn and Amy are part of a lineage of friendships that we have been blessed to make over the last 2 years. In 2007 we had the pleasure of shooting Debbie and Jerry's wedding. Debbie and Jerry introduced us to Tony and Melinda who were getting married in 2008. At Tony and Melinda's wedding I had the pleasure of meeting Shawn and Amy and was extremely excited when they chose us to shoot their wedding as well!

You can imagine my delight knowing that Melinda, Tony, Debbie and Jerry would be at the wedding. It was a wonderful reunion and an even more beautiful wedding!

The reception was held at the Iroquois boating and fishing club and the food was delicious. The staff was extremely welcoming and my favorite part was the huge table of pastries. They were unbelievable! Ej the DJ was spinning tunes all night long http://www.ejdj.com/.

We also had the pleasure of working with Fallon Hovis of http://www.fallonsphotography.com/ and her 2nd shooter, Whittney Gilstrap. They were both very friendly and professional. And Fallon handled children like a seasoned nanny. :)

Thanks to Amy and Shawn for allowing us to be a part of the day. I look forward to the many friendships we will build from this one!

2009-03-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

When Jon and Vanessa got married, they wanted to have a classic 1930's film noir feel to the day. The ceremony was held at the historic St. John's Cathedral in downtown Cleveland. After the ceremony we headed over to the Palace Theater were Scott from Easywind Studio created some wonderful poses. Scott's wife happend to be at home with a new born baby, so assisting Scott was Jonathan Migal.

After the pictures we headed to the old Higbees building and the Silver Grill for cocktails and the reception. Adding to the old movie theme, cocktail hour featured two signature martinis; the Marilyn Monroe and the Frank Sinatra.

The Silver Grill reception room was adorned with beautful red bouqets, spotlights and uplights and pictures of movie legends on every table. The cake from Bridget the Flour Girl was simply amazing and the Fred Astaire Ballroom Dancers warmed up the dance floor as guests danced all night to the live sounds of the Tony Quarles band.

The entire day was coordinated and planned by one of the most hardworking, imaginative and pleasant wedding coordinators in the Cleveland area, Valarie Kirkbride.

For as fairytale perfect as the day was, it couldn't have happend to a better couple. We are extremly thankful for being asked to be a part of Jon and Vanessa's wedding day.

Ballistic Builds

2009-03-03T17:45:00.000-08:00

Ballistic Builds Photoshoot Burnout from Moonstruck Productions on Vimeo.

We are proud to announce that we have teamed up with Steve Leerentveld and RDP Motorsport to produce one of the hottest new TV shows, Ballistic Builds. We are currently working on the full length pilot to be pitched to the networks.

This past weekend we had an unexpected visit from ForceFed Magazine as they took pictures of Steve's Dodge Challenger. Steve took the car for some pictures outside and decided to do a few burnouts for the crew.

We decided to put together a few of the days clips to show off the shear power of his car and how much fun this show is going to be!

You can learn more about RDP Motorsport at www.rdpmotorsport.com

The Day After

2009-01-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

Even with the cold and snow, many brides and grooms made the trip to the IX center for the 2009 Today's Bride Show. We had a great time speaking with everyone. Both couples as well as other colleagues. If you went to the show but didn't get a chance to stop by our booth, be sure to contact us for a free demo DVD!

Preparing for the Big Show

2009-01-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

If you aren't getting married in the next 12 months and don't read every bridal magazine on the planet, you probably don't know that the biggest bridal show in Cleveland is this Sunday.

The Today's Bride show brings in 2500+ brides each year. It's our favorite time of year because we get to show off clips from the many wonderful weddings we shot over the last 12 months and meet so many new couples face to face.

Every bride will have a chance to speak with Scott, Tim, Carla and new this year, Mike who joined us from film school last summer. Mike has been a tremendous asset as a cinematographer and editor.

If you are coming to the show, be sure to stop by our booth #408 and say hi!

The Fusion Revolution

2009-01-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

A professional photographer friend of mine recently asked me what I thought about the new Canon Mark II 5D. He said he had been approached by at least one wedding videographer and asked if he would be OK with them using it at a wedding. I myself, until that moment, hadn't really thought about it at all. This sparked some great correspondence between the two of us on its impact on wedding photographers/videographers.

In case you don't know, the buzz about the Canon 5D is that it is a DSLR that also shoots HD video. And unlike the earlier Nikon DSLR, this one shoots a full 1920x1080 HD image!

This has opened a whole new world to wedding photographers. Many are embracing the term "Fusion" by combining both photo's and video together with their final product. This really is nothing new. Many companies have offered video/photo packages and created vignettes for couples. But if you remember my opening statement, my photographer friend was asked by a videographer if it would be OK for them to use this camera at a wedding. So why in the world would a videographer want this camera? Simple; shallow depth of field and interchangeable lenses.

Have you ever watched a Hollywood film that had a wedding sequence and compared it to a wedding videographer's highlight film? Besides the huge Hollywood budget, actors and lighting, there is one very big thing that sets them apart. The subjects are sharp in focus and the foreground and background are out of focus. This is called shallow depth of field and combined with 24 fps creates the "film look".

Until the fusion cameras came around, there was only one way for wedding videographers to offer the "film look", and that was with a DOF adapter. If you have ever used one of these you know how hard it is to focus properly and the poor performance in low light.
They are not well suited for the run-and-gun situations of a wedding.

Along comes the Canon 5D with true HD video and the ability to achieve the shallow DOF with interchangeable lenses quickly and easily. It's the holy grail for budget film makers and wedding videographers. I have to admit, when I first started researching this camera I thought, this is too good to be true! And, unfortunately, in many ways it is.

The thing we have to remember is that this is a DSLR, a photo camera. That is what it was built for. The addition of HD video capture is nice but it isn't an HD video camera. Remember, Canon makes some really nice HD video cameras that cost twice as much as the 5D.
Why would they offer this camera for half the cost if it could do as much or more than their video camera? Simply put, they wouldn't and they didn't.

There are a lot of things a video camera has that this does not but there are a few specific things that prove this camera will not replace an HD video camera:

1. The 5D only shoots HD video in Auto Mode. You have no control over the Iris, ISO, Shutter Speed, Etc.

2. It only shoots HD at 30fps. There is no option for 24p which is, of course, the other half of the "film look".

3. The 5D uses H.264 compression at 35.6 Mbit/s. Not a huge drawback but it isn't as nice as the XDCam or Panasonic codecs.

4. You can only capture up to 12 minutes of video per SD card. And that is if you don't take ANY pictures. (The upside being that SD cards are CHEAP!)

5. CMOS image sensor with horizontal blur. (In fairness, all CMOS video cameras have this flaw)

Now before my photographer friends start pointing out the great features like the 21 MP Full-Frame image sensor, the high ISO settings and such, remember that I am looking at this strictly from a video point of view. There is no doubt this is a great photo camera. After all, that is what it was built for.

But even with the really cool shallow DOF and interchangeable lens capability, it falls short from being a great video camera. It just isn't practical for shooting an entire wedding.

Now then, with all of that said, this is going to be a great tool for photographers who want to shoot a few fun video sequences and produce some brilliant little vignettes. But it won't replace professional video cameras.

Obviously there are some wedding videographers who are considering this camera to add to their arsenal. I say, if you have the extra money, why not.
But I personally am going to hold off. I could buy a really nice DOF adapter for half the cost and probably use it just as much. No, I think I am going to save my money for the next generation of HD video cameras with full control over exposure and frame rate, with timecode, gamma settings and XLR audio inputs.

What I am excited about the most, with the advent of the 5D, is that this hopefully means there is a new generation of large sensor HD video cameras on the horizon. After all, if Canon can put this large image sensor in the 5D, why not in the XH-A1? I'm sure Sony doesn't want to be
outdone so they too will come out with something new and Panasonic will be sure to offer something to their faithful indie crowd. And let's not forget that the RED One should be hitting the market soon.

No, it's not the end of video cameras or wedding videographers. Fusion is just the beginning.

Busy Weekend

2008-08-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

Lauren and Brian's Same Day Edit:

This weekend was full of fun! We started our friday afternoon by capturing Greg and Gwen's wedding at the historic Church in Aurora. It was a beautiful church with lots of history. It was very fitting that we were able to shoot lots of super 8mm film before, during and after the wedding. We wrapped up at 4:30 and headed over to Middleburgh Heights for Sarah and Clifff's candlelight ceremony at the Old Oak Bible Church. Sarah and Cliff's reception had it all including a dance contest!

On Saturday we captured Lauren and Brian's wedding and reception. Carla was up early to meet Lauren at her home while she and the bridesmaids prepared in the morning. I proceeded to St. Coleman's church in Clevleand to capture the pre-ceremony footage. After the ceremony and pictures I headed to the reception to begin working on the same day edit while Carla continued along with the bridal party. I got started just before 3:00 and started the render just before 5:30. The DVD was ready to go by 6:00 as guests began to arrive. After the cake cutting we pulled out the 8' projector screen and presented their video.

There are so many details from all the weddings we have captured, including so many great wedding professionals such as photographers, DJ's, Bands, Wedding Planners, and more. We will soon be creating a seperate blog that will go into detail with all of our weddings to highlight all the wonderful moments we have been a part of. Until then, we want to say thank you to all the wonderful couples and vendors that we have had the pleasure to work with over the years.

LA Trip

2008-07-26T08:15:00.001-07:00

Sights and Sounds of Venice Beach, CA:

After the long day of preparing for our Grand Opening I could have used the entire next day to sleep. Instead, I was up at 4:00 am to make a flight to Los Angeles for a video shoot with some of my favorite clients at STACK Magazine. Josh from STACK was there as well as Danny Vega and his assistant Brian to handle the photography. We met up with Ben Snowden, BMX trickster currently in the Dew Tour and Fabiola De Sliva, inline skater. The shoot went very well and we got some awesome images. I also got my first parking ticket in Santa Ana. Gotta' love that. A big "thank you" goes out to the hard working men and women of the Santa Ana parking patrol who diligently patrol every street and alleyway. No citation is too small and they never take "no" for an answer. For that matter they don't take, "I'm a member of the media.", "I'm literally moving my car right now." or "Please don't give me that ticket! "

The next day we headed to Thousand Oaks, CA for a shoot with Reggie Bush at Elite Athletics. Reggie was great and showed us some amazing workout routines. The entire staff at Elite Athletics was great and I highly recommend any athlete living in the Thousand Oaks area to check them out. You will be able to see all these videos when we finish editing them at http://www.stack.com/.

When the Reggie Bush shoot was finished we drove back to our hotel. Josh, Danny and Brian took naps or checked email. I decided to make a trip through the hills of Malibu. I made my way through the curvy, narrow mountain roads until I found a small pull-off area with a steep trail to a plateau. I grabbed my camera and tripod and climbed to the top. Slipping on loose gravel the entire way, out of breath I made it to the top to reveal a breathtaking view of the mountainous California countryside. I set up my camera, opened the lens hood and then realized I forgot to grab a battery. Needless to say I did not try to climb the trail again. Instead I made my way back to the hotel to catch a ride with the guys back into L.A. where we visited Venice Beach and had some fresh seafood.

At Venice Beach I did manage to bring my camera and my battery and grabbed a few fun shots of the surfers, setting sun and Venice Beach artwork (check out the video clip below). It was a fitting end to a great trip. The next morning I grabbed some breakfast and spent the next 8 hours in airports and airplanes as I made my way back home. I got a good night sleep and was up the next day for another perfect wedding!

Grand Opening

2008-07-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally did it. We opened our doors! We spent all weekend painting, staining, cleaning, installing lights and purchasing equipment for our new studio space. Our friends, Melanie and Tim, from Washington D.C. even drove all day to help us that afternoon with the preparations. Carla worked diligently to prepare food and drinks for all of our expected guests. Then, as the hour of our ribbon cutting approached, a very large storm rolled into northeast Ohio. Despite the storm, 25 of our closest family, friends, clients and colleagues stopped by to show their support.

The Painesville Area Chamber of Commerce helped us by providing a traditional ribbon cutting ceremony and we were greeted warmly by Fairport's Mayor, Frank Sarosy and council member Tim Manross. Lots of people made the trip from Euclid and Cleveland. Tom Forrest and Andrew Jordan made a harrowing journey through the storm from Hudson to show their support.

We know there were many others who wished they could have made it out and sent emails to show their support. We could never thank you all by name but we want you all to know how much we appreciate your friendship and kind words of encouragement.

A huge THANK YOU goes out to my father who has spent more time and energy in building our studio than anyone else. While I was busy editing and shooting video to keep up with our workload, Dad was working long hours hanging drywall, painting and custom building all the wonderful woodwork in our studio. If anything else, you should all get a chance to stop in just to see the beautiful windows he built and the front desk that he and my grandfather created for us. Thanks Dad, I love you very much.

We enjoyed spending time with everyone. And when the day was over, Carla and I took a deep breath and a sigh of relief. We took a step back and looked at what we had accomplished and smiled thinking about what is yet to come.

Grand Opening July 8th!

2008-06-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

We finally received the long awaited rough-in inspection of our studio and began closing up the walls. We spent a long week mudding and sanding and ended this last Sunday with an all day painting festival. We had a great crew of 8 people to help us get every wall painted. With the exception of our chroma key wall and an extra coat on the front entrance, everything is ready for flooring, plumbing and electricity.

With a more clear end to the building process, we can say with certainty that our grand opening will now be July 8th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Thanks to the Painesville Area Chamber of Commerce, we will have a brief ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:05. Then our guests may browse our studio and speak to our editors and videographers. You can view our work and demo our new chroma key wall.

On top of meeting us, viewing our new studio and meeting many great video production professionals, we are giving away a $2000* video production package as well as a Bluray DVD player! The production package can be used towards a wedding, family history DVD, broadcast commercial production or promotional business video.

It will be a great night here in lovely Fairport Harbor so be sure to put it on your calendars! We will see you all at the Moonstruck Productions studio located at 225 High Street, Fairport Harbor OH 44077 on July 8th!

*$2000 video production package is non-transferrable with no cash value. It must be used entirely on a single production. It may be used towards all in-house production costs. Not good towards talent, location or music licensing costs. Not good towards air-time costs.

Spring Time Fun

2008-05-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

With the sun and warm weather making its debut this week, we decided to take a little break from editing and working to enjoy the day. My sister, nephew, niece, dad, wife and daughter all walked down to the beach by our studio to play on the playground and I brought along my Nizo Super 8mm camera to catch the action. This was also a great time to test out the newly widened gate on the Nizo. The widened gate allows for true wide screen capture and telecine using normal super 8mm film.

Using Technology to Advertise

2008-04-17T06:01:00.001-07:00

When it comes to advertising, I always wondered why small companies always go with the quantity over quality approach. They spend $500 on the production of the ad and $5000 on the air time. The result is a commercial that literally makes people turn the channel.

Had the company spent $2500 on the commercial and $2500 on air time, the viewer would have recognized the commercial and actually watched it. It would not have shown on as many channels, but the number of people watching the ad would have increased.

Now imagine if you could have the best of both worlds; a high quality ad that covers a large audience. Today's technology makes that possible.

Let's say you sell bicycles. You have been in business for 20 years. Your father started it and you continue the family business with your kids and wife. Now let's say you have a total budget of $2000 for advertising. You could spend $500 on a cheesy commercial with a few graphics and your phone number with horrific background music and then spend $1500 putting it on local channels. It will run about 50 times over a period of 4 weeks. Yep, the average cost for non-peak hours on local cable is $20 per 30 second spot. That's not a lot of coverage and considering you only spent $500 on the production of the ad, most people aren't going to watch it anyway.

Now let's say you took that same $2000 and spent $1500 on the production. You created a 2 minute video that showed the old building, your dad when he was young and interviewed you and your father in short documentary style that showcases the philosophy of your business and the quality of your product. The result is a captivating, highly professional production that plays more like a movie than a TV commercial.

Now upload that video to YouTube and Blip.TV and iTunes for FREE. Enter a few keywords so people searching for Bicycles in your area will see the results in their web browser. Already you have access to millions of viewers and it didn't cost you a dime.

Of course, just because we have this great video on YouTube, it doesn't mean someone in your neighborhood is going to look for it. That is where web targeted advertising, like Google's Adwords, comes into play.

Setup an Adwords account with Google. Yep, it's FREE. You can set the amount of money you want to spend, so let's say $100 a month. Google will then take your ad and place it on any webpage that uses the keywords you specify. When someone searches for Bicycles, your ad will show up on the screen. The best part is that you don't pay for that ad unless they click on it. that means your ad could show up on 5000 web pages in a month and if no one clicks on the ad, you don't pay a dime. Adwords also works with Gmail, Google's email. If someone receives an email and the word Bicycle is present, your ad will show up on the side of the screen. What better way to get direct advertising? At the very worst, it would cost you $500 for 5 months, assuming everyone clicked on your ad. It is very possible that you will never hit your limit and stretch that $500 over an entire 12 month period.

That is just one of many examples of how today's media technology can help you stretch your advertising dollar and reach more customers than ever before. Just be sure that when they do reach your ad, you spend the money on a professionally produced video. Otherwise you are back to square one.

Day 1 - Windows and Floors

2008-04-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of our studio looking towards

Lake Erie. You can see the historic Fairport

Harbor Lighthouse in the distance.

The charm of this small town, the lighthouse

and the historic brick building make a perfect

place to ignite imagination.

With only 6 and 1/2 weeks before we open our doors, we have lots of work to do. Here is what we did today:

My wife Carla worked hard taping all of the windows in the front to prepare them for staining. We also had to apply a thin coat of silicone to the outside of each pane.

Our daughter Alayna even helped out!

The floor in the studio area needs a lot of prep work. We are planning on using the existing plywood floor. First I had to use 1 lbs. of 2" wood screws on all of the edges to keep them down. I then used a belt sander with 50 grit paper to even all the edges. After vacuuming the dust I applied floor leveler to all of the cracks, screws, knots and imperfections. I will let it dry tonight and then look for places to touch up tomorrow.

New Beginnings

2008-04-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

As the President of Moonstruck Productions, I would like to welcome you to just one of the many new and exciting things happening here at Moonstruck Productions. From the day my wife, Carla, pushed me to start this wonderful endeavor, we knew we would accomplish big things and we are happy to share each moment with you on our first Blog.

Another exciting first for us, besides a Blog, is the 5 year lease we just signed on an old brick building that will soon become Moonstruck Studios! It is hard to believe we will no longer be cramming 4 computers, 2 editors and a ton of DVD's, tapes and cases into a 10x10 room!

While the news of moving into a new studio is exciting, it is also overwhelming as I realize the task ahead. We have a lot of work to do before the studio is built and only 6 weeks to do it. Our lease commences on June 1st and currently the only things in the room are century old brick walls and a vacuum cleaner. On top of that, our work load here has been increasing steadily as we have already booked 22 weddings for this summer and launched the newest division to the Moonstruck Family; Virtual Interactive Products featuring http://www.360-tour.net/.

Needless to say, there is much to share. We hope you will join us on our journeys because we would love to have you along for the ride.

Sincerely,

Scott Stachiw
Producer
Moonstruck Productions™
www.moonpro.us