Black & Blue Experience

Recently, Mark and his crew had the opportunity to work on something a little different, that turned out to be big fun! The Black & Blue Experience needed a music video that captured both their musical talents and the vibrant style they bring to their performances. Working with East Coast Entertainment and SV2 Studios, Mark produced, shot and edited the video to tell the story of this energetic band.

In just a few months since the video's release, East Coast CEO Larry Farber confirmed the band has already seen an increase in their bookings, as well as the size of venues they have been invited to play. "It's definitely helping them move forward."

Looking Back, Looking Forward

 As we kick off the new year, we want to take a moment to thank everyone who helped make 2013 a really great year for Mark Wagoner Productions, filled with lots of exciting and fun projects. From clients to crew, making great video and photography is a team effort, and not only could we not do it without you - it wouldn't be nearly as much fun!

We wish each of you a happy, healthy and creative new year! We'd love to be a part of your upcoming projects, so drop Mark a line or call the studio to discuss - 336.854.0406.

Thank you!

More Than Just Pretty Pictures...

Everyone knows a picture is worth a thousand words, right? But for your brand, don't you want more than just words?

   Style, comfort, sophistication, reliability, even sense of humor, can all be part of a brand's identity. The right imagery can communicate that to your audience even more effectively than copy. We work with you and your team to design photography and video images that communicate your brand's identity and personality to your market.

Flexsteel IHFC Showroom, 2013

   Flexsteel Furniture illustrates both style and comfort in the video that we produce for their television commercials. The overall production value sets it apart from much of the stock footage seen in traditional dealer ads, which communicates to their potential customers that Flexsteel is a high quality brand.

"When we started working with Mark on Flexsteel's commercial video, he really took the time to understand what we needed from the footage - beyond simple images of the furniture. We began working together on commercial spots, and he started seeing other opportunities to help build our overall image, such as virtual tours of the High Point Furniture Market showroom. He and his crew are fun to work with, and we get great images, too."
           ~ Justin Mills, Director of Advertising & PR, Flexsteel Industries, Inc.

South of France - Cote D'Ivoire and Lavender Fields

   When South of France introduced new packaging for their Natural Body Care products, they needed new photography to further define their soaps and body washes as exotic and luxurious. Mark worked with them and production designers at Ink Photography Productions to create artistic sets to capture the brand's new feel.

South of France - Vanilla Creme Caramel

    Sometimes a brand needs to feel accessible, more human. In those cases, the situation might call for a little comedy. Everyone dreads taking their car to the shop, right? When G-Force Marketing wanted to lighten the mood with a humorous character for a series of tv spots, Mark worked with them to create the world of "Betchadidn'tknow Guy." He rescues everyday folks from the the hazards of going to the wrong car repair shop, and steers them to the clean, professional dealer of our hero brand. With Mark behind the camera, his team of set designers, stylists, lighting & grip, and camera crew, brought "Betchadidn'tknow Guy" to life and had a blast doing it.

Here are a few behind the scenes photos from that shoot!

It'd be scary if it wasn't a set.

Would you trust this guy with your car?

Waiting room from hell.

Happily Ever After!

Give Mark a call at the studio to discuss how our photography and video production team can help you capture and promote your brand's identity.

Thirty Years Ago Today!

Today marks an event that I must say never really crossed my mind when I started Mark Wagoner Productions, then known as Mark Wagoner Fotografie. That was 30 years ago -- strange to even write that. 

In the summer of 1983, I had just returned from working in the Middle East and was planning my next move. It turned out that I met Lynn Jaffe that summer, who in time would become Lynn Wagoner. Also, I already had some business contacts in North Carolina, so I decided to look for a studio space in Greensboro. October 1st was the day that I moved into 12-H Wendy Court, the space that I still use as home base.

Before the cyc-wall, and what's that under the black cloth?

Back then, there was a darkroom instead of a kitchen, and they only computers in the studio were ones I photographed for Compute! Magazine. (I remember shooting a story about the very first Macintosh, which showed families with their home computers!)

A souvenir from the 10th anniversary.

I have been supported by a wealth of great team members, clients and friends. I find it really exciting that 30 years on I am in the middle of one of the busiest periods I have ever had! Thanks to everyone for contributing to the success of these first 30 years.

I am looking forward to many more great shoots with all the enthusiasm of that day in 1983, but with a hell of a lot more experience.

How many changes can you spot?

1984

1985

1986

Win 2 Tickets to "Wait Until Dark" at Triad Stage!

We've been fans of Triad Stage since the beginning, so when our friends at Bluezoom invited us to team up in creating promotional materials for their Lucky 13th Season, we jumped at the chance! We will be filming and editing trailers for each of the six MainStage productions this season. We've just completed the first piece for the thriller "Wait Until Dark", on stage from September 1 - 29. (See it here!) 

With help from the folks at Triad Stage & Bluezoom, Mark created a trailer that we hope will send a chill down your spine. We had a lot of fun working on the creepy visuals for the video. The trailers will be shown to audiences at local movie theaters throughout the season, as well as online - at a social media venue near you.

Mark Wagoner Productions is excited to continue our support of local arts groups with this partnership, and "Wait Until Dark" is going to be a great show. In fact, we're giving away a pair of tickets to the official Opening Night performance on Friday, September 6! Just leave a comment here on the blog or send Mark an email, and you're entered! Act fast, because we will randomly select a winner from all the entries we receive tomorrow morning, Wednesday, September 4. (You can also purchase tickets online!)

Enjoy the show!

Supporting the Arts

We're fortunate to have a vibrant arts community in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Mark Wagoner Productions is proud to have had many opportunities to help promote and contribute to its success.

     One recent project was a video to announce the rebranding of artsGreensboro (formerly the United Arts Council). Mark edited a collage of still images provided by a host of local photographers (including a few of his own), plus music and graphics, into an dynamic statement about creative life in our city.
     "We needed a high-energy video solution to help us rebrand the United Arts Council as ArtsGreensboro. Mark Wagoner’s fresh creative approach combined that change with emotionally engaging arts images and a rhythm that literally jump off the screen. It’s brilliant!"  --  Thomas Philion, President & CEO ArtsGreensboro
     Watch the video here!

     Another notable local arts event is the Eastern Music Festival. Mark has provided still photography and video to help promote EMF for years, and this year he was honored to see three of his images incorporated into the festival banners at Dana Auditorium on the campus of Guilford College.

2013 Telly Awards

We are so excited to announce that we have received three Tellys for creative work over the past year. The Telly Awards recognizes the very best film & video productions, groundbreaking online video content, and outstanding local, regional, & cable TV commercials and programs.

Set the Stage, a commercial spot that Mark directed for the United Arts Council of Greensboro's 17 Days Festival, won awards for use of animation and for non-profit promotion. Mark served as Director/DP on Esperanza, a short film created with Ink Photography Production, which was recognized for cinematography.

We are honored to have received these awards, and we are very grateful for the wonderful clients and partners who contribute to these exciting projects. Click the links below to view the winning videos!

Screen shot from "Set the Stage"

Screen shot from "Esperanza"

Bon Appetit!

Sometimes you seek out a specialty, sometimes the specialty finds you. That has been the case with Mark and food & beverage photography. Over the years, he has been called on to do this appetizing work for both editorial and advertising clients. Being a bit of a foodie himself, it was a natural fit. Mark has experience shooting in the studio and on location in restaurants, bars, and kitchens for clients ranging from Darryl's Wood Fired Grill to Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

Click through the photo above to be taken to more food & still life images in Mark's "objects" portfolio, or view his Showreel on Vimeo for more motion samples.

Corolla 2013

Take a moment to unwind with this video postcard from Mark's winter trip to the Outer Banks...

Producing Someday

     Standing in a field prepping gear, a cast and crew of 25 or so people each doing their part, and the AD is asking how long until you are ready to roll... not to mention the pressure to live up to the expectations of the director / script-writer. The first shot is a simple camera on slider move of a tombstone in a field, with a 200mm lens - no problem. But the next shot is a Steadicam shot walking backwards in tall clumpy grass. Is everything ready, have you done your homework, read the script enough, thought through all the gear, can you see the film in your head yet? You know they will call action in a few minutes, are you ready to roll?

     That day was October 25th, the first day of a four-day shoot for the principle photography on a short film titled Someday. Written and directed by Stephen van Vuuren, produced by SV2 Studios and Mark Wagoner Productions, I served as the director of photography. My main goals were to not shoot a lame-looking film, to tell the story, and to have fun.

 

      While we are still shooting a few shots this winter, the bulk of the shoot was completed in four days last October. Now we are deep into dealing with the footage, the edit in the early stages with Stephen, and I am working out the post-production details for the look and color of the film. The overall look was laid out in the hours (really more like days) that Stephen and I spent discussing and looking at films.

     Working on this element is as exciting for me as shooting - very different, but exciting. The shoot is full of nervous energy and emotions, lots of people working for the final goal of producing the film, but when I am working on the color grading, especially at the design stage that I am in now, it is very different. I am sitting at my computer, thinking about the emotion of the shots, how far too push the color without it becoming too heavy-handed. Very quiet and delicate business, it is a bit like meditation for me. After the edit is done and these decisions are made, and we are applying all of the grading to the final film, matching shots, correcting for lens color and the like - that is more like work.

     Our design and pre-production process took nearly nine months. While Stephen was tightening the script, our art department was busy with some of the larger tasks that we knew would make it into the final draft. One of the most interesting was the collection of 50,000 sheets of office paper to populate the desk of the character Grim Man (and they also found a home for the paper after the shoot.) We were all busy with location scouting in addition to our other duties for the film. During the casting we had 2,000 people submit headshots, and we auditioned 200 people for the seven roles. By September 1, 2012, we had pushed our original shoot dates back a few weeks. The role of David was proving difficult to cast, and one of the primary locations was proving tough to nail down. But the film was coming to life, full of energy, and the pressure was mounting.

    During those last few weeks before the shoot, I was busy with tech scouts, lenses, batteries and all of the things that require attention before a shoot. We were pushing into some new waters for me on this project, remote wireless video monitoring, using the Canon C300 in five different configurations, but the most interesting of all was the plan for recording the song that appears in the film. After much deliberation and discussion, Stephen suggested we record the actors singing on the set live - yes, live. Stephen had seen the teaser for  Les Miserables directed by Tom Hooper, and after passing around the video to the main team members, it was decided that we would use this concept to shoot the song in the film.
     This was a really big deal, as it meant having a keyboardist on set, a way for the actors to hear music in their ears, the keyboard player had to be able to hear the actors, and we had to record all of the vocals, as well as a sync track for the keyboard, while filming the whole thing. Now in case you do not know, we did not have multi-million dollar budget, a sound crew 3 times bigger than a normal film shoot and weeks to shoot. We had a a sound budget in the hundreds of dollars, a small but dedicated crew, actors and a music director who were willing to put themselves out on a limb and believe that this could be done, and only a few weeks to figure out how to pull it off. It was crazy to attempt on a project like this. I can only say I am glad we did!

      The thing that I really like about this type of project is that it becomes an exploration space and a proving ground. It is a chance to test out new processes and artistic thoughts, and then we are able to bring this research to our commercial productions.

     For the film, we had assembled a great cast and production crew. Some of the regulars that I work with were there, including Jill Davis as script supervisor and Christian Parsons as gaffer and camera operator, plus we brought along some new folks that really helped bring this show together.

     With the post production process underway, it’s deeply satisfying to see that this goal is being achieved, beyond our high expectations. Every frame bears the mark of multiple creative contributors to the film – art, cast, production design, sound. But ultimately film is a visual medium, and I believe the hard work Stephen and I put into Someday will result in great addition to our body of work.

Silver Tree, Pink Lights

When I was but a wee lad, my Grandmother Tuck had a silver metallic tree with pink lights on it. As I recall at the time, I thought it was all a bit strange and not Christmas-y enough for my taste. However, my guess now is that she thought it very up-to-date, or else maybe she just liked it. I think the latter is probably the case, as she was not a fashion follower.

  Now suffice it to say that I loved my Grandmother dearly, and she loved me "a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck." How could there be more? But the metal tree was always bit of a mystery, and after a time she went back to a more traditional Christmas tree, a pine of some type.

  In the last few years I have found myself thinking about this tree, wondering about her choice, remembering the color and the sparkle of the needles. As I have become more interested in things mid-century, I have been wanting to bring this tree back to life - well, you know what I mean. So I was on a quest.

My Grandmother Ivey Tuck, sitting on Santa's lap 

while visiting my studio during a shoot for Hardee's around 1985. 

Santa was played by Dean Shelton.

  With only Lynn and myself at home this Christmas, we had planned to tone down a bit, we didn't plan on putting up a tree at all, until I hatched the idea of the silver tree with pink lights. After an intense search I realized that the silver metal trees were not so easy to find anymore, and I wanted a vintage one in reasonable shape. Nothing was turning up. A few places had them, but only for their in-store  props. So after some thought I decided we would do an homage to the tree. At Target I found a modern silver tree and pinkish LED's. For now it will have to do, but the search goes on...

Do you have any memories of quirky holiday decorations? Maybe family traditions gone awry? Share your stories with us!

Wishing you & yours a happy holiday season!

A New Way of Seeing

 

These photos are just a few samples of a new technique that Mark has been experimenting with in recent months. It's an in-camera process that gives images surreal, dream-like quality, and it can be used for still photography, as well as for film & video. Our recent short film "esperanza" is an example of this technique in motion. The images above were created on the job for clients, including AAA, UNC Greensboro, and the Eastern Music Festival. We are intrigued by the potential this style offers, and we can't wait to see who wants to try it next!

Current Events

It's been a busy fall for us here at Mark Wagoner Productions! In addition to the projects mentioned above, we've had some exciting collaborations in recent weeks including video shoots for HGTV, Stainmaster Carpets (screen grab above), Sealy and Wells Fargo. Check out our Facebook page to keep up to date on all the fun, or give us a call to discuss your next project!

SET THE STAGE a short stop-motion film to promote the 17 DAYS Festival

   Early in June I received a phone call from my good friend Tom Philion, the CEO of United Arts Council for Greater Greensboro. Tom and I have worked on many projects over the last dozen years or so, always to good end. This call started a conversation about promotion ideas for the up-coming 17 Days arts event in Greensboro. After some thought, I came up with an idea for a stop-motion piece with a story of a stagehand who, after making a blunder, saves the day. Tom was intrigued enough to give me the go ahead, so I started assembling a team to produce the 30 second film "Set the Stage". 
   

   After a call to fellow filmmakers Stephen and Marie van Vuuren, I had the start of what would become a fantastic and enthusiastic team of stop-motionists (I think I may have coined a new term). The team was rounded out with Emma Hadley, an art student at VCU, Daniel Irons, a film student at SCAD, and Lynn Wagoner. I am grateful for all of their help, this project would not have come to life without them.

    With Marie as lead set designer helped by Lynn, Emma doing the design and construction of the props and figures, Stephen working out timing and technical issues during the shoot, and Daniel handling the camera and lights, we had all of the aspects of producing a lovely project. Now keep in mind - this is a lot of work for six people! We had a total of almost 30 days of work - from planning to editing - by the time it was completed.  

    My inspiration for the story comes from an experience that I had many years ago while working as a stagehand on a fashion show. The pre-set was for the front rag to be in the up postion, set parts in place and lighting set for the first scene. Perhaps five minutes before showtime, with a full house, I needed to be in position in the wings stage right, but I was in the wings stage left. The only way to get to where I was supposed to be was to walk right across the stage, in full view of the audience. I was halfway across when I realized maybe it would have been better to walk upstage behind the backdrop. I was mortified, but I kept going on with the confidence of a 23-year-old. Of course, I walked right into the director who was waiting in the wings. This experience contributed to my style of directing, which helps keep me calm, even when not all is perfect. Like our animated hero, a figure of notoriety that goes way beyond Greensboro, I went on to help save both the day and my respectability, and I am reminded that we often get a second chance to prove our value.

   The set features the number 17 as you would expect, a tip of the hat to our friend Harry Blair and the beautiful Greensboro Oak Leaf design he created around 1985 for the Carolina Theater, and many of the feature performers and art that will appear during the festival.

     We all had a hand in the animation. On the opening shot, we had the camera dollying, focus pulling from a chandelier moving up and out of frame, people in the audience sitting down, and the curtains opening. That was the shot with the most different movements, but perhaps not the hardest shot to pull off.  We have different answers for that depending on who was the main animator for a given set-up. While on there can always be a bit of tension with the difficulty of some of these shots, everyone had fun is ready to produce another stop-motion soon, well, maybe in a few weeks, or perhaps a month.