Dinosaurs In Their Time
Big changes have been taking place at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. In the spring of 2005, the Museum’s Dinosaur Hall was closed and the dinosaur skeletons were dismantled and sent to New Jersey. There they were rebuilt according to the most current scientific information, and then shipped back to Pittsburgh to be assembled in the Museum’s new exhibit, Dinosaurs in Their Time.
PMI’s Evie DeSarno has had a role in this major undertaking from the very beginning. Back in October 2003, she worked with the museum and Ralph Vituccio at CMU to create the DinoMite Days video that would help in fundraising efforts for this project. Now Dymun + Company has us back on the job, helping to develop spots and web banner ads that promoted the opening of this fantastic exhibit on November 21.
PMI’s Bryan Froud and Kevin Kulesa brought 3D images of an Allosaurus on one of Pittsburgh’s bridges to life, utilizing photos of the actual specimen at the Museum, a 3D skeleton model and an invisible internal armature. After going through some rigorous motion tests to choreograph each and every step it took, the Allosaurus was given some depth with additional digital effects. Finally, audio engineer Shawn Jackson put his skills to the test, creating a soundtrack that will take you all the way back to the time of the dinosaurs.
Dymun + Company’s Craig Otto was thrilled with the finished product. “Bryan, Kevin and Shawn poured their hearts into this project. I really appreciated their enthusiasm and their talents. They truly brought the bones to life, and created an outstanding spot.”
Click here to see the Dinosaur spot. |
December 2007 Newsletter
 Dinosaurs In Their Time
A "Hive" Success Story
A New Member of the PMI Family
Hot Blooded in Adventureland
Good Sports?
Hot Blooded in Adventureland
In case you didn’t notice (or tried to put a local film crew together), there was a feature film being shot in Pittsburgh this fall, primarily at Kennywood Park. Written and directed by Greg Mottola, the red-hot director of last summer’s Superbad, this one’s a coming-of-age story set in an amusement park named Adventureland, which is also the working title for the film. Local rock group “Unreal City” was cast to play a teenage cover band in one scene, performing Foreigner’s Hot Blooded.
The film’s Music Supervisor needed a professional studio to pre-record the band, and called Jack Bailey to see if PMI met her requirements. We had all the mics, monitors, space and experience she was looking for, including the recording platform preferred by major market soundstage mixers, High Def. Pro Tools. The band and the L.A. singer were recorded in PMI’s Studio A in a lively Saturday session, the scene was successfully shot a few weeks later, and the tracks were sent off for the eventual soundstage movie mix, as well as possible inclusion in the film’s soundtrack album. Though it will probably be released under a different name, look for Adventureland to hit the big screens early in 2009.
Good Sports?
Picture this: commercial spots advertising the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum that don’t show any sports. You may think it can’t be done, but leave it to the folks at Garrison Hughes to make the impossible possible. They simply “turned the tables a little and focused on what happens to the rest of the world when fans head to the Sports Museum,” according to copywriter, Mike Giunta (one of Pittsburgh Magazine’s “40 Under 40”).
GH gave PMI the task to shoot these challenging spots and armed with a unique concept and a tight deadline, Director /Cameraman Shannon Barry and Senior Account Executive Evie Desarno worked with Producer Nan Quatchak to secure no less than eight locations for the shoot. Spread from Zelienople to Crafton, it was certainly a challenge to shoot at all of those locations in just two days. Somehow, though, we made it happen. Says Giunta, “Shannon was very easy to work with. From the initial meeting to the last scene shot, it was very collaborative and everyone pitched in from the agency and crew. Shannon worked with us to get every shot right, and we had fun doing it as well.”
The spots first aired during the Steelers/Browns game and on the Jumbotron at Heinz Field on November 11. We’ve been hearing and reading a lot of glowing comments about the spots, but we simply chalk it up to another job well done.
Click here to see the Sports Museum spots. |
A "Hive" Success Story
The creators of Endeavor Media, one of The Hive at PMI’s original occupants, have recently “graduated” from our incubator and moved out on their own. Endeavor, a music video production company, has grown dramatically since it moved in about a year and a half ago and has been keeping quite busy lately. Danny Yourd and Steve Hoover have just completed a very ambitious two months of work, creating videos for Farewell, The Devil Wears Prada, A Dream Too Late (view the video at http://iendeavormedia.com/video/adtl/adtl.html) and O Sleeper. PMI’s Shannon Barry, who has helped them along the way, has nothing but praise for their work. “With the completion of this group of videos, Danny and Steve have really stepped up the production value of their work. I expect that it will be only a matter of time before the entire industry shares our high opinion of Endeavor Media.”
With Endeavor Media’s departure comes an opportunity for another budding media-related start-up company to set up residence in The Hive. PMI will provide occupants with office space, phone, internet, and access to conference rooms. In addition to a brick and mortar infrastructure, The Hive residents can consult with key PMI personnel who offer their relevant expertise and insight into the residents’ market verticals. Past residents and candidates include companies with interests in telecommunications/content creation, online media distribution, 3D motion graphics, interactive kiosk, online training, and, of course, music videos. If you are interested in pursuing The Hive as an opportunity for your new business, please contact Jose Muniain at jose@pmidigital.com for more information.
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