All posts by Bryan

Art Direction, Blog, Concepts, Web and Print

Rongovian Embassy Poster for February 2015

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Rongo-150129Poster4
footer logo designed by Q Cassetti

I’ve been fascinated by the timeline of history on the wall of the Rongovian Embassy since the first time I went there in the early eighties and that became the concept.

Q Cassetti designed the footer for the poster, which gave a strong foundation, and  set the bar very high for whatever I had to come up with. The Rongo is the most famous landmark in Trumansburg (See Wikipedia) and the public house of my own community. It is a legendary destination dating back to my infancy. So there was no pressure whatsoever. _R2_3472Babel

I drew the Rongo building in the style of the tower of Babel–from whence, according to the Timeline of History, many of the bloodlines of humanity are traced.

TimelineOfHistoryHankRoberts

I felt the need to bring back a little of the clutter and patina of the old Rongo. The place needed (I just have to say it) a high colonic. And it got one. Which is good.  But I am very sentimental about nicotine stains, yellowed paper and other visible signs of human habitation.

I cast around for a few days for concept to hang a poster idea on. Of course this required putting some time into “getting the vibe” of the newly-renovated bar. I’m pleased to report that the Rongo is in very good hands. It’s a very very nice place to hang around in. The beer, mixed drinks and food are excellent and affordable.

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Blog, Motion Pictures, Music Demos

Make It Up To You

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UniitJebSim

Uniit Carruyo sings her own song, "Make It Up To You," backed up by Jeb Puryear (guitar), Sim Redmond (bass), Hank Roberts (cello) and Mark Raudabaugh (drums), at the newly-reopened Rongovian Embassy in Trumansburg, New York November 29th. 2014.

A Motherlode Pictures production of a Bryan Root film, House sound by John Lloyd. Produced by Dan Paolangeli. Camera by Bryan Root, Dan Paolangeli, John Gurche and Jonas Puryear. Post-Production by Will Dailyrest.

Special thanks to Jessica Giles, Calf Audio, Luigi Llanos and Gregory McGrath.UniitRongoSweetLike0

Services, Videography

Video

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The greater part of my adult life has been taken up with the task of making video look like film. With the advent of the Digital Single Lens Reflex camera making video look like film got a lot easier. With my first DSLR I was able to use lenses that my father bought in the 1970s with stunning results (see below).

The chips that gather the image data inside the DSLR cameras are almost as big as a traditional 35mm camera which gives the shallow depth of field (some things in focus, other things out of focus) that is the defining characteristic of real film.

Smart-Brothers
Smart Brothers, from The Green Room Lounge.

I own 2 matching DSLR cameras and can shoot both sides of an interview or do multi-camera coverage of an event. I can hire additional cameras as needed.

But lighting is what separates the seed from the chaff. Many of your less experienced camera people (videographers/not cinematographers) think that an expensive camera is all they need to make a good image. But if it’s not lit, and you can’t love the way the thing that you’re selling looks, no amount of editing is going to fix it.  A sense of composition helps too.

Lizzy-Ross-Band
The Lizzy Ross Band from The Green Room Lounge

I have Arriflex and Mole Richardson (industry standard) lights and stands. Apart from my feature film, Dirty Habit, I shot everything you’ll see here on this site. I have contracted others as a second and third camera persons at times but I have always done the lighting myself.

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Animation, Graphics, Motion Graphics, Services

Motion Graphics

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We've gone on at some length about the importance of other services we offer and why you should hire us instead of an undergraduate film student or hobbyist, but when it comes to motion graphics and animation, twenty four frames a second is worth a thousand words. Have a look at our reel and I think you'll find that the four words. "this is so cool," pretty much sums it up. And sometimes that's enough.

Most of the films you'll see on this site have our motion graphics in them, generally at the beginning and/or the end.

This reel also features a Blu-ray menu, and a character morphing excerpt from an evolution animation we did of John Gurche's artwork. All the work here is done with Adobe After Effects and Photoshop. We also shot and recorded the accompanying musical performance by Woody Pines at the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival.

Custom animation is our top-of-the-line product and can be very time consuming, but we may just have something laying around the shop that we can retool to fit your needs.

Environmental, Gallery, Motion Pictures

Environmental Education & Action

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Pointing cameras at sources of light in our community.

This is a playlist of YouTube videos I’ve made featuring Sandra Steingraber Ph.D., Robert Howarth Ph.D., Ron Bishop Ph.D., CHO., Thomas Shelley, Adam Law M.D., Michelle Bamberger M.S., D.V.M., and others, mostly responding to the prospect of hydrofracking in New York State. It is largely due to the hard work and dedication of people like these, who got themselves arrested in the name of environmental protection, that Governor Cuomo banned fracking in 2014.

But the threat remains, and hydrofracking, which even liberal-minded Barack Obama, got behind, is a big problem where it’s still being used. The methane it’s releasing into the atmosphere doesn’t stay where the gas is pulled out of the ground. It becomes a global problem. The most up to date science indicates that the best practice is to leave the gas in the ground and pursue sustainable energy sources, which are cheap and abundant.

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Concepts, Services

Concepts

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Concepts are the visual ideas that give structure to design and help define your brand. It’s more than just a logo. It’s your story. It’s the detail about you or your company that all your design decisions will be based on.

Motherlode pictures headslate

The concept for my company, for example, is that the family posed in front of their home  (my actual ancestors) are the propietors. It’s an idea that resonates with me personally because  I made my first successful film, Wishing Well, on an optical printer I built from equipment my grandfather left me along with a box of old home movies.

The concept started to evolve  when I saw this picture in a shoebox at my grandmother’s house. Now my fonts, my textures, my visuals, and even my vocabulary is based on the time period of this picture.

I no longer have to  ask myself “how does this leaf and berry flourish on my business card express who I am and what my business is all about.” I just ask, “what would They do?”

badge-shop_petrune

The concept for the petrune commerce site came out of an afternoon’s wandering around their store. The next day I collected all the materials and shot the backgrounds.

This is a Blu-ray menu for my film, Dirty Habit, which is about a nun and crack-addict getting stuck on an elevator together.

Finding a story that resonates is not easy, but it’s worth it. Because once we know and love our concept, all the design decisions practically make themselves.

When you hire me to make a film for you I can throw some concepts out and see what what sticks. If you’ve put your heart and soul and your kid’s college fund into your business venture, don’t scrimp on this step.

It’s the difference between a brick house and pile of straw.

 

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Art Direction, Services

Art Direction

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I use a broader definition of art direction than the guilds in Hollywood.

I could call it Production Design, but honestly, we’ll call it that when it’s appropriate. Art direction is what they called it back when movies were “pictures” and the credits only lasted three minutes.

I use the term to describe everything you see in the frame of the finished film that isn’t a human being. For example, if I decide we need to shoot your film in the conference room because I like the potted plants, that’s art direction.

 

 

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Branding, Services

Branding

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It’s not just for cows

...but it's the same idea.

Immediately recognizable as yours. That's branding. Successful, publicly traded companies have all, at some time or other, paid an ad agency genius to distill their company's identity down to a few strong brush strokes.

It's a chicken and egg question as to whether successful businesses have good logos or good logos make successful companies. Either way, the importance of a simple, immediately recognizable symbol that is pleasing to the eye, appropriate to the company and easy to fit on a box or business card, is incontestable.

"What is this film about?" my professor at AFI would ask in his eastern European  accent. "What is the premise?" ("where is moose and squirrel?") he'd press. If you couldn't tell him he'd send you away to think on it some more. No one was allowed to talk about anything technical until the seminal questions were answered. It was great. This disciplinarian approach has guided me ever since. And it's applicable to more than just film making.

Take a look at some of the the branding ideas I've come up with and logos I've designed and read my post on Concepts--which are the foundation of a brand. I'd love to help you find your brand and how it fits into a film and anywhere else you want it.