Over the past several years we have produced over 80 documentaries for  international distribution.  For over the past decade, RabbitView has produced documentaries for The Documentary Channel and CTV, TV commercials, a weekly TV Real Estate series for Corus Customs Network, and a national ad campaign for Le Chateau.  Our work has also appeared on such broadcast outlets as ESPN, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Dish, DirectTV, Spectrum, Google Play.

We draw upon this experience so entrepreneurs and corporate clients can have on-going content that is authentic and engaging.

We want to let Realtors / Builders / Home Owners know we are focusing on doing Real Estate Video again. For the past few years we have been doing documentary work and want to direct that experience to showcase properties and tell their stories.

Video is a great way for realtors and homeowners to showcase their properties and services. Since 2005 we have filmed several thousand homes in the Calgary area and take pride in delivering quality video that showcases a property at its best.

We are going to be doing streamlined Video Open Houses with Realtor commentary and stylized movement that highlights the property in comprehensive. Quality professional video but quick and easy for the Realtor.

We can also highlight Realtors with customized documentary content. Let us know if you are interested in coming up with a customized video package to highlight your property.  The sample above is an extended video of a one-of-a-kind Calgary concrete home.

#realestate #realtor #video #corporatevideoproduction #corporatedocumentaries

#behindthescenes #director #documentaries #authenticity

In the early 80’s Anvil toured with the likes of The Scorpians, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and Guns N’ Roses.  While all of those bands went on to enormous fame and riches, Anvil certainly did not.  And while lead singer and guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow ends up as a delivery driver for a catering service company he is determined to remain steadfast in his dreams of having the band making it.  He is resolute in keeping the band together regardless of the financial, family and practical obstacles that they encounter.  Steve is endlessly industrious is coming up with ways to finance the band’s efforts is unwavering in his spirit and passion as he gets the band together to record their 13th album and subsequently go on a European tour.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil is an endearing story about resilience and determination.  Following the band’s improbable dream provides insight into their unique friendship and bond, and leads to an examination of broader examination goal-setting, loyalty, success, heartbreak, and external validation.  There is an undeniable appeal to the band’s commitment.  The film’s tagline is “At fourteen, they made a pact to rock together forever. They meant it.”

The film is directed by Sacha Gervasi who was originally a roadie for the band while at the height of their success.  It is clear he recognized that the band (and their lead singer in particular) have an unflappable nature that resonates.  The film is a fantastic mix of humour, poignancy, and inspiration.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil is a highly entertaining documentary that inspires us to seek out subjects that are similarly consumed by a personal quest.

In this episode, Tony Hinchcliffe gives a little background on how the “Kill Tony” podcast / show developed and we get to see how “preparation meets opportunity” for a few up and coming comics.

RabbitView has a wealth of experience producing documentary content.  In addition to producing an earlier documentary on Wayne Lee for The Documentary Channel and co-producing a documentary for CTV on women in combat athletics, RabbitView has produced 80 sports-oriented documentaries for International broadcast distribution.

In 2002, RabbitView produced the quirky documentary The Deeper You Go, about Wayne Lee’s transformation from stage hypnotist to motivational speaker and performance coach.  That film has played at numerous international film festivals including The Montreal International Film Festival, The New York Independent Film & Video Festival, The Calgary International Film Festival, and won the award for best direction at The Golden Gate Fiction Film and Video Festival.  It made its premiere on The Documentary Channel in early 2005 and has played on the Channel close to 100 times.

Wayne Lee is an unrelenting advocate for individuals and teams looking to turn potential into peak performance. Whether it’s on stage or in the boardroom, Wayne’s use of humour and powerful hypnosis techniques encourages people to drop their defenses, access their GPS and break through to new paradigms.

Wayne shows how what you put in–beliefs, attitudes, goals, and visions–act as coordinates that absolutely determine whether or not you reach your destination. Get it wrong and you’re stuck in traffic with the rest of the world. Get it right and you’ll get to your goal faster and easier than you ever thought possible.

Wayne’s own journey to excellence has been fueled with an unrelenting passion for empowering people. From a childhood fascination with magic and visualization, Wayne’s gift and passion for seeing great potential and acting on it has allowed him to grow his career and perform to audiences worldwide.

One of North America’s premier Corporate Presenters, Entertainers, and Peak Performance Experts, Wayne Lee is a veteran of thousands of successful shows and presentations, a published author, and mentor to professionals of all walks of life. As a former five-time Canadian amateur wrestling champion and a beloved classroom instructor, Wayne has spent his whole life practicing what he teaches.

In the inaugural episode of ‘The Podcast Kid’ we meet the precocious 16 year old podcaster and learn about the genesis of “The Cassius Morris Show.”  The episode also features a potential star-making phone-call on The Adam Carolla show with Adam and his guest, actor Rob Corddry.  Later in the episode we see Cassius schedule an interview with acclaimed actor John Dunsworth of The Trailer Park Boys.

During his interview with “Mr. Lahey” you can see a unique dynamic develop between actor John Dunsworth, of The Trailer Park Boys fame, and Cassius as they engage in a spirited podcast where they cover a wide range of topics.

Cassius has gone on to interview the likes of Gene Simmons from Kiss as well as numerous other famous musicians and comedians such as Joey Diaz and Greg Fitzsimmons.  His audience continues to grow and he has developed a sizeable social media following.

This video was the 1st episode of a 6-part series completed for CrossFit HQ.  It features charismatic British Army veteran Mike Burgess dedicated himself to becoming fit. The 42-year-old lives with post-traumatic stress disorder but says he doesn’t let it define who he is. Drawn to CrossFit by its connection to the military, Burgess was intrigued when he saw the results that high-intensity produces.

RabbitView was hired by CrossFit Inc. to film various day in the life videos that highlighted elite athletes.  We also produced close to 100 video pieces for the company that showcased individuals with personal stories that overcame various adversities through the fitness regimen.

The streamlined ability of video producers to be mobile and the ability to quickly shoot, edit and broadcast material have enabled us to go to environments and get the context of events that traditionally we have not had access to or would have taken too much time, effort, or expense. Highlighting the context of an event as opposed to merely filming an event is a concept that dates back all the way to the early 1960’s with college football and the notion of “Taking the sports fan to the game.” This is a model that has not only been applied to sports, but the vast myriad of topics, events, people and places that can be video subjects. Furthermore, because of technological advances in video filming and editing as well as the ease in getting material broadcast (i.e. the Internet), this process no longer has to be big budget exercise involving vast crews and endless planning.

Roon Arledge, the American sports and news broadcasting pioneer behind programs such as Monday Night Football, Nightline, ABC World News, 20/20 and Wide World of Sports came up with idea of bringing the fan to the game as opposed to bringing the game to the fan. Instead of merely showing the game and only focusing on the game itself, Arledge proposed that highlighting interesting things about the location, the surrounding characters, and the lead up to the game would encourage an increased interest from a wider audience. He was absolutely right and eventually this changed how sports and ultimately all news events got covered.

The advent of smaller broadcast quality digital cameras and easy access to portable sound gear has changed the landscape even more. Most importantly, one-man crews adept at storytelling, filming and quick editing, has enabled us to be a “fan” in more worlds than ever. No longer do we have to wait for a major network to broadcast a large event that is aimed at the masses. Now even the most specific of niches can have behind-the-scenes coverage. These one-man crews can capture the essence of an event and use video to not only tell the story but also highlight the spirit of the event by capturing the peripheral elements.

The development of the one-person crew is significant for a few reasons. First and foremost it means that the production process is streamlined – the filming process is inconspicuous and the filmer can capture an event with minimal effect on the authenticity of the subject matter. If, for example, you film a non-actor and add elements such as numerous crew members in charge of lighting, make-up and sound, as well as intermediaries in charge of direction, production, and content, they will undoubtedly become less natural in their delivery and the process will become agonizingly time-consuming. A second important point is the more people you add to the crew, the larger your budget will be. Minimizing the crew and streamlining the filming process enables clients to keep costs down and dedicate more of their resources to filming more elements of their event and film their events more regularly.

More comprehensive and on-going coverage of a particular community or event enables that group greater opportunity to generate interest among potential new viewers as well as strengthen existing bonds within their respective group. In addition, as video producers, the more opportunities we get to film, edit and broadcast, the better we become at telling your story and taking viewers “to the game”.

Bellow is a blog post I wrote for Notch video for a series titled “So, how much did that video cost”. It highlights the idea that having interesting subject matter is the key to an engaging video. While viewers always appreciate professional sound and quality images, in the end people gravitate to others who show passion for what they do regardless of the subject matter. The key to a good video is simple – enthusiastic subjects.

Notch Video Blog

I am always searching the web to see how different subcultures and groups use video to highlight what they do.  These searches not only yield potential new streams of clients but often reveal innovative filming and editing techniques.

As someone who generally produces videos with a run and gun streamlined production, (i.e. low budget productions with minimal pre-production time, lighting and setup), I am usually drawn to videos that are able to successfully document interesting content in a minimalist fashion.

In my ongoing quest to find such content I stumbled upon “The Perfect Barber Shave” by The Nomadic Barber.

This video is part of an ongoing series from The Nomadic Barber in which he visited different barber shops across 5 continents over the course of a year.  This particular 10 minute video is the first that I came across from the series and takes place in a Hong Kong barber shop. In the video, Kam, a Turkish trained barber from London methodically takes us through the steps of giving a straight razor shave.

As someone who gave up on the idea of the “perfect shave” long ago (I now sport a beard which I occasionally trim if it is getting out of hand) I was initially drawn by the title of the video.  The idea of getting a straight razor shave, or even having a straight razor used to tighten the edges of a haircut, appeals to my sense of what a man of character does. Based on the traffic and number of comments the video has got, it would appear that others share this feeling.  This video elicits an emotional response from the viewers and is more than simply an instructional how to guide for hipster barbers.

As far as video costs go there is a pretty big giveaway in The Nomadic Barber’s one line bio, namely he lets us know that there is one cameraman accompanying him.  This is something that is not hard to decipher after watching the video – it is evident that it is a one man crew equipped with a DSLR camera and a shotgun microphone.

It is also apparent that this shoot location is a very confined space so things like a dolly or any sort of light setup would not be prudent.  Considering they are travelling I would imagine that they want to keep the amount of equipment and setup time to a minimum as well.  I would guess that the length of the actual shoot would not have been much more than 1 hour.  Perhaps the cameraman had a quick pre-interview, checked out the space and light situation prior to the actual shoot, and likely Kam the barber took a few pauses to let the cameraman know which step he was doing next once shooting began.

As far as post production, it is the sort of video that could be edited in a couple of hours.  It appears that there is some sort of quick colour correction or the addition of a film filter.  The editing is simply straight cuts and jump cuts that help boil down what might have been a 15 minute process down to 10 minutes.  There are no graphics or After Effects – just a simple bumper of the Nomad Barber’s logo at the introduction and conclusion of the video.

My guess is the video is likely shot and edited by a traveling buddy of the Nomad Barber with some DSLR skills and that he/she filmed and edited this video along with the other videos in this series  for free travel and food.  Theoretically to hire a local DSLR shooter / editor freelancer to produce this sort of individual piece you might be looking at a budget of around $1000-$1500 with the costs split evenly for filming and editing.

As a run and gun videographer / editor who often times works as a one-man band, I always try to think of how I would have put together the same subject matter.  One could argue that the video could have increased its production value and made more “cinematic” by adding a second coverage camera, some slider shots, and taking a few minutes to get some added b-roll footage, establishing shots, and shaving sound effects – something still feasible in a one person operation.

However after reading through the nearly 500 comments on the video at the time of writing, nobody discusses or even mentions the nature of the filming or sound quality – this is a good thing.  The comments are focused on the barber’s techniques and prowess.  There is something inherently pleasing about watching a highly competent craftsman taking us through a process, showing a distinct “before” and “after.”  What truly makes a good video is if the subject matter and presenter is compelling.  After watching this video I was razor close to getting my beard shaved!  Afraid of what might be revealed underneath, I decided against it at the last minute.  However, I did go to my barber the next day to get my hair cut and showed him this video letting him know I could make a similar one for him.

RabbitView has also had the opportunity to produce video content for many large organizations including, The City of Calgary, The Documentary Channel, Alberta Health Services, CTV, Husky Energy, CrossFit Inc., The Calgary Real Estate Board, The Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, Encana, DMG World Media, Re/Max, EFW Radiology, World Health, Maclin Ford and Royal Lepage.