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Over the last eighteen months, I and Old Abbot have done a lot of growing and discovering. We purchased several new pieces of vital equipment including a Mac Book Pro to replace Old Betsey our dying iMac that would overheat and die mid-render. She’ll now live out her remaining years surfing the net and working in word processing documents. With the new equipment and a working edit bay I really wanted to begin production on a episodic series of some kind.
After filming a commercial spot for Prime Time Wrestling titled Live In Your Face Action in the Spring of 2012, and durning their annual Summer hiatus we made a partnership with the promotion and began production on a internet television series starting with their September show at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington. The series debuted in the Spring of this year and features many of the top names in Minnesota’s independent pro-wrestling scene in jaw dropping in-ring matches such as Mitch Paradise, “The Persian Sheik” Ariya Daivari, Renny D, Arik Cannon, Billy Blaze, Ryan Cruz, The Black Stallion, and Scarlett Bordeaux.
In June of last year Jon Sadeh and I returned to Las Vegas. This time it wasn’t to film anything, but rather due to the fact that we were finalist in Tropfest’s Road to Vegas Contest. We got to stay over sixty floors above the strip at the Cosmopolitan and see our short film along with James Woods, Toby Migure, Rob Corddry, and hundreds of others in attendance as 1,300 Miles played on a giant screen over looking the the strip.
In the Spring of this year production began on our second internet television series. An intimate concert series set in the Firehouse Room at The Happy Gnome in Saint Paul. The series is titled The Happy Gnome Presents, the first episode features I Like You singing Fireflies, Take Us, and Tippy Toes.
We didn’t just film series and enter contests we did a variety of productions for a wide array of clients like City Pages, Date for Life, Eatiply, Mi5 Fitness & CrossFit Lakeville, and Games N Go. The last year and a half I’ve seen a lot of growth in Old Abbot and in myself, and I look forward to what the rest of 2013 into 2014 and beyond has in store for the company and I. Until next time folks, same URL, some other time, stay tuned.
Memores Acti Prudentes Futuri
(Photo courtesy of Kelly Bracha from Xensin)
In the immortal words of AC/DC “I’m back”! After a little over eighteen months away from the Analog Catalog, to focus on Old Abbot’s website, productions, and the companies direction as a whole. Earlier this year I returned to radio after six years away from to the BEC-TV Radio Studios to do a weekly podcast called, High Voltage Radio. My co-hosts Brian Johnson and radio newcomer as well as Old Abbot’s Chief Operations Officer Jon Sadeh. The show airs live Friday’s from ten to Midnight. You can also listen find us on iTunes anytime. I’ll cover that more in-depth on that as well as where and what Old Abbot and I have been up to for over the last year in a future post, but right now I’ve got some major news! We’ve partnered once again with Focus Fire, The Hadou, and Keits. As well as musicians André Lipsey of R.E.A.L. Entertainment and Mike Wood of Thawed Out Productions to document the Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament 9: Guts Community Panels, which have now gone live on YouTube as well as Shoryuken. UFGT9 took place at the Crowne Plaza O'Hare Hotel in Chicago, Illinois over the Memorial Day weekend. This meant another trip to Chicago to film the Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament for the third year in a row, and the second year in a row for us filming the panels.
Joined once again by Producer Jon Sadeh, and on her third production with the company, Production Assistant Nora Dean Smith, we headed out early Friday morning to the windy city. After an eight hour drive we arrived at the Crown Plaza, and made our way to our room for the weekend. We dropped off our luggage and lighting equipment and made our way down to the ballroom where the tournament was being held. The new venue and single room layout for the event really opened up the options for me as a Cinematographer and eventually Editor. I wasted little time and began grabbing pickup shots of causal games and tournament pool bouts for the intro credits and outro credits for each of the panels which featured an amazing remix of the theme song of the nineteen-nineties Nickelodeon show Guts by André Lipsey for the intro credits as well as the track What You Need by Mike Wood for the outro credits.
Early Saturday morning and setup was well underway for the panels scheduled to start at ten with Tech Talk Live. The first panel was all about arcade sticks and the guys at Phreakmods who use it as a venue for creativity, expression, and a some profit. Testers Among Us featured two of the top Mortal Kombat players in the world as they discussed play testing and strategy guide development for the newest Never Realm Studios game Injustice: Gods Among Us. They also discussed using their long developed gaming knowledge and skills to help give back to the studio whose games have brought them respect. Home Grown Business: Players to Providers brought some of the biggest names behind the fighting game community together to talk about how their services, products, and businesses evolved from a love of the community, and where they hope to take the community moving forward. The E-Sports Connection: Hadoukens in the Spotlight was an open discussion about the progress of e-sports in the global gaming community, and its often difficult relationship with the fighting game community. Both content providers and consumers alike attempt to analyze the community’s place in the ever evolving world of competitive gaming. Lastly, An Evening with the Best: Mike Ross was about a simple gamer who didn’t own a console, but became the co-owner of CrossCounter, and (most recently) went on to become the proud fighting game community spokesman of IGN Pro Leauge’s defunct fighting game division; all of this done by Ross in the span of five short years. Once the panels wrapped production, and a dinner break was had I began the process of rendering the panels from their Canon source .mpg / h.264 files to Final Cut Pro’s native .mov / ProRes 422 files, I headed back downstairs with camera and tripod in hand to shoot additional footage for the intro and outro credits. Most of the footage was still mostly of casual and pool matches, but I also grabbed shots of the Fun and Games Corner which featured Super Balrog Ball and Divekick 21, as well as vendors like Phreakmods and Iron Galaxy Studios. With Midnight drawing near came the closing of the ballroom and the end of the second day of UFGT9.
Sunday was our last full day in Chicago as well as the finals for all the games in the tournament. The titles ran the gamut from obscure like Persona 4 Arena, new like Injustice: Gods Among Us, to veterans like Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 the day was filled with action on both of the stages. The crowd was hyped to see some of the top players in the county do battle for a top spot at the ninth annual Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament. I spent the nearly the entire day filming either on one of the two the stages, or in the crowd toward the stages. Capturing the moments of elation and disappointment in the players, commentators, and audience's faces and body language. Filming and seeing first hand Alex Valle defeat Joshua ”Wolfkrone” Philpot in the Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition 2012 Grand Finals, Christopher “Chris G” Gonzalez take the top prize in three different games, and the hilarious madness that was the Mystery Game Tournament not only provided for some storied and stellar compositions, but also reminded me why I became a fan in the first place and why I still enjoy covering these events as much as I do. As UFGT9 was coming to a close we conducted some interviews with some of the best and well-known players in the world like Christopher “Chris G” Gonzalez, Mike Ross, Jay “Viscant” Snyder, and Alex Valle to help explain the fighting game community and games themselves a bit more at length for our long in the making documentary about the competitive fighting game scene 99 Seconds. Icing on the cake.
It was early afternoon on Wednesday when the files were all rendered and ready to begin editing. The only break in the rendering process was about ten hours on Monday during our return trip to Minneapolis. After doing the Community Panels for Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament 8: Infinity, Prime Time Wrestling, and other various long forum projects things came together quite well in the edit bay for nearly all the panels. However Tech Talk Live and the hard drive it was on caused some problems. The drive had an inherent defect, and the location the master files for the panel where rendered to were causing I/0 errors during the editing and rendering process. This forced me to copy all 1.67 terabytes of video footage to a new and clean drive which took a nearly a day of transfer time. When I opened the project file off of the fresh drive the problem still persisted. Now knowing that the original location (and as a result the files themselves) were corrupted left me no option but to re-render all the video files associated with Tech Talk Live off of another drive used as a backup for moments such as this. After re-rendering the native Canon source h.264 files into Apple’s ProRes 422 format once again, deleting the original files on the new hard drive. I then had to reconnect them to the fresh and clean renders I remade. After all of that, everything else fell into place, and the editing process came into a steady rhythm and continued smoothly despite the twelve plus hour render times on each of the five panels for the graphical packages and color correction.
The end result of all this work is nearly six hours of Old Abbot produced content that I’m very proud of because it shows our growth as a company over the last year and a half. We have not only grown in regards to our new equipment like the Canon 5D mk III, Kino-Flo Divas, Mac Book Pro, and beyond, but also creativly and functionally. I’ll get more into that in a future post, but for now it’s time to say good-bye. However, before I do I’ve got some shout-outs to all those who helped in the creation of these bad boys. Special Thanks to Jeff Bangsberg, Brandon "TuboWare" Brockman, Ben Chandler, Andres Velasco Coll, Victor "Spooky" Fontanez, Ben "Fishstix" Goldhaber, Frankie Gomez, Christopher “Chris G” Gonzalez, David "UltraDavid" Graham, Matthew "Gummowned" Gummo, Adam Heart, Mark "Markman" Julio, Clayton "PhreakMods” Knight, André Lipsey, Bill "Tom Brady" Menoutis, Punnha Nom, Stone Nguyen, Lucas Olstad, Mike Ross, Jon Sadeh, Nora Dean Smith, Jay “Viscant” Snyder, Richard Thiher, Isaac "Delriach" Torres, Alex Valle, John "Rabid Duckie" Wade, Carl "Perfect Legend" White, Mike Wood, and to our business partners Focus Fire, The Hadou, Keits, R.E.A.L. Entertainment, Thawed Out Productions, and of course the Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.
Ad Captandum Vulgus
Old Abbot presents our final production before we head into 2012.
Special Thanks to the assistance and talents of Jon Sadeh, Jimmy Berg, Brian Marcou, Laurie Carlson, Jon Krivo, Jason Maglothin, and Blondie. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Barba Tenus Sapientes
The second Spicy Pad Thai Challenge at Sawatdee Express Uptown has claimed several more victims and immortalized them on the Wall of Shame, and yet still some slayed the monster-sized plate of diabolically delicious spicy pad thai and became legends. Would you, could you?
Special Thanks to Producer Jon Sadeh, Cinematographer Daniel Steinberg, Composer Jimmy Berg, Artist Caleb Barton, Web Designer Conor Champley, and Production Assistants Laurie Carlson, Evan Outlaw, and Nick Thiers. I learned a lot on the production of the first Spicy Pad Thai Challenge, and the advertising campaign we cooked up for the second challenge taught me even more. We've changed and added a few things in the recipe, and with this being one of Old Abbot's final production premiers of 2011 I just know big changes are coming next year. However, I've got a blog or two to post before 2012.
An outtake from our upcoming short documentary about Galaxy Youth Center. Enjoy it, the kids sure did, and feel free to sing-along. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Ducunt Volentem Fata, Nolentem Trahunt
Old Abbot has entered this year's Doritos Crash the Superbowl Contest. CLICK HERE to view the commercial and see how Franco can help you snack into shape.
Special Thanks to Producer Jon Sadeh, Actors Conor Champley, Jon Krivo, Brian Marcou, and Sammy Sadeh. Also, Nalini Ramer for the location, and Tom Ringdal for the technical assistance. We made some magic. Fantastic!
Projects still flow in the pipeline with Sawatdee Express Uptown, Games N Go, Galaxy Youth Center, and our untitled film about competitive fighting game players. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Citius Altius Fortius
With stores in Brooklyn Park, Maplewood, and Roseville Games N Go has become Minnesota’s biggest and best local gaming tournament circuit. With literally thousands given out in prizes a year in games such as Marvel vs Capcom, Mortal Kombat, and Street Fighter.
Special Thanks to Triet Nguyen, Gene Richtsmeier, Jon Sadeh, Jimmy Berg, Richard Thiher, Taylor Trygstad, and Tom Ringdal. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.In Utrumque Paratus
A fast-paced look at the creation of the Wall of Shame for the Spicy Pad Thai Challenge at Sawatdee Express Uptown.
Special Thanks to Caleb Barton, Bob Torbenson, Wesley Youkunlaya. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Ad Utrumque Paratus
Minneapolis artist Caleb Barton gives his insight and thoughts about creating the Wall of Shame for Sawatdee Express Uptown.
Special Thanks to Bob Torbenson and Wesley Youkunlaya from Sawatdee. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Imperium Sine Fine
Sawatdee Express Uptown & Old Abbot Productions invite you to the hottest new eating challenge in the Twin Cities. It’s Spicy Pad Thai Challenge where those brave enough to clear their plate will become legends even with welled up tears, and those too weak to finish will be immortalized on the Wall of Shame.
Courtesy of Head Chef and Owner Wes Youkunlaya, contestants have ten minutes to finish a massive order of his deliciously diabolical pad thai noodles, with no water to ease the pain. Days before Halloween, participants will be offered the chance to star in their own horror movie featuring themselves and a plate of devilishly red pad thai noodles. Eyes swelling with tears, taste buds roasting in an inferno of foreign spices, their best buds mocking them to ‘Hurry up!’. They give it the old college try, but can’t finish the plate or need water before the ten minutes is up. No big deal right? Wrong. Their drooling, failure filled face gets plastered up on our Wall of Shame where it will stay until they find the strength to come back in and succeed.
Join us and see the horror first hand on Saturday, October 29th from 3:00 - 6:00 PM at Sawatdee Express Uptown located at 1404 West Lake Street in Minneapolis. This event is free to attend, but masochists looking to prove something will be charged ten dollars to participate. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Nervos Belli, Pecuniam Infinitam
Here is the commercial we shot at the first Sawatdee Express' Spicy Pad Thai Challenge. It also happens to be Old Abbot's first commercial production as well.
Special Thanks goes out to Lydia Capistrant, Scott Grivna, Rob Lambert, Brian Marcou, Rachel Noiz, Patrick Noody, Nick Thiers, and
Patrick Williams for taking the chance to end up on the Wall of Shame and taking the challenge on. Also, Jimmy Berg, Laurie Carlson, Conor Champley, and Jonny Sadeh who made the production run smoothly. Lastly to Wesley Youkunlaya the Owner and Chef of Sawatdee Express in Uptown. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Credo Quia Absurdum Est
This August 24th the Old Abbot team will be filming commercials for the Spicy Pad Thai Challenge at Sawatdee Express in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. We'll be shooting groups of three competing to see who can clear their plate of Sawatdee's spiciest noodles first for pride, glory, and internet immortality!
Post-production on our film about the journey of digital warriors to the EVO Championship Series World Finals of Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition and Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds continues. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.
Compos Mentis
Production wrapped on Old Abbot’s feature length Documentary this past weekend at the EVO Championship Series World Finals. Centering on competitive fighting game players Izzy Lee and Robert Elizondo. The film now goes into level 3 Hyper Combo mode Post-Production.
Special Thanks to everyone who spoke and lived in front of the lens, and those who made it happen on the other side of the lens these past seven months. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.
Shinku Hadoken!Cuncti Adsint Meritaeque Expectent Praemia Palmae
(Courtesy: Nevuh Photo)
Today the Old Abbot team boards a flight to Las Vegas for the 2011 EVO Championship Series at the Rio to wrap up production on our documentary about competitive fighting game players. More updates and projects in the pipeline as always. A title and other info is on the way all too soon. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned. Hadouken!Ars [Est] Celare Artem
Happy 235th Birthday to America. The grandest of experiments and endeavors.
Major announcements about the competitive fighting game documentary are on the way soon! Check the clock, or spend the night at the arcade during the wait. More updates and projects in the pipeline as always. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.E Pluribus Unum
(Courtesy: Nevuh Photo)
Production for our documentary about competitive fighting game players Izzy Lee, Robert Elizondo, and the rest of Team SodiuMN headed to Chicago for the Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament VII: Resurrection this past Memorial Day Weekend. Some of the best players from America were on hand such as Frankie Gomez, Adam Heart, Ricky Ortiz, Alex Valle, and Justin Wong. Next stop the EVO World Finals at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas this July. Our saga continues.
Also coming together this Summer will be the YRU-Up Reunion(s) set to air live this Fall on BEC-TV. The show started on 1991 with host and creator Andrew Starks. I was on the show from 1999 to 2001, and now with it being 2011, the show turns twenty years old. We've got some big dreams, and bigger plans.
Roger James Schroeder my Father and friend passed away on May 18th. I'd like to dedicate these dreams, and this life to him. Love and thank you's Old Man, keep on watching. More updates and projects in the pipeline as always. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Et Lux In Tenebris Lucet
This trio of Documentaries was played at the Seventh Annual Fundraising Luncheon for Can Do Canines Assistance Dogs. This year’s theme was A Ripple in the Pond. The goal of the vignettes was to tell the story of a Can Do Canine named Cher, who has not only helped and improved her partner Collin’s life, but many different people’s lives that she has come in contact with.
Part One of Three.
Part Two of Three.
Part Three of Three.
Special Thanks to Producers MarySue Krueger and Carrie Maloney. Janet Cobus, Shelly Hiemer, Alan Peters, Thomas Rehbein, Allison Schildknecht, and everyone at Can Do Canines for their support. Videographer Mark Falstad for lending me his Canon 5D mkII, giving me a hands-on education shooting video with a DSLR for the first time. Verne Champion, Janelle Dixon, Mona Elder, Leslie Flowers, Connie Roehrich, Mary Sears, Collin Shaughnessy for sharing the time and stories. More updates and projects in the pipeline as always. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Nulla Tenaci Invia Est Via
Filmed in a couple studios at MCAD last Spring for Hip-Hop artist Muja Messiah by Director Amalia Nicholson, Director of Photography Brandon Boulay, Assistant Director Adam Hutchinson, Andrea Bias, Timmer O'Phelan, myself, and several other great folks. Play. Liberate. Enjoi.
Special Thanks to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Muja Messiah, Brandon Boulay for bringing me on board, and everyone who made the shoot and video turn out so buttery smooth. More updates and projects in the pipeline as always. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Terminat Hora Diem; Terminat Auctor Opus.
Spring has sprung, and so have things here at Old Abbot. Like a Cherry Blossom that begins as a seed and germinates into flower. Our story of competitive fighting game players Robert Elizondo and Izzy Lee has matured from a story of a passionate pass time into a tales of one's passion for life no matter the obstacle or outcome of the match.
With Izzy Lee's Tournament Win at Combo Breaker over Adam 'Ketis' Heart the Editor-in-Chief of SRK in the Grand Finals of Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Only after losing to Ketis earlier in the Semi-Finals, and coming back from the losers bracket to reset the match, and take the Championship in the end. It looks like Izzy's and Rob's stories will continue onto the Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament VII: Resurrection in Chicago this May which is an EVO 2k11 qualifier. With practice, skill, and the warrior's way onto the EVO World Championships 2011 in Las Vegas this July.
Production has wrapped on the Can Do Canines vignette Documentaries for their Seventh Annual Fundraising Luncheon this May. This years theme is A Ripple in the Pond and the shorts will focus on an Assistance Dog named Cher, and how she has changed so many peoples lives beyond that of her Owner. Post-Production phase, begin!
Production on Antwone Adams has been put on pause for the time being, with the competitive fighting game Documentary that has blossomed and grown into something much larger. A full-length feature Film with some ole luck of the Irish. Pre-Production is still very much in motion with scripts being penned and tweaked for season one and beyond. Antwone's stories will come true sooner than later.
On my most recent viewed list I've re-watched the Shogun Assassin aka the Lone Wolf and Cub saga including the rare volume seven titled Lone Wolf and Cub: A Handful of Sand and made in 1993. Also, Grandma's Boy, Radio Flyer, and 3 Ninjas, which "crosses Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Home Alone" says the Boston Globe. More updates and projects in the pipeline as always. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned.Crescat Scientia Vita Excolatur
Music Video for What They've Become from Party House's freshmen EP.
Filmed at The Beat Coffeehouse back in January. Special Thanks to Director Alex Bowes, Director of Photography Andre Durand, Chris Hadland, Daniel Huiting, Dan Stewart, Thomas Rehbein, Gwen Ruehle, Lee Carter, and everyone who helped make it happen. Check out the tungsten glow and enjoi. More updates and projects in the pipeline as always. Same URL, some other time, stay tuned..Scientia, Aere Perennius
