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17WEST.CA Redesign!

June 29th, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in 17 West | Design | Web - (0 Comments)

17 West Productions Toronto

Today, we are unveiling a new look for 17west.ca!

Those who have visited the site before will no doubt notice a ton of major changes to our home page.

When we first started the site, it was also home to the blog that would eventually become The Athletic Nerd.

Since then, I’ve been gradually moving those articles over and this is the last major step in the process.

With those features and articles moving to this site, 17W is now completely focused on our films and upcoming projects.

It now highlights our social media and portfolio sites a lot more with new advertisements on the front page.  I’ve also integrated this blog a lot more as you will now find ALL of 17 West’s Updates here. It’s a lot easier to stay up to date.

Basically, I’m pretty happy with the new look.

Click here to check it out.

PS: I did some nerdy house cleaning and it should be running a lot faster too.

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I don't like holding the camera

Borrowing equipment to make a short film is stressful for me.  It fills me with anxiety.

I don’t want to break anything.

That was a major concern of mine while we were shooting The Climb.

It was bad enough we had to deal with weather concerns all weekend.  I know I can’t control the weather but there is something I can control…

I never touch the camera.

What’s the point?  I’m not a camera man.  Ask me to jump in an edit session and put some clips together and I’m all for it.

The crew continually laughed at me because I wouldn’t go near any equipment.  Dominika eventually stopped asking me to hold the camera between takes.  I made it perfectly clear that I was uncomfortable holding it.

Here’s why…

I may or may not drop things from time to time.  I’m a normal human being after all.  I figure the less I hold the camera, the better chance it has to survive the shoot.  It makes sense to me.

It was still funny to the crew. I’m happy to entertain.

At the end of the day, we shot everything we needed and I didn’t break anything.

The system works!

Visit 17west.ca for more.

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The Climb Short Film Toronto

What a weekend!

After an action packed and weather plagued 3 days, I’m proud to say that production has officially wrapped on The Climb.

Our newest short film was a blast to make!  There is so much to say about what went down over the course of the weekend.

Honestly, I don’t know where to start!

Actually, I do…  Weather…  We literally dealt with Mother Nature’s entire arsenal.

But I’m not going to get into that now!  Mainly because I’m absolutely exhausted and as soon as I capture the final tape I’m going to sleep for 12 million hours.

Before I do that, I want to take a moment to thank our brilliant cast and crew.  Even when we were soaked and freezing in the rain, everyone still contributed 100%.

I can’t thank them enough for their dedication and talent!

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be rolling out dozens of posts on every single moment of the production.  I’ll also be unveiling photo galleries and the first wave of promotional artwork.  I may debut a poster or two in the next little while as well.

There will be updates across the board on all of our sites so be sure to check back often as the journey continues!

I’ll also be unveiling two BRAND NEW features on this site!

Stay Tuned!

PS: Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Playing Through Short Film 17 West Productions

Playing Through has won it’s third award!

We’ve been given the Bronze Palm Award from the 2010 Mexico International Film Festival.

I would like to send special thanks to the festival organizers for giving us this award!

Click HERE and HERE for more on Playing Through’s recent awards.

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The Climb Short Film Toronto

Throughout the last week, I’ve been pouring over the script on a daily basis and continuing my mission to be as prepared as possible when we shoot in a few weeks.

As of yesterday, I’ve completed and locked my notes for 4 of the short film’s 11 scenes.

I decided late last night not to over do it so I’ve spread out the remaining scenes that have to be storyboarded.  Everything has a due date.

Basically, I’m getting all of my ideas down on paper so I at least have some basic idea of what I’m looking for.  I’ve been visualizing this movie for a few years now so the work hasn’t been too difficult.

Already, the shots are starting to work with each other and I’m adding moments to the film.  Scenes are continually evolving and I suppose I’m just hoping all of this planning translates well once we start shooting this thing.

Check out my post on directing short films here.

Below is a picture of mission control…

My kitchen table.

Here is a list of what you are looking at:

  1. The Scriptversion 5.1
  2. My Cahier - My notes.  Click here to read more about why I call it my cahier.
  3. Location/Scene Breakdowns – Including pics and other information.  Diagrams etc…
  4. Shooting Schedule – Helps me determine factors like crowd control, the time of day we will be shooting etc…
  5. My overall schedule – Keeps me organized.
  6. The Original Notes – I like to have these around so I’m still aware of my original intentions for the movie.

Busy weeks ahead…  Fun… But busy…

PS: You can’t see it but last night’s Sens/Pens Game 5 Triple OT thriller was on in the background.  Very low volume of course.  This is The Athletic Nerd after all.

Planning a short film

XTRA | Storyboarding When You Can’t Draw

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