bunbury

Meet the Crew – Mark W

The fourth in our series of stories introducing the crew here at GEO Media interactive, today we meet Mark Whittle, GMi’s resident Mac apologist.

Mark began his career at the Film & Television Institute in 1984 working on corporate projects then moved to Bunbury a year later to join GWN.

Over 14 years valuable experience was gained in the areas of camera, audio, lighting, directing live programs and outside broadcasts, but his favourite is still editing. In 1989, Mark won GWN’s Crew Member of the Year Award and in 1994/95 received a cinematography award (editing & lighting) from the Australasian Retail Results Awards.

Mark started his own business in 2000, handling everything from TV commercials to weddings. In 2009 Mark & Supernova attained accreditation in corporate video with the Australian Video Producers Association (AVPA). In 2010 he decided to specialize in weddings with Supernova Video Production and bring his corporate clients to GMi.

Says Mark, “Working with three staunch Wintel tragics, I have an uphill battle as the solitary Mac user in the facility. They refuse to drool over my shiny MacBook Pro. “

Meet the Crew – Mark M

The third in our series of stories introducing the crew here at GMi, today we meet Mark, GMi’s Cameraman.

Prior to starting here at GMi I studied in Perth at the Western Australian School of Art Design and Media (WASADM) and, when I wasn’t in class, I was spending my spare time working with friends on short films or working as a cameraman for a couple of companies – also in Perth.

 

 

I came into the industry at the end of Beta SP and the dawn of digital acquisition, cutting my teeth on DVCAM and DVCPRO broadcast cameras. Picture quality aside one of the things I love about the continuous advance of digital technology is the fact it keeps getting lighter which, if you have ever had to run around with a SP Beta Camera on your shoulder for any length of time, is a great thing! That and battery life – I can shoot for hours now on a single battery. And… well there’s too many things to list why I love our current gen of cameras, and I look forward to what the next gen will bring. Especially in the smaller more mobile cameras like the GoPros.

 

I have been with GMi now for almost 8 years and have loved every minute of it. I’m looking forward to the next 8 and beyond with the guys and the toys I will get to take with me as I shoot around our great state. Be it underwater, on the ground, in the air, or into space GMi always gives me something unique to film, something to which I am ever thankful to the boys for letting me do – let alone paying me for it.

Meet the Crew – Bruce

The second in our series of stories introducing the crew here at GMi, today we meet Bruce, business owner, financial manager and programmer.

Engineering was where I started, working on engine designs for Ralph Sarich at Orbital engines.  In the course of this I needed to develop computer code to assess the work I was doing and this is when I started programming – the early 1990’s.  I’m still not sure what made me want to start a media business – it seemed like a good idea and a complete change from the engineering I had been doing since university.

 

GMi keeps me in contact with engineering companies through my work developing business and project management tools and systems.  Running your own business is also very challenging – in our nearly 14 years I have seen GMi grow, survive a GFC and establish a reputation for high quality work and enthusiasm for what it is our clients do.  And, of course, I can play golf regularly to keep in touch with other business owners and managers!

Together we bring a lot of skills to any project we tackle – few other media companies can boast our range capabilities under one roof.

Meet the Crew – Carl

The first in our series of stories introducing the crew here at GMi, today we meet Carl, business owner, production manager and editor.

I was trained in theatre and TV lighting design, and became fascinated with editing after extended work experience at STW9 in Perth. Back in the early ’90s editing was as much a technical skill as a creative one.  Keeping machines in sync, levels correct and work ordered was essential in the days of linear editing. Jobs arrived in boxes – camera tapes, C-Format reels and hand written shotlists with time-code. Making an effect as simple as a dissolve required an edit controller and a room full of fridge sized machines rolling 1″ tape.

Today we take computers for granted and far more complex effects can be produced.  I now drive a non linear editing system running the industry standard Avid Media Composer software.  This has opened the door to more creative possibilities and exploring these techniques is my passion. To be able to restore a project from 5 years ago and pick up where I left it is another fantastic bonus.

GMi has given me the perfect vocation. I get to be creative, play with computers and work in my own business with people who share my passion – I’m very lucky.

Q: When is one camera never enough?

A: When you can bolt another camera to it 60 meters underwater, that’s when.

 

Mark has rigged up a custom mount for GMi’s underwater camera to allow the attaching of our new HD2 GoPro. 2 Cameras, one operator.  Superwide and Macro HD video at the same time! The weather is getting better by the day and he is certainly looking forward to getting wet soon, cameras akimbo!!!

 

 

Until then Mark is roaming the South West with as many cameras as he can carry updating our extensive vision library. Keep an eye out for him, he will be the one trying to justify why he has every camera in GMi’s arsenal with him at all times. Including the still cameras – as he builds up a library of star-scape time-lapses.

 

 

Our beautiful South West – views from the vault.

Recently we have put some of our videos from over the years showcasing the South West up on the GMi youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/GEOMediaInteractive

We’ll now you can watch them directly on our site, stay tuned as more of our wonderful South West is revealed!

 

[pb_vidembed title=”City of Bunbury Lifestyle 2004″ caption=”A Promo video for the City of Bunbury made in 2004. Bunbury is a fantastic city and has been GMi’s home now since 1998.” url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbHa217MWxc” type=”yt” w=”480″ h=”385″]

[pb_vidembed title=”Warren Blackwood Promo 2003″ caption=”A tourism promo video for the Warren Blackwood Region. Commissioned by the Warren Blackwood Economic Alliance and the South West Development Commission in 2003.” url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N37fYxg698Y” type=”yt” w=”480″ h=”385″]

[pb_vidembed title=”Moss Brothers Winery 2005″ caption=”Promo Video for the Moss Brothers Winery made back in early 2005. This was the first project Mark worked on. Shot on our Sony DSR250 in glorious 4:3 what seems like an eternity ago now. ” url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08Y005lwvjM” type=”yt” w=”480″ h=”385″]

 

 

GMi Vision – Perth City

With a number of Perth based projects currently underway and recent great weather, we took the opportunity update our file vision of the Perth CBD. Keep your eyes open for our film crew in and around Perth. While we go from one location to another we have been getting some unique views of the CBD with Marks favourite bit of kit at the moment, the ever handy GoPro .

We are really enjoying taking this little camera out on shoots with us, so expect to see it more often! Also keep an eye out on our Youtube and Facebook pages as we will soon be posting a quick clip of examples of what we have been using the GoPro for.

 

Remeber to find us on

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/GeoMediaInteractiveGMI

Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/GEOMediaInteractive

Horseing Around

Recently Mark found himself on a lighting trip back to the Little Sandy. This time to film the more intimate side of the operations. Those being: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. There may of been something about mounting cameras to horses,  scientists  and one very friendly little thorny devil in the brief, but the real drama took place between the kitchen and campfire each night.

On track to GoPro Pt 2: The Camera is Rolling

In an earlier post we planned to put our new GoPro onto a train for Arc Infrastructure’s (previously Brookfield Rail) new corporate video.  With the assistance of QR National we placed the camera at the front of one of their Loco’s before it headed off to site. Then we hit record, said our goodbyes, and watched the camera roll away not to return until the train returned to the Depot… a good 6 hours later.

 

 

 

Well results are back and they look fantastic, the vision has exceeded our expectations of what these little cameras can do. So much so, we decided to put the camera on the tracks and have a Loco go over it. Good news is we still have the camera, even better news the shot worked brilliantly. Expect to see a lot more of this little camera out with us as we put it through it’s paces as we ‘get creative’ in a variety of locations.

GMi MidWest Wanderers

The crew from GMi were again in the Midwest recently. This time the filming was part of a larger production GMi is producing for an Australian client for use in it’s Australian and overseas operations.

The production is nearing completion and the vision is looking fantastic, (even without a trip to Madagascar) and will soon be being viewed world wide. Here’s hoping we can hand deliver it to some of the more exotic locations (looking at you Madagascar).