Empty Cup Media

Altona Forest PSAs

carlasinclair — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:54:35 +0000

Colin worked with a group of students from Altona Forest Public School to create a number of public service announcements. The Durham District School Board runs an Artist in Residence program where artists and teachers pair up to teach core curriculum through an art form. Colin’s role was to help the class interpret visual media by creating PSA’s on social issues. The students later had to write an opinion piece assigned by their teacher.

The concept of this particular project was to see if using a hands on approach to media interpretation would provide a deeper understanding of the topic therefore strengthening the written piece that followed. Carla paired up with a number of groups on the shoot days to help them realize their scripts. Here are some more of the pieces we came up with:

Alisha & Richard

carlasinclair — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 01:06:42 +0000

Here at Empty Cup we’ve been working hard to develop our style into something that truly justifies the meaning of visual storytelling. We are proud to present this double-angle shot by Carla and Colin, and edited by Colin. Together, this pair of DSLR shooters didn’t miss a thing.
Take 3 minutes and enjoy their short film – it’s worth it

DJ Lynz

carlasinclair — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:35:32 +0000

It’s nice to work with like-minded individuals. Lindsey Pallister is the woman behind DJ Lynz, and we have worked with her on a few occasions in the past. Lindsey, much like Colin, saw an opportunity for self-employment, flexed her creative muscles all the way to creating her own DJ business.
DJ Lynz gets our support because she’s the type of person we would want hosting one of our events. She’s trustworthy, organized, and a straight up cool girl to boot.

Check out this quick promo video we put together for her to re-enforce her brand (purple). Enjoy!

www.djlynz.com

DIAC 2011

carlasinclair — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:32:40 +0000

Once again, Empty Cup Media was at DIAC for nine days to take candid photos of the staff and students. We video taped all of the final performances (bands, dances, musicals, drama, song writing, poetry, etc). While DIAC is a great environment to shoot in, it’s a non-stop gig from the second we arrive to the second we leave. We are shooting and/or editing from 8:00am until 10:00 when the slideshow of the day’s photos wraps up.
While we are there, it feels like it’s non stop work. But after we leave, we can only think of the good times we had at camp. The DDSB staff there are of the highest quality; the students are all willing to help and to try new things to broaden their experience; and the whole camp environment is an incredible atmosphere to shoot in (very challenging with its in and outdoor shooting, mixtures of 3 light sources in some buildings, bugs eating us and a variety of moving subjects).
On top of the photos we take, we also do a staff appreciation video/slideshow every year to show at the end of camp. This year we got to use our Canon 5DMII and 7D to take photos and videos of the staff to piece together a more vivid picture of the staff. Here’s a cool look at DIAC from the staff’s perspective (and some nice (and un-edited) photos).

Engagement Shoot

carlasinclair — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:24:55 +0000

In the spring of 2011, Colin and Carla joined Jamieson Dean in Old Montreal for one of his engagement shoots. Colin was shooting 2nd angle while Carla shot a behind-the-scenes look at how Colin and Jay work together. Carla used a 7D with a 70-200 and Colin edited it. Enjoy!

Trudy & Dave

carlasinclair — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:28:19 +0000

Carla has had the pleasure of playing softball with Trudy in Whitby for the past few years. Trudy was one of the happiest brides Carla has ever seen; the entire day Trudy was bubbling with excitement. It was a pleasure to edit these photos since everyone had an amazing teeth smile in it. Dave is a great guy too – a great match for Trudy’s excitement.

This wedding was in the East side of Durham – the reception was at “Newcastle Town Hall”, an increasingly popular venue and the ceremony was a stone’s throw away from Town Hall. The ceremony site will be branded on Colin’s mind forever since this wedding was the first one where his photo equipment was locked in the church after the priest had left. Fortunately he had enough gear to shoot family shots and start with the bridal party photos. (He got it all back with enough time before the reception fyi).

Carla’s video is coming soon!

Gill & Adam

carlasinclair — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:57:53 +0000

It was a cold and windy (yet sunny) December 4th when Gill and Adam took the big step. The spirits were very high, and the girls were very brave and enthusiastic about taking photos around Cullen Gardens where there was a huge wind tunnel where we parked.
Gill and Adam are fantastic people, we even trusted them to take care of our Foosball table until Carla and Colin have adequate space to play it. They were even actors in a shoot we did for the documentary that we are working on. They also grabbed Colin for an engagement shoot all over Whitby. So by the time the wedding rolled around, it was nothing but good times (as we feel the photos demonstrate). Enjoy!

Here’s their fantastic highlight video. Colin spent over 4 hours editing this quick video. And it definitely shows.

45mm 2.8 Tilt Shift Review

carlasinclair — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:52:47 +0000

Colin has been drooling over Canon’s line of Tilt Shift lenses ever since he saw one used by the amazing photographer Silvana Frammartino from Impulse Photography. He loved the uniqueness of the lens and how it could create unique perspectives optically. Tilt shift lenses are pricy, they pop up on Craigslist every so often with a $1,300+ price tag. Eager to try, but not invest, Colin rented the 45mm 2.8 TSE ($30) from Henry’s rental hookup. He had a few hours of practice with it before he shot a wedding ceremony, bridal photos and a separate cinema wedding reception. With only a few hours of practice under his belt, Colin felt he got his money’s worth from the rental, and had a chance to shoot a video review of the lens.

Check it out!

Ajax Cycling Tourism

carlasinclair — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:38:21 +0000

The Town of Ajax asked Empty Cup Media to create a video promoting cycling tourism at the ”Art of Transition: Tourism Summit & Creative Awards” in November, 2011. Colin had the opportunity to interview Mayor Steve Parish about why cycling infrastructure is key to 21st century communities, he got to show off his steadicam suit and he spent some nice time down by the waterfront shooting b-roll with his 5D Mark II and his Glidetrack, 24mm 1.4, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.2, 135mm 2.0 and 70-200mm 2.8 IS II.
As casual cyclists, Colin and Carla feel proud to spend their energy on such a quality project.

Cheryl & Craig

carlasinclair — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:30:54 +0000

Cheryl & Craig were smiles all day. Which made this photo/cinema combo day for Colin and Carla a breeze. They started with Cheryl in Ajax, then rolled to Atlantis on top of Ontario Place for their ceremony, photos and reception. The photo shoot on the roof was a little challenging – the sun was out in full force that day. Colin had to make snap decisions to make the most out of the view and to have the sun work with him as opposed to against him.

This was also the wedding that Colin and Carla had to carry their huge pile of equipment up countless sets of stairs to get to the roof of the building. Carla is loving the SLR cinematography, but all the bells-and-whistles she has to carry is definitely the balancing point. None the less, we wouldn’t be shooting any other way.

Here are some of Colin’s choice images! Cinema highlights to come…