Some may call it a blog, others maybe a newsletter, Rainstorm Video & Film just calls it like it is. So every few months, here in the aptly-named "Weather Report," we'll showcase special offers/discounts & updates & info on some of the projects we're working on or just finished up...
Looking for the older updates/entries of the newsletter circa 2008/09? Go here
May 2011
Two Award-Wining Rainstorm/Midnight Pie Train collaborations to screen at 2011 Phoenix Comicon's Film Festival Horror Block!
"Zombies
are my Neighbors," which had it's Award-Winning debut back in February
at a screening at the Phoenix Art Museum, and the multi Award-Winning
"Blank Canvas" have been selected to screen at this years Horror Block
at the Phoenix Comicon's Film Festival. Both short films will be
screened on Thursday, May 26th in the evening.
The version of "Zombies" to be screened will be a special cut, more
akin to the extended version found on the DVD and Blu Ray releases of
the film, though without the commercial breaks. The version of "Blank
Canvas" to be screened will the be extended cut found on it's DVD
release with a shorter end credit sequence. Despite these being small
trims that were needed, it still highlights Rainstorm's use of Avid's
fantastic media powerhouse capabilities, being able to bring back
projects
completed month's earlier, complete with every cut, clip and bin, so
easily. It's some exciting news following up the screening of "Space
Broads II: Greystache's Revenge" at last years convention, and we're
proud to be back. Check our films out if you're there and we're
sure a number of the cast and crew from the films will be on hand to
enjoy the convention and film festival. Hope to see you there!
Wedding Season Strong...
As is
typical with this time of year, we've been very busy these past couple
months with various wedding shoots and projects. Who can blame the
couples who choose to wed in the springtime, especially with some of the
venues available out there that can really take advantage of the
season. It seems we've been all over shooting them: Scottsdale, Phoenix,
Casa Grande, Fountain Hills and wherever else we get the call to go to.Summer
is coming on quick and while there's not as much wedding action going
on then, you never know, so you may be interested in...
"Beat your Budget Heat" Summer-time Special returns for 2011! It did well for us last year, so it's back again. Swimming is one
way to beat the Summer heat here in the Valley,
and Rainstorm is here to help you beat your budget hear if you've
planned a Wedding over the next couple of months. ALL Wedding Packages
(Basic; Silver; Gold & any
Customized Package that includes BOTH shooting & editing) are 10 -
20% (varies upon package) off from June 3rd thru August 7th. That's over
two months of opportunity to
cash in on the savings! As always, we look forward to helping the most
special day of your lives be even more memorable! So if
you or someone you know is looking for top-class videography and
editing for that special day or are just looking to archive an older one
on a newer format, just Contact us!
Rainstorm entrusted to film a very special retirement ceremony at Luke AFB
Early in April Rainstorm was entrusted to preserve the ceremony,
speeches and memories of a US Air Force retirement service at the Luke
Air Force Base. The gentleman had served for over 32 years in the
military and we were both honored and privileged to be the ones he
entrusted this task to. We were also honored to know he and his family
found the final work to be above and beyond what they were expecting. We
always appreciate these types of opportunities and handle them with the
utmost respect and care.
Transferring Tapes = Preserving Memories... We've said it before, and we'll probably tell you again, get your home movies and old tapes transferred over to newer media...while you still can! Even some weddings done even just a few
years ago were shot on or given to the couples as masters on VHS tapes.
Of course now down the line VHS seems more than just a bit archaic and indeed
they are of much poorer quality than todays DVD and Blu-Ray standards, but worse yet, they wear out and break eventually. We cannot re-live our memories, but we can re-watch them. Make
sure yours will still be viewable when you do! Transfer to DVD or
Blu-Ray today!
March 2011
Rainstorm joins Facebook After a
long time of hearing requests for us to create one from clients and
collaborators, Rainstorm Video & Film has finally created an
official facebook. We'll see what we do with it, but for now a "like"
would be appreciated. We'd even take a "dis-like" I suppose (any
marketing is good marketing!), but last we checked they button didn't
exist... Rainstorm Video & Film Facebook
We'll hopefully have a more in-depth update soon, we'll see what time allows!
October 2010
Wedding season in full swing...
It's
probably not much of a shock to hear that there are not too many
weddings during the summer here in the Valley of the Sun. But once
September and Fall starts to hit, watch out for those bouquets! We've
been quite busy these past few weeks with shooting and editing weddings,
video invitations and as always a couple Weddings on VHS/MiniDV/ect to
DVD transfer archive projects have been handed our way. If you or
someone you know is looking for top-class videography and editing for
that special day or are just looking to archive an older one on a newer
format, just Contact us!
"Blank Canvas" comes in 2nd Place at Frightful Film Festival... We proudly
announce that the Rainstorm/Midnight Pie Train collaboration "Blank
Canvas," already an award-winner from it's screenings the the Phoenix
Art Museum-held IFP Summer 2010 Beat the Clock Film Festival, took home
2nd place at the Frightful Film Festival in Mesa. Better yet, it was
voted 2nd by the audience, something we're proud to hear. Congrats and
big props go out to the winner of 1st place at the festival, "We do
Monsters."
For more info on the recent DVD release of "Blank Canvas," look below...
Rainstorm and the Midnight Pie Train head out west with Top-20 Short-Film... Another
Rainstorm/Midnight Pie Train collaboration took place early in October
as we headed out to the desert (the same desert location where a bulk of
the shooting for the Award-Winning "Space Broads II: Greystache's
Revenge" took place in the Summer of 2009) to film the 50's-era
Disney/Davy Crockett homage "Crazy Dockett & the Great Land Grab."
It was a rather small crew, both on the technical and acting side of
things, compared to normal, and to make matters more difficult it all
had to be done within one continuous shot. All turned out well though as
we're proud of how it turned out and it went on to place in the Top-20
Films at the 2nd Annnual A3F One-Shot Challenge Festival, premiering at
the AMC 24 Theaters in downtown Phoenix. There's a chance we'll be
revisiting the characters and settings of "Crazy Dockett" sometime in
the future on a larger scale...
F.P.F.S. launches website... Much
of Rainstorm's summer was spent shooting and editing a variety of
videos for Sun City based Financial Planning for Seniors, one of the
finest and most well respected companies of their type here in AZ. From
client testimonials to seminars to customer relations, we were tackling
all their video needs. Recently, F.P.F.S recently launched their brand
new website, which features some of that work. If you're looking for
advice in the realm of finance or savings, they are a group of people we
highly trust and recommend. You can check out their website here...
Mixing it up with a Galaxy of Stars... "I had the
honor and privilege of being asked to be one of the videographers for
TriVita's huge end of the year bash and celebration, the Galaxy of
Stars, a weekend-long event held at the Westin in Scottsdale. It was
full days of shooting everything from bus tours and receptions to
speakers and conferences. It was a couple full days of shooting but a
fun and exciting challange. I appreciate the opportunity and hopefully
they can find some good uses for the footage I shot." - Aaron
Memorial Videography for Military Funeral once again entrusted to Rainstorm... A number of
times throughout the year families will entrust to us the filming and
editing of a funeral or memorial for someone they loved and held dear.
In this case it was a military service and celebration of life for a
WWII veteran and man of integrity and a life well lived. We do not take
for granted what it means for a family to trust in us to do the job
right with something so important. We appreciate the opportunity and as
always handle it with class and pride.
Award Winning short film, "Blank Canvas," available on DVD... In August the DVD for the Award-Winning "Blank Canvas" was
released through Rainstorm. The DVD features both the version that
premiered at the Phoenix Art Museum, as well as the extended cut shown
at the Frightful Film Festival. Also included is audio commentary with
the filmmakers, behind the scenes mini-doc's and more. As of now, it is
available exclusively through Rainstorm. If you're interested, the
catalogue number is RSV&F-611-10 and you can Contact us.
July 2010 Hopefully
everyone is having a fun and productive summer, and remember to watch
your kids around water. A few quick updates from the Rainstorm team...
Rainstorm takes on the role of featured vendor at the July WEN Event... We had the honor and privilege of
being one of the featured vendors at the July 2010 WEN-AZ (Wedding &
Event Network) event hosted by our friends at Baisch & Skinner in
Phoenix. A great time was had by all and we enjoyed both showing off
some of our work while meeting and hanging out with some of the Wedding
industries finest working professionals. Vendors out there, check out
Baisch & Skinner if you haven't already, and check out a little more
on WEN in the Newsletter article below.
Here's a little video we put together for the July WEN event, focusing on the events featured vendors...
More on WEN-AZ... If you work in the Wedding/Events
industry here in Phoenix and have yet to check out WEN, we strongly
suggest you do so. They are a step-above other similar networking groups
and truly attract the best in the business. Check them out at their website and for fellow members of WEN, we do offer discounts to you.
Here's some testimonials we shot of WEN members at the July 2010 meeting...
Another Rainstorm/Midnight Pie Train film has Award-Winning debut...
We're proud to announce that the newest Rainstorm/Midnight Pie Train
short film collaboration, "Blank Canvas," was warmly received in two
screenings alongside some other local short films at the Phoenix Art
Museum's screening theater on July 23rd. Be sure to keep an eye out here
for the DVD release announcement sometime in the near future.
Later in the evening the film went on to win an award from the IFP
for "Best use of Props" for the story's and film's usage of paint
brushes with a special mention for the original artwork pieces created
for the film by Miranda Jane. Photograph by Laura Durant, check her out
at www.durantcom.com
Transferring Weddings, Preserving Memories... Some weddings done even just a few
years ago were shot on or given to the couples as masters on VHS tapes.
Of course now down the VHS seems more than just a bit archaic and indeed
they are of much poorer quality than todays DVD and Blu-Ray standards
and wear out and break eventually. Recently we've done a few projects
where we helped preserve some memories by transferring some weddings
from the early 2000's to DVD as anniversary presents for the couples
from family members. The DVD's, like all of our DVD releases, featured
beautiful custom menus and full-color gloss-printed discs that wowed the
couples. We cannot re-live our memories, but we can re-watch them. Make
sure yours will still be viewable when you do! Transfer to DVD or
Blu-Ray today!
Busy, busy with video-for-web work... Well
it's back to the editing suite for us. June and July has been packed
mostly with video for web work for various companies around town either
building their websites for the first time and looking to add some video
right off, or some just looking to spice up their current sites with
some videos to showcase their work/product to clients. Hopefully soon
we'll have a chance to post further updates and a couple examples of
these current projects for you.
April 2010 If
you or someone you know is getting Married over the next few months, be
sure to check out the Wedding packages "Beat your Budget Heat" Summer
deal, as detailed below!
Award-Winning Rainstorm collaboration, "Space Broads II: Greystache's
Revenge," selected to screen at the 2010 Phoenix Comic Con Convention's
Film Festival... Earlier
this month, we got an exciting e-mail from Lucas Boyle (producer of
"Space Broads II"), where we found out that the Phoenix Comic Con and
IFP has teamed up, and are looking to highlight some local AZ indie
short films. One of the films requested for this years Comic Con is the
Award-Winning Rainstorm/Midnight Pie Train collaboration, "Space Broads
II: Greystache's Revenge," which will be screened at the 2010
convention's Film Festival on Friday, May 27th.
The version to be screened will be a new Five-minue cut, unique for the
Convention's Film Festival. Longer than the original theatrical version,
which premiered at the Scottsdale Harkins Cine Capri in July of 2009,
and shorter, with some different cuts and editing pacing/timing, than
the extended DVD version, this found the middle ground of those two
versions for this special cut of the Sci-Fi comedy short. The new
version was edited out of a 10-Bit, 1:1 Uncompressed copy of the Digital
Cut Master of the extended edition, once again showing off Rainstorm's
and Avid's fantastic archiving abilities to go back to a project
completed month's earlier so easily. It's some exciting news and we're
sure a number of the cast and crew of "Space Broads II" will be on hand
at the Film Festival. Hope to see you there!
"Beat your Budget Heat" Summer-time Special on Wedding Packages! Swimming is one way to beat the Summer heat here in the Valley,
and if you've planned a Wedding for this Summer, Rainstorm is here to
help you beat the heat that your Wedding budget is burning in your
wallet! ALL Wedding Packages (Basic Silver; Silver; Gold & any
Customized Package that includes BOTH shooting & editing) are 10 -
20% off from June 1st thru September 20th. That's nearly FOUR months to
cash in on the savings! As always, we look forward to helping the most
special day of your lives be even more memorable!
"Story of the Storyteller" documentary premieres and arrives on DVD... Back in late-2008 Rainstorm put
together a Fifteen-minute memorial piece about the amazing life of a
Retired Army Major, which was shown at his Funeral Viewing. In addition,
Rainstorm was in charge of filming the services, which included the
full on Military theme that included the Gun Salute, bugle call,
presenting of the American flag and a dozen motorcycles armed with their
own American flags leading the Hearse and dozens of family vehicles.
Now, eighteen months later, Rainstorm has put together a Forty-Five
minute extended documentary, chronicling the man's truly astounding life
from beginning to end. Named aptly after his infamous stories and
storytelling abilities, we were proud and honored to be able to document
such a great life in video form. The film, now on DVD for his Family
and loved ones, premiered in front of about twenty of the closest family
members on a projector and 60" screen. Between the footage from the
Funeral, as well as tons of newly discovered pictures, slides, video,
8mm film and audio, Rainstorm was able to surprise more than just a few
family members with what the final, extended video entailed. As always,
it's both an honor and privilege for Rainstorm to be trusted with these
special, personal projects.
Another Memorial Montage with Funeral Audio/Video Services taken care of tastefully and carefully by Rainstorm... All too often it seems, Rainstorm has the bittersweet task of
offering our services to a family saying goodbye to a loved one, by
putting together pieces that help celebrate their lives. In this case,
Rainstorm had the task of creating memorial montage from around 45
pictures (that we also had to scan in at HQ) within a 48-Hour period,
and then also take care of the video and audio presentation for the
Memorial Montage at the Funeral service. While the tastefully done,
completely customized Montage, which clocked in at around Six-and-a-half
Minutes, offered no real problems besides the time crunch, the Funeral
made things a bit tricky. The building, surrounded by tall windows that
couldn't be covered up, prevented the use of our Projector and screen.
However, as usual, Rainstorm was prepared to make some last minute
changes to make sure the presentation worked. In place of the projector
screen, we placed an LCD-HD monitor to showcase the video on.
Thankfully, despite a rather large attendance, everyone enjoyed the
viewing and some came up afterwards, as we looped it as people mingled
and headed out, to catch a second viewing.
We are always honored and privileged to put together a loving look
at a person's life, to help families and loved ones with the healing
process. At the same time, just as it is for the families themselves,
it's always an emotional draining process for us as well. We take such
care in putting these together, especially in such short time periods.
After spending so much time looking at and putting these pictures and
video footage together in such an in-depth editorial process, we
oftentimes feel like, we too, just lost someone we knew well.
Rainstorm finishes up Marketing-Promo for Catering Event... Back in 2009, during a particularly busy time for us, Rainstorm was
on hand to film and record a Catering event/mixer. We just recently put
together the footage into a just shy of Three-Minutes marketing promo
that nicely showcases the event and it's main theme: Catering companies
marketing themselves through delicious competition with each other! It
was a fun shoot to be involved with as in between shooting the event, as
well as grabbing some interviews and testimonials, we got to taste some
of the goodies ourselves. We're not telling which one we liked best
though...
Shooting in Sedona... Rainstorm first filmed in Sedona for a Three-Minute Car
Commercial spot back in the Spring of 2005, and has been lucky enough to
have been back many times since. It's beauty always lends itself to the
camera and is a joy to shoot. One of the few places left where natural,
God-made beauty still towers over Man-made beauty. This April,
Rainstorm's Aaron Hudson was there for reasons involving some close
family and friends, but arrived early to take his time shooting some
extensive B-Roll for a special, as-of-yet unannounced, project...
Another Rainstorm/Midnight Pie Train collaboration arrives on DVD... "Unmopped Mysteries," a faux documentary comedy short that
Rainstorm collaborated with their long-time friends at the Midnight Pie
Train on, has arrived on DVD after having it's successful theatrical
debut at the Harkins Scottsdale Cine Capri in early February. The DVD,
available through Rainstorm, comes with both an extended 'Director's
Cut' as well as the original shortened theatrical version (which also
includes a bonus audience reaction track recorded during it's theatrical
debut), an extensive behind the scenes mini-Documentary, Deleted &
Alternate Scenes, trailers, Filmmaker Commentary among a few other
extras. Those interested in a copy simply need to Contact us », and mention either "Unmopped Mysteries" or it's catalog number "RSV&F-551-10" in the Contact us 'Comments' section.
Other Rainstorm/Midnight Pie Train collaborations available on DVD:
"Phoenix Vice" RSV&F-254-08
"A Kidnapping to Remember" RSV&F-464-09
"Space Broads II: Greystache's Revenge" RSV&F-456-09
"Phoenix Takedown: Ninja Terrorists from the Border" RSV&F-527-09
**"DumbFellas," "Phantom Reflection" and "Desolate Quest" are not available at this time**
February 2010
Just a quick update this go-around. Firstly Rainstorm would like to
wish everyone a belated Happy New Year. We truly hope 2010 is a
fantastic year for everyone.
Another Rainstorm/Midnight Pie Train collaboration has it's Theatrical debut...
Once again, Rainstorm collaborated with our old friends at the Midnight
Pie Train, putting together a faux-documentary short film comedy,
"Unmopped Mysteries." Filming and Editing took place in January in
between some Rainstorm duplication and transfer projects, and just
recently had it's theatrical premiere, at the Harkins Scottsdale Cine
Capri among a number of other shorts. It was more than warmly received,
garnering some hefty laughs during it's screening. As usual,
Rainstorm/Midnight Pie Train collaborations are both a mixture of a lot
of hard work in a short amount of time with an extremely fun atmosphere
with good friends. Once again, that hard work paid off. Also as usual,
the IFP of Phoenix did an excellent job hosting the event. As always,
looking forward to the next one...
Rainstorm puts together 10-Min Promo for Comedy Fundraiser... Over the past few years, Rainstorm has collaborated with Mission
ONE of Scottsdale, helping them promote their partners in the mission
field all around the world in a variety of ways in the video world.
Earlier in 2009, Rainstorm shot a Comedy Event fundraiser, which was
headlined by the hilarious Tim Hawkins. Just recently though, Rainstorm
has had the chance to put together a nice little 10-minute promo piece
to not only help those who attended the event reminisce a bit, but
especially to help market any future incarnations of the event. Be on
the look-out for the 2010 event, as it's well worth the money for the
laugher you get back on your end...
