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Welcome to Big Pictures News!
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Greetings!
Welcome to the February issue of Big Pictures News! This monthly e-newsletter is a behind-the-scenes look at our recent projects, productions, equipment and services. We'll also be sharing ideas and tips we've picked up along the way.
As a reminder of who we are - Big Pictures is a Denver area production company that provides fully-equipped camera crews, top equipment packages, and award-winning production services to Colorado and beyond. You are receiving BP News because you've done business with, or
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I hope you enjoy this newsletter, and please stay in touch!
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| Sister Andrea Jaeger Called to Serve... Off the Court |
 Some may remember Andrea Jaeger as the pig-tailed phenom who rocked the tennis world in the early eighties. At the age of fifteen she became the youngest player to be seeded in Wimbledon. By sixteen, she was ranked second in the world - making it to the finals of the French Open in 1982, and Wimbledon in 1983.
But none of that matters much to the thousands of cancer-stricken children touched by Jaeger and the Little Star Foundation each year. What matters to them is the hope and joy they see in her smile, and the resources the organization provides them and their families.
Jaeger believes this was why she was put on the planet, and tennis was just a vehicle to get here. In fact by 2006 she had given away all her worldly possessions, including her millions in tennis earnings and endorsements, and was ordained a Dominican nun by the Episcopal Church.
She now dedicates herself fully to helping children stricken by disease, neglect, and poverty through the Little Star Foundation.
What happened between Jaeger's phenomenal tennis career and today is an amazing story of personal and spiritual transformation. A story we were fortunate enough to help tell.
Big Pictures crew Tom Miller, Zumi Hidalgo, and Trevor Nordeen, worked with the ESPN team of Martin Khodabakhshian and Tom Rinaldi, to shoot a 2-camera profile of Andrea Jaeger at the foundation's new ranch in Southwest Colorado.
The result is this award-winning feature that aired on Sportscenter: Jaeger Movie (We shot the interview with Sister Jaeger at Rancho Milagro, along with all the b-roll of her at the ranch. We did not shoot the other interviews or the b-roll with the kids)
To learn more about the Little Star Foundation, click here: Little Star Website
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From Voice to Page - The Transcription Process in the Twenty-First Century
by Eric C. Williams & Tom Miller
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Say you're producing a project with multiple interviews on multiple days, maybe even in multiple cities. You're shooting hours of interviews, and you've got a week to sort through them and write a script. How do you get those interviews onto paper so that you can work with them?
 Early on, everyone made VHS window dubs and audiocassettes of the field tapes after the shoot was over. These tapes were then sent off to someone who could type (at the speed of light) what they heard on the tape. Then upon viewing the matching VHS window dub, the transcriber (or an intern) would type in the time code at the start of each question, or paragraph. Then those pages were sent back to the producer, who we hope found them useful in assembling the story, since by now a lot of money had been spent on Federal Express charges!
Later, savvy producers learned to ask the sound person on location for an audiocassette recording of each interview. These recordings were mailed to the transcriber (often overnight) right from the shoot, or carried back with the producer. Sometimes, when time was short and the budget large, we would set up a live phone link from the interview location to the transcription service, who would record the interview onto a cassette on their end and avoid the shipping time.
These days, we sound techs record the interview on a digital audio recorder, so the resulting transcription file can be emailed to our transcriber, or uploaded to a server. This may be a simple mono mix (one-track) recording of the interview, or a stereo (two-track) recording with the camera's time code signal on the left channel and the audio on the right. To our ears, the time code sounds like garbled noise. But many transcribers can convert that noise back into numbers, which sync with the spoken words. Then the written transcript can include the corresponding time code for quicker referencing in the edit.
On the set, the wiring is pretty simple. The sound from the interview itself comes from the...
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RECENT WORK & NOW SHOWING!
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 "Quiznos Bowl" - Pepsi
We shot this fun internal corporate training project for Pepsi and Quiznos with Nick Verbitsky and Blue Chip Films in HD, in association with TracyLocke Ad Agency. Big Pictures Crew - DP: Tom Miller, Sound: Steve Roseboom, Gaffer: Jon Wignal, Makeup: Mary Anne Hogan, Production Assistant: Sarah Newberry
Shockwave - History Channel - Episode #111 - Friday Feb. 22, 2008, 9pm EST
Window washers hang on for their lives hundreds of feet up on the side of a downtown highrise buiding, as wild winds blow them around.
Shockwave - History Channel - Various - Saturday Feb 23, 2008
Various repeated episodes include segments we shot - like a vengeful man who uses a bulldozer to plow down a small town in America's heartland. Will the National Guard be called in to take it out with an anti-tank missile? Next, a navy aviator's ejection seat malfunctions and he's stuck half out of the cockpit as his jet is coming in for landing. Look for upcoming HD segments on Jerry Schemmel and United Flight 232, and others. We work with Cheri Sundae Productions, in association with Crew Connection. Future airdates to be announced.
ESPN E:60 - Airs each Friday on ESPN and ESPNHD
Look for upcoming segments we shot on Dara Torres, and Bionics. Airdates to be announced.
Yoko Ono Documentary - Airing in Japan
We filmed an interview with Yoko Ono's daughter for this Japanese-produced documentary. Director Takaaki Aoto, Producer Reiko Yamamoto.
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