This past Saturday, October 10, was yet another Propville Dog and Pony Bus Tour. This time, Teri and gang set destinations around San Francisco-based production-related businesses. (more after the jump)

DISHER SOUND

Our first stop was Emmy-award winning Disher Sound, where Tom Disher & Paul Zahnley described their work in the often-discounted, but a very important aspect of media: sound.

Tom is a composer and sound designer. He gave us a peek on his process of crafting the music and sound effects that influence our perception of motion pictures and video. From dramatic, whimsical, beachy, to “Batman-like,” Tom is capable of being extremely creative even with limited resources.

Paul Zahnley is an audio engineer and re-recording mixer. His job (in short) is to make sure that a video or film production’s audio is polished and read for mass consumption. From cleaning up clicks and pops, audio replacement, or mixing it all down, he’s the man.

Visiting Disher Sound harkened back to my experience and education as an audio engineer.  It was nice to see such a small studio thriving over the years. And now, with traditionally still visual mediums giving heed to motion, sound will continue to be a very important aspect of storytelling.

JIM BALDWIN

Back on the bus, we were presented with Jim Baldwin, Location Scout for Baldwin Production Services. His job, in a nutshell, is to find you that perfect place for your production, and get it ready with permits, police, parking etc so that all you need to do is show up with your crew and equipment and shoot. I’ve tried doing my own location scouting and booking before (though not as thorough as Jim) and it’s quite a chore. Give him a call, and many of your worries will be put to ease.

GAIL STEMPLER

After Jim does his part, he hands it off to someone like Gail Stempler. Gail is a Location Manager for the Trauma TV series. In essence, she’s the one on location to make sure that everything that needs to happen, does happen. She discussed the challenges of working on short timelines of episodic TV and importance of relationships in getting her job done.

Gail was also kind enough to show us a location where they shot part of this week’s episode of Trauma. See if you can spot it in this week’s episode.

SCRAP

Our next stop was SCRAP (Scroungers’ Center for Reusable Art Parts). SCRAP is essentially a non-profit, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” center. There is a plethora of supplies and pieces here for your next creative or simple houseware project. They also host workshops to help get those creative juices flowing.

LUNCH BY SMALL POTATOES CATERING AND EVENTS

Ah lunch…I get hungry again just looking at the photos. Lunch was held at Purebred Studios, and catered by Small Potatoes Catering & Events. They source local and organic whenever possible, and are simply fantastic. I’ll let the photos talk at this point.

PUREBRED PRODUCTIONS

After lunch, we sauntered into Purebred Productions and rental studio. It’s not quite finished, but from what Jason Mitchell and Stacey Ransom describe, it’ll be a helluva nice place to work. In addition to have a large studio to work in, it’s also sound insulated for your motion capture needs (a must as commercial jetliners frequent nearby).

Jason and Stacey have enacted a very cool green initiative. In an effort to reduce waste, they ask that you do not bring and use plastic water bottles and plastic tableware in their studios. They will provide reusable aluminum bottles, dishes, and flatware as to minimize landfill waste. All drinking water taps are filtered. Furthermore, they ask that you separate your waste accordingly (recycling, compost, garbage). Follow the conditions listed and you’ll be eligible for a $100 refund! Just for being green!

The rest of their facility is green-minded as well. Recycled rubber flooring is used upstairs in the office, as well as recycled denim is used as insulation. Room lighting is on occupancy sensors, toilets are double-flush, and automatic faucets and hand dryers are in use in their restrooms.

PETER WILLIAMS’ MOBILE PRODUCTION UNIT

Just outside Purebred Productions, was Peter Williams’ 40ft mobile production vehicle. In addition to bringing this super-posh mobile home, Peter was also kind enough to provide an afternoon pick-me-up of coffee, which he does for ALL of his clients.

DEANNE DELBRIDGE

Back on the bus, we had the pleasure of having Deanne Delbridge run through a quick exercise with elevator pitching. I had the privilege of hearing Deanne speak a few months ago with APA. However, it was nice to get her attention in a small-group. Also, her simple concepts prove to be quite effective, even though we loosely executed them in the 15 minutes she spoke. Yes, you had to be there to know what she said.

VELOCITY ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

You probably wouldn’t think twice when passing by this San Francisco home. But inside is a magnificent and immersive experience of art and fantasy.

Velocity Arts & Entertainment creates custom art installations to envelope your senses. The house, though impressive, it is just a taste of what Velocity is capable of. In addition to creating wicked art, they also give back to the community through CUE (Children United by Experience), their non-profit organization aimed at enriching youth through arts. In any case, here is just a small peek at some of the rooms and details. I could have easily posted hundreds of photos of the place.

MENDEL’S FAR OUT FABRICS

We eventually made our way to Mendel’s Far Out Fabrics. In operation for over 40 years, and originally starting as a housewares store, Mendel’s now offers unique art supplies and fabrics for whatever purpose you can come up with.

RAYKO PHOTO CENTER

Our last stop of the day was Rayko Photo Center. Rayko offers darkroom, digital, and studio rental services. In addition to showing us their facilities, they also demoed a classic technique and medium called tintype where I volunteered to model.

WRAP UP

Thank you to Teri, Propville, and all facilities and presenters for putting together another fantastic event. In case you missed all the links, here they are again:

Propville Directory
Disher Sound
Baldwin Production Services
SCRAP
Small Potatoes Catering and Events
Purebred Productions
Peter Williams’ Mobile Production Unit
Deanne Delbridge
Velocity Arts & Entertainment
Mendel’s Far Out Fabrics
Rayko Photo Center

Tags: Propville

Posted in Uncategorized