The Gold Mine Films Blog

Needle Exchange from Colm Quinn on Vimeo.

Needle Exchange tells the story of Spencer and Glenn, two best friends who helped each other swap their heroin habits with a passion for tattoos. Ink is their link, but their bond is tested when a new romantic relationship threatens the friendship.

Winner - Best Short Documentary, Galway Film Fleadh 2011

Official Selection:

Tampere International Short Film Festival 2011
Sheffield DocFest 2011
Worldwide Short Film Festival Toronto 2011
Bristol Encounters International Film Festival 2011
International Competition, Cork Film Festival 2011
AFI/Discovery Channel Silverdocs, Washington DC 2012 
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2012

“The touching and brilliantly-named documentary, Needle Exchange, featured two recovering drug addicts and best friends who have taken up tattooing. Honest, heart-breaking and very, very funny; this wonderful Reality Bites piece was masterfully put together by director Colm Quinn.”

- Film Ireland review from Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2011

Director - Colm Quinn (@colm_quinn)
Producer - Andrew Freedman
Director of Photography - Aidan Maguire
Editor - Maeve O’Boyle
Music - Denis Clohessy

The eyes of a People - AFGHANISTAN - clip from DIGITAL MILL on Vimeo.

This short film is about the hope of a people, but also the beauty of Kabul and these districts. This is a nation trying to make a fresh start, trying to live despite a painful past and an uncertain future.

We met charismatic men, every moment in their prescence was charged with emotion and sincerity.
We now realise that in order to discover the real inner beauty, we must put aside all stereotypes, and to achieve this, we must be prepared to venture into the unknown.

—-

Nous avons rencontré un peuple plein d’espoir un peuple qui tente de se reconstruire, de vivre malgré un passé douloureux et un avenir incertain. Ce fut une surprise de découvrir Kaboul, une capitale pleine de vie où les gens s’affairent dans la rue et travaillent parfois main dans la main. Sur ces terres arides à peine effleurées par la modernité, les traditions et la générosité ne semblent pas avoir disparu.

C’est ce regard afghan qui nous fait prendre conscience qu’il faut savoir balayer les stéréotypes et repousser les frontières pour aller à la rencontre de l’inconnu.

—-

LOCATIONS:
Kabul, Istalef, Panjshir, Bagram…

DOP:
Remy De Vlieger
Delphine Renou

EDITOR:
Delphine Renou

POST-PRODUCTION SOUND:
Laurent Cauneau

COLORIST:
Remy De Vlieger

EQUIPEMENTS:
Camera: CANON 5DMKII
Lens: CANON 17-40mm f/4, CANON 70-200 f/4 IS, CANON 24-105 f/4 IS, CANON 85 f/1,8
Slider: KONOVA
Sound: SEINHEISER K6 + ZOOM H4N

You can show image galleries on :
delphine-renou.com/photo/tashakor-kaboul.html

More information:
digitalmill.fr

IMPORTANT : Don’t upload the video on other website. You can share it with this vimeo’s link on Facebook and other website. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ©Digital Mill 2013

The Shoemaker from Dustin Cohen on Vimeo.

Made in Brooklyn: The Shoemaker

Frank Catalfumo is a 91 year old shoemaker and repairer in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He first opened the doors to F&C Shoes in 1945 and continues to work five days a week alongside his son Michael. If you’re ever in the area, make sure to stop by the shop and listen to one of Frank’s amazing stories about life in Brooklyn back in the day.

View the photo gallery here: dustincohen.com/STORIES/THE-SHOEMAKER/thumbs/

Directed by Dustin Cohen, Filmed by Dustin Cohen and Michael Hurley, Edited by Bill Kemmler, Color Grading by Simon Biswas.

MAKING STUFF from Chopsy / Darren Robbie on Vimeo.

“MAKING STUFF MOVE IS EASY…BUT…MAKING STUFF MOVE YOU IS HARD”

The line came to me while pitching on some commercial or other & trying to explain what I loved about animation, & what was particularly hard with certain kinds of animation - trying to get that emotional connection out of a basically inanimate object. I think I was also attempting to explain to some agency people that, yes, I could animate a particular foodstuff (even though I didn’t have that on my reel ) because, guess what…I’m an animator!

Rather than try to tell a particular story I decide to animate the actual words, & in as many ways as possible (by the way, I love typography). I wanted to include every kind of ‘traditional’ model animation technique that I could within the framework of the film - from modelling clay balls to pixilating human hands & bodies, from animating food (the chopped peppers) to timelapse (the scene in the woods), from 2D drawn animation to moving sand, etc.

Basically, it’s meant to be a fun piece showcasing various methods of stop-frame animation!

The whole thing was shot in camera using Nikon digital stills cameras (I really wanted to keep that certain ‘feel’ you get) with a bit of cleaning up in AfterEffects in post.

I would like to give a big thanks to everyone who helped, especially:
Sam Morris (cameraman)
Gary & Cat at ScaryCat Studio (where I shot most of the film, & who gave me a huge amount of help with modelmaking)
Kev Harwood (who helped me with production)
Emma Kingsnorth at UN1T (for post work)
Dave Reynaud (for composing a fantastic piece of music especially for this film - I’ve always loved the juxtaposition of electronic music to stop-frame animation)
Mcasso music production ltd. for providing the audio track

“The Forgotten” Extended Preview from Ben Styles on Vimeo.

“There is no them. There are only facets of us.” ― John Green

Directed by Ben Styles and Taren Marsaw.

Coming soon.

STORYBOARD: The Fine Art of Coffee Portraiture from Tumblr on Vimeo.

Meet Mike Breach, barista extraordinaire, who “paints” everything — and everyone — into his lattes.

Alchemy from Henry Jun Wah Lee / Evosia on Vimeo.

Please watch full screen and turn up the volume!

Alchemy is a short film about transformation. In nature, everything is constantly changing: the earth, the sky, the stars, and all living things. Spring is followed by summer, fall and winter. Water turns into clouds, rain and ice. Over time, rivers are created, canyons carved, and mountains formed. All of these elements, mixed together, create the magic of nature’s alchemy.

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/evosiastudios
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/evosia
Website: evosiastudios.com
Music: A Better Place by Justin R. Durban, justindurban.com

Read more on my blog: evosiastudios.com/2013/04/02/alchemy/

Available also in 4K. For licensing and other inquiries, please contact info@evosia.com.

DataPoints - Book Launch Promotion from Nigel Upchurch on Vimeo.

Animation promoting the launch of Data Points by Nathan Yau from Flowing Data (flowingdata.com).
Script - Nigel Upchurch & Nathan Yau
Concept, design, animation and compositing - Nigel Upchurch
Sound design - Toolbox Audio

City By The Sea - Canon C300 Review from The Gold Mine Films on Vimeo.

A test of the Canon C300 camera shot at Bur Dubai Creek, where several dhow cruise operators get ready for tourists in the evening. I also shot an interview to go along, but it didn’t really come out as i expected, so i put together a montage of the B-roll. I intentionally shot difficult scenes, like shooting indoor without washing out the exteriors. This is the camera for that! Excellent for run-and-gun stuff, but easily adaptable to producing corporate work, and even TVC’s. Our other camera is the Sony FS-700 and while i will miss 240 frames per second capability, i can live with 50i/25p in720p mode. I think.

Had a team of 12 students from my Video Production Class at Szabist University along with me for the shoot. I hope they learnt something along the way. A big thanks to those of you carried gear :)

Shot using
Canon 24-70 2.8 L Series Lens
Canon 100 - 400mm f4 L Series Lens

Shot in Cinema mode (C-Log) and graded in Premiere Pro CS6 with the Luma Corrector and the RGB Color Corrector to give that golden look.

Overall the camera handles really well, but i’ve got to get used to the buttons i’ve assigned on the left. This will come with more usage ;)
I love the wave form monitor and vectorsope function! It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, its the perfect way of exposing in C-Log.
Personally, only when grading the image did I see the enormous benefit of shooting in C Log. You really see how far you can push those midtones without the image cracking up on you.
In retrospect, i should have used a tripod, because the handling is not as steady as would be with the Canon 7D with the Zacuto Z Finder. Or i need to develop steadier hands :)

Next will probably be a short doc shot in Jhelum Pakistan for Noor Dubai using this camera and (hopefully) a set of Zeiss CP2 ultra fast primes.

thegoldminefilms.com

All truly great companies have a set of values by which they operate. These values guide their employees when they engage between themselves, their suppliers and their customers. This film takes a behind the scenes approach to discover the values tat RSA, one of the worlds oldest and largest insurance companies.

RSA continues to work with The Gold Mine Films, because we consistently try and find meaningful stories behind all their corporate and customer communication.

Shot on the Sony FS 700 with Canon L 24-70mm 2.8 and Sigma 50mm 1.4 using the Sachtler Cine Tripod, the Kessler Cineslider with Oracle motion controller for some motion timelapse, Lowell 800 W Lights and softbox. Some of the timelapse was also shot on the Canon 7D with a 10-20mm Sigma.

Director/DOP: Danish Mumtaz
Editor: Zub@ik 
Camera Asst.: Amir Hossain

Al Futtaim Machinery (FAMCO) commissioned The Gold Mine Films to produce a short documentary about the yachting and commercial shipping industry in the UAE. Their premier product, Yanmar Engines was to be featured in the film, but in a mild and subtle manner. The whole film focused on the importance of the sea to the Arab people.
Shot on the Sony FS 700 with Sigma and Canon primes and zooms. There are some 400 frames per second shots of the sea which turned out really well considering it was shot without a stabilization rig.

This guy gave up his job to make hand made knives. No experience, but loads of passion. Very thought provoking film.