COMPLEX CANADA FEAT. KYLE LOWRY
JV Studios teams up with Complex Canada to announce the return of point guard, Kyle Lowry, to Toronto. After playing with the Raptors for nine years, Kyle Lowry took the court in Toronto with the Miami Heat this past Sunday. Lowry is considered one of the greatest players in the Raptors franchise history. He helped lead them to an NBA title in 2019, which forever will be remembered as a peak moment for the Raptors.
BEHIND THE LENS
THE PROJECT
When Complex Canada reached out to us to help produce a multi-camera interview shoot in Chicago, we were excited to learn more. Later on, once we found out it was for NBA point guard Kyle Lowry, we got even more thrilled to be a part of it. Since the Complex team could not all travel from Canada to Chicago for this project, it was very important for them to find a local company that could manage the entire production while working closely with their director Alex Narvaez onsite. Rest assured, JV Studios was ready for the challenge!
THE SPACE
We worked directly with Complex Producer, Bryanna Kimens, in seeking out the best space for this shoot, with a rustic, exposed-brick vibe, and an artistic flair. It was very important for the space to complement the look and feel of the interview they envisioned. When we came across the set with a splash of red paint on the back wall, just like the red color of Lowry’s current team, the Miami Heat, we instantly knew our search was over.
The only drawback we had in this space was the windows. Since the outside light is constantly changing, we wanted to have complete control of our lighting. It was a necessity to black out the windows and our solution of using (2) 12x12 black flags worked perfectly for what we needed to cover up.
THE CREW
Our team consisted of a 10-person production crew. Roles included a Director/DOP, Producer, Line Producer, 3x Camera Operators, Audio Operator, Gaffer, HMU Artist, and a Production Assistant.
THE TECHNICAL APPROACH
To ensure all angles were covered, we filmed this interview using a four-camera approach. For the three primary angles, we utilized the Sony Fx6 camera bodies with native Sony FE glass to help with auto-focus. The primary two-shot was locked off on sticks, while the cross shots were on a 70-200mm manned using a dana dolly to enable subtle movement. Our fourth angle was secured on a Ronin-S paired with a Sony A7SIII that captured the “behind the scenes” perspective during the interview.
Our approach to lighting was to keep it soft and simple. We used an Aputure 600d with a lantern softbox to act as our main key light. This top-down lighting method gave us a very soft look and spilled perfectly onto both of our main subjects. We filled the remaining side angles using (3x) Aputure 300d paired with an octagon softbox to maintain the soft look while adding contrast to our image. The light on the back wall was achieved using an orange gel that helped cut shape to give the back wall more texture and create a moodier look that pulled our subjects into the focal of the shot.
LIFESTYLE MOMENTS
In addition to capturing the primary interview, we also were tasked with capturing a few lifestyle shots for the opening sequence of the interview and social media teasers. Since we only had two hours with our talent and the interview took up almost an hour to complete, we had less than an hour to capture Kyle candidly. It was crunch time!
A SHOOT TO REMEMBER
The team nevertheless executed. We were thrilled with the end result. This video has now been globally shared on Complex US, Complex Sports, and Complex Canada socials and website.
“It is not every day you get to be on set with an NBA all-star player, let alone pass them the ball on camera. This is one for the books.” - Vince Pinto, Director of JV Studios
BTS Images via JV Studios // Brandy Fik
