Mirza Sahiban is one of the most famous stories in Punjabi literature, and one whose origin goes back hundreds of years. It is a story that has been told and retold for generations, so when a film takes up this tale and labels it The Untold Story, ears were certainly perking up among the millions of Punjabis worldwide. The traditional story is one of forbidden love, revenge, and tragedy; not unlike many legendary folk tales from the world over, but this tragic ending is a bit notorious, because of a twist at the end that gives the story a part of its name.
There’s a new trailer out for Mirza 2012: The Untold Story. The film is causing a huge stir in India.
We worked with our good friend, and Vancouver’s best kept cinematographer secret: TOBY GORMAN, to create an action-packed big-budget movie look with a skeleton crew of only 4 guys (which includes a dual gaffer/key grip, a best boy, and two swing technicians). We added a tow-generator, and a 6k Par to supplement the TALCO LIGHTING & GRIP PACKAGE, and that was it.
This is proof that a new era of image-making is upon us. Sensitive digital cameras — tightly knit crew of skilled independent filmmakers — making the most of limited tools — we can create huge budget-like features! We’ve proven this. Watch the trailer above (!).
MIRZA 2012: The Untold Story Theatrical Film Release
We’ve been doing short films and corporates throughout the first month of the year. Here’s a still from one titled “We’ll meet again” which we did with our friend Ryan. We’ve also done some interesting work with VFS Business Management which we will be posting on soon — it means big things for the film school academic world in Vancouver.
As far as the future, we’ve got a few feature film contracts lined up which will be an excellent opportunity to take advantage of our new 10k diesel generator (recently modified to add camloc connections) and our ever-growing HMI package. We picked up the generator on our way back from shooting in Kelowna towards the end of last year.
Stay tuned for more happenings, its been a busy new year!
TALCO assists
Danny Nowak C.S.C. in a first of it’s kind
Capilano University Cinematography Workshop for indigenous people of Canada.
The intensive studio course followed the success of another workshop we did at BCIT Film Flex program for graduating students who — prior to us — felt that they were lacking in hands on education and real world experience.
At both schools we brought in our 5-ton lighting and grip package truck for a week and helped provide the students a crash course in cinematography, Danny style…
It started with overviews of the truck, the equipment, and essential lighting principals such as: a) the inverse square rule for fall-off of light and b) the relative size of a light source as it relates to the softness of the light a.k.a. the importance of a large bounce or diffusion frame; we then built sets and put them hands-on through the process of shooting a scene.
Teaching was a very rewarding experience –The indigenous people at Capilano for example were grateful of our filmmaking wisdom and eager to apply their newfound knowledge to complete their film studies at the university. They will soon return to their native lands to become filmmakers and story tellers for future generations.
The BCIT Film Flex students began their final practicum following our workshop and worked for 30 days in the industry.
Currently Danny Nowak C.S.C and TALCO are looking for more opportunities to take the workshop on the road.
These photos were taken at the Capilano cinematography workshop.
We’ve been “off roading” with Adrian and Rugged Media — hundreds of miles on unpaved roads west of Williams Lake, BC on native lands in the Nemiah Valley. We’ve proven that grip buckets can float. Here is a tease from Konni Lake.
The green bucket saves TALCO grips during the great flood!
One hour earlier (before the great flood)
The TALCO truck survives a logging road and spends the night on the Chilcotin Plateau near an ancient Burial Ground.
Behold, a RED Camera underslung on TALCO’s Porta Jib standard. The picture may be old, but we thought it looked neat enough to post. It’s turning into a busy summer.
The dolly belongs to Peter Reynolds and is an Italian made version of Chapman’s Peewee Dolly. It crabs and has an excellent hydraulic boom movement. Notice how we have triangulated the legs on the dolly (front wheels square at 90 degrees, back wheels parallel at 0 degrees) for a smoother dance floor style move — a trick we learned from Peter himself.
RED Cam underslung on Porta-Jib using an Italian Peewee pedestal
On the subject of old photos, here’s another one of the Italian peewee dolly in action for us.
Reynolds Peewee Dolly behind the scenes on UTAB
TALCO works with Clif Prowse to capture the arrival and installation of the Dinosaurs Unearthed exhibit. We installed camera mounts for a week long time lapse documenting the event. One camera was rigged from the top of the Grant Court catwalk. The other was rigged 20′ in the air from a giant support column in the Atrium Court. We used Modern Studio mounts, an L-bracket cheeseplate, ratchet straps, and some ingenuity. Photos attached. The exhibit remains standing at Metropolis at Metrotown.
T-Rex at Metropolis at Metrotown
HVX200 with a MSE ball leveling mount
Ratchet Strap and L-Bracket Cheeseplate mount
Closeup of ratchet strap/ L-cheeseplate rig
Here’s a sneak peak of new artwork to decorate our 5-ton Lighting and Grip Combo Truck. The works are by the talented Scott Sueme and Coleman Webb of Kids At Heart Collective. Guest appearance by Arpi from Montreal.
Scott first appoached us on the set of Under the Apple Box when by chance we were filming at an elementary school in Strathcona a few weekends after the Police Shooting. SUEME and WEBB were painting a mural for the community which involved children and school a few meters away from our Truck. The rest is in the ozone….and rolling through North Vancouver, Kerrisdale, and the Country Club.
We may have a few cameos soon, can you spot us?
Trounce Alley Lighting Company mural by Scott Sueme
TALCO outside the set of Brandon Paris Band, 'Can't Hate You' featuring unofficial artwork collaboration between street artists SUEME, WEBB, and ARPI.
