We have been producing videos for APM Holdings Bhd. for many years. Now, our country’s largest auto parts manufacturer is celebrating 40 years of successful business.
When shooting factories and industrial sites, an elevated view is always more dramatic.
We were called on by its agency, Graphe Creatives, to produce a film to commemorate their milestones. Our shoot spanned 3 days covering its new corporate HQ, Automotive Research & Development Centre and its factory, to film their new range of advanced robots.
This film features motion graphics and some visual effects.
The comleted film was played during its anniversary dinner celebration. This film included lots of motion graphics to animate graphs and titles. It even has a spot of visual effects to insert a person into columns of gigantic coins.
Prepping the training room for cinematography. Real life needs a helping hand to look cinematic.
We were fortunate to have Ma Chiau Ran (CR) as my assistant. He excels at his job, making mine so much more efficient. All my equipment are always within reach.
Showing the trainer how to react to an imaginery screen ala The Minority Report. Visual Effects will fill in the rest later.
We had numerous talents to direct in the designated locations. I could fully focus on directing while CR preps the camera, gear and lights. Without CR, cinematography wouldn’t be moving quite as efficiently. He was always thinking two, three steps ahead to facilitate cinematography. I was considering attaching a vari ND filter and he’s already cleaning it. Want to use Pocket Dolly? CR is already deploying light stands for support.
Producer Pureen help our talents understand their role at entrance of Engineering Research.
Creative shots of factories and buildings are made more grand or imposing when shot with wide angle lenses. We used our wide angle (Tokina AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX) for many of these shots, especially when framing machines and outdoor building shots.
Setting up LED lighting at Engineering Research, using the low ceiling to our advantage.
Shooting with the Tokina 11-16mm is very rewarding and a little addictive. It was liberating to cover everything in one frame. The downside was having to make sure our scenes were clear of clutter and that only relevant personnel were within the frame. As the focal length of 11-16mm is very wide, we had to pay attention to an extensive area.
Filming the marketing department. Small room, dim moody lighting and Pocket Dolly for tracking shot.
Filming in the new APM HQ was a joy. It was new, spacious and elegantly lit. We had a few groups of talents to direct in the new rooms.
The Pocket Dolly is essential for Hollywood quality shots but is heavy and needs a lot of support- a tripod and 2 light stands!
We used the Benzzo LED lights for lighting our groups of talents. We used blue gels to achieve a blue rim-light on the talents and products.
This strange alien looking robot injects chemicals into moulds to make vehicle seats.
To achieve the dolly shots, after CR propped our Pocket Dolly onto a tripod and light stand, we were good to go. Some dolly and tracking shots were made with our pedestal dolly whenever the floors were smooth enough.
Lighting setup to shoot APM's corporate awards.LED lights are so portable, we can shoot on location.
APM took us into the heart of its new factory in Bukit Beruntung. Here we captured some exotic shots of the seats manufacturing process. We also visited their Automotive Research and Development Center.
Chiau Ran pulls focus while Baron shots and executes a tracking shot on the Pocket Dolly.
This shoot for APM was fun and inspiring. Our equipment were happy too, they all did their jobs well. We wish to thank Tony Foong from Graphe Creatives for taking good care of us and for the well prepared luncheons he brought us to.
Stay tuned; we’ll be uploading the completed film real soon.
