Please contact us
with corrections
or breaking news
June de Vive in Marin County by Jay Randy Gordon, The Marinsider
The Zen of Shooting Rain and other meditations on "Noah" by 32TEN Studios. photo: courtesy of 32TEN Studios
Whoaaaa Noah and Other 3, 2, 1, 0 Endeavors
What do we see before the start of a movie—3, 2, 1, 0—spelling 32 TEN. As it happens, 32TEN Studios, in San Rafael, signals the start of plenty of interesting things in film.
Launched as a production facility and VFX services provider in 2012 by Tim Partridge, previously of Dolby, and Greg Maloney, formerly of ILM, 32TEN Studios is rounded out by fabrication supervisor Sean House and others who maintain model and other shops there.
"We typically work on big element shoots for movies coming out down the road, though, as usual, we can't say which ones," due to confidentiality agreements, said Partridge, who has projects scheduled well into 2015.
Last year, 32TEN produced special effects for such major Hollywood motion pictures as "Pacific Rim", "Elysium" and "The Lone Ranger".
Indeed, if you saw the recently released Regency Enterprises hit "Noah", where ILM did the CG, you've witnessed 32TEN at work. They did a number of "practicals"—ie real-time but in miniature, using models—effects.
Evidently, CG has a hard doing random, natural or complex elements and 32TEN did general steam (from sleeping CG animals), simulated rain, smoke (from the Ark's chimney), and rushing water (waves crashing through the forest, and on to the rocks).
Proving that life is still better than digital: crashing waves for 'Noah'. photo: courtesy of 32TEN Studios
“The practical effects shot by 32TEN, when combined with our CG work, helped us create realistic images for this story,” noted Phillippe Rebours, an ILM VFX Supervisor, who helmed the work on “Noah” at 32TEN.
Most recently, the team shot several practical elements for the upcoming Transformers 4 movie “Transformers: Age of Extinction”. Naturally, the details of 32TEN's contribution will be available when the film opens in theaters later this month.
Coincidentally, since the 32TEN facility (formerly Kerner Optical) was designed and first occupied by ILM, it still is home to a state-of-the-art screening room seating 135 and suitable for screenings, color corrections and social events.
Later, they will be having the “EO Small World Trading” and an EO Products special screening by Allison W. Gryphon.
The building is also home to 10 other media-related entities from production companies, like Jessen Productions and Milomix Productions, to service providers, like Fat Red Couch and Invision.
“With a full house of partner companies, we are virtually a one-stop shop for any production's needs,” said 32TEN's COO Maloney.
32TEN's Tim Partridge lensing a PSA for the Vallejo Police Dept.photo: courtesy of 32TEN Studios
In the past three months, 32TEN produced a TV recruiting campaign for the Vallejo Police Department. The PSA series, with Partridge directing, will debut on theater screens in Northern California this summer.
"We felt this was a good opportunity to put our team's considerable experience to work for a good cause," Partridge said.
They shot a number of scenes including a staged traffic accident, a SWAT team in action, a K9 unit barking away and the entire Vallejo Police Department working in a large group setting.
"As the city has emerged from bankruptcy, the police department contracted with 32Ten Studios and Tim and his team did a terrific job," said Lieutenant Sid DeJesus of the Vallejo Police, which honored 32TEN at their 2013 Awards and Recognition Lunch.
Marin's Resurgent Music Scene: FenixLive Rises, Online
Building on the momentum of Marin's re-emerging music scene, FenixLive is poised to put on performances which sound and taste excellent. Although its soulful French with a Southern twist cuisine changes seasonally, the music stay a consistent high nightly.
(The supper club, by the way, is not to be confused with American comedy rock duo, Tenacious D, and their 2012 album, "Rize of the Fenix").
The venue, designed for optimal playing and listening pleasure, is decked out with 25' ceilings, making it an “intimate... open room with a live feel ...not a lot of reverb" according to one owner, Merl Saunders, Jr., son of the legendary keyboardist of the same name, who played with The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia among many others.
Along with entrepreneur Laura Van Galen, they are the brains behind FenixLive, a truly unique club, restaurant and dinner theatre which will eventually deliver musical performances far beyond their four walls on various devices.
A band regales the crowd at the FenixLive Supper Club. photo: courtesy of FenixLive/MarinMaven
Currently, most shows are live-streamed on FenixLive, which will migrate to a subscription model in 2015.
As Saunders pointed out, he wanted it to be “the closest to having your experience in the club at home, so it is tuned specifically like a recording studio... [We're] the only venue that broadcasts almost every show on HD."
Although the club is dark Mondays, Tuesdays feature the Acoustic Showcase and on Wednesday, there's the hot house band, Pro Blues Jam: Stax Music.
Also known as The Fenix Band, they deliver familiar sounds from musical greats like Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder, as well as Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding, see calendar.
A executive for not-for-profit and for-profit enterprises, including Senior Executive Director of the San Francisco Chapter of the Grammy organization, Saunders has long experience in marketing and business development in the creative and philanthropic fields.
In 1994, Saunders produced the Gibson Guitar Company's 100th Anniversary Celebration at the historic Fillmore Auditorium as a benefit for San Francisco's Glide Memorial Church. Over a lifetime in the industry, has proven a strong advocate of public music and arts education.
From his days at the Grammys, Saunders learned that there was an open marketplace where people “want on-demand,” and here it is on 4th Street in the heart of San Rafael.
For architectural design, they brought in Walters Storyk Design Group, an award-winning New York City design firm, known for TV studios in Doha, Qatar, soccer stadiums for the World Cup in Brazil, and Jazz at Lincon Center, amongst other structures.
Naturally, for the live-streaming, Saunders went pro: Panasonic HD robotic cameras, a NEWTEK tricaster, significant lighting and moving lights “designed specifically for the video component," and Protools for live as well as post-production.
Also a big believer in giving back to the local community, Saunders supports the Marin School of the Arts and the Marin Academy, which is—coincidentally—where the band Bread & Roses will perform June 15.
Marin's music king, Narada Michael Walden of San Rafael, producer of Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and other greats with author Jay Randy Gordon (lft). photo: Beth Schnitzer
More Music to My Ears
For over 35 years, the Marin Veterans' Memorial Auditorium has presented a spectacular array of world-class performances, from Metallica and The Neville Brothers to TAO: Phoenix Rising (Japanese drumming with contemporary flair).
Moreover, many of the tunes performed have graced movie soundtracks because Marinites love movies. That is why Marin Symphony, on Sunday, June 8, will feature movie music from “The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", composed by the German artist, Klaus Badelt.
The Auditorium also hosts the Italian Film Festival in September. In fact, there is music bustin' out all over—playing, listening, and viewing—and, per FenixLive, watching each night LIVE Online or the new Sweetwater Music Hall which will be hosting The Tubes, Friday, June 6.
“It's an honor to bring this legendary rock 'n roll band, The Tubes, to the new Sweetwater. Both names carry a lot of weight in the Bay Area music world, and it rocks to combine forces," said Aaron Kayce, the Sweetwater's General Manager.
"The Sweetwater is a very unique venue, capable of hosting artists that would normally play much bigger rooms, but, because of the quality of the experience and our sound equipment, we can book acts like Taj Mahal, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Furthur, The Fall Risk, and Justin Townes Earle. We also consider ourselves a local hang out and rock bar where you can catch dance bands, free shows, and late night jam sessions."
Jeff Pehrson's The Fall Risk plays Sweetwater. photo: courtesy Sweetwater
Meanwhile Terrapin Crossroads, owned by bassist Phil Lesh of The Grateful Dead, has Salsa Della Soul, June 6 and Mother's Hips, June 19-20; Hopmonk Tavern has Prezident Brown, June 13, Big Tree, June 14 and Jerry Hannan, June 22;
Further out at Fairfax's 19 Broadway has Steep Ravine and Poor Man's Whisky, June 7, and Vinyl, June 13, while down at Sausalito's The Trident, The No Name, and The Seahorse all boast live music.
Be it jazz, soul, funk or outright rock, not to mention film, rock on Marin!
C-SPAN's Middle School Documentary Winner
Ben Blum, an eighth grader at Saint Mark's in San Rafael, won second place, out of 2,300 entries, in C-SPAN's StudentCam national documentary competition. The prize was presented at his school, replete with a C-SPAN broadcast bus and crew and a full school assembly.
Ben Blum is awarded second place for his seven minute documentary by Supervisor Damon Connolly at Saint Mark's School.
photo: J. R. Gordon
In his seven-minute film, “Government Surveillance” Blum set out to make a difference as well as tackle this year's question: “What's the most important issue the U.S. Congress should address in 2014?”
“My son is wickedly smart but reserved," Blum's mother, Vinesa Blackwell, said. "He comes alive in the safety of his film studio. It is such a surprise to discover how his mind works.”
Blum is a shining example of the media literacy program at Saint Mark's School, a nonreligious, K-8 facility with 380 students where kids start with iPads in the third grade and, by eighth grade, are using cameras, lighting kits and green screens.
The program fosters an ability to interpret and communicate across multiple platforms, from novels to newscasting and video production, while teaching students how media influences them and their society.
Jay Randy Gordon is The MarinSider, a CineSource Magazine contributor, co-founder of the Sports Mavericks art series and the founder of Hanukkah Hoops and can be reached .Posted on Jun 06, 2014 - 06:29 AM