NYC Video Production - New Product Alert! Camera Ops NYC - the biggest jib is coming soon!

There’s a lot of excitement going on this week in the jib world! This NYC Based Video Production company does a lot with jibs and is eagerly waiting the official launch of a 52’ reach extension kit for Jimmy Jib. There’s not a whole lot of venues in NYC where you need 52’ of jib reach, but that would be nice to have for certain spaces when I bring Jimmy Jib Rentals to Boston, Washington DC, or the Prudential Center in NJ. I discovered this tid bid of news on the Jimmy Jib Website the other day. It was listed as a build option for the Jimmy Jib Pro. I emailed Jimmy Jib to see if this was just a joke and they replied back saying the 52’ extension will be available for PRO and Legacy versions. They have plans to launch a new website and to launch a number of new products. They originally said it would be sometime last week, but it’s Monday and refreshing the website has no news on it. So who needs a 52’ Jib out there? If there’s enough clients wanting this kind of mega reach I’m game to invest in it!

I don’t have a full view of the tech specs yet. I understand you are supposed to be able to use the original tripod and 4 wheel dolly, but will the ballast tail have to be longer? I feel like if the 52’ arm only had the same 9’ tail the 30/40 kits have, you’d need like over 1000 pounds to balance it out. You barely can get that swinging. So does it have a 12’ tail or 15’? That makes the footprint an absolute monster tho! I guess time will tell and I’ll be eagerly checking the site for updates. Till then, we’ve got a 30’ max reach for your jib needs in Washington DC, Boston, NYC, NJ, Philly and beyond. As always, we’ve got one of the bigger source of Spider Pod Rentals in NYC!

Video Production NYC - Director of Photography meets boxing!

At Universal Live we do it all! Camera Ops NYC, DP NYC, Sony FX9 Rentals NYC, and lots and lots and lots of Jibs! In March we had an 18’ Jimmy Jib Lite down in Atlantic City, NJ at the Tropicana for some boxing. We’ve have gotten to see quite a show from one fighter on three consecutive times. Each time he scores a finish either by KO or TKO and celebrates with the most insane worm dance I think anyone has ever done! So when you’re sitting on this content, what’s the natural next step? You make a KO/Worm Dance highlight!! We are fortunate to be able to work on a diverse variety of projects including galas, fights, medical device promos, lectures, concerts, interviews, etc. It’s a lot of extra fun when you get to witness something so unique such as the insane height this gentleman achieves in his worm dance. Check it out!

Jib Reel Update! Video Production NYC Alert - New Jib Reel

Hi Everyone! We’ve got another great jib reel to show off. We offer video production all over the country with a special interest in the north east. All of these shots feature video production nyc to boston to DC. As always, we offer all kinds of equipment and services! We have spider pod rentals in NYC, Jib op NYC, Sony FX9 Rentals in NJ, Sony FX9 rentals NYC, Director of Photography Services in NJ, and more!

Video Production NYC - The Corporate Office Interview

When it comes to NYC Corporate Videography, clients love to use their office spaces for video shoots. It of course is extremely convenient for them, often has amazing views of the city, and offers a branding touch to their video as their professional space is captured. A lot of Manhattan office spaces tend to be very open air, have break out offices that are all open windows, and it’s honestly windows on top of windows!! Fortunately these days many buildings have some kind of ND layer in the windows. Combine that with the 15 stops of dynamic range that the Sony FX9s have and we don’t have to light an interview to be extremely bright to get a good balance. It’s honestly more of a challenge to be getting the city in a sharper focus than to be balancing the brightness of those windows. The tricky part of these offices with tons of windows is having space to create depth, busting the reflections of all the glass elements, and keeping the city background looking intelligible. You want enough space in an office so that the background objects have a nice little shape to them, but still be at a high enough F or T stop to prevent the city background from turning into a complete blur. That can be a tall ask sometimes! “Video Production NYC” also gets tricky in these buildings because the insurance requirements are often intense and security checks are elaborate! The next top will be a perspective on navigating insurance and security requirements. Have a good one!

Camera Op NYC - NYC Video Production "The Struggles"

Working in Video Production in NYC is very unique compared to the rest of the country. There are very few parking lots (practically none), loading is always a fight, it can be 5 degrees in January and 120 degrees in the subway in the summer, and there’s the traffic…..! Let’s skip the question of why offering Sony FX9 Rentals in NYC or Video Production in New York City when it would be easier to offer Video Production to Princeton, NJ. Explaining the crazy is another topic, for the purpose of this post I’m going to explain “the how”.

1) Parking. Videography in NYC requires transporation of equipment! Some videographers are able to travel light with a gimbal, small sticks, and a mirrorless body or two which allows them to zip around with ubers or the subway. When you get into camera jibs, full light kits, larger cine zooms, and heavy duty tripods the subway isn’t an option. Loading in the NYC can be chaos so it’s helpful to have someone with you or have a someone from production greet you street side. For the most part, parking enforcement and police don’t really give you a hard time if you’re briefly street loading in no parking, no standing areas, or double parked. The key thing here is to always look like you are actively working and never leave the vehicle unattended. The second your vehicle is unattended is when parking enforcement sees “a parked car”, even if you just ran inside to push a cart of gear in the door. Once you’re loaded in or someone is firewatching gear, time to get the vehicle in a parking garage. It’s expensive, but it’s how it’s done here.

2. Extreme Weather. You wouldn’t think NYC has extreme weather but there’s some hot and cold days. In the winter it’s common to see some 10 degree evenings with an intense breeze. The wind is what sucks away all your energy! I use a heated vest on the outdoor jobs and pack a lot of batteries. This has been a game charger! One of the hottest outdoor jobs I’ve ever done was Jib Op’ing Formula-E in the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. If you want to experience being hot, stand outside in the sun with no shade on a 100 degree day on black pavement for hours. How do I survive? Constant sunscreen applications, lots of water, wearing white, and an umbrella mounted on the back of the jib.

3. Traffic. Information is a powerful tool these days. A lot of road closures are posted in advance, traffic reports are broadcasted around the clock, and you just need to be aware of traffic trends and bottle necks. Knowing which lanes move faster, where to be, and that traffic cams run 24/7 is your way to save a lot of time.

Your production awaits.