New Blog

As of summer 2014, our blog has moved to www.thisispractical.com/blog. This changes reflects our name changing from Eleven35 Productions to PRACTICAL in March 2014.

For new content from us, find us at our new internet home at thisispractical.com.

Changing Names

We’ve been talking about Eleven35 for a while now, about the name, about the brand, about the direction, and we’re pretty excited for what’s finally about to happen. A name-change isn’t something to take lightly, but as we look at how our work and our team is growing, it's clear we need a name that can grow with us.

Our previous name, Eleven35, has been experiencing growing pains for a while now.  Often, people hear about and recognize production companies through word of mouth, and unfortunately a name like "Eleven35" can seem meaningless and be profoundly difficult to remember.  Some of our friends can't even remember it.  But the bigger reasons for committing to a name change is that "Eleven35" ceases to speak to who we are as a company and the type of work we want to create, and it doesn't say anything about who we are as a team right now.

The new name has been chosen and we've been eager to share it.  It's much simpler, much easier to remember, and it feels like a strong step forward for us as a team and as a company. The new name is also less constraining and broader concerning our specific services. It's able to serve as an "umbrella" title for our main productions as well as our side endeavors (the word "productions" has been removed for that purpose, leaving the name as a single word). We feel it speaks more specifically to who we are and how we think, work, and move forward as artists.

We're very excited to say that we are no longer Eleven35 Productions, but will be changing our name to PRACTICAL.

So as our pages and platforms begin transforming from Eleven35 to PRACTICAL, don't worry. It's still us, and good things are on the way.  We're releasing several new projects soon, all under the new name, the first of which is a film we produced for Short's Brewing Company.

Our Facebook and blog will change over slowly, but eventually, and you can see our new web home at www.thisispractical.com.  We hope you’ll come along for the ride as we settle into something new.

April Practical Playlist

See what we're listening to! Enjoy the first ever Practical Playlist.

Air Services Inc.

Lately we’ve been experiencing a little more breathing room in our workflow than what had become normal last year. It’s important to be looking forward beyond next week, and the last few months have helped us get a little bit more vision for the future.

Air Services Incorporated is a client which is receiving a full rebrand through Intersection, a marketing agency we share an office with, and getting to create their web and TV ad was a welcome challenge.

Photography shot on Kodak Portra

The office interior shots, into which we later composited the Pittsburgh skyline, were captured at Hagerty Insurance here in Traverse City. A lot of the jet filming was done inside Air Services’ hangars, including the exterior and interior shots of the jets which we lit to look like sunset. We did finally get to fly on the last day of shooting, during which we captured the bulk of the aerial footage.

The black and white color grade really allowed us to think about the footage in new ways both during shooting and editing. In black and white, composition is so important. Subjects which normally stand on their own because of color, such as a sunset, are suddenly put on an even playing field with most other subjects.

One of my favorite shots is the slow approach of Mike Bullard from behind. Space in the jet cabin was limited for setting up the shot, but the composition worked beautifully for the extent of the camera motion.

Shooting product photography, both digital and film, was a huge highlight. Photography is a privilege for us. It’s ’s something both JohnPaul and I do in our free time and less often for work, so we were eager for the opportunity to shoot images for Air Services Inc.'s new website and branding. Some of the film shot from the jet while flying was a specialty aerial film, which turned out really good.

Thank you to Mike Bullard for being our talent and Hagerty Insurance for letting us film their beautiful space downtown!

          Thanks for scrolling,

          Matthew Bouwense


Produced with:

Sony FS700

Nikon 50mm 1.8, Nikon 35mm 1.4, Rokinon 24mm 1.5

1000W Fresnal

650W Frensal

Edited with Final Cut Pro 7

Animation and Compositing done in Motion4

Graded with Adobe Photoshop

Music composed by Grant Floering

SLEDDING/AGAIN

It never seems like there's enough time to indulge our ability to get overly excited about doing things we're too old for. But maybe this is the time. As a kid, no matter what the sled hill actually, literally looked like, in my mind it meant soaring through the air at incredible speeds, watching chunks of soft, white debris explode around me in slow motion as I fought for life and glory. Since my family couldn't afford a video camera at that point, there really is no documented proof to reveal this to be based more on fact or fantasy. I remember that large jumps on the sledding hill were to be expected (my older brothers were snowboard ramp architects) and my friends were more in tune with Calvin & Hobbes logic and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater physics to really know any fear.  Fear came with age. I'm in my twenties and going sledding with my nieces and nephew showed now has shown me how old and conservative I've really become with my holiday winter-sports. There's nostalgia in that, for sure, but also the feeling of losing something.

The concept for this film developed partially out of that, but was also influenced by a few other things as well, like the old Calvin and Hobbes books that I recently rediscovered, and the knowledge that Michigan is currently experiencing one of the most epic winters of my lifetime.

In addition, there was some incentive to find another excuse to use the FS700, our slow motion camera. And also, I just wanted to prove to myself that I still no how to use the flaps and trim on a toboggan.

 The energy and composition was very much inspired by the design work of Jelle Martens, and the look and color for SLEDDING/AGAIN was based around an image I took of my friends Grant and Matthew last winter in the twilight glow.

SLEDDING/AGAIN was filmed on our Sony FS700r slow motion camera, which with our Slog2 upgrade delivers footage equivalent to a RED camera.  And while we still film and work with our Canon 5D MarkIII pretty regularly, the FS700r is definitely our go-to for cinema quality output.

Thanks for scrolling!

JohnPaul Morris
Director of Photography
Eleven35 Productions

West Coast Travelogue

Traveling along the coast of Washington and Oregon, I collected this footage and assembled this piece as an editing exercise using a few new techniques and ideas.  And thanks to the beautiful Cora Hargis for allowing her likeness to be used.

I also shot two rolls of film photography while traveling, some expired Meijer 100 and Kodak Portra.  That won't get scanned for another couple weeks, so this will have to do for now.  Thanks for scrolling!  - JohnPaul Morris

The Left (West) Coast

I have never been to the West Coast before, except in the airports on my way to other coasts.  I was finally able to change that this week and collect some photos and footage.  I really hope to find some time in my schedule now that I'm back and back to work to edit the footage and put together a film.   If/when I do, I'll put it up here.

I have to say though, the Seattle was great, but Oregon coast is beautiful.  Hopefully we can get a client based growing in Washington/Oregon.  That would be ideal, for sure.









Thanks for scrolling!

JohnPaul Morris
Director of Photography
Eleven35 Productions

We Are Sojourners

When the invention of FM radio came to Traverse City, one of the first things broadcast over the air was the weekly sermon from the church that now, about 100 years later, is the church that I am a part of.  It's currently going through a name change, which like any change for a church with so much history, doesn't happen lightly.

So when it came to announcing and explaining the proposition for the new name, I was asked to make a film that would do just that.  Matthew and I had about a week to put it together, all without slowing the work on our other projects, so we had to develop a concept that wasn't overly labor intensive.

We put extra time into the finer parts of sound design and visual intricacies, so, if you have the means, make it FULL SCREEN and LOUD.



We're all really happy with how it came together, and I developed some new techniques that I hope I get to share.  We may be starting a tutorial series soon, so there's a lot of potential to be able to share so many of the new methods we're employing.  But until that happens, just enjoy the results.

Thanks for reading!

JohnPaul Morris
Director of Photography
Eleven35 Productions