Shooting an EPK : What Tools Video Production Companies Bring with Them

Pacific Producers Group recently had the opportunity to coordinate an EPK (electronic press kit) shoot for “The Killing,” a dramatic series produced by AMC Television (based in New York). AMC produces the popular shows “Mad Men,” “Walking Dead,” and “Breaking Bad.”

EPK material is traditionally used as promo content for “Behind-the-Scenes” featurettes on DVDs or Blu-Ray and, as in AMC’s case, as online content that they release after each weekly episode is broadcast. Their EPKs, which AMC post-produces themselves, provide character and actor insights to key plot moments in each of the episodes: a good way to provide more content for hungry fans, and keep them eager for the next episode.

We were initially sent a list of equipment that other production companies who had shot EPK material in the past for AMC (their other shows are shot in different cities in the US). After visiting the set for “The Killing”, at one of the older buildings at Riverview Hospital, we realized the list would be insufficient, and came up with a new list of gear that would allow us to shoot nicely-but-with-quick-setups, and let us create sets that were lit with a dramatic mood to them. Part of the challenge shooting at Riverview? Very little in-house power! The bulk of what we used had to be provided by the main unit, who fed us a distro box.

We shot on the Panasonic HPX3000 at 1080p, previewed on a 9” Pansonic monitor, and shot on four 64gig P2 cards that were dumped to hard drive after each card was full. For lighting, here’s what we brought along with us:

1) 2 Kino Flo Diva 400’s
2) 2 Kino Flo 4-foot 4-banks
3) 2 K5600 Joker 400’s
4) 2 Arri 1Ks
5) 3 Dedolights (tungsten)
6) 3 LTM Peppers (tungsten)
7) A 575 watt open-face HMI
8) 1 Chimera Pancake Lantern & 2 Chimera Softboxes
9) 1 Lowel Rifa 88ex
10) Flags/Scrims (18x24” and 2x3’) and gels
11) 14 C-stands, 6 smaller light stands, sandbags, and a whole whack of AC cable

Some stills are above, but you can watch one of the EPK’s here<.

Searching for a video production company to shoot your film's EPK or promo material? Check out our video production services -- and email or call PPG at 604-374-5242 !