30 Seconds in 12 Hours

October 23, 2009 / Editorial, Film

A local small business owner wanted to share his plans to give back a percentage of his profits to two faith-based charities. So he hired Joey Connolley and yours truly to create a 30-second spot. We shot it with my new Canon 5D Mark II which not only creates stunning stills, but captures 1080 high definition footage too. We shot it in the morning, converted and edited it in the afternoon and by 8:00 o’clock that night we had an approved commercial. So whether you need 30 seconds or just a fraction of that to tell your story, we’d love to shoot it.

The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth

September 15, 2009 / Editorial, Film

When our church, Port City Community Church (PC3), starts a new series, their creative department brands it like the pros. Case in point, this past Sunday’s message on pride and humility. The church created a fake company called Knowego, complete with a roving band of helpers playfully dubbed the Meek Squad. When someone sees a person being overly boastful, one phone call summons the Meek Squad, who swoops in and changes the scenario to humble the offender. (They start by literally stopping time.) PC3 developed a two-minute “commercial” and launched a website complete with faux testimonials and a phone number. (http://themeeksquad.com/)?I was on the team of camera operators for the video, and took some photos for the website, too ~ all using my new still camera that also shoots high-definition video. Who knew humility could be so much fun?

Evolve or Die

June 1, 2009 / Editorial, Film

I’ve been working on a couple of new avenues for my business. The natural progression for some commercial photographers is to move into film. So I have teamed up with a local young film maker, Joey Connolley. His demo reel and award-winning shorts can be seen at www.vimeo.com/2655657. He’s super talented and we are learning a lot from each other. Here is our first collaboration piece for Gidget Worldwide. It’s a teaser “spot” for the internet. The full 9.5 minute short is being released this month! Looking for someone who can produce stills AND video for your client?

Gidget Teaser from Gidget Films on Vimeo.

Bringing Back Gidget

March 31, 2009 / Editorial, Film

She’s coming back to a beach near you! My friend, and very talented film maker, Joey Connolley, and I were hired to cover a surf contest in Cocoa Beach. What a dream assignment!! Gidget Worldwide was a co-sponsor. They’re re-branding this famous name from the fifties. Our mission was to produce a DVD and still images capturing some of Florida’s finest up-and-coming surfers. Joey and I took turns shooting HD footage and photos. We had a BLAST! Look for the trailer to our short film coming soon!

“PURSUIT” Video | A Car Chase for God

April 8, 2008 / Editorial, Film

Pursuit 1

As many of you already know, I have been volunteering with our very cool church PC3 (http://www.portcitychurch.org) for a couple of years now. About a month ago my very talented friend Evan Vetter, director of e*Media at PC3, asked me if I would serve as Director of Photography on his largest production to date. Of course I said “Yes!”

The result is a short film that enhances the weekly worship experience and sets up the message for that particular sermon series. In this case we are learning about the “pursuit” of Wisdom. What better way to bring these passages from Proverbs into the 21st century but by creating a car chase!

A few quick facts regarding this production:

  • 1 Custom score created for this film
  • 2 Automobiles worth over $100,000
  • 3 Panasonic HVX-200 high definition video cameras
  • 5 Professional stunt drivers
  • 6 Shooting days on location
  • 7 Actors (3 pros—can you tell which are the amateurs?)
  • 25+ volunteers, all of whom attend our church
  • And numerous in-house CGI special effects

Check out my latest effort as Director of Photography below….


Pursuit Intro HD from Port City Community Church on Vimeo.


Pursuit 5

Pursuit 2

Pursuit 4

Pursuit 3


photos taken by Scott Piner | http://www.scottpiner.com/

“CONNECTED” | Series for Port City Church

April 1, 2008 / Editorial, Film

“Connected” was a message series at church featuring my daughter, Lucy. My responsibilities included shooting the printed program, lighting the video, wardrobe selection and of course wrangling my four-year-old. This is another great example of PC3’s dedication to excellence in branding their individual sermon series.

[flv width=”426″ height=”240″]http://www.pc3production.org/videos/random/connected_bump.flv[/flv]

“ANY GIVEN MORNING” | Surf Film Receives Honors In Puerto Rico

March 25, 2008 / Editorial, Film


We just found out that our local surf documentary has been selected to run at this year’s international film festival in Rincon, Puerto Rico!

For those of you who missed it, last year I had my first stab at Director of Photography. A friend of Katy’s (Laurel Hughes) asked me if I would help her tell her story about an eclectic group of surfers that frequent a certain break at Wrightsville Beach.

Our film entitled “Any Given Morning” was shot entirely on a shoestring
budget and all of the interviews are real surfers (no actors) and use their own words to describe their passion for the sport.


“Any Given Morning” debuted at Wilmington’s Cucalorus Film Festival 2007.

Cucalorus

Any Given Morning poster


shooting from the water 1