In a world where storytelling reigns, Crooked Letter Films' visual narratives have made lasting impressions for brands like Columbia Records, Refinery 29 and H&M.
Based in New York, the one-stop shop conceptualizes, executes and delivers compelling digital stories for a range of clients, guiding each project from beginning to end. When Brooklyn Bicycle Co. recently approached Crooked Letter Films with the opportunity to create a promo for its website, company founder Gabriel Gomez set the bar high, electing to shoot the film in ProRes with an AJA CION production camera.
Were in a day and age where anyone with a DSLR can call themselves a filmmaker, so weve recently started upping the ante for projects by working in higher resolutions and less-compressed formats, like ProRes, explained Gomez. For this project in particular, we wanted to create a branded piece that felt more like a short film, and CION definitely helped us give the piece that high-end cinematic feel we were going for.
Paying homage to Brooklyn and highlighting Brooklyn Bicycle Co.s commitment to the community, the 90-secon spot follows three local bikers along their daily routes through the city, showcasing iconic landmarks and close-ups of their bikes. Prior to starting production, Gomez and Cinematographer Benjamin Garst compiled an extensive shot list to capture all three subjects in one day. While a majority of the shots required a tripod, several of the action shots called for handheld.
We shot all over with CION, often out of the back of a van, so having CIONs top handle for run and gun helped things move along quicker; it was wonderful, Gomez shared. I loved how light, small and accessible CION was; we could capture what we needed without being overwhelmed by excess cords, monitors and buttons.
Garst added, The simplicity of CIONs settings is great, and the menus are divided up intelligently. Id never used CION before, but the learning curve was quick, and its menu was easy to navigate, even in a variety of shooting environments.
With CIONs PL mount, Gomez and Garst branched out into new glass territories, opting to use a combination of Cooke 18-100 T3.1 and Cooke 25-250 T3.7 Cine PL lenses. Having set CION at ISO 320 with extended gamma and flat settings, they captured 700GB of ProRes 444 and ProRes 422 footage, which armed them with a plethora of creative options in post. The combination of the Extended 1 Gamma mode with flat color correction in ProRes 444 was great for getting a lot of dynamic range; that allowed us to get a lot out of the color in post, said Garst.
Using CIONs AJA Pak media, Crooked Letter Films team transferred ProRes footage into Adobe Premiere Pro CC for post, where they stylized the look of each shot. Pak media is great in that you load it up, and there is one clean folder with QuickTime files that you can just drop on your hard drive; it saves a lot of time, expressed Gomez. We also had many layers of color information from CION to work with, so we were able to easily adjust the highlights and manipulate the footage without screwing up any of the original color information during grading.
The available color information proved particularly important for the closing shot of the Brooklyn Bridge. Gomez concluded, That last shot is big, wide and closes the piece, so it was crucial we get it right. Given the pretty bleak, overcast shooting conditions that day, we thought it might prove a challenge, but CION provided such an amazing amount of infinite color detail that we were able to turn a gray and blown out shot in reality into a picturesque sunrise shot with purple and orange washes, and even bring back the clouds.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
In a world where storytelling reigns, Crooked Letter Films' visual narratives have made lasting impressions for brands like Columbia Records, Refinery 29 and H&M. 
