There is no denying that MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is blowing up. With the UFC (and other promotions) promoting shows all over the earth to crowds of thousands, it’s only a matter of time before MMA gets the following of any other major sport. We recently shot a promo for our new show “Cubicle to the Cage”, which will take a group of office workers and turn them into cage fighters over the course of a year. This promo has caught some serious interest and we wanted to keep the buzz going by holding tryouts for the show at Palooka’s Boxing Club in Halifax.
Palookas
We thought we might get 60 people over the course of the day… We had over 140 people show up! We had all walks of life in groups of ten at a time go through the gruelling 15 minute work out. This started out with 5 minutes of the most insane cardio workout I had ever seen, followed by 5 minutes of sparring and hitting the bag and 5 minutes of grappling on the mat. This workout really put people through the ringer, some people quit after 2 minutes and walked out of the gym, others pushed themselves so hard they had to vomit, and some people loved every second of it as they looked like they were truly alive for the first time in a long time.
Considering everyone came from a wide variety of physical backgrounds, this tryout wasn’t to see who could actual make it through the workout but who had the heart to push themselves to that next level to keep going. The energy in the gym the whole day was amazing, often the chant of someone’s name would break out in the gym as that person pushed themselves past fatigue and go on pure adrenaline. Even though not everyone would be considered for the show, I know a lot of people left the gym that day feeling refreshed and had a new fire inside to push themselves.
We are currently working on cutting a short promo of the tryouts so keep an eye out for that!
Often the best images are captured when the subject doesn’t know you’re taking their photo. On a recent trip to Japan, I was able to use the “shooting from the hip” technique to get some great shots. This basically means putting the camera strap around your neck and letting your camera hang down around your waist, as if you were just carrying the camera around and not using it. Quite the opposite!
Select a wider lens (35mm or 20mm works great) and set it to manual focus for about 3 feet in front of you. Manually setting your focus will prevent your camera from becoming confused and constantly trying to refocus as you walk around. Next, find a sidewalk, street, street crossing, open air market, wherever there is a lot of people and just start to walk around. As you walk around keep one hand on your camera and just look for interesting subjects. When you get close, casually pass by and snap a few shot from the hip. Do this for 10 minutes then find a place to review. I’m sure there will be lots of shots that didn’t capture anything but there will always be one or two that will turn out interesting!
I did this technique walking back and forth on the famous Shibuya crossing in Tokyo, Japan and got a few great shots, here is one! Next time your out shooting trying this technique for a little bit! We’d love to see your results!
As some of you might know, we have been working on a documentary about Venezeula’s amazing el Sistema after school music program and starting a similar curriculum here in New Brunswick. Recently famed Venezuelan conductor, Antonio Delgado, (also a product of the Venezuelan el Sistema) was invited to New Brunswick to be a special guest conductor for the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra. Not only did Tony spend time with the orchestra, but he also spent an entire month teaching and inspiring at New Brunswick Sistema centre in Moncton.
Antonio Delgado rehearsing with the NBYO
As we continue to film this story as it unravels, it has been nothing short of amazing to see truly inspired people go after there dreams. This is both the case of what we saw in Venezuela and what has gone on right here in New Brunswick. Ken MacLeod and the NBYO team have done an amazing job getting Sistema New Brunswick off it’s feet in such a short time. We have had the honor of documenting this story from inception, birth and now as it grows into something real.
Music is one of the many ways we can engage our youth to become more passionate, educated and mindfully aware of the world around them and everyone at HHP is happy that we could have a hand shedding more light onto a already bright story.
Speaking of the NBYO, they are constantly raising the bar in terms of the concerts they put on. This weekend is no different as they will be playing a concert with Canadian musician Jill Barber. Check out the NBYO website for more details, HHP will be on hand filming the show. Hope to see you there!
