Well folks, we’ve had another big Daktronics installation in the international market.  This time, it was the Grand Rex theatre in Paris, France. (www.legrandrex.com)   The new installation brought many questions about how to design content for LED displays, which is where I stepped in.  I met with the President and Marketing folks at Grand Rex to discuss content creation and also offer Keyframe content creation services.  Currently our content is running on the displays announcing movie release dates and upcoming events, as well as offering ambiance and relaxation to the city. 

Aside from working at the theatre, I had a FANTASTIC time (insert sarcasm here) learning the train and metro system in Paris, and also learning that coffee in Paris is quite possibly the strongest on earth and can provide energy for hours.

I also had the opportunity to take the Tour of the Grand Rex, also known as Les Étoiles du Rex.  It’s an hour long tour that visits the history of the theatre, lead by their spokesperson, an animated character named Manissa.  There were great special effects, such as King Kong shaking the building from the roof of the Grand Rex, green screening that puts you in a movie that you watch on the tour, as well as a sound stage that puts your voice along with some of the most famous actors and actresses of the silver screen. 

I’m excited to continue working with the Grand Rex project and I’m so happy that I was fortunate enough to have the chance to visit this beautiful, historical establishment in Paris.

(Post by Stef Manning)

This past weekend, a couple of Daktronics employees visited TCF Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Gophers, to check on the control system and LED displays. Well, those guys were nice enough to take a few pictures of Keyframe’s content during the game. Enjoy.

Today Keyframe busted out a portable green screen to record some footage to be used in some of our upcoming animations. The pictures above show some of our resident workers getting in front of a camera and doing scripted actions. Now that these have been recorded, the next step is cutting and editing before replicating the cutouts numerous times to form a digital crowd. Like I said, recording is the first step and, well, we felt like sharing.  Enjoy the pics and visit our website or Vimeo for some highlights of our final projects.

I’m a writer for Keyframe. I sit in the basement and don’t always get the opportunity to make my way up the steps to the outside world during the work day. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to help out our game-day staff at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the Vikings practice and scrimmage.

After showing up at their brand spankin’ new facility, I immediately wished my alma mater would own such an amazing field on which to play football. Pushing past my awe for the field, I headed up to the control room to see what the morning would bring. After a briefing of the control room itself and the equipment it harbors, I was the lucky one assigned to man the replay station. I felt like I drew the long straw.

I acclimated myself to creating marks – or playback time codes – in the live recording of video to return to for the replays. I learned how to switch between the camera’s that I could record from and quickly learned how to keep an eye on the developing play as seen from two different cameras – not an easy task. Seeing both camera angles, I knew which view of the replay would be better to put up on the display so that when the director called on me, I was ready. After a few plays and some practice, I got more and more comfortable with my responsibilities. Hearing the director say, “Stand by One. Camera One live. Stand by Three. Camera Three live,” soon became very familiar and almost second nature. Especially hearing, “Stand by Replay. Roll Replay.” Those were my cues. I took them in stride, loving every minute of it.

Before I knew it, I’d shown a replay of an interception, a field goal and a punt that bounced off the return man’s facemask. Then, practice was over. Time flew by and it hardly felt like work. I never really knew how fun it could be to see a football game from a control room perspective, and I agree with a fellow employee’s comment: “It was like seeing a football game for the first time.”

Take it from this humble control room servant when I say that event support is an amazing thing. If you ever get the chance to help out during a game-day production on any level, don’t pass it up. I was only recording replays during a college practice, but the experience felt like so much more.

(Post by Justin Ochsner)

How many people can say they got to play hooky from work for a day to go to a College World Series game?! I never thought I would be so lucky, but on Monday, June 22, as a Keyframe Intern accompanied by my supervisor and another co-worker, off I went.  

So it wasn’t exactly playing hooky, but it felt like it when we arrived in Omaha – the atmosphere was wild. The temperature was in the upper 90’s with a heat index nearing 110. We had to drive around the stadium a few times until we got our parking situation figured out, but that gave us a great opportunity to check out the tail-gaiting parties. These were the die-hards determined not to let the intense sun spoil their good time. One group even had a small swimming pool under their tent to beat the heat where they dipped their feet and sipped their beverages. Others were not so lucky, and had to fight their way into the general admission area where they waited for hours in long lines. Their dedication amazed me. There was no shade in sight for these committed fans as we listened to repeated announcements that if we “started to feel dizzy, please head towards one of our emergency tents.” We headed up to the control room (equipped with A/C) to visit our Daktronics/Keyframe colleagues who run the scoreboard for the games, dropped off our bags and went back out into the heat to tour the stadium before the game started. On our way back up through the press elevator, I bumped shoulders with Erin Andrews, one of ESPN’s sportscasters who is no stranger to the College World Series. I couldn’t resist doing a little bragging as I sent out a mass text message to some of my sports-minded friends back home.

Out of the heat and back in the sanctity of the control room, I got a run-down of the equipment and did my best to stay out of the way as the operators went to work after the first pitch. This wasn’t always easy since I’m sometimes known to get a little camera happy! Lambert, the organ player, got us in the mood with “Take me out to the Ball Game,” and really got the crowd going with “God Bless America,” during which four jets flew directly above the stadium. He was entertaining to watch with his 70 year old sheet music that he doesn’t really use…he plays from memory. Lambert has been around since the very beginning and has seen multiple renovations to the facility. He is as much a part of the College World Series as the stadium itself.

Unfortunately, we had to cut the game short, say goodbye to the operators in the booth and start the long drive home. We kept track of the score on the way and realized we missed some pretty exciting moments. In the end, LSU took the prize. It was a good fight, a great game and an incredible day.

(Post By Jessie Wienhold, Keyframe Intern)