HNM was at it again, shooting yet another music video and this time, it was at a location known as 34 ½. Why 34 ½, you ask? Have you ever heard of these kinds of addresses before? I have, but only in recent times on television when you see them featuring shows in really obscure places, like little neighbourhoods tucked away in the back alleys of New York City.  So when Andy e-mailed me with the location details of the next video shoot, I’ll admit that this address itself held a certain amount of intrigue and wonder for me. Although I am intimately acquainted with Ottawa and the surrounding area, I’ll admit that this area was one of those streets where I have had, previously, little reason to be. So, armed with my Mapquest directions and my camera, I ventured out, in minus 30 weather I may add, to find this place on a Sunday morning. And to tell you the truth, it was one of those mornings where I really wished that I had nothing to do but stay in my warm and comfy bed, cuddled up with my husband and the pups – my idea of the best way to victoriously run the meter out on this dreadfully cold day – on my terms. But duty was calling me and I was excited about this next HNM project. And, I had to remind myself of another reason to be grateful – it was going to be a great day because the sun was actually making an appearance, which was something that we had not previously enjoyed for what seemed like weeks on end on this particular round of Winter. So off I went on my little Sunday adventure….

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Greetings folks!   Happy New Year to all!

We hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday season, celebrating with family and friends. With the past year now in the memory books and another exciting year upon us, the Hotcakes New Media team met 2011 with yet another new and unique challenge. It was decided that, upon hearing about the 72 Hour Film Challenge sponsored by the Ottawa International Film Festival (OIFF), HNM was ready to have a little fun outside of our current work projects. So shortly after we were armed with a set of criteria supplied to us by the OIFF organizers regarding the challenge on a Thursday night at the Lieutenant’s Pump on Elgin Street, we headed off to our downtown location to do a little brainstorming.

So what is the 72 Hour Film Challenge, you ask? It’s quite simple really. We had exactly 72 hours from the receipt of the challenge criteria to conceive and deliver a film short into the hands of the OIFF team. This means that we had to line up a story, actors, locations, shoot the film, do post production and deliver the final cut to the festival organizers using specific elements and requirements. Having done a Google search about past challenges, we were aware that the OIFF organizers make this challenge particularly interesting by including very unusual elements to ensure original content and to really make participants exercise their creative muscle. But the timeline for completing this sort of project was certainly going to separate those who crack under pressure from those who perform optimally under tight deadlines.

So what were they looking for exactly?

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