Behind the Scenes: The Atom EX Series Shoot

Whenever we work on launching a new product, we aim to do something different. In our new Behind the Scenes series, we take a look at how we shot the launch videos for the Atom EX series drives. We decided to really lean into what makes Glyph special: Products for Creators, by Creators.

For Creators

First we needed a space; Rambow Studio. Located in Manhattan, they offer a modern and inviting studio environment with a fantastic crew that can be booked for a range of needs. But, what appealed to us most was that they have a Bolt robotic arm.

The EX40 getting ready for it's close up with the Bolt arm at Rambow Studio

More and more, robotic arms and advanced motion controlled camera rigs are being used in productions allowing people to get shots that were either very difficult to repeat consistently or otherwise impossible to achieve. As fans of tech and equipment that's on the cutting edge, we were very excited to see how we could use the Bolt arm in our production and test to see how we could use our own products with it.

For cameras we used some of the latest equipment from RED and along with some recent models from Sony. The EX drives you see used in the shoot were actually used to collect and store all the footage from those cameras; including the one we show breaking through the pane of glass. 

The EX40 is taken for a spin while the RED captures every little detail

By Creators

Our vision with the shoot was to show how the EX series can be used by photographers, videographers and those who work in content production in general. To achieve this, we brought on two pros who you might recognize from our Creator Spotlight series: Andrew Coury and Gabe Harden.

Andrew and Gabe discuss a shot

Andrew and the team at Direct Narrative worked on coming up with a concept that would allow us to showcase the drives in a real functional studio environment. This meant not just figuring out what was happening in front of the camera but coordinating various aspects behind the scenes ranging from booking the space to sourcing the perfect panes of glass for us to smash a drive through.

A RONIN gimbal being expertly guided by Gabe 

During the shoot itself, Gabe worked to capture our vision with handheld rigs and the Bolt arm. A lot of careful planning was involved with each shot and not everything could be done repeatedly (you can only break but so much glass in a day) so we leaned heavily on Gabe's expertise to get things done efficiently. "The choreography of some of the wider studio shots ended up being the most technically complicated."

A Rambow Studio crew member used their own wallet as a stand in while we tweaked lighting on a shot

We hopped you enjoyed us pulling back the curtain a little bit on the Atom EX shoot. You can learn more about drives here and see the final result in the video below.