Synn Studios Inc. Blog

It was a busy weekend for the Synn at the National Fan Expo. First there was the prep work in building and constructing a functional Fangtasia for the Warner Bros booth. Then at the Expo, those that weren’t busy hustling for MIND’S EYE or the Synn-produced nerdcore album by Embassy called MIGHT BITE CHICKEN, were working as either a cameraman for Anchor Bay, Roman clad models or journalists.

Still, there was a lot of fun to be had on the convention floor. Check out a few of the shots from Fan Expo below, and for more about the MIND’S EYE experience at Fan Expo check out the series’ website for pictures and videos.

Not only was the Synn’s recreation of Fangtasia a hit at the National Fan Expo, but it got us some good press here locally too. Below is a picture from today’s edition of the Guelph Tribune and check out these links from CTV Kitchener and 570 News.

As part of their display at the National Fan Expo weekend, Warner Bros will be featuring mock-ups of sets from the popular HBO series TRUE BLOOD, and they came to Synn Studios to make them a reality.

Synn Studios art director Vince Moskowec and set designer Henry DeVries have been working on little pieces of the fictional world of TRUE BLOOD for Warner’s display at Fan Expo. The pieces include a replica of the bar at the vampire-run Fangtasia, and a duplicate of the more human-friendly tavern at Merlotte’s.

The National Fan Expo is the largest gathering of its kind in Canada, and one of the fastest growing fan conventions in the world. Taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, The Expo includes guests, screenings and displays from the worlds of comic books, horror, sci-fi, anime and gaming. Synn Studios will also have a display there in order to promote the recently wrapped fantasy webseries MIND’S EYE launching this November, and the Studio-produced nerdcore album MIGHT BITE CHICKEN by Kitchener artist Embassy.

Synn Studios’ award-nominated* Synnema (as per the Guelph Mercury) will be joining the ranks of the River Run Centre, the Macdonald-Stewart Art Centre, Ed Video Media Arts Centre and numerous other venues to be part of the Guelph Jazz Festival’s first ever Nuit Blanche program.

The Jazz Festival is unfolding this year from September 8th till 12th, with Nuit Blanche taking place from dusk till dawn on Saturday September 11th. Below you’ll find the schedule of performances in The Synnema:

Trio (Lori Freedman, John Heward, Nicolas Caloia) – The Trio brings these three phenomenal artists hailing from the Ratchet Orchestra together in a smaller collection to play off one another’s improvised lines, creating a cohesive, organic and emotionally charged performance.

Type: Musical Performance
Price: Free
Time: 9:30 – 10:30 PM

Land of Marigold – Josh Zubot (violins) and Ellwood Epps (trumpet) play an intimate and psychic music. Some things get bent while others are clarified, and it’s ok to laugh or cry out. Jason Sharp (baritone saxophone) joins LOM for this dream in Guelph.

Type: Musical Performance
Price: Free
Time: 11 PM

Nicolas Caloia Quartet (Jean Derome, Nicolas Caloia, Guillaume Dostaler, Isaiah Ceccarelli) – When speaking of the quartet, Caloia explains how “playing bass in Montreal has given me the chance to play Tango, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Gypsy Music, African Music, Rai, Shabi, Gnawa, Orchestral music, Contemporary music and Free Jazz. I do not mimic these styles when I compose for my Quartet but I do let these colours filter through me. I try to organize this composed material in a way that they will inspire but not inhibit our improvisations. I hope the result is a music that engages the mind and makes the body dance.”

Type: Musical Performance
Price: Free
Time: 12:30 – 1:30am

Huelepega Sound System (ON) – Huelepega Sound System plays doombia, an electronic extension of cumbia, the legendary and infective Columbia-via-Mexico dance music.

Type: Concert
Price: Free
Time: 2 AM

The Townies (GIMS Steve Sladkowski Band) – The Townies represents a first-time meeting of four community-minded improvising musicians with strong ties to the Guelph area. They are Matt Brubeck (cello), Steve Sladkowski (guitar), Tyler Wagler (bass), and Ted Warren (drums and percussion).

Type: Improvised jam session
Price: Free
Time: 3:30 – 6 AM

It was with some sadness and great, exhaled bouts of joy that MIND’S EYE wrapped principal photography on Friday. The final scenes were shot at Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Guelph as the heroic Dreamweavers fought the evil Dolgrath one last time.

But while this is an ending – with cast and crew parting company and going their seperate ways – in many respects this is just the beginning of work on the series. Now there are many weeks of post-production to be getting on with, as well as the continual promoting of all things MIND’S EYE.

Stay tuned to this website over the next couple of months as we count down to the launch of MIND’S EYE THE SERIES and follow along with all the adventures in post-production from the editing suite to the foley sessions to visual effects rendering. As well, the cast and crew of MIND’S EYE will be at the National Fan Expo in Toronto on August 27-29, so come out and see us there.

In other words, there’s lots more MIND’S EYE news to come, so stay tuned.

Check out some more behind the scenes pics from MIND’S EYES THE SERIES. To stay up to date with all that’s going on with the series, go to the website by clicking here.

This is how we typically think of the Synnema. A cool, laidback kind of place to check out some poetry, a music show, meet with friends and/or catch a movie screening. These days though, the Synnema looks vastly different.

Yep. The Synnema’s been transformed for MIND’S EYE, Synn Studios’ currently in production webseries. The Synnema serves as three different locals, one of which is the layer of the evil Dolgrath. Synn set designers Vince Moscowec and Henry DeVries have been working pretty non-stop the last week on bringing all the sets to life.

Looks impressive, doesn’t it? To learn more about MIND’S EYE and stay up to date about the production, go to the series’ website here.

Nerdcore artist extraordinaire Embassy brought his debut album MIGHT BITE CHICKEN to Polaris 24 last week and got himself a lot of positive attention. Here is the  Polaris special produced by the crew from THE ALMOST FRIDAY SHOW, which is a weekly Canadian videocast about all things geeky and nerdish. The interview starts at 11:30, right after the interview with TORCHWOOD’S Kai Owen and a Lego construction break. Also, Embassy’s music is featured in the opening of the ‘cast and if you watch carefully during the intro, you will see a fleeting image of the Synn’s own Mr Soch.

Polaris 24 Special from Almost Friday Show on Vimeo.

Remember, MIGHT BITE CHICKEN is available on iTunes, emusic, and Amazon. As well, look for Embassy at the Synn Studios booth at the National Fan Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on August 27-29.

As if shooting a 24-episode web series isn’t time consuming enough, members of Synn Studios are taking time out of their schedules this month to help teens taking part in a filmmaking camp being put on by the Multicultural Cinema Club in Kitchener. The camp will not only allow the eight students signed up for it to learn the ins and outs of filmmaking, but it will give them a chance to make their own film from conception (or is that ‘Inception‘) through production to completion.

Week One featured a class on film appreciation and another on screenwriting lead by Synn Studios publicist (and accomplished arts journalist) Adam A. Donaldson. On Wednesday, the campers came out for a set visit to MIND’S EYE, as the crew set up and executed the story’s climactic fight in the woods of Preservation Park in Guelph. Thursday, campers got a chance to visit the workshop of art director Vince Mosckowec and learn all the cool ways they can build really great props like styrofoam bricks and cherry syrup blood. The week wrapped with cinematographer Nick Montgomery showing the teens all the ins and outs of camera operating.

The campers hang out and watch the action on the set of MIND'S EYE

The campers work with Vince Mosckowec and learn how to create interesting props and sets

Coming up this week, the campers will shoot, edit and screen their own short film. To learn more about the Multicultural Cinema Club and all their programs, look up their website here.

Synn Studios had a huge presence at this past weekend’s Polaris 24 in Toronto thanks to our one-two punch of MIND’S EYE and nerdcore by Embassy. As co-sponsors of Polaris, the studio hosted three panels at the convention, with the final one on Sunday being a laid back Q&A about indie filmmaking. Some 20 people dropped in to get tips from MIND’S EYE co-creators and co-directors Thomas Gofton and Tom Brown, and the questions ranged from where can you go to rent equipment for cheap and how and where to find funding.

Overall, the Synn gang found our weekend at Polaris to be a rousing success. We’re thankful to have the opportunity to sponsor such a great event, and we look forward to (hopefully) coming out next year.