See what a studio in downtown Lexington has to offer
While the current iteration of the Media Collaboratory is relatively young, the same business has existed on 215 East High Street for many years now. And if you were to take an MTV Cribs-style tour of our facility, you would find that where the proverbial magic happens would be on our bottom floor. Part of that magic? Our studio.
This studio has been used quite a bit over the years (it features a 180° green cyc wall- the only one in the area- and ample space for other accommodations), but at a certain point, I began to notice that the frequency of usage started dropping considerably. I inquired around and began picking up from our peers and others in our community that most did not know we even had this incredible resource. In the summer of 2017, our team embarked on the challenge of revitalizing the studio to create awareness that a) we had one, and b) it could service the needs of peers and customers alike in a multitude of ways.
A space had accumulated over the years a lot theatrical and commercials set pieces and interesting but outdated backdrops that sat in the corner of the studio, taking up a lot of valuable real estate. We first cleared this out, either appropriately storing these items out of the way or donating them to BCTCS. This freed up the area opposite of our green infinity wall to be used for newer backdrops and gave us more room for production. This also brought back attention to a background that had been hanging in this area for years that can now be used again(a textured gray backdrop perfect for lighting with colored gels).
We then painted the walls in this area black to tone down reflectivity and also serve as a potential black backdrop, leaving only one segment of the walls in the studio the original Storm Gray pantone color that it had been for many years. We upped the amount of grip gear (various clamps, mounts, bars, etc.) for mounting lights around the studio and on two support bars hanging from the ceiling to free up all of our light stands, C-stands, and combo stands. This new grippage also includes a Manfrotto camera mount and clamp for mounting a smaller mirrorless/DSLR style camera (our GH5 for example) on a bar and get bird’s eye views for specific shoots instead of complicated rigs involving suspension or jib arms.
We also mounted along the very back wall in this newly opened area a backdrop mount system currently featuring three Savage (hi-key white, matte black, and fashion gray) seamless backdrops that can rolled down via a shaft system. This system also supports light mounts and other backdrops including vinyl.
What I am most excited for is a custom built and fully portable Motorized Lazy Susan/360° table just recently introduced into our studio. This unit supports up to 50lbs and give you products great looks in either video or photography. Our producer Matt recently made a video highlighting our FS5 with this new table.
Our goal was to revitalize a space that could potentially service a treasure trove of untold stories, either by our own direct customers or our peers in the video, content creation, and photography fields, and I think we have done just that. We will certainly look to add to it in the future with the including of more lights and stands with boom extensions. Contact us today if you need our studio to help tell your story or even just to take a look around our little hopefully now not-so hidden gem!
Specs:
- 6x15amp circuits
- 21’x21’x’8’ Sweep cyc wall green screen
- 12’x20’x8’ Textured backdrop
- 12’x16’ Blackout corner featured backdrop mounted system. This includes:
Three Savage seamless backdrops (Hi-Key White, Matte Black, and Fashion Gray)- all at 107” x 36’
- Craft Services Area with refrigerator, sink, and prep
- Waiting Area in the hall
- Wardrobe and Makeup (no makeup is or wardrobe materials are provided)
Load in with flashers and parking cone from Vine Street (parking in our High Street parking lot)
5x parking spaces available* inquiry for grip truck parking
Grip/Lighting/Monitoring:
- 7x C-stands
- 1x Combo stand
- 8x light stands
- 1x 2K Mole Richardson Baby Zip Softlite with egg crate on rolling stand- Tungsten
- 2x Mole Richardson Mini-Mole fresnels- Tungsten
- 1x Arri Lighting kit with 1K Soft Light and Chimera soft box, multiple 650’s- Tungsten
- Minimal light control (flags, scrims, inkies, bounce, diffusion, gels)
- Sony HD Monitor, one rolling stand Sony 4K monitor
- 2x overhead cyc lights
- Grip bag and mounting
- 2x bars for light mounting
Our portable, battery powered field lights (daylight or bi-color) are also available along with CTO/CTS gels.
Please inquire about studio space use, rental, and grip package rates. The Studio can be available 24/7 but requires a studio attendant after hours (additional rate for weekends and anything not during business hours).
