Making Movie Magic

Imagine showing up to a run down red brick and concrete warehouse in East Los Angeles. The steel door opens to a dimly lit hallway with sputtering lights. The door bangs behind you as you walk down the creepy cinderblock lined bunker, footsteps echoing off the concrete walls.

"Am I in the right place?" you think until you see the black outlined arrow pointing to another steel door with Suite 600 written on a white piece of paper in blue sharpie. Opening the door with caution you're met with the grinding tunes of Chenza playing on an AERO 17 HDR notebook, bright lights blind you and a green screen stage fills a corner of the room. You can find Chenza's amazing music here.

It's just another Saturday of making movie magic. We caught up with AERO Ambassador Mark AJ Nazal (IMDB) and crew on set. The mission, create character concepts for a couple of web series concepts. There were female heroes and villains, sci-fi divas and yes, an android carrying a laptop... the worlds are yet to be born. That's Mark's job, he crafts the imagery and visual effects after the shoot, normally he'd be chained to his desk using a workstation, but thanks to the ultra-light high performance AERO 17 HDR Mark can load and edit 4K raw files with speed and ease and get to editing right on the spot (if he wants to).

Mark Nazal directing Erica Juliet as the ShadowBane (Mina) - AERO 17 HDR waits in the wings

Part of the shoot was making a concept to continue the Tales from Midnight series with Mina (the Shadowbane) being met by two new super powered sheroes played by newcomer Khadijah Maulana and From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series (Netflix) and Game of Your Life (NBC) star Dana De La Garza! It will be an other worldly background with people stepping out of ancient trees and angels going where mortals fear to tread. Hard to tell from the green backdrop, but Mark's imagination paired with the AERO 17 HDR will make these things a reality. Mark's no stranger to making the impossible real, he's a visual effects artist first and foremost and the Environments Supervisor and a VFX Department Head at CoSA VFX which has studios in North Hollywood, Vancouver, and Atlanta. Mark works on projects Lucifer, Gotham, and Westworld where they add computer-generated wings, simulate CG power effects, and create awe-inspiring digital environments! When your passion is making movie magic, why not do your own projects? And that's exactly what Mark and the crew do in their spare time. Making up stories, worlds and characters and having a great time.

We'll be posting more from the concept shoot with before and after shots, plus a fun interview with Mark and his co-producers Joe Arciaga and Erica Juliet (also lead actor in Enter the Shadowbane). For now enjoy this video montage of Saturday's character concept shoot.

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