Home

Check out the Gazing Cat Productions demo reel!

Click here to go straight to our work portfolio.

Gazing Cat Productions provides video planning, videography, and post-production services all over central North Carolina. If you have an event and need a videographer and photographer to cover it, Gazing Cat is your new best friend. Based in Siler City, we travel to several nearby areas, from nearby towns like Pittsboro, Asheboro, and Sanford, all the way out to Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and Greensboro. Here’s a short list of some of the things we can do:

  • Professional videography/cinematography
  • Video editing, encoding/transcoding, and DVD authoring services
  • Color correction, footage matching, and color grading
  • Motion graphics and basic animation (such as After Effects)
  • Live streaming your event through services such as YouTube
  • Basic photography services
  • Image editing, retouching, and compositing
  • Script writing, shoot planning, and other post-production assistance
  • VHS to digital video or DVD conversion
Live coverage of local sports events
Live coverage of local sports events

There’s no shortage of people and companies out there that would love to take your money and point a lens at you for a few hours. In the huge sea of possibilities, why would you choose us? We can think of a few critical reasons.

  1. We’re video editors, not just videographers. Many videographers only shoot footage and provide it to the customer without editing. GCP offers complete media solutions from start to finish, from planning to final delivery of video work that you can display with pride.
  2. We’re excellent, well-practiced editors. Many videographers don’t have a lot of practice creating a final product. We’ve seen edits from professional studios with $15,000 cameras and a fully trained staff where the final product failed to impress. We are all about being a one-stop pro shop for video work, including masterful editing into a final product that will get you excited.
  3. You need color correction and grading. The videographer has practice editing? Great! How about color correction? No? Ouch. The most overlooked skill in the video editing field is that of color correction, matching, and grading, and yet it’s one of the most important. When the colors are wrong, everything will seem wrong.
  4. Audio is 70% of video. We put a lot of work into capturing good audio. An audience will put up with a mediocre video that has excellent audio, but a masterfully shot video with mediocre audio will immediately turn them off. Audio is extremely important and we know it. We can’t speak for the competition.
  5. We’re an established company with verifiable work. Much like computer repair, the mass availability of relatively cheap camera gear has given anyone the ability to become an amateur filmmaker; in fact, picking up a camera and learning filmmaking is how the owner of Gazing Cat Productions got started. When you hire someone to do paid videography work, you need to know in advance that you’ll get professional results. Our professional portfolio speaks for itself.
  6. We’re passionate about the details. As a layperson, you don’t care about jargon like “highlight roll-off” and “bit depth” and “macroblock compression artifacting,” but we care quite a lot. We wrote a 3,000+ word article debunking some common “how to shoot better video” bad advice that “internet experts” can’t stop talking about. The beauty is that you don’t need to read it! When you hire Gazing Cat Productions, all of those pesky little details are taken care of without you having to read a single technical article.
A videography shot from a local Scrabble event for charity
A shot from a local Scrabble event for charity

About

How much will Gazing Cat cost me?

Because every video job is different and may require very different levels of production, we prefer to provide a custom quote for each job based on your specific needs and budget. A custom quote allows us to agree on a clear set of expectations and accomplish your goals without exceeding your budget. For example, a 60-second commercial for your business website represents a much shorter and simpler process than a narrative music video with lots of shots, transitions, color grading, and special effects.

Triangle Jazz Orchestra performing at Pittsboro Roadhouse
Triangle Jazz Orchestra performing at Pittsboro Roadhouse

Who have you worked for? Can I see some examples?

Music Videos: Our work was crucial for the completion of Nu-Blu’s official music videos for their album Vagabonds and DVD The Stories We Can Tell. We shot and edited the video for Still Small Voice, and handled re-editing for all of the other videos which required heavy color correction work. We also created the lyric video for their Christmas single Shine.

Video for Non-Profits: We are often hired to shoot events for the Chatham County Literacy Council. Examples include the Literacy Luncheon commercial and the “Becoming a U.S. Citizen” presentation which we produced for both YouTube and DVDs for burning and handing out.

Events, Live Streams, and Commercials: For TaJ Talk, we shot and edited a two-hour Alpha-Gal Symposium including motion graphics and handled video and studio operation for the My Body, My Test live stream. We also contracted with TaJ Media LLC to produce a web commercial for Central Piedmont Urgent Care’s grand opening. Once, we even jumped in at the last minute to shoot a wedding that the videographer bailed on.

Miscellaneous Examples include several performances we’ve recorded at the Pittsboro Roadhouse including the Triangle Jazz Orchestra. We have produced several tutorial and informational videos for internal use at businesses, though we can’t share those works on the internet.

Salvaging poorly shot footage with advanced color correction
Salvaging poorly shot “flat” footage with advanced color correction

Where did the name “Gazing Cat” come from?

The owner of Gazing Cat Productions enjoys collecting and playing with older cameras and camcorders. The closest test subject available always seems to be the owner’s cats, frequently found sitting on furniture and gazing out the windows. When the time came to come up with a clever business name, it seemed like a good idea to pay homage to the good-spirited furry friends who put up with lenses being pointed at them all the time.

Blog

DVD Slideshows in the 2020s: Large Photos Make DVD Software and Players Choke!

DVD Format History The DVD (digital video disc) format has been around since the 1990s, and while Blu-ray ultimately took over when high-definition video became widely supported, the venerable video DVD is still the go-to format of choice for a lot of purposes. Every Blu-ray player and disc-based game console can play a DVD, not …

Frame rates: should you stick to 24fps for “the film look?” Will higher rates improve video quality?

I was asked a technical question that deserves a long-winded answer, so here it is. Should you stick to 24fps for “the film look?” Will higher rates improve video quality? Frame rate is a little complex. Let’s ignore PAL’s 25fps/50fps to keep it simple. Most people are used to 24fps because it’s what film and …

Contact

Gazing Cat wants to hear from you! We’re happy to discuss your video production and photography needs whenever you’re ready. There are several ways to reach us.

You can reach us by email at meow@gazingcat.com. Our phone number is (919) 200-6003. We are technically a branch of Tritech Computer Solutions and Services, so our office information and hours will mirror theirs.

On-site consultations at your home, business, or event location are available for a small consultation fee.

You may also use this form to contact us.