Dedicated to video, an Algonquin student starts his own company

With a bounce in his step even stuck late at night on routine projects, interactive multimedia student Kaan Bayulken takes his work beyond the photo studio, propelling himself into the growing popularity of DSLR videography.

Passionate for everything seen through the lens of a DSLR camera, his self-directed learning has propelled him into a field that requires nothing short of 24-hour dedication for the creative mind.

A year ago, Bayulken was just another student in the interactive multimedia developer program. He was asked to create an HTML website from scratch and use it to host featured content of a client company. Today, after a long wait, he is the registered founder of KB Production Canada, a film company he second semester to showcase his post-production work.

He already had a Vimeo site up and running to host video he produced with his DSLR camera and equipment, an online tool for hosting their work not required of students until second semester when they would produce Weebly websites. By this time, KB Production Canada was here to stay, as the website which began as an assignment would leave the classroom and become Bayulken’s prime web real estate for hosting his professional multimedia.

“It’s all about giving the message to the audience,” said Bayulken. “The composition is really important when you’re doing this stuff. You can’t just go outside and record a video without a plan. You have to think about the details in terms of the lighting, the mise en scene, the colours, and the actual post-production editing later.”

DSLR videography is done with a smaller camera but still at high enough qualities to achieve professional standards. The portability makes it ideal for long shoots, documentaries or music videos that require a combination of portability and high quality.

“He’s a guy with enthusiasm,” said Andrew Lavigne, director of Algonquin’s lipdub and Vancouver based freelance videographer. “He’s outside of school as well, so he’s experimenting, he’s using the technologies, and he’s excited … not only about doing the lipdub project but about doing DSLR stuff; about creating media and seeing its capacities and capabilities.”

When part-time professor and founder of Jester Creative Susan Murphy announced around that time that the college would be producing a lipdub video, Bayulken was up for the challenge. He got on board as an assistant director and helped organize and boost support for the project during the six months of production.

According to Murphy, Bayulken was immersed in helping elect support and organize the lipdub on the ground, helping to coordinate the script, organize and work with the crew and actors and various levels of choreography.

“Kaan was heavily involved in the [lipdub] project from the beginning. He was one of the first students to show an interest in the project,” said Murphy. “Due to his high level of commitment and his production experience, he was a great fit for the project.”

As production day drew closer, his motivation grew stronger. This did not go unnoticed, Lavigne spotted it right away.

Inspired by filmmakers such as Philip Bloom and Sebastien Wiegärtner, Bayulken has worked on projects for the Ministry of Transportation and also worked with Thomas Leroux of Darner Media, on off-campus projects such as the Women’s World Conference 2011 in Ottawa.

“I think Kaan has a bright future as a video producer and director,” said Murphy.