With video dominating the Internet more and more there are different directions you can take to make your video as effective as it can be. Everyone is familiar with video entertainment you can find online, but when it comes to commercial video there are two categories they fall into.
Viral Video
No doubt you’ve heard this term before. Viral videos become popular when people share them. They move through the Internet embedded in emails, blogs or social sites like Youtube and Facebook. Typically, viral videos have to be original, unusual and topical. With the advent of the camera phone, people have been able to quickly capture video and upload it to the web. The more unique and interesting it is, the faster it spreads through the web.
Viral videos are great because of the amount of web traffic they can bring to your video if only for a short amount of time. For a majority of the videos, production values are low as they are not shot professionally. Although typically these videos are not commercial, some campaigns have broken through with commercial success.
Image Film
What was once simply called corporate videos; image films have grown to become more than the traditional definition. In the past, a corporate video was something businesses made for training purposes or as a DVD within their marketing collateral. They had a limited reach. Now the web has brought buyers and sellers closer together and companies need to make their businesses stand out creatively from the competition. Image films add that creative edge.
Typically production values are higher and there is more of a focus on character. Like motion pictures, image films tell a story in a much shorter time. They encapsulate the message of your business and educate the viewer about what makes your business special. They bring personality, emotion and more than just a sales pitch: it becomes a story. With such a crowded marketplace, image films educate and convert prospective customers into clients.
At Point7West, we give our motion graphic’s department ideas about how we want our videos to animate. They decipher our incoherent ramblings, put them together in a logical, technical fashion and then execute a completely different idea that was much better in the first place!
Seriously, there is a lot of time that goes into designing their animated creations. Sometimes they will go completely analog and ditch his computer all together, relying on pen and paper. I managed to break open an artist’s desk drawer and steal his notebook while he was away. Here are a few hand-sketched images of what later became a part of two different full-motion graphic commercials.
Last week Steven and Todd were in Ft. Bridger, Wyoming shooting footage for a series of political spots for gubernatorial candidate Ron Micheli. As a fourth generation ranch family, the Micheli ranch is a beautiful setting to capture their rural roots.
In addition to shooting video for the commercial campaign, Steven shot some great still photography of their experience. Here are a few photos they snapped during production.
Boy has it been a while since we’ve posted on this blog, but I guess it’s because we’ve been so busy! In a political year, the clock doesn’t begin at 9 and end at 5. I remember for one job in 2008 we spent the night at the office working on a commercial and left at about 5AM. We slept for 3 hours and came back at 10AM. Combine those in-office hours with Steve and Todd constantly shooting on the road and our office is like a steam engine going uphill.
Personally we have our plate full too. About half of the office has a baby on the way. Jackie and Todd are expecting their boy in late July. I recommended a bunch of names, all of which were denied. Steve and Audrey are expecting their little girl in the middle of September followed by Jessica and Darren’s in late November. All names are TBD upon arrival.
Dan and his girlfriend Sarah have decided to get hitched and although their wedding isn’t until September of next year, it’s about halfway planned already.
So pretty much everyone at Point7West is registered at Target, some for butt paste, some for sheets.
There are a lot of fun projects coming up this summer and I’ll post photos as they happen or soon after. Come back soon for some exciting new updates.
We like to have fun during production. Because each project is so different from the last, each gives us a new story to tell. We had no idea what to expect when we began filming at the McCallum Theatre. So much of what goes on there is behind the scenes. Lighting designers, stage hands, make up, costumes, ushers; so many people at the back-of-house pull together to create a seemless experience for all who attend.
Behind the stage at the McCallum is a huge space, at least double the size of the stage itself. Many grips are required to man the massive lighting setup in the rafters, controlled by the lighting designer upstairs. Shooting on the stage was a treat, not only did we have lots of space to set up and move around, but the lighting designer was able to control the motion, color and intensity of the lights on a moments notice.
“Can we get a little more blue? Perfect!”
It certainly made setup a breeze. It would be nice to always have hundreds of lights set and ready to change immediately. We’ll have Todd look into pricing that out.
We found out a lot of interesting things while working backstage. You might think that to open the curtain all someone needs to do is flip a switch. You would be incorrect. Classically, the curtain is pulled up by hand. It was an amazing feet to watch a stage hand jump and pull the rope with lightning speed each time it was raised or lowered. This is no easy task. Jess tried and sprained her shoulder from the shear weight of the rags (curtain).
We filmed a great deal in the back-of-house. Everyone was running around frantically in a tiny, hot dressing room. We had to be very careful that our gear was not in the way of the performers. Though difficult, the end result was an interesting glimpse into what occurs behind the scenes every night at a major performing arts facility. I think we were able to capture the magical experience not many people see.
Another interesting side note if you have seen the film. All the costumes worn by the performers are their own. They brought them from home! How many people do you know with a sequined jumpsuit in their closet?
We took some behind the scenes photos during our shoot. So here is a look back at that wonderful experience. If you haven't seen the finished product, take a look at the McCallum Theatre Image Film
We just got back from the annual Ad Federation of the Desert Addy Award ceremony and we are thrilled to report that we were honored with Best of Show!
This year the awards gala was held at the beautifully-modern Riviera Resort and Spa in Palm Springs, where everyone was able to mingle with the Coachella Valley’s vibrant advertising community. Every year there is a theme for the ceremony, for 2010 it was “The Adfather,” so many people were dressed in pinstriped suits and carried violin cases. It is tradition for the Best of Show winner to organize and execute next year’s event. As of right now, we’re not sure what our theme will be, although I have a few ideas I’d like to toss around.
It was so much fun to see everyone and celebrate exceptional advertising work created in our on community. We won a total of 14 awards. Six gold medals, six silver medals, Best of Multimedia and Best of Show. The image film we made for the McCallum Theatre earned us the top prize. This is so exciting for both our small company and our clients, who really deserve all the credit.
Thanks again to everyone at Ad Federation of the Desert for a wonderful night!
I was shown this article recently from a great site called Small Business Trends. I think it’s great that so many people are realizing the potential of video for their business, big or small. Online video is the best communication tool for the next generation of business development.
http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/03/why-online-video-is-key-for-small-busi...
The article “Why Online Video is Key For Small Business” focuses squarely on this topic. Everyone can and should be making videos for their business or organization.
How often are you trying to get face-to-face meetings with potential clients? A phone conversation can only accomplish so much. Sometimes it’s just easier to email someone, but what do you lose? Personality.
That’s why we do what we do. Everyone has a story to tell, a different perspective, and that’s what clients want to hear. It’s the reason people choose to do business with one company over another. A video creates that face-to-face meeting without leaving the room.
The article was great, although the one thing they failed to speak about was quality. Everyone can make a video now, but the quality of that video speaks to the value of your business. Like a resume, make sure your video looks and sounds the best it can be.
Nothing could prepare us for the cold. Maybe I’m being over dramatic here, but after years of living in the desert where the winter temperatures don’t get below 50 degrees, my body was not expecting this sub-zero environment.
Pikewood Creative, our friends from West Virginia, brought us on this project to get footage of this alternative energy company, Blattner Energy building massive wind turbines in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Along the frozen plains of James River Valley, windmills, in various stages of development stand there like massive monoliths.
When we arrive, it’s -5 degrees, and the lowest it’ll get is -17. With wind-chill, it is probably closer to -35. At that temperature, your fingers can be frostbitten in 5 minutes. Even under all this gear (three shirts, four pairs of socks, assorted snow gear), I can’t feel my hands after about a minute. Every 15, we take a break, return to our cars and wait for our bodies to return to an acceptable temperature. Everyone there is true salt of the earth; think Brawny paper towel men. All of their faces are windswept and red from the constant exposure.
They are building a total of 66 turbines in this current phase, with the future goal to build more. Each 1.5-Kilowatt wind turbine is built by GE and can power over 200 homes per hour. When the project is completed, that’ll 13,200 homes an hour. Amazing.
In terms of production, our little P2 camera pulled through. There was no problem shooting digital. Trying to focus was a chore, as the fluid in the rings would thicken and become tight. Also, our brick (the storage drive we use to store P2 media) was extra slow to spin up, making offloading of footage more time consuming. All things considered, our bodies took the brunt of the damage.
Here are some photos and video we took during the shoot.
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