Category Archives for "Video thoughts"

We love working inside the Austin city limits- our regular flight path. As an Austin-based video production company, we are usually within a 100-mile radius. But sometimes, our radius expands.

It's not unusual to have shoots in Houston or Dallas or San Antonio. There have been some memorable trips to far West Texas. We've also produced videos in Las Vegas and California for Austin-based clients. We even did a shoot in Altoona, PA; we visited Gettysburg on our way back to DC.

This year, we have the opportunity to cover an international conference in Atlanta, Georgia. We covered the group's last conference in Austin. That's how we got to know each other.

Now we have the challenge of assembling the exact assortment of equipment we'll need to do the job. And then we need to pack it all for transport via the airline industry. In Austin, we have the luxury of throwing everything we might need into our production van. But on a trip like this, we have to really think it through. 

The location is also important. We will need to contact the Audio/Visual people and determine how we can work together and how they can help us. Then once the equipment dragon has been dispatched, our coverage instincts kick-in. The Q&A aspect of this conference is important. An overall audio feed is crucial.

We'll have two cameras covering presenters, PowerPoint details, and audience questions.  It's what we do. It's not difficult. But camera operation requires alertness. Since we will be editing each presentation, we will need to acquire title slides and cutaway shots. Cover the conference subject matter; cover ourselves for the edit.

This time, we will be acquiring interviews away from the conference. Lighting, microphones, and the right lens will be key.  We apply tried and true production techniques to our overall approach. 

The final chapter to our out of town adventure comes when we download the footage into our editing system. No one will ever know that it was transported across state lines!

Any extra zest or fun we get from experiencing a new place is secondary to the job at hand. But out-of-town working shoots keep us sharp. It pushes the envelope. 

Equipment, technique, and collaboration. It's a formula for success that's been honed by our video production experience. 

We're proud Austin townies, but it's good to expand our horizons outside our comfort zone, and our time zone...

As an Austin video company, the term "where we live" takes on two different meanings. Using technology creatively to tell a story is very much where we "live".  We also physically live in Austin, Texas: more on that later.

Even though we love the adventure and unexpected aspects of each production, we also try to limit or control the unexpected. Call it experience.

The value of scouting, or doing preliminary reconnaissance, is huge, even for small shoots. Knowing the technical details is “where we live.”

A recent Media Training video production benefitted greatly from our recon mission the day before the shoot. First, where would we shoot? Next, what was the client trying to accomplish? What is the space like? What gear do we need to facilitate the session successfully?

All of those questions were answered in a half hour at the location. Much of the anxiety and potential complexity was eliminated. Bottom line: we were ready, had the right equipment in place, utilized their existing set-up well, and accomplished the intent of the endeavor. As a result, it went very well, and it was fun.

Then,  a Greek chorus of media trainers, who had flown in specifically for this training, weighed-in effectively after each playback of the founder’s responses to typical media questions. During this phase, we even recorded their feedback. We hadn't expected to do that, but we were in position and ready for it when the opportunity appeared. 

We're proud to be an Austin video company...

The other aspect of “where we live” also raised its head during the media-training session. The founder/CEO had started the company in his apartment in California, but he LOVED AUSTIN. It sounded familiar, and we knew what he was talking about. We are proud of this Austin success story.

Our city of educated, creative talent has provided exactly the culture needed to grow the company beyond the wildest dreams of its founder. Austin attracts people from all over the country for it's positive energy. As an Austin video company, we like being part of that.

Most of all, providing that easy-going-but-effective support was our job for the day. We love our city, and we love using our video production skills  to apply our creative arts to the business world.

Overview video to market rare wood

We collaborated with the knowledgeable owner on the scripts, for both an overview video and the video for the amazing ancient buried cypress.

But how to REALLY SHOW IT? Drone videography seemed to be the right tool at the right time for the right view of the huge wood stacks. As the device swooped up and over the ancient woods, we couldn't help but be reminded of the famous scene in the movie, "2001," the cut from a bone in the air to a spaceship...the advance of technology.

There was no need for any sort of teleprompter device for the owner's on-camera parts. He knew what to say. We shaped the ever-evolving script around his on-point soundbites.

Every type of video production tool was used: animation of how the buried cypress came to be lodged in a Louisiana swamp, vintage still photos, iPhone video from the actual excavation, graphics, the drone videography, and our normal B-Roll coverage.

Once we had locked the script, we searched and found just the right voice for the narration. And after some feedback, the final tweaks produced two videos that represent this beautiful natural product from Mother Nature.

We knew next to nothing about rare woods when we embarked on our latest video adventure. But now we appreciate it after our immersion into that world.

Our video production expertise, in collaboration with our client's expertise and enthusiasm about rare woods, yielded a final product that represents us both.

In today's go-go no time world, it seems that our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Our clients now often ask us to boil down hours of video into short, succinct video blasts. Training videos that used to be 30 minutes? Now we need them to be 10. 5 minute videos are now 2 minute videos. We ALL have do more with less time!

It's no secret that lawyers like to talk. They're paid very well to do it. Our recent challenge in working with a national association of  justice-seekers was to streamline their interview sound-bites into a coherent five-minute message.

The two-camera approach worked well for bridging comments. It enabled us to cut for content AND for dramatic emphasis. But even experienced legal counsellors can get nervous and try too hard when talking to their peers. Part of our job was putting them at ease. We could usually connect by asking about their city or state. They're always proud of something there, no matter where it is. That's part of the low-key approach to interview tone-setting.

Editing content down, and down and down...

After gathering hours of issue-related wisdom, the editing room became a brutal exercise in separating wheat from chaff.

Only the best 1 per cent could make it into the final piece. Three themes emerged: money-giving, political clout, and networking.

We grouped the sound-bites together according to theme, saving the best and most dramatic one for the close: "For 50 years it's been the heart of my practice, but also the backbone." Cha-Ching. We know a good sound-bite when we hear it. The fact that it was delivered with a knowing, New Orleans Cajun twang just added to the effect.

We dressed up the best 1-per cent with a bookend open and close, featuring music and the organization's logo. The disparate comments became a program.

Our editing instincts got sharpened into a fine, surgical instrument. We found the message in the mountain of interview answers.

Michelangelo found his statue of David in a rejected piece of marble. Sometimes that approach works in the world of video production, too. You release the artwork from the marble that surrounds it. Whittling down the marble to find the masterpiece!