It's All Right to Cast Pearls Before Swine

Ok, so that's a pithy name for a post that's really about planning A.K.A. pre-production for video - no, wait, don't go - it gets interesting, really.

For a recent project about agriculture practices, I took some time to head out to the farm before the upcoming shoot and it reminded me of the paramount importance of pre-production. Even though the farm project was on a limited budget, I took one of our precious budgeted hours to scout the location. I brought along the DSLR camera to grab some stills and quick video shots while the farmer showed me around.

This simple act accomplished two things: first, I had some beautiful stills and some cover shots in case they were needed later, second it helped me to pre-visualize for the day of the actual shoot which would involve not one, but two farms, and countless shot set-ups.

The above pig shot isn't very inspiring, nor did it make the final cut of the project, but it helps me to demonstrate an important point; planning is everything. Although a lot of great imagery can come spontaneously from being in the right place at the right time, no good film or video ever came out of a lack of planning. Let's face it, no amount of planning ever ruined an otherwise perfectly good project whereas the lack of planning has ruined the execution of countless great ideas. To say that pre-production is more important than actually shooting video is not really an overstatement.

That one hour I spent on-location before our appointed shooting day saved my crew, my client and the talent TIME on the day of the shoot. Since we charge by the hour, time really is money. My client may not even know it, but this was a key part of how I got their project done within their tight budget and tight timeline.

Another fantastic bonus was that it spared everyone a lot of stress. Because I knew the lay of the land (and the pigs) as well as the desired content ahead of time, problems that would otherwise arise on the day of shooting and have to be resolved on the spot and under the gun (with everyone staring at me for an answer NOW) could be pondered and solved beforehand.

On the day of the shoot I could be more relaxed instead of more rushed and that would rub off on the client and on the talent. Imagine this...on the day of the production we all actually enjoyed ourselves! We had time to be creative and get all the content needed to make the project a success. THAT is what pre-production is all about.

Doing your video production right means doing your pre-production right, and that means that you will always produce high quality work...at that point, whom you cast it before hardly matters.

The 900 Thousand Dollar Video

If you have any doubts that a video can help you in your fundraising efforts, this story should lay those doubts to rest.

A few months ago we created a video for MaineGeneral Health to use in support of their internal employee fundraising campaign. We produced for them a 2 minute testimonial montage, not too big a budget, nothing too fancy. We gave them just what they wanted, something simple, a brief video that they could have on their website and show at meetings to voice the heart and soul of the campaign. At the end of the project we both went away happy and a few months passed. Recently I received an email from Buffy Higgins, Director of the MaineGeneral Fund. She had the following to say:

"Carol, I just wanted you to know that we raised over $900,000 in our employee campaign this year. Now, it was a special year, fundraising for the new hospital but even compared to the year we raised money for the Cancer Center, we blew those numbers away!"

Well, I was thrilled to hear of our client's success, so I made a call to congratulate Buffy. While we were talking here's what she said to me:

"I think our success was definitely due to having the multimedia approach with the video you made for us...the interviews you did were fantastic. It was quick and direct. The video said all the right things...it was our most successful campaign to date!"

From my perspective, it is immensely gratifying to know that by producing a reasonably priced video for our client, we played a part in helping to raise funds for the New Regional Hospital in Augusta. Imagine what you could achieve using video! Here it is...the 900 thousand dollar video:

2011 Employee Combined Campaign from Linda Allen on Vimeo.

Whistle While You Work...Ode to Autumn

Over a couple of days, on the way to work and play, I couldn't resist capturing some of the Maine foliage before it fades. This time lapse captures the mundane and the sublime of what you see when you travel around Maine. I like to think of this as my version of whistling while I work. Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the colors and the feeling of a Maine Autumn.

...time crunching

Once you getting started doing time lapse videos, it's hard to stop. Here is another look into the construction of Colby College's Biomass Plant in Waterville, Maine. Again, my thanks go out to the folks at Pizzagalli Construction and Cote Crane for being so accomodating while I ran around with a video camera and the still camera. I was there on two separate days to cover this move, total time spent: roughly 3.5 hrs. The process was a two-stage move of the boiler into it's final position, so compressing the time makes it much more fun to watch, and in HD no less. And really, is there anything better than watching other people work while you sit back and relax? Enjoy!

Everyone loves a parade and...

...a time-lapse video! At least in my experience, people seem utterly drawn to watching time on fast forward. There is nothing cooler than seeing something big and time consuming happen really quickly!

On that note, this video is one we made while covering Colby College's Biomass Project. Special thanks to the folks at Colby College, Pizzagalli Construction Company and Cote Crane Corporation for being so accommodating and also for making sure I didn't get crushed during filming! The item being lifted was somewhere around 37,000 pounds, I believe. So I thank you again guys for not sqaushing me, or more importantly, my cameras!

Fundraising With Heart

Here's a look at a recent video we produced for MaineGeneral Health in support of their Employee Combined Campaign. The interview subjects were so sincere and really great to work with; they made the project a success...and it's always nice to be working for a good cause.

2011 Employee Combined Campaign from Linda Allen on Vimeo.

Celebrating Success

I am happy to announce that we have just won our fourth Telly Award. The winning project is a campaign video we created for Winchester Hospital in Winchester, Mass. As an independent production company we measure our success by the satisfaction of our clients; a happy client always makes me feel great. Once in a while, though, it's nice to get a nod from the world at large, so thank you to the Telly Awards for recognizing our work and helping us celebrate it with our clients! And the winning video...

Tools

Last week Frank and I took a trip down to Boston to check out the Arri Alexa camera at Talamas. You know you are a camera geek when listening to a list of camera options makes you really excited. Well this is truly a beautiful camera, and one can't help but get the gimmies for it. I have to remind myself that it isn't always just the tools you use, but what you do with them that makes or breaks a project. Let's face it, some terrible movies have been created with a cast and crew of hundreds and the best equipment in the world. One must get philosophical when one doesn't have handy the $80k required to buy this gorgeous camera.

Tight Spaces

Recently we filmed with our friends at Woods End Laboratory in Mount Vernon, Maine. It's always interesting to set up all our gear in tight spaces. The soil lab is a great place to work though, because they keep us on our toes. Once we set up the camera and lighting there are plenty of soil test steps to get through.

In fact, every location shoot provides its own unique challenges and problems to solve, which is why I love what I do. It is never ever boring and I am always learning something new. This time I learned about CO2 respiration in soil and compost. Here are some stills from the day..and then the end result. Enjoy!

The Art of Listening

It's all about communication, video, that is. Our clients hire us to communicate for them in a strong visual way, to tell their story for them. What I love about the work I do is telling that story, weaving it from start to finish, it is extremely satisfying.

However, what I am most proud of throughout the whole process of making a video, is when I master the lost art of listening. If I didn't pay close attention to listening to my clients and listening to the people I interview, I mean really listening, I could never effectively tell their stories. In video and in life, it is an art worth striving to master.

The effects of not listening can be disastrous. Businesses do it all the time. Just try NOT listening to a customer's concern and see what great things that does for your business. I have spent hours on the phone to customer service of one place or another, simply trying to get someone to really hear what I am saying. I can guarantee that anyone reading this has had that experience...why?

The Art of Listening can so easily become a lost art. It isn't always easy to stop our internal noise long enough to hear the world around us. Listening; it requires paying close attention in the moment and being conscious of stepping out of yourself long enough to hear someone else's point of view. We can't really ever experience life in another person's shoes, but we can stop long enough to listen and really hear that person's story. In life as in video, it can lead to great things.

Comments

These are the kind of comments we love to get about our work. The following was said of a recent campaign video we produced:

"We just showed the video to our Foundation Board and their jaws dropped!"

"They were starstruck"

The only thing better than producing something you can be proud of, is having the praise of the client it was produced for. As soon as the campaign video is finalized, I'll post it here...

Constant Interest

True that the Academy Awards are right around the corner, and us video folks are nowhere in the vicinity, but the work we do is of constant interest. Last week, I videotaped readings from Toni Morrison's writings; the DVD I created from that was sent to Ms. Morrison as part of a celebration of her birthday. This week, Frank will be covering an event featuring author and civil rights activist Angela Davis. We aren't making any blockbusters yet, but our video work presents new and quite interesting opportunities at every turn.

Cabin Fever? Nah...

Here in Maine, it is the height of cabin fever season. However, in the world of video, one gets to go out and about, thus staving off the claustrophobia of Winter. Here are some of the interesting outings taking place at videops.com. Frank is hard at work with MPBN, covering camera for high school basketball. Tonight, I'm headed up to Colby college to film a celebration of author Toni Morrison's birthday through readings from her works. Other recent projects: a safety training video and a project with Maine General Health. Soon to be at work for the Maine State museum on an editing project. Cabin fever? Not as long as there are videos to be made.

Going Viral

Here is the video we made recently for Woods End Laboratory's YouTube page. The topic is Biochar, a hot topic right now for anyone interested in environmental issues. As predicted by soil scientist Will Brinton, the video is getting plenty of hits since it went live. Take a look!

Too busy to blog?

I must ask for forgiveness, as I have committed the ultimate sin of blogging: being to busy to post. The economy as it is though,  I'm not complaining about being busy. Nope.  Right now we're doing some exciting work with Woods End Laboratories. You can check out some of our work on their YouTube page. Currently, we're working on another web video with soil scientist Will Brinton; the topic is Biochar, a form of carbon capture and storage. This is a hot topic in certain circles, so Will is expecting our video will get lots of hits. I'll post it as soon as it's done! In the meantime, here's another piece we made for Woods End Laboratory.

New TV Spots

As promised in my previous post, here are a couple of the TV spots we produced recently for the law firm of Jabar, Batten & Ringer, our new client in Waterville, Maine. Mission accomplished! Now on to an editing project for the Maine State Museum, and a producing a training and orientation tape.

Dog Days

We're only getting a few dog days of Summer here in Maine, so I aim to enjoy them completely. According to the weatherman, we had only nine days without rain in July. August has been much more summer-like, phew. Rain or shine though, I love my work! In between dips in the lake and ocean, I am editing some TV ads we shot recently for a law firm in Waterville, Maine. Life is good.  So far the client and I are both happy with how they're looking.  Once these dog days pass, which, alas, they soon will, I'll claim my bragging rights and take a moment to post the final cuts of those ads for your consideration. In the meantime, here is a look back at some of the interviews we've shot over the years.

New clients and other thoughts...

We are happy to welcome a new client into the fold. We just completed a short piece for a mental health services company in Augusta, Maine.  The video was a joy to create and we got two thumbs up for the end product. We've done a great deal of work in the field of mental health. As a matter of fact, the Telly Award we just garnered was for just such a project. Here's a short clip from that video; about people living with a dual-diagnosis (substance abuse and mental health.)

Icing on the Cake

I am proud to announce that Video Production Services has just been awarded a Silver Telly (the top honor,) and our third Telly Award to date. This one is for our production a few years back of  a program called Recovery Stories, which followed the struggles of five Maine people living with a dual diagnosis (mental illness and substance abuse.)

The Telly Awards is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV programs, and the finest video and film productions. Our entry was one of approximately 13,000, of which only 7-10% are awarded a Silver Award. It's nice to be recognized for doing something you love, hence the title of this post.

Goodbye American Dreams

This may be my last chance to share my involvement in a wonderful course at Colby College. For the past four years I have had the absolute pleasure of assisting Professor Phyllis Mannocchi with a course called American Dreams. It is the only course of it's kind on the Colby campus; the students study documentary films throughout the semester and then, after a crash course in production and Final Cut Pro editing from me, they embark on creation of their own short documentaries. 

Since I am their tech guru and troubleshooter, especially during the eighty-plus hour editing sessions, I get the joy of watching the creative process from the outside for a change and it is a blast! What these young people create, with just the bare essentials, is for me a source of joy and amazement. Sadly, this will be the last year Professor Mannocchi teaches the American Dreams class, which means that it is my last year too...(sigh) Every time she reminds me that this is our "swan song" I feel a serious pang of loss.

In a few weeks from now, this year's  five films will premiere for the last time on Colby's campus. I wanted to take a moment to celebrate some of the student films that have come out of this process and to thank Professor Mannocchi and all the students past and present that have helped rekindle the creative spark year after year. Thank you!

From last year's class came the following; Part I of a film about a working bluegrass band here in Maine (Part II can be found here) ...just one of many wonderful short films that have come out of the American Dreams class.  This film was created by Kristen Barnico, Paige Clunie, Kara Dalton, Jess Egan, and Brett Wagenheim: