Sunday, December 13, 2009

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!



Friday, December 4, 2009

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.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

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.



Sunday, August 16, 2009

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.









Tuesday, June 16, 2009

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.)









Tuesday, May 12, 2009

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.

Monday, April 27, 2009

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:



Sunday, April 5, 2009

Video Springs Eternal



Well, I can stop holding my breath. Spring is officially here. What's cooking lately?  Recently we got a call from a freelance producer in Germany who needed to hire a cameraman for a shoot right nearby us, in Waterville, Maine.  Surprise, surprise, they got a camera woman, namely, me. The shoot went great.  I didn't understand a word, but I know it looked good!  The footage will appear on the show Aspekte...German TV, channel ZDF.  Next we were hired to cover a local live music performance, which is always a pleasure since I love music. Take music, add camera and I am in seventh heaven.  Next up on the agenda is editing some local TV spots. This work never gets boring, hence the title of this post. 

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Time Marches on


It's March already! February flew by. Apart from breathlessly awaiting Spring, which is what we do here in Maine,  I will be working on a set of TV spots for our new client, a local law firm. The challenge? Create something that breaks the boring lawyer ad mold. This should be fun!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Six Degrees...

What do I have in common with Martin Scorsese? Not that much, except this: I created a video featuring someone who worked with Mr. Scorsese on the film Kundun which I saw recently. So, is that one or two degrees of separation?...anyway, that person is Tibetan Scholar and former Buddhist Monk, the Venerable Losang Samten. He creates incredible sand mandalas, such as the one featured in this short meditative piece I made awhile ago for Colby College. The soundtrack on this is the peaceful chanting of Losang Samten himself. So, Mr. Scorsese, if you are reading this, please check out my short film. After all, I have watched many of yours, and they were much longer! Yours truly, Carol.
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