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:

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. 

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!

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.

Getting the word out

Some projects are just plain fun. This video we produced for Colby College highlights their efforts to go green, re-use and recycle. The object was to keep it upbeat while getting the message out about this great event. It's called RESCUE...

Giving Thanks

It is the time of year to pause for a moment to give thanks. We would like to thank our clients for their kindness and loyalty; here is what some have said about working with Video Production Services. This kind of feedback really makes all the hard work worth while.

Carol Lane was a pleasure to work with on all aspects of the project she undertook for us. She quickly grasped what we were trying to achieve, developed a concise and equitable contract, and worked through the planning, filming and editing processes promptly and responsively. She obtained the timely support and cooperation of some very busy people not directly involved with the production of the video. We were very pleased with the end product and how painless it had proved to produce. Thanks to Carol's enthusiasm, commitment and competence, the video was produced on schedule and on budget.

Michael Hamer
Friends of The Maine State Museum


"I couldn't be happier with the job Carol Lane and Video Production Services completed recently. A group of citizens here in Augusta retained them to do a video outlining the charitable contributions of a local philanthropist. They were extremely professional and timely in their performance and the video is a wonderful tribute to a wonderful person. I would without hesitation highly recommend them for any similar job, large or small."

Warren Winslow
Pierce Atwood

Current Events

Event coverage can be enlightening. Video Production Services recently produced this web video for Colby College; a discussion around the current financial crisis. Carol Lane running camera...

Yes, we do event coverage...

Video Production Services offers event videography services, as well as work on more highly pre-produced projects. This month, cameraman Frank Kaluzynski headed to Augusta, Maine to cover the Governor's Conference on Youth and the Natural World. Frank is also keeping busy over at MPBN, shooting for Maine Watch and a slew of upcoming political debates.

Ending the Season

Summer in Maine is coming to an end, but that's alright because Autumn here is beautiful too. Here is a sample of the kind of thing we did with our Maine Summer. Colby College wanted to promote their efforts at "greening" their commencement ceremonies, so we produced a low-budget student-driven piece for them which does just that.



Now that it is back-to-school time, Colby has asked us to produce a short piece about their Fall RESCUE sale, where items discarded by outgoing students in the Spring are stored over the Summer and then sold to incoming students at the RESCUE sale. It is a way for them to recycle instead of filling the landfills, and it also gives incoming students a chance at some great bargains! Video coming soon...

..and we would like to thank...

...our valued clients who keep providing us with opportunities to do good work, for which we continue to be recognized. We are proud to announce that Video Production Services has been chosen out of thousands of entrants to receive our second Telly Award.

The Telly Awards honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. The Annual Telly Awards receive thousands of entries from all 50 states and 5 continents; so we at Video Production Services are honored to be recognized for our production of Cornerstone; The Story of Elsie Viles.

May is a busy month

Here is what is in the works at Video Production Services. We're gearing up to cover Colby College Commencement activities and also working with them on a video about Green Graduation. This video will highlight the steps they are taking to further reduce the College's carbon footprint.

On that note, we are taking our own steps to reduce, re-use and recycle here at Video Production Services, including using 100% recycled paper for the office, recycling and cutting down on our use of plastic video packaging.

At Home in Maine

Here's what we've been working on for the Friends of The Maine State Museum. The video promotes At Home in Maine, a new and exciting exhibit coming in November to the Museum.

The Friends of The Maine State Museum; New Client

We're proud to announce that we'll be working with The Friends of The Maine State Museum to produce a video promoting the upcoming At Home in Maine exhibit. This is a really exciting exhibit about home life in Maine, the largest of its kind, currently under construction at the Maine State Museum. The video will be a sneak peak at the exhibit and some of its exciting interactive features. Hopefully the video will encourage people to contribute the funds needed to complete construction of the At Home in Maine exhibit.