Healthy Living Kitchen embraces video to deliver their message
I recently had the privilege of shooting segments for an upcoming intranet-based program for The Healthy Living Kitchen. We shot 9 segments in 3 days at 7 locations. Whew! But excitingly fun – there’s nothing like having great clients with a great product or service. Shot on JVC in 720P HD. This was a lot of work for a 2-person crew but I’ll do what I can to make your project successful.
“This was the best experience for us. Steve, you did a great job of staying cool in all the situations and the hot sun!!! I never knew filming was so complex but you had some good pick me up jokes for the ride. I love the photos. They really tell the story of the experience that was supposed to last maybe a day and a half and went for 3 full days!!! Thanks for working with our budget” said Michelle.
Note that the 30-some hours on-set created an edited 30-ish minutes of completed program material. For those of you considering video, it takes time to create a program. Short-changing the production value could compromise your brand.
What made this shoot great? Aside from being educational for me, the client (Michelle & Beth on-camera) understood the complexity of the production company’s job and didn’t mind having wardrobe changes 3 times a day. Director Bob meshed well with me and knowingly took into account the equipment available, the speed at which we could re-locate and setup, and made the client at ease; not to mention his great art direction on the props. Hey, bottles of olive oil don’t just appear on set. We collaborated creatively on delivery and set design… it was just a great shoot! Michelle adds “Next time we’ll hire that teleprompter person you recommended”.
Below is a compilation of the 9 segments to show you the various locations and setups – press play & enjoy!
Click on the left & right arrows on the photos at the top to jump through the photos or click the center of the photo to jump to my flickr site and see the descriptions of the images along with my other work. Thanks for reading! If you have any questions about how I can help you with your next production, feel free to call 717-697-2622 or email me at finalfocusvideo (at) gmail (dot) com.
June 8th, 2010 Filed Under Recent work | 1 Comment »
The difference between announcers and narrators
For me, announcers tend to be people that think everything needs to be read at lightning speed and with the obligatory “car salesman” approach. Whereas a narrator is not confined by time, and will let the emotion pour out and let the words have meaning. Many people use the terms announcer and narrator interchangeably although an announcer is typically used for the end tag on an ad and the narrator reads the message body. Much of the delivery also has to do with how the copy was written, the voice-over artist themselves and how they were directed.
One of our talents, Mike C., put this together and thought it worth sharing. Enjoy! Capitol High Speed
May 20th, 2010 Filed Under Video Help | No Comments »
JuicedLink CX211 on its way!
For anyone shooting video on a DSLR (such as the popular Canon 5D mkII) or camcorder with only a mini jack input and you want to use pro mics, this is what you need. The DN101 preamp is a great add-on if you don’t have a headphone jack or meters on your cam – that includes the 5D.
This is not a replacement for any of our current location audio gear but an addition to better control the input to some new gear. Fun fun!
Purchased from my friends at Trew Audio.
May 19th, 2010 Filed Under Video Help | No Comments »
Strange resemblance between Intel and MAC
Here’s an image of the MAC Workflow Automator. Notice any resemblance to the new Intel robot? I guess it’s cool since MACs now use ‘em.
May 14th, 2010 Filed Under Steve's Thoughts | 1 Comment »
What’s this funky image?
Just wondering who will be the first person to comment on this object and tell me specifically what it’s used for.
WE HAVE A WINNER! Read the comments below for more information.
May 9th, 2010 Filed Under Steve's Thoughts | 2 Comments »
Optical Illusions
So in our world, things may not always be as they seem. Our perception of color has very much to do with the context or surroundings. Lighting for video and film takes all of this into account to trick our eyes and cameras to let us perceive the proper colors.
March 2nd, 2010 Filed Under Steve's Thoughts | No Comments »
Mid-Atlantic BX Awards Video Segment
We had the privilege of producing 8 segments for the Mid-Atlantic BX’s 2009 Craftsmanship Awards a few months ago (OK, OK so it took me a while to get the story posted). Anyway, we shot 4 days on location to capture student interviews and produce a 7-minute highlight reel as well as shooting 4 days green screen for other craftsmen. The on-camera greenscreen shots were combined and composited with still images and other graphics to create 4-minute videos to highlight the nominees in each of 8 categories.
We also handled the awards night event with theatrical lighting, Emcee and multi-camera recording and projection. The recording was dumped to an interactive DVD for a memento to the nominees and winners.
All in all it was about a 6-month process and over in just a very short 75 minutes. What a great time we all had!
Watch the video here:
Have a look at some location photos:
Here’s what my Emcee, Buster Maxwell, had to say about the event:“Steve did an amazing job pulling together a ten-person crew of stage and video production people for the Mid-Atlantic BX (Builders Exchange) Awards at the Hilton Harrisburg for a large and enthusiastic crowd. Not only did he efficiently set up and run a tech rehearsal with precious little time, he also cooly and calmly directed the entire evening’s festivities, which included projected video and live camera shots, plus music and live performance. He and his talented staff at Final Focus also produced nine excellent award videos, which highlighted each awardee’s accomplishments in a respectful and illuminating fashion. I was honored to be the MC for the event, and I’m happy to say that Steve and I met right here – on LINKEDin.”
February 26th, 2010 Filed Under Recent work | No Comments »
8 Secrets of Success
February 26th, 2010 Filed Under Steve's Thoughts | No Comments »
Wireless Microphones, stop using 700MHz band after June 12, 2010
Certain wireless microphones have operated in frequencies that are needed for public safety. When these microphones were first designed, the frequencies they used were in between the frequencies that television stations used to broadcast television programs. With the completion of the digital television (DTV) transition on June 12, 2009, television stations no longer use the frequencies between 698 and 806 MHz (the 700 MHz Band) for broadcast. These frequencies are now being used by public safety entities (such as police, fire and emergency services) and by commercial providers of wireless services (such as wireless broadband services).
The wireless microphones that had been operating in the old TV broadcast channels can cause harmful interference to these public safety and wireless consumer services. Therefore, all users of wireless microphones (or certain low power auxiliary stations) that operate on any of the frequencies in the 700 MHz Band – including both licensed users (under Part 74) and unlicensed users – have to stop operating in this band.
The FCC is only prohibiting the use of wireless microphones that operate in the 700 MHz Band. You may continue to use wireless microphones that operate on other broadcast frequencies. Microphones with cords are not affected by the FCC’s decision. (Provided by the FCC)
More can be found on the FCC website. I know a few manufacturers are offering a trade-in discount to buy new gear.
January 30th, 2010 Filed Under Video Help | No Comments »
Shollenberger & Januzzi: LawFact Campaign
We recently completed a campaign of 4 TV ads for the law firm of Shollenberger & Januzzi. While shooting the ads, we also taped what I call “candid conversations” with the partners to have them explain more about the firm and their areas of practice. Those clips can be viewed on their website as an insight to their personalities and expertise.
In this case (no pun intended) we worked directly with Shollenberger & Januzzi to write the ads and develop the concept on message delivery – we were the creative agency. The ads were shot in HD on Sony EX-1 and edited on our new 8-core MAC in the upgraded edit suite 1.
Press the play button to see the video again, or select one of the other images to see more of our work located on our Vimeo page.
January 16th, 2010 Filed Under Recent work | No Comments »
