For those of you who forget birthdays and anniversaries, the Rubik's Cube turned 30 this year -- and our camera crews were in Manhattan to celebrate with some of America's rising stars in puzzle resolution.
Most of us on the Award Productions creative team consider the Cube a pivotal toy from our childhoods, so it was an absolute honor to witness a competitive tournament.
It was also a bit humilating to see the kiddies solve the Cube in mere seconds. Because we have no formal training in the Rubik Arts, it can take many of us hours to reach completion. (For the record, we do have formal training in video editing, shooting, producing, writing and graphic design).
Back in our wonder years, we recall the strategy of forcing one cube block to pop out and then having a pile of Rubik's pieces to rebuild like LEGOs. You could always tell the cheaters because their Cubes were always loosely rattling from having been taken part too often.
Check out these brilliant kids:
Turns out that there is also another kid who can do it blindfolded.
And if that isn't impressive enough, check out these amazing artists who craft mosiac murals out of disassembled Rubik's Cubes!
Joe White, executive producer of our Emmy-nominated documentary "Beyond Kitty Hawk," was just recently honored with the coveted President's Medal by the Aero Club of New England (ACONE).
ACONE is the oldest aero club in the Americas, predating the first Wright Brothers flight, and is globally renowned for its efforts to promote aviation history and educate the public about the value of general aviation.
White, a recreational pilot, oversaw production of our "Kitty Hawk" film and dedicated it to the unsung heroes who helped advance flight technology from the invention of the airplane to the Space Age.
Besides appreciating this well-deserved recognition by his professional peers, we candidly think this medal is one of the coolest-looking awards we've ever seen. Medals have an Olympian aura, far more than a traditional plaque or trophy.
Congratulations, Joe!
In the Massachusetts election to replace the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, perhaps one of the most watched political stories this year, the Democratic nominee is fighting for an unknown Libertarian to be in the debates.
He's unknown, but happens to be named Kennedy. Joe Kennedy, even -- the same name as the controversial political patriarch. No family relation.
Favorite to win-it-all Martha Coakley, the Dems' Attorney General, is fighting to include Kennedy in the two WBZ TV and radio debates next week. Republican Scott Brown, who happens to be the father of American Idol heartthrob Ayla Brown, wants to keep the Libertarians out. Presumably because as the underdog, he needs to take on the Democrat with as few diversions as possible.
If you are a member of a third party in America -- regardless if it is the Green Party on the Left or the Libertarians on the Right -- the cards are stacked against you. The Democrats and Republicans make it virtually impossible for newcomers to get on the ballot, get into the debates and the media usually ignores you.
Experience the daunting challenges of third party candidates up-close-and-personal with "Crashing The Parties," our chilling documentary about life on the campaign trail.
Perfect for the political renegade in your life this holiday season!
(Beep Baseball Photo by the Louisville Courier-Journal)
Hand-eye coordination. Keep your eye on the ball. Staring down your opponent.
How is it even possible to compete in sports -- any sport -- without your sight?
Acclaimed documentarian Vikram Jayanti ("When We Were Kings," "Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine") is making a splash on the film festival circuit now with "Snowblind," the travails of a blind woman trying to win the grueling Iditarod dogsled race in Alaska.
Even with 20/20 vision, one unlucky turn and you can find yourself neck deep in icy waters. Instant hypothermia.
We've had the opportunity to spend some time with some other remarkable blind athletes. They don't have to worry about drowning, but taking a line drive in the face is a constant danger.
Beep Baseball is a game where players field and hit the ball by hearing sounds, and everyone wears blindfolds to even out the field of varying degrees of vision impairment. No guidedogs allowed.
Check out the action we captured between the Boston Renegades and the Lowell Lightning!
For additional information on the National Beep Baseball Association, check out the Wall Street Journal's coverage of the Beep Ball World Series between California and Taiwan.
(Award Productions HD camera crews regularly capture sports action ranging from Major League Baseball to competitive cheerleading to Paralympic sled hockey. Check out our Sports & Entertainment portfolio here.)
By Al Ward
If you watched TV at all last week you probably saw at least some of the non-stop coverage of Ted Kennedy's wake and funeral. Our HD camera crews were hired for 3 days of 24-hour coverage for ABC. When I arrived before dawn that Friday morning, about 50 people were already lined up in front of the JFK library even though it'd be three more hours before the doors opened.
We were filming live shots for network affiliates, and very quickly I saw the 50 people grow to 500, and then again to almost 5,000 men, women and children of all ages and backgrounds. One FOX cameraman turned to me amazed and noted that unlike the huge crowd in front of us, we were getting paid to be out there.
I couldn't help but think what it would take for someone to stand in line for several hours, waiting only for a 45-second walk past a casket.
Ted Kennedy had been my Senator my entire life. There were things I liked about him and things I didn't like about him. I never had really strong feelings either way for him. This final act in his storied life did finally reach me though. Politics aside, I am blown away by how he touched so many lives in such a positive way.
I could only dream of living a life that affects so many people so profoundly.
Losing a client's raw footage is inexcusable. In fact, we think the issue should be addressed by firing squad. But because accidents do inevitably happen, it is our job to make sure we take every preventative measure to avoid disaster.
On this glorious 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, it still seems incomprehensible that NASA archivists deliberately ERASED THEIR ORIGINAL TAPES of the event. Oh yes, according to NASA senior engineer Dick Nafzger, 45 of the original reels vanished in a black recycling hole in the 1970s and 80s.
The specially formatted tapes were reused to record something else. This reminds us of the "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode in which Ray taped over his wedding video to record the Super Bowl.
At Award Productions, we won't tape over your raw footage for a football game, sitcom or anything else. But more critically, we take great safeguards to make sure your original material doesn't disappear, period. And if it does, we've got backups.
Your raw tapes are sealed in airtight, waterproof containers -- but only after being digitized and archived on two separate mirrored hard drives that are stored in two different locations.
Isn't keeping three copies of your original footage a little bit of overkill?
Ask that question to NASA!
The country is in a recession, your budget has been
slashed and you still need to get things done. You need to do a new video
project, but you also need to keep the cost down and manageable.
What do you do?
Your
production company can help trim your budget without sacrificing the overall look of the piece. That being said, if you're looking for a Michael Bay
"Transformers" video but only have a $1000 budget, the production company won't be able to meet those expectations.
Here are some general tips to help keep your budget manageable:
1. Consolidate Your Shoot Days: Instead of interviewing three people on three different days, arrange the schedule to fit them all in one day. Let's say you need to interview a couple of doctors or you're a non-profit and you need to interview people who have supported you in the past. Do you have an event, conference or gala coming up? These can be great opportunities for interviewing people all in one location.
2. Provide Your Talking Points: Prepare a concise outline of what key messages you want your video to project. Who knows your product better than you? This doesn't mean you shouldn't brainstorm with the production company on other creative avenues. Your project outline will help focus the conversations to where you need them to go.
3. Pre-interview Your Subjects: Arranging for your production company to informally chat with your interview subjects beforehand can assess how articulate and passionate they will likely be on screen. Some people are
natural soundbite machines, while others need a little more finesse to get the right soundbite.
4. Minimize Travel Expenses: When shooting out of town, ask your production company to arrange for a
local crew through their approved, pre-screened network of quality crews. Hundreds of dollars can be
saved if you send just a producer to conduct the interview and have him or her direct a local camera crew.
Note: This approach is not recommended if your chosen cameraperson is especially attuned to your subject matter or has significant experience in the same setting.
5. Use Real People Instead of Actors: If you are doing a video to promote your company, it is incredibly rare for actors (except maybe for Meryl Streep) to come across as more believable than your employees. The most passionate people about a product are the ones who create it. But if you can hire Streep, please skip Tip #6.
6. Scrap Your Script: Well, not totally. Outlining your storyline and objectives make sense, but insisting on sticking to it can pigeonhole you in a vortex of mediocrity. It's better to shoot first and then tailor your script to the most compelling soundbites and visuals. It's also more cost-effective.
Overall, hiring a production company is a lot like hiring an interior designer or wedding planner. Find one that is
eager to collaborate with you and include you in the creative process.
We try our best to stay away from industry jargon in conversations with our clients. But every now and then, we notice a quizzical facial expression when we use the term “B-Roll.”
Depending on the intonation, the term can sound like it’s related to either the military or competitive gymnastics.
Simply put, B-Roll is any footage that is being used to cover narration or soundbites. It gives viewers a variety of things to stare at so they don’t get bored watching the same talking head or scenery. A-Roll is the old-fashioned term for the soundtrack – anytime someone is speaking or we hear natural sound from the surrounding environment.
With that out of the way, when is it ideal for a company to produce a B-Roll package?
Anytime your company or organization has a new product, new research or a special event, you’ll want to make it as easy as possible for TV and Web media outlets to report on your story.
What follows is a breakdown of the components of a B-Roll package, and things to keep in mind while creating one.
1. TITLE PAGE – The first thing in a B-Roll package is the title page. This page gives the news station some brief information about the package, including the product/event’s name, the length of the package, and the date that it is being released.
2. SUGGESTED LEAD – The next page should have a paragraph or two that provides background information and gives context to the contents of the package. This information can be in the form of a “suggested lead,” which provides the station with a script that they may want to use when introducing their story.
3. INTERVIEW SOUNDBITES — Next comes the most important part of the package– the footage. These are the building blocks that stations use to create their story. There are two types of footage: sound bites and B-Roll. Soundbites let you tell the story in your own words. Generally, there will be one or two people interviewed, each giving a handful of quotes that best convey their message. This may include what their product is, how it works, and how it affects people’s lives. A page with the name of the interviewee, along with their job title, should precede their soundbites.
At the beginning and end of each bite, there is what is referred to as “padding,” usually two seconds of video, but without any accompanying audio. This is useful to stations because it allows them options when they are editing. For example, they might want to bring up the image of the interviewee before they start talking to create overlap and thus enhance the flow of the piece.
Something to keep in mind with sound bites: they must be succinct. Stations won’t want to use a 30-second bite because that might be a quarter of the airtime they’re devoting to your story!
4. B-ROLL FOOTAGE — The second part of the B-Roll package is the B-Roll footage. There are a couple of different types of footage that are good to include no matter what your story is. It is a good idea to have shots of the interviewees away from the interview setting, perhaps working at their desk or interacting with co-workers. There should also be some shots of exteriors of buildings from different angles, along with corporate signage. And of course, it’s also important to include shots of your product along with its packaging.
B-Roll shot selection depends on what type of product you have. For example, if you’re trying to promote a prescription drug, it would make sense to include footage of people doing research in a laboratory, or a doctor interacting with a patient.
5. CONTACT INFO PAGE — The last thing in a B-Roll package should be the contact information page, which provides stations with a name, phone number, and email address of a person they can contact if they would like more information.
B-Roll packages should be no longer than five minutes. While it’s obviously important to provide stations with adequate coverage, a release that’s too long can be unappealing because it means having too much footage to wade through.
Bottom line, make it as easy as possible for media outlets to tell your story and hopefully they will be coming back for more.
Not all corporate videos are shot in conference rooms. In fact, this assignment for an herbal
medicine company involved no neckties whatsoever...
One of the most frequent questions we field from clients at Award Productions is “Do I need a 3-person camera crew (with field producer) or a 2-person crew (just camera and sound technician)?”
At times, a client may submit a list of questions and request that the cameraman conduct the interview while operating the camera. We advise against this, but not because of the money.
We’re not in the business of “upselling,” the sales technique that prompts fast food cashiers to push the combo meal or suggestively ask — as a courtesy — if you have a craving for french fries or onion rings.
In fact, there are two situations where we suggest NOT hiring a field producer:
1. If you are covering a lecture or event where there will be no interviews interspersed into the mix.
2. If you are gathering only basic B-roll footage of your desired subject, with no additional interviews.
The critical factor: Interviews!
Whether you are doing a formal sitdown with dramatic lighting, or rough-and-tumble MOS “man/person on the street” interviews, an experienced field producer will ensure you the best results in both favorable and unfavorable circumstances.
Network news shows and entertainment programs routinely use field producers whenever there is not a “live” interview with the host. Here are some reasons why it makes sense to hire them for corporate videos, video news releases and other marketing projects:
1. Not All Interviewees Are Created Equal: Human beings are programmed with a wide range of eloquence that often has little to do with education level. Some people talk way too much. Some deliver nouns and adjectives like they are kidney stones.
A skillful producer can coax the blabbermouths to tighten their sentences and the silent types to be more expressive — at least enough to vividly communicate your message on tape. After the cameras are turned off, we’re comfortable with letting people revert back to their natural states.
2. Producers are Born Storytellers: How long would you listen to an audiobook or podcast if the narrator/host had a monotone delivery? More often than not, how something is said is just as important as what is said. Producers are natural conversationalists and can usually extract additional energy and enthusiasm from their subjects just by the way they ask a question and direct the course of an interview.
3. Producers are Born Journalists: If they’re doing their jobs right, field producers make your passion their passion. Their journalistic curiosity and drive will sometimes give you soundbites and anecdotes you never expected, perhaps encouraging you to explore new avenues.
4. Sometimes You Need a Velvet Sledgehammer: Many times in the public relations arena, there is no mystery to what an interview subject will say. Because you have written the line for them. Or they just need to elaborate on a theme that will fit perfectly in your script. But how do you make a scripted remark sound unscripted?
A diplomatic producer can ask a subject to repeat the same few lines dozens of times — amazingly without coming across as demanding or unreasonable.
5. You’ll Benefit from Bonus Media Consulting: On a corporate shoot, an experienced camera crew should be your advocate from the moment the camera’s turned on to the moment it is turned off. They should tell you if there is spinach in your teeth, if you stumbled during a key point, or if you unintentionally frowned in the middle of a soundbite. Not making consistent eye contact with the interviewer, for example, can make an interviewee appear shifty and suspicious.
The camera operator or sound technician will point these things out when they see them, but are sometimes inevitably preoccupied with the more technical aspects of their jobs. The producer, however, will be 100 percent focused on your every syllable — and can even assist you with shaping your message.
6. Producers Focus on Client Relations: A public relations entourage on a corporate shoot might occasionally get large enough to field its own softball team, but sometimes it is just the camera crew left alone with the client. Especially in these cases, the producer becomes an extension of your company. During set-up time for camera and lights, the casual interaction between producer and client can establish a positive tone to build on the entire day.
7. Be Prepared For Murphy’s Law: If something can go wrong, it often will. Corporate producers trained in broadcast journalism don’t get flustered. They’ve been through it all: hazardous weather conditions, uncooperative subjects, dangerous neighborhoods, the most unpredictable circumstances imaginable. Seasoned producers improvise and make things happen, regardless of how convenient an excuse may be to fail.
8. Producers are Errand Boys (or Girls) with Superb Vocabularies: In between interviews, producers can also eagerly fetch coffee, donuts — or even onion rings — for the rest of the camera crew.
In all seriousness, there are other scenarios where it makes sense to hire a production assistant instead of a producer — we’ll save that for another blog post. In the meantime, check out some companies and nonprofit organizations that have been thrilled with our team of producers and HD camera crews.
Everyday more and more people are purchasing Blu-ray players and Playstaion 3 to watch high definition movies or play video games on their High Definition TVs.
What is blu-ray? Blu-ray was developed by a group called the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). Some of the members are Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Phillips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and TDK to name a few.
DVD and CDs use a red laser to read and write data on the discs and typically a DVD can hold about 4.7 GB per disc. By focusing a blue violet laser in a thinner beam, blu-ray discs are able to store 25 GB to 50GB on a disc - that’s 10 times as much information as a standard DVD!
Who’s using Blu-ray? Right now movie studios are the driving force behind the movement. Blu-ray is looked to be the successor to the DVD.
Is Blu-ray right for me? If you want to showcase a High Definition video at tradeshows, museum demonstrations or anyplace where all you need is a single player, this is the format for you.
Just don’t count on every consumer to have a Blu-ray player yet — especially in this economy.