As filmmakers, we wanted to contribute to storytelling during the coronavirus pandemic. But in the early days of the pandemic, we were unsure of how to start; we hadn’t yet considered how to film people safely. We were interested in how kids were processing this time – we are parents of young children – and thought we could ask them to share their perspective through interview and illustration.
In this new world of social distancing, producers must get creative in the ways in which we’re able to continue to create content. One way is to film interviews remotely, using zoom/skype/facetime to direct the subjects and then edit that content in engaging ways. It’s user-generated content on steroids. Here’s some tips for how to capture interviews remotely and produce high quality, useable material.
COVID-19 has forced us all to invent ways we can remain connected when we are asked to isolate. This is particularly true for us producers of video content about people. Organizations need video more than ever to connect and mobilize their now home-bound constituents, yet producing videos about people often means we need to be close to them. While that’s not possible at the moment, there are ways to use existing footage to tell a new story using voice over and/or animated text.
Shooting interviews in a studio can be an ideal scenario. You’ve got a nice large open space with background options, plenty of lighting and grip, and usually great acoustics and silence when you need it. However, none of that comes for free and without restrictions. Studio time can range from $200/hr to multiple thousands of dollars per day. And it’s not often possible to get all of your interview subjects into the same studio on the same day. So sometimes you have to bring the studio with you. How can you replicate a studio look without a studio? Here’s how we do it.
For this project, we needed to source and manage a locally based video team in Jakarta. Timeline and budget didn’t allow for sending a video team from the USA. We’ve managed international video teams remotely for a variety of projects, meaning we direct and produce from DC while the local team executes our production plan. We then edit all the material in-house to produce the finished video. Here’s some tips we’ve picked up along the way on how to efficiently and effectively work with remote video teams.
This summer we had the pleasure and honor of filming Barack and Michelle Obama for a Netflix special promoting American Factory, the latest documentary from Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar and first in a slate of films produced by the Obama’s Higher Ground production company.
There are no hard and fast rules to storytelling. This is especially true when using video as the medium. The opportunities, tools and platforms we as production companies have to tell visual stories rapidly change, especially in the last decade we’ve been doing this work.
We’ve produced a variety of animated explainers for our clients, most recently for JSI’s “My Village, My Home” project and their Dose Per Container Partnership. Both projects aim to increase vaccination rates in developing nations. Here’s three reasons why animated explainers can be a great tool for conveying complex ideas and topics in an engaging and creative way.
Our latest client project was produced for the YWCA, as part of their “YWCA Vote” initiative. The campaign’s tagline “Your Voice. Your Vote. Your Future.” drove our creative, pushing us to focus on finding authentic moments that highlight why YWCA constituents vote.
From teaching in Italy, to releasing The Guardians, to filming in West Africa, here’s some highlights of what we’ve been up to the last few months.
You’ve produced a video for your organization, and you’ve released it to the world. Now what? This may not be your first time at the rodeo, and it certainly won’t be your last. Each video project adds to your portfolio of communication tools and informs the production of the next. So take a moment to evaluate what was successful and what missed the mark. We explain how in part 3 of our 3-part series on working with a video production company.
The idea of assigning a “process” to creative work might seem limiting. But over the years we’ve honed a production process that liberates strong storytelling to the benefit of our clients. Below, we’ll share a little bit about our production process in part 2 of our 3-part series on working with a production company.