Year: 2014

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Active Seniors

When asked by a friend to create a video for the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center to show at their annual fundraiser and donor appreciation dinner I simply said, “Yes.” This is what one does when a friend asks so nicely and has done you several solids in the past.

Thus began a fairly amazing journey into the world of the aging here in the Santa Clarita Valley. I found that age does have its downside for many, but for the most part you are only as old as you and your health want to be. I found people well into their 80’s exercising, learning languages and computers, going on trips and playing cards. Yes, cards are a great social and mind-maintenance pastime.

I also found an adult day care center that deals with the range of stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Many seniors there were in the early stages and just a bit forgetful. Others were further advanced and needed almost constant supervision.

In all the various programs there are leaders, staff and volunteers, that truly care about each person there, that take the time to teach at the given person’s level of understanding and ability.

The volunteers in all areas – food prep and delivery is huge – range in experience from first timers to decades-long contributors. Each has their own story of how they got involved, why they stay, and usually a favorite memory of one person that they touched along the way making an impression on them that stuck through time.

I hope you enjoy this video and that it inspires you to volunteer somewhere near you, or, if a senior yourself, that you find a desire to get out of the house and go meet some new and interesting people.

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Paused Motion Video

A bit of a plum gig has been being a “marketing consultant” for a local business, Priority Pak. I hadn’t even thought about what a fulfillment shop might do, never mind that there was such a thing. Being asked to re-brand the company from logo through an advertising campaign is a wonderful responsibility. Working with the two owners as creative liaison with an agency I found for them was made easier from my years of being an observant agent while in client meetings with big agencies and clients. I hope I am a good client now!

What I found at Priority Pak was a dedicated and hard working crew.

From the shop floor into the front office, these people stay on task, find solutions to complex problems, and work in a collaborative manner to get things done efficiently. Imagine have 400+ big boxes to pack with 200+ different assortments of marketing materials and having to get each of them to the right place with the right stuff. That is just the start of their day with several other projects all going out at the same time.

My thanks to Ray Davies for the opportunity.

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YMCA Adventure Guides

YMCA Adventure Guides is a great program that connects parents and their children.

It sounds a bit funny – that parents need to connect with their kids – but for many families, mine included, that can be the case. I joined the program with my two daughters when they were ages 7 & 5. At the time I was working 8-10 hour days with a commute of an hour and a half each way. By the time I got home they were often asleep. When dinner time rolled around at the first YMCA campout we went to my daughters came up to me and asked “We’re hungry, Dad, where’s Mom?” That may have been the first time they saw me as provider.

Adventure Guides is a program for one parent and their child(ren).

This video was shot in one long day. Travel to San Diego with an assistant early in the morning and return that night. No prep on the interviews other than names of likely candidates. No worries. We shot with one of my cameras – a Sony NX-70, and a GoPro Hero. All natural light and on-camera microphone. Edited, as all my work is, in Premiere Pro.

Worth noting – this video was one of the first I created for a client, in 2014.

Testimonial Advertising

This television commercial was captured and edited from the patients own words.

Working with director Tom Mescall on this project, we ran a two camera shoot with five different patient groups. Hearing their first hand from-the-heart stories, of the struggles they went through prior to bariatric surgery and the changes in their life since, made for some wonderful footage and commentary.

It is about the moment.

Using two cameras when conducting interviews is wonderful, and three might even be better. It isn’t just about having different framing, it is about having the cameras move and keep framing visually interesting. Having one play it safe leaves only one to have fun with. Still, it seems that there is always a moment captured where it all comes together, where the spontaneous voicing of a real situation brings an understanding to the eyes, where a genuine emotion is conveyed beyond the words spoken.

Authenticity in advertising is critical to reaching people at a place where they believe what they see and hear. A rehearsed script rarely comes across as anything other than what it is, and loses much in that reception. Typically, authentic advertising is based upon a testimonial or other proof of worth. These stories are best captured in a video interview.

The video interview process is much more than simply showing up and asking questions. Research is needed beforehand to discover the intent of the organization, their manner of achieving those goals, the nature of the volunteers and employees and many other factors. Similarly, knowledge of the public perception is important, particularly that part of the public that is the demographic target of the video.

Using real people in advertising requires a unique skill set of the interviewer. Having the knowledge of the research noted above, the interviewer must be able to ask questions in a manner that invites the person to discover in their own way the answer. Often, the same question may be asked in a couple of different ways to achieve similar answers that are spoken in different tone, wording, or facial expression.

It is a debatable point as to whether a pre-interview helps or hinders. I fall on the side of hindrance. By experience I have found that the first conversations with a person about their company or organization are the most candid, the least prepared, and the most effective at capturing a person in the real moment of their enthusiasm. A prepared interviewee is one that often hesitates to find the “right” words they thought they wanted to say when. Spontaneous interview responses yield genuine responses.

Support for this thinking comes from most of the late night talk show hosts. They rarely visit with their guests before the show, wanting a more candid and spontaneous interview.