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Big Teeth Intern Danny McCarthy at the plate: Locavore Dinner Video

 

As a small business we have to be creative in the way we operate - both in who we employ and in the projects we choose to take. This blog post is a convergence of those two things - we allowed our intern Danny McCarthy to oversee a project for the “Locavore” movement and he writes about his experience below. The final video is at the bottom of this blog post.

Last month I worked on a project for a friend of Big Teeth Productions - a video about the Locavore Movement focusing on a dinner held at the Hopleaf bar and restaurant that was put on by food scientist Jim Javonkoski, Michael Roper (owner of the Hopleaf) and Ben Sheagren (Executive chef of the Hopleaf).  

This project was brought to the Teeth by Jim with no money but a good heart so it was embraced. Because of the lack of budget and more relaxed schedule I was given the chance to produce  it on my own, under Elise and Gregg’s guidance. Initially, I took this opportunity as a way to gain more experience working on different aspects of projects from start to end; but through the experience I gained a greater appreciation for the local food movement. One of the things that really helped with the production of the video was all of the participants passion for the cause.

(See Video)

PRODUCTION
One thing that I enjoyed was actually shooting the event. I didn't have much experience shooting and this gave me a chance (especially because it was an event) to experiment and get more comfortable with operating a camera. The Hopleaf was a good setting and everyone seemed relaxed,  so I was able to get some great interviews with guests.  However, one thing that I had been taught but really became ingrained in me by this experience is that as much as you want it to, a camera cannot capture anywhere near what the human eye can. The lighting at the event was very dim as it was an intimate candlelit setting – great for ambiance, not ideal for shooting. While not what I would have preferred, it gave me a lesson on planning ahead and troubleshooting.

POST-PRODUCTION
After loading the footage from the event it was clear that something was needed to shed some light on the project, literally and figuratively. So, I returned to the Hopleaf and sat down with Jim, Michael, and Ben. I found a location away from where most of the customers were - the only issue being that they were doing some noisy prep work on the floor below. While not ideal, it was okay because it captured the ambiance of a restaurant and was only an issue when they started aggressively banging what I assume were iron pots together (or at least that's what it sounded like).

Earlier, I mentioned how passionate my subjects were and this was clearly evident while filming the interviews. They had a lot to say. A lot. This was another learning experience for me. If this was a documentary about sustainable agriculture and the benefits of being part of a local food system, this wouldn't have been an issue, but with the video being geared for the web, the target length was around two minutes. At a certain point I had to direct the interviewees to give shorter, to-the-point responses. This helped a bit... so did editing. This second day of shooting completely changed the video. Besides the interviews, I got B-roll of the interior and exterior of the Hopleaf and its kitchen which filled in some blanks. With this second day of shooting, doing some color correction and laying B-roll and some graphics over the darker of the shots, I was able to make it work.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Though I’ve mainly discussed the production aspects of this experience, I have to say something about the food.  During the event I had a plate and glass on the side and got to sample the various courses.  With Jim and Michael’s beer knowledge combined with Ben’s culinary skills, the dinner was great.  I am a beer fan and an amateur foodie and the pairings were on point and delicious.

Overall, I have to say that while I’ve worked on many projects with various levels of involvement, I’ve come out of this experience with a higher level of gratification gained through being the sole creator of the project from beginning to end.

The final video is here so let me know what you think about my first independent project at Big Teeth Productions.
Note: Learn more at http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/eatlocal/ or Jim’s blog at http://www.localfoodwisdom.blogspot.com/

Old Spice Man is not the manly smelling grim reaper you think he is for the Old Spice brand

 

Chances are if you opened your eyes at any point last week you saw or heard about the Old Spice YouTube campaign where they sent out customized video messages from the wildly popular "Old Spice Man" played by a ripple-abbed former footballer to all sorts of tweeters. The first reaction by the masses was "Wow, this is the best thing that's ever happened to my eyes and ears. Hooray Old Spice." The digital marketing/social media set immediately began carving their idols of Old Spice Man as this was the campaign that would change marketing FOREVER! Then it all crumbled as we got report after report about how sales are going DOWN not up after the flashy and exciting campaign.

Did you hear me! Sales are going down and the videos have been up for almost a WHOLE week. Uh, I know we love immediacy in the age of digital, but isn't that a little premature to determine the epic failure that so many want to proclaim? For real insights as to the overblown nature of this claim, check out an article from Video SEO leader ReelSEO, which points out, amongst other things, that the sales figures are vague in their sources - but for more of my prescient opinions, scroll down, dude.

People are proclaiming that despite the excitement and freshness of this video campaign that deodorant/body wash buyers don't care because Old Spice is Grandpa's brand. But let me put this out there... I remember entering the junior high gym changing room where we had to wear uniforms for the first time and after class you showered (maybe) but always sprayed, or rolled on the deodorant. In my day you wore Right Guard. I don't know why but you just did. 

Now put yourselves in the shoes of an 11-13 year old boy who is soon to become a lifelong deodorant consumer - and has yet to establish any feelings about Old Spice's previous brand image. Isn't it possible that this young lad sees these videos (and accompanying hilarious TV spots) and identifies with the NEW brand image? Let's take that a step further... his mom.

A big point of the campaign is that ladies are the buyers these days so let's show them a rock hard shirtless dream of a man that they'd like to ride backwards on a horse with. You know Mom likes to watch these videos (she may be married, but she's not dead!) and she probably wants sonny boy to think she's cool, so wouldn't buying sonny boy some Old Spice and making a joke about "smelling like a man," maybe convert to future sales for the brand?

The digital age has brought on this dichotomy of everything happening at a mile a minute, while at the same time trying to build lasting relationships and establishing long term brand loyalty. As an online video producer, I try to create videos that share personality and honesty more than just cramming a product down your throat, so you'll excuse me if I wait a few years before grabbing my shotgun and bringing Old Spice behind the barn to put him out of his misery.

What do you think? Is a dip in sales at the exact time the buzz is created an automatic death blow, or do you wait and see the bigger picture?

What did SXSW 2010 look like?

Here's a look at our time at South By Southwest (aka SXSW). All of the footage and photos used here were shot on the Canon T2i DSLR camera. These cameras are changing how us video people do things and this was a chance to put that to the test. What do you think of the first time out with the camera?

SXSW 2010 Recap from Gregg Jaffe on Vimeo.

MOVIECLIPS.com - What is it, and what isn’t it

In a recent completely unscientific survey of web video usage, I estimated that people watch and share video clips online no less than 1 billion times a day. Most of these are via YouTube, but now there's a new player in town, Movieclips.com.

According to "Fierce Online Video," Movieclips.com online video service is seeing growth, which leads me to wonder...

1. What the hell does Movieclips.com do?
2. What does Movieclips.com not do that it should.

WHAT IS MOVIECLIPS.COM

Movieclips.com is an online video site that has,"... over 12,000 movie clips, [where] you can search, find, view, discuss and share scenes from your favorite movies."

Of course, once you find these clips you can watch them on the site and embed them on the usual suspects of movie embeddom. Another big difference is that this is apparently all legal and above the board with Hollywood giving it's hard-earned permission.

Movieclips.com is set up to make money by having affiliate links to buy products related to the clips you watch. There are links to iTunes, amazon.com, allposters.com, Fandango and more. Presumably you watch the clip and then have to have the movie poster. Maybe hearing "Go ahead make my day" isn't enough, you need a full "Dirty Harry" fix streamed to your laptop.

WHAT COULD MOVIECLIPS.COM BE THAT IT IS NOT

With all the iphone/blackberry zombies out there who can't have a single thought without internet backup, having a warehouse of one-liners and scenes at your fingertips definitely has some value. Where the site is lacking is the usability for video content creators.

Think about all the people putting video up on the web. Those who make a living at it, like we do, but also the ones who create mash-ups, film their kids hopped up on novocaine, re-subtitle Hitler movies etc. These are the ones who would love to have access to high quality clips to use for their video projects, and might well be willing to pay a reasonable fee for it, but again are shut out.

I'm not suggesting some way to open the door for video pirates to swashbuckle their way into easier stealing, but think about all the fun videos people love to create in homage to their favorites - why not allow them to download these files and use them for non-nefarious purposes? It's fun to be able to watch scenes from all these movies, but had they gone a step further and made this more inclusive and useful, we'd be stepping in a much better and more interesting direction.

What do you think? Is Movieclips.com good enough just showing you the clips, or do you agree that we should have the chance to borrow some Hollywood magic if it's used for the purposes of good and not evil?

New Media Revolution: From No Tube to YouTube in 5 Years

YouTube was founded in February of 2005. This became slightly significant to me as I was unearthing video samples that I created and came across the first short films that I wrote and directed from, you guessed it, February 2005.

Five years ago what did New Media mean to us? I'm guessing not a whole lot. Blogs existed but not everyone on the planet had three of them. How many podcasts did you download in 2005? I listened to more this week than I did that year. We didn't tag photos on Facebook, we didn't converse in tweets, and we certainly didn't upload high quality videos that could be played back in real time on every computer in the world.

On a personal note these videos are also the first collaboration between Elise and I production-wise. She produced three shorts that I wrote and directed. Now in 2010, every day of our lives involves Elise producing video that I write, direct or edit. The emergence of YouTube and New Media/Social Media has essentially allowed us to be in business and had things not progressed how they did, Big Teeth Productions might not be around today - perish the thought of course.

Here's one of the videos that I'm referring to titled, "All In."
(full disclosure, this one was actually done in March 2005, not February):

Not exactly a cinematic masterpiece but in terms of story and production value right up there with most of what you see on YouTube. Had there been a YouTube like it is today in 2005, its possible that I would have been able to show these videos to more than the few friends and mentors that actually saw it. Then maybe some of those people would have embedded it into their blogs or Facebook pages and thousands more might have seen it. Maybe PETA would have insisted I take it down because I encouraged dogs to gamble, which would have led to some PR for me and more eyes on the video. Then I would have been signed to a 3 picture deal at Dreamworks and become a filmmaking superstar... Then again, maybe I'd be right here where I am. Either way, my life is a totally different one thanks to the New Media Revolution.

Has the New Media Revolution effected what you do in your personal life or your career? Do you think we are better off with YouTube and other New Media outlets or worse?