From May 31st-June 1st look for the big red Zacuto balloon and stop by the Zacuto booth so you can check out our new products that were recently showcased at NAB. Some that you won’t want to miss out on are the DSLR Enforcer Rig and DSLR Marauder Rig. These rigs are a totally new rod less design. They are adjustable with the flip of the lever and click into place. Some other products include the Half Cage, Scissor EVF Mount, C100 Z-Finder, Z-Drive, Tornado and more!

If you can’t make Cine Gear, make sure to check out some news coverage from NAB 2013 where you can see Jens and Steve talk about our new products.

Cine Gear will be held at The Studios at Paramount in Hollywood. The Exhibition and Premiere Seminars will be Friday, May 31, 2013 from 2-9 pm, Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 10am-5:00 pm. The Film Series will be Thursday, May 30, 2013 (time TBD) and Friday, May 31, 2013 from 8-10pm. If you want to check out the Master Class Seminars make sure to be there Sunday, June 2, 2013 from 9am -5pm.

Make sure you stop by booth 74 to check us out and get some free Zacuto swag like T-shirts and Stickers.

If you won’t be able to make it to Cine Gear, make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and check back at www.zacuto.com for all our updates!

Written by Renea C. Stewart, Producer/Photographer of Family Ingredients

In this age of iPhones, Instagram and widespread foodie-ism, anyone can be a food photographer. But what separates professional looking food photography from those iPhone snaps of last night’s tasting menu is more than just expensive camera equipment. Ever wonder how the pros make food look good enough to eat on camera? To help get vivid and appetizing food photography, here’s a toolbox of tips and tricks I’ve learned on location while shooting Family Ingredients, a Juniroa Production.

Lighting Is Key

To get the most flattering food photography shots, use all available light—the more light the better. Lighting truly is what makes a shot look great and separates the pro shots from the casual snaps. You have to be fast when shooting a cooking show and you don’t always have the time or ability to set up a ton of lights. I recommend a strong key light as well as a back light or rim light and another fill light. I always try to use all available ambient lighting from a window or door and add small LED lights to light the food prep areas as needed. Generally I don’t like to use a flash unless I have time to set it up off camera on a light stand and a bounce.

Play With Color And Texture

Most restaurants serve food on white plates to show off the food like a painting on a canvas, but a white plate doesn’t always give you the best shot. Don’t be afraid to mix in different plates and backgrounds. You need to captivate your viewer with color and texture, and I always try to capture interesting contrasts of ingredients. During our pilot shoot in Tokyo, we had to be careful about shooting white rice on a white plate or in a white bowl, as they bleed together. Fortunately, in Japan we had fabulous pottery made by local artisans, which not only gave us visual contrast but also helped tell the story of the food.

Plan Before Plating

When shooting plated compositions, decide what you want to capture before the food is even on the plate, and choose your angles wisely. I always speak with the chef prior to food preparation so I’m aware of what’s going on the plate and what’s involved. Our Family Ingredients host Chef Ed Kenny is all about presentation, which really helps me capture the essence of the dish through the lens. As soon as the plate is set down before me, I’m ready to shoot because I’ve already checked my settings and light sources for the shot.

Capture the Action

Whether you’re shooting stills or video, if you can get kitchen access, you’ll get some of your most interesting food photography shots by shooting the chef in action in real time. On location, we shoot in a variety of kitchens, and for us a versatile rig allows us to capture amazing action footage in very tight spaces. The Zacuto Scorpion rig is my favorite as you can easily switch from a handheld rig to a tripod. I recommend using a 24mm-70mm lens with the aperture ranging from f 2.8 – f 22. It’s best to have a second shooter on a tripod with the same lens or longer, and we hang a Go-Pro from a high point or have a third shooter walk around. The pace in the kitchen is fast, and we often need to capture a dish quickly. I use both a 24mm-70mm lens and a 70mm-200mm lens with the aperture set to the fastest the lens will produce at f 2.8 (wide open). This gives you that wonderful depth of field and a great bokeh effect. If you have more time you can use a macro lens, but this can look very stylized; I only use this when I have time to stage the plate.

Make it Look Good Enough To Eat

Whether you’re shooting steaming soup, a frosty dessert, or fish glazed with a luscious sauce, try to capture the texture and temperature of the dish as it’s meant to be enjoyed, otherwise you’ll end up with beautiful but flat shots. Cold food should look cold and hot food should look hot. When shooting miso soup during our pilot episode in Japan, I was able to capture the steam delicately rising off the hot bowl by using all available ambient light and no flash. To capture realistic dimension in your shots, experiment by shooting different temperatures and textures as you play with lighting and focus.

Tell a story with Ingredients

Aim to tell a visual story of your dish through the ingredients and their preparation, not just the finished plate. In our Family Ingredients pilot, we told the story of miso soup and tamago kake gohan (raw egg on hot rice), by shooting a visual narrative, from the harvest of organic soybeans and fresh eggs on the farm to the chef chopping negi (Japanese green onions), folding in the miso, washing the rice, and cracking the egg over the hot rice. My favorite food scene was at the Hachisu Farm in Saitama when chef Alan Wong was pounding fresh mochi with Tadaki-San. The scene had a completely compelling narrative arc, starting with the arduous labor and great strength required to pound the rice and ending with the stark contrast of unbelievably delicate mochi. As I was filming him he came around to each and every crew member and held the fresh mochi over our heads and asked us to take a bite. Just another perk of my amazing job!

Written by: Ryan E. Walters

Part 2: Budgeting & Creating The Proposal

In this ten part series I am sharing with you how to bring a cinematic look to a small budget commercial. You will get a behind the scenes look at how we at Bleeding Thorn Films make a project happen – warts and all from script to screen. By the end of this series, it is my desire that you will have a better understanding of how to approach your next small budget commercial.

Part 1 covered landing the client and creative ideation, and here in part 02 I’ll be covering budgeting and creating the proposal.

Budgeting

Now that we have spent time getting to know our client, understanding their needs, and developing the approach we are taking for their project, it is time to put the pieces together to create the estimate. This is where all of the work we did during creative ideation pays off, as the information we gleaned has a direct impact on whether we are building a house that will cost $50,000 or $500,000. As the estimate is created, the areas we are taking into account are:

• Pre-production

This includes the all of the time it takes to properly prepare for a production. The more work we do on the front end, the smoother the production will go and the less likely it will be that we will run into any problems or overages. While it is impossible to foresee and plan for every contigency, through proper preproduction, we can keep these to a minimum, if not avoid them all together.

• Production

Production includes the time of the skilled craftspeople, and the necessary tools they need to get their job done within the timeframe alotted. Additional costs in this area may include any location fees or specialty rental items needed for a particular project.

• Post Production

This area of the budget includes the time it takes to edit, create graphics, grade, format, and deliver the final video. If the project calls for licensing music, sound effects, or for hiring a voice over artist, this will add to the cost of the post production budget.

As soon as we begin work on any project, we start tracking every aspect of it. Then, by the end of the project, we have an accurate count of what it actually took for us to complete that project. Having that information, and comparing it against our estimate, allows us to better evaluate our work so that we can provide more accurate esitmates on future projects.

Creating The Proposal

The last step in our initial process is the creation of the video proposal. This is where we take all of our planning, development, and budgeting and merge it into one document that is easy to read and follow by our client. This is crucial to our process as it allows everyone to literally be on the same page. The first page covers details about who we are, what our clients can expect from us, and what our proposed concept is for their video. The second page details out what is covered in the cost of the video, while the third page lays out the specific terms. It is in this thrid page where we detail out the specifics of any overage fees due to scheduling, and how many client revisions are included in the estimate. Once this document is reviewed and signed by all parties, everyone has a clear idea of what is involved. And when the plan changes, the original estimate can be revisited and adjusted accordingly.

While this may be the least glamorous part of bringing a cinematic look to a small budget commercial, it is the bedrock that will support and determine the success of the rest of the production. If we do not have a good foundation to build upon, then the rest of our efforts will be a needless waste of time. And, quite honestly, we are more interested in telling visual stories than we are in spinning our wheels.

Stay tuned for part 3 where I began covering pre-production by showing you how to location scout. And keep an eye on our blog, twitter or Vimeo Channel to follow us on our latest storytelling adventures.

Catch up with Part 1

 About Ryan

Ryan began telling visual stories at the age of 7 with his comic strip series “The Flip Side.” His passion for storytelling has taken him around the U.S. and the world shooting for The Discovery Channel, The Travel Channel, TLC, Oxygen, Adidas, Nike, & Autodesk among many others. Ryan enjoys spending time with his wife and he is a connoisseur of strategy-based board games and whiskey.

(bio and picture courtesy of Bleeding Thorn Films)

The FS100 Shooter is part of our innovative line of ‘Shooter Kits’ that create traditional ENG style shoulder kits for non-traditional cameras. Check out the FS700 Shooter, C-Shooter for the Canon C100/300/500, and the Fee-N-G for DSLR cameras. This style of kit is inline (your camera is in line with your shoulder) and requires the use of an offset monitor like the Zacuto electronic viewfinder (EVF Pro.) Your kit can be lighter, shorter, and more functional than ever before.

‘Shooter’ kits are made possible in part because of removable camera control remotes built into the FS100/700 and Canon C100/300/500. The company Okii makes a similar remote for Canon DSLRs. Zacuto’s unique Grip Relocators move these remote forward to a handle position under the baseplate rods pushing the camera further back on your shoulder. We love this exciting new trend in cameras!

FS100 Grip Relocator

The Zacuto FS100 Grip Relocator gives users the choice to place the Sony FS100 removable grip onto any 15mm rod. The FS100 removable camera handle attaches to our Grip Relocator with a single ¼ 20 screw and a locator pin. You can place the FS100 Relocator at a handgrip for shoulder mounted work or anywhere on a rig that is most suitable for you and your set up. It uses Zacuto’s Zwivel technology so it can be swiveled up and forward or straight down for ideal comfort and rig compatibility.

With the FS100 Grip Relocator, users can comfortably control start/stop of the camera while working shoulder mounted. The Sony grip comes with a 12″ cable. We recommend adding this LANC extension cable for more flexibility.

FS100 Shooter

The FS100 Shooter is a compact, stable rig for FS100 users. The kits starts with our Mini Baseplate (standard 3/8 16 and ¼ 20 tripod mount underneath) with 12″ rods. The rods can slide back and forth to accommodate different lenses and accessories by flipping the red levers at the side of the plate. Our comfy shoulder pad also slides on the rods for comfort and ease of use. A 3.5lb weight sits behind the shoulder pad for counterbalance. Attached to the front of our rods is our FS100 Grip Relocator which allows you to place the FS100 removable camera handle at the front of the rods in a comfortable spot for hand held work. Add a Zacuto EVF Pro and Rod Mount with Kickstand and you’re ready to go!

Looking to build your own FS100 Kit? Check out this page.

As always, please feel free to contact our sales department with any questions or concerns or if you would like help building an a la carte set up to suit your needs. Happy shooting!

Written by Kristian Day

When the first DSLR cameras were discovered to have outstanding HD video capturing capabilities, the door to a whole new world opened for filmmakers. Today, we have another world to explore with the iPhone 4S and its abilities to both capture 1080 HD video at a variety of frame rates and to encode at bitrates up to 50mb per second (Cannon 5d Mark II encodes at 38mb per second/Blu-Ray disc has a maximum bit-rate of 40mb per second). The number one hurdle to filmmaking on an iPhone is the stigma of shooting with a phone.

It is hard to convince others that you are a professional using top-rate technology when your equipment appears to be the same as a squealing teenager snapping a shot of a pop star at a concert or a father trying to capture his baby’s first steps in the park. The number one thing that separates the pros from the amateurs, however, is gear that enhances the iPhone’s capabilities and provides filmmakers with the flexibility and adaptability that they need. However, there are some benefits for filmmaking on an iPhone.

1. Budget

One of the finest products in the plethora of those that have flooded the market is the Zacuto iPhone Point N Shoot. On my television cooking show, Crowding the Pan, we shoot entirely on an iPhone 4S with a limited budget. This could be anywhere from zero dollars to $3000 an episode (depending on if someone is sponsoring us or not that week). So we have to make things stretch and dollars need to be like rubber bands. On a good week we could have a solid four-person crew and on a tight week, it might be the on-camera talent and myself. For filmmakers who know what I am talking about, the iPhone Point’n’Shoot retails for around $90, which makes it a painless investment for anyone.

2. Flexibility

The Zacuto iPhone Point’n’Shoot is extremely versatile. The iPhone fits securely inside a harness that attaches to a pistol grip. 90% of our production is done with this setup because the pistol grip gives me great control over the camera. It is light enough that I can maintain steady movement and that I can put the camera as far as my arm’s length. This also makes it a lot easier to grab different angles when there is not enough room to move around. When we work in our studio kitchen, space is very tight, as it really isn’t a studio kitchen at all, but rather a commercial kitchen in the back of a bar. There is no room to have a crew of people inside with us while we are shooting; the most we can have is three and that includes on-camera talent. With the combination of the iPhone Point’n’Shoot and long arms, I navigate this problem with ease, and still get as much coverage as if we were in an open kitchen on a sound stage, if not more.

3. Portable

We have to be quick with little time or space for new setups, but with the Zacuto iPhone Point N Shoot, it allows our production to move swiftly without ever having to switch to another device. We took advantage of using the point n shoots ability to attach to a mounting plate underneath the pistol grip for easy connectivity with a tripod, boom, or jib. If we are moving from one location to another I can easily adapt to the location without much work. Setups are very easy when they need to happen. In one situation, we were shooting in car while heading to another location. We only had 20 minutes to get in, get the shot, and leave, and I didn’t want to sacrifice the quality of the shot. In less than 2 minutes, I had the jib set up and the Zacuto Point N Shoot mounted. I was able to get a nice pan shot from a gorgeous open field over to our host.

4. Post

Now all of this sounds a little chaotic, but where you really can see a difference is when it is time to look at everything that we shot in our six hours of chaos. I’ll say this, the Point N Shoot is not a Steadicam, so don’t expect the ultra smooth movement that you would see with a $50,000 piece of gear. However, there is a huge improvement when you compare the Zacuto Point N Shoot to hand held. Your hands vibrate and although you may not notice when you are shooting, you will definitely notice after you capture your footage. The Point N Shoot takes care of a lot of these nervous shakes caused by your bare hands.

5. Quality

I love looking at raw footage from the iPhone and then calling someone over to look at it. Everyone immediately thinks I shot on a DSLR, when in fact I shot on something that cost a fraction of the price (iPhone with Point N Shoot included). Because of the ability to encode the footage at a high bit rate (50mbs per second with the Filmic Pro app), the overall quality is higher than that of the average DSLR camera. I am often asked by folks to shoot second unit for them because they only have one DSLR camera and too many scenes to shoot in a day. They go off with their team of a dozen crew people and I will go off with my one or two people (sometimes it is just me). Everything blends together and to the naked eye, you might say we were all using the same gear.

The shooting power and production potential of the iPhone is beginning to get explored and while the industry anticipates the gear and needs of the professional filmmaker, it is great to know that an ideal piece of equipment already exists. I highly recommend the Zacuto iPhone Point’n’Shoot for all filmmakers on the go.

For more information on what I am working on please check out TV show, Crowding the Pan, my company website or Facebook page.

About Kristian Day

Kristian Day attended the University of Colorado at Denver in the Music Industry Studies program. His interest in music came from listening to avant garde artists such as Brian Eno, Boyd Rice, Merzbow and others. While still a teenager he built custom sound generators and homemade microphones for recording experimental music.

In 2006, he began recording soundtracks for films such as 100 Tears (2007), Am I Evil (2007), and Ron Atkins’, Mutilation Mile (2009).

In 2008, Kristian began directing and producing his own movies. His short films have played all over the world including Austria, Greece, and Italy. His films have also been screened at various festivals in cities across the United States including Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.

In 2010 Kristian directed/shot his first documentary Brent Houzenga: Hybrid Pioneer (2010) which was the first film in his Made in Iowa documentary series. The film went on to screen in cities such as Chicago, Des Moines, Atlanta, and won the “Best Foreign Documentary” award at the 2011 DIY Film Fest in Poland. In 2012, his follow up film, Capone’s Whiskey: The Story of Templeton Rye, which was released in 23 theaters across the midwest. This launched Day’s distribution company, Modern American Cinema, LLC, which distributes independent and foreign films to rural theaters, art houses, and university-based cinemas.

In 2012, Day began producing television shows using an iPhone 4s with the punk-rock cooking show, Crowding The Pan with Sam Auen.

Written by: Shirley Baugher

What do you do when you’re eight years old, a runt, with no friends, and are constantly being bullied by the big boys on the playground? What do you do when you have hair that sticks out in every direction, protruding teeth, and you are hopelessly in love with the prettiest girl in class? What do you do when you live your young life creating comic book art and writing stories that no one appreciates? What do you do when even your teacher is out to get you and makes your life miserable in class?

In, The Six Million Dollar Man, directed by Kiwi A-Team boys Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland, their goal was to create an alternate life where looks don’t matter and bullies don’t exist. Andy, a young New Zealand boy in the The Six Dollar Fifty Man, packed his art and stories in his nerdy brown satchel and imagined himself a super hero able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and rescue lost treasure.

Above: Andy and his satchel

He carried around a dummy of his idol, The Six Million Dollar Man, in a brown satchel until the bullies found it and broke the priceless arm. Then one day, Andy got mad as hell and decided that he’s not going to take it any more. He took that brown satchel and decided to strike back. And just like that, his world changed. Sutherland and Albiston had a plan that all came together: story, direction, cinematography and music to create a magical film. Watch it, and you will see why it won awards at every major film festival of the past year: including Cannes, Sundance, the British Academy of Film Television Arts, and the New York Children’s International Film Festival. It even made the long list for the Academy Awards. It is so good that Zacuto USA is proud to present its tenth Z-Kudos Award to Mark and Louis for outstanding achievement in short film production, direction, and narration.

“Really masterfully made. Fabulous script, casting and acting. Incredible cinematography, wonderful sound, sound design and score. Direction was phenomenal. Not sure about the two director thing. That’s a new invention, in my day we only had one but you made it work here. Essentially a real movie, have only seen a few of these on the internet. Well done boys.” ~Steve

The Six Dollar Fifty Man from NZ Shorts on Vimeo.

Who They Are

Above left to right: Louis Sutherland and Mark Albiston

Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland are two young filmmakers who grew up together in Raumati Beach, a small New Zealand coastal village, where they first worked for a local cable television network. Louis left Raumati to focus on acting in London while Mark started his own production company Sticky Pictures making successful documentary and television shows. It was, perhaps, inevitable that these two talented professionals would come together again. They brought their skills and their shared experiences to the now world-acclaimed The Six Dollar Fifty Man. You know how people always say, “write what you know”? Well, Mark Albiston knew this story.

When he was eight years old and attending Raumati South Primary School, he was sent to the principal’s office for misbehaving. The teacher sent a couple of older boys with him—just in case. Long story short, Mark escaped his guards and went dashing away from the school yard—with all his mates, including Sutherland, watching from the classroom window. Years later, he pitched the idea of that daring escape to Louis, who then wrote the screenplay. The rest is history.

Everything about The Six Dollar Fifty Manis spot on, especially the young actor they selected to play Andy—Oscar Vandy Connor. They auditioned hundreds of boys, but as soon as they heard Oscar audition, there was no question that he was Andy. He was so into the part that he took the pair’s previous film home to watch, just to get a feel for how they worked. It paid off.

Coming Soon to a Theater near You

Mark and Louis have just completed their first full-length feature film, Shopping. Set in Wellington during the eighties, Shopping is a coming-of-age story about Willie, a troubled 16-year old Samoan boy, and his violent father. Willie works at a department store and tries to protect his little brother, Solomon from their father. At the store, Willie falls in with Bennie, a 50-year old “shopper” and his gang of criminals, going from abusive father to abusive godfather.

Initially trapped, Willie finds the courage to stand up to Bennie and emerge a hero. It is a theme close to the hearts of Mark and Louis, who believe that society needs heroes. It is also a film inspired by real-life experience (write what you know). As a teenager, Louis had a troubled relationship with his father and joined a gang of shoplifters. Shopping is already gaining world-wide attention. It previewed amid much acclaim at Sundance and recently won the Grand Prix in the Berlin International Film Festival for best film in the Generation section. The three-member jury praised all aspects of Shopping especially the acting of the star, Kevin Paulo. What’s next for this talented duo? They are planning their second feature, Hell’s Teeth, a story about a powerful moment in Mark’s life when he was a teenager. Watch for it.

NJ Film School is a small film studio in New Jersey offering filmmaking classes for kids, teens, and adults. Working with over 300 students each year, the school’s goal is to help teach students how to create short films, music videos, documentaries, and even features through the film school workshops. NJ Film School classes are limited to 10 students or less and everyone is encouraged to “get their hands dirty”. Screenwriters will write, actors will act, and filmmakers will shoot films using professional equipment.

Chris Messineo, Director of NJ Film School, formed this school because he loves filmmaking, teaching, and believes in the power of the independent filmmaker. An award-winning writer and director, he is the founder of Off Stage Films, an independent production company, shooting short films and corporate videos. Chris has worked as a director, screenwriter, crew member, script reader, screenplay consultant, and even a film festival judge.

With so much passion for filmmaking, the school is eager to help teach you the craft and bring your own film dreams to life. Many students have gone on to create their own projects and have won awards at film festivals around the world.

With classes offered for kids, teens and adults, this film school accommodates everyone’s learning abilities! Not only that, but NJ Film School has expanded courses and continue to add new gear. Spring classes start April 6th and run through the end of June. Several courses you can take are Screenwriting, Filmmaking, Improv Acting, Special Effects, and much more. The school utilizes professional equipment and not just any equipment, Zacuto gear of course, including a Universal Baseplate and Zwiss Plate.

If you would like to get more information or sign up for one these classes, check it out here.

Written by: Ryan E. Walters

Part 1: Landing The Client & Creative Ideation

In this ten part series I am going to share with how to bring a cinematic look to a small budget commercial. You will get a behind the scenes look at how we at Bleeding Thorn Films make a project happen – warts and all from script to screen. By the end of this series, it is my desire that you will have a better understanding of how to approach your next small budget commercial. So let’s get started with Part 01: Landing The Client, Creative Ideation, & Budgeting.

Landing The Client

The first step to creating any project is, of course, landing the client. This is the most difficult, time consuming, and often nebulous part of the process. There are a number of great resources available today that will help you determine your market, as well as give you the skills to market yourself. It is beyond the scope of this series to go into great depth in how to cultivate these skills, rather I will point you towards people like Owen Klaff. However, I can offer you two pieces of advice that have served me well:

• Work With People You Have Built Relationships With

Cold calling has never worked well for me. And, quite frankly, that may be because I am awful at it, and I have not put much effort into developing those skills. On the other hand, I have been successful landing clients that come from some sort of relationship, association, or other connection. These are what are called “warm calls.” If you already have an established relationship with someone, they are much more willing to become a client and use your services due to the existing relationship. The key here is to have that relationship in the first place, which will mean getting out there and devoting time to networking. These do not have to be deep, meaningful relationships, but they have to exist on some level.

• Work With People & Companies You Have A Connection To

I know I am more motivated to do my best work when I am working on projects that I care about. What I care about from project to project will differ. On one project, it might be the issue, or cause that is being addressed. On another project, it might be the product that is being promoted. And on yet another, it might be the people who I am working with. The point is that I have to find some kind of connection to the project. Once I have this connection, this reason for getting myself fully invested in the project, I’ll do better work because I care and I’m fully invested. This results in a better end video for the client, and a better experience for myself throughout the entire project.

I originally met this client, online through Pond5, a re-sellers of my stock footage. He had bought some of my stock footage and liked my work. At the point of our first contact, he had emailed me to show me what he had done with the footage that he bought. We exchanged a couple of pleasant emails, and both went on our way. Not long after this point, he again contacted me to have some custom footage shot for a promotional video he wanted to put together for his new company. This was the “warm call.” We already had a brief relationship, and he knew that I could deliver the results he was after. Which leads to the next step of the process…

Above: frame from commercial

Creative Ideation*

One of the mistakes I made earlier in my career was to talk money and budget upfront before having a solid concept. This is a mistake for two reasons. Firstly, once the number is out there, all the client will see and remember is that number. The second reason is that every project is different, and no two budgets will ever be the same. Producing a video is very similar to building a house. The same house might cost $50,000 in one location, or $500,000 in another location. The parameters around the project will have a direct impact on the cost of the video. This is where creative ideation comes into play. Creative ideation is the process of formulating a concept, aesthetic, and an approach for the video.

For the creative ideation that we do at Bleeding Thorn Films, we like to get as specific as possible. By being detailed in our approach we have the opportunity to understand our clients, get to know their needs, and understand their vision. In the end, it allows us to deliver a video that meets the needs of our clients. We have a three step process for this stage of the production:

• Research

We will use google to research information about the company, the issue at hand, as well as what already exists in the marketplace. This allows us to have a a big picture understanding of where the client is coming from and the market they are going after.

• Question/Information Gathering

Just knowing about the client and their market is not good enough for us. We want to really understand our client and their needs. That means we have to ask a lot of questions – even if it means sometimes sounding uninformed. Depending on the client, we may have them fill out a questionnaire  ask them through email, or over the phone. Some of the questions we ask are: Why do you care about this product/service? What makes it different? Why did you start this company? We will tailor the questionnaire to suit the specific client we are working with, as not all questions are applicable to every situation.

• Development

For the final stage of creative ideation, we take what we’ve learned from the research and questioning phase and come up with an approach that best fits the story we want to tell in order to serve the needs of our client. This game plan will be as specific as reasonably possible at this stage of the process. We will outline the flow of the story, as well as detail what it will take to accomplish the story. And it is knowing these specifics that will help us to make more informed decisions when crafting the budget.

When this client originally approached me, he had a very specific vision he wanted to accomplish. The original idea was going to be a product geared towards the everyday consumer. So we met, discussed the concept, and I offered my insight and thoughts on the approach we were going to take. After doing some more research about his end client, and following up on some questions I asked him, he decided to take the video in a completely different direction. The end target market was now going to be business professionals, specifically those in the financial services industry. So we scrapped the original idea, and the original budget, to head in a more effective direction. Had the conversation started out on the topic of money it would have done a disservice to us both. But by defining the parameters of the project first, we could both have a clear understanding of what it would take to get the job done.

*I want to thank Still Motion for helping me put words to this process. This has been an integral part of my process for years, but it wasn’t until I attended their Know tour that I was able to put words to what I had been doing all along.

Above: frame from commercial

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I talk about budgeting and creating the proposal. And keep an eye on our blog, twitter or Vimeo channel to follow us on our latest storytelling adventures.

 About Ryan

Ryan began telling visual stories at the age of 7 with his comic strip series “The Flip Side.” His passion for storytelling has taken him around the U.S. and the world shooting for The Discovery Channel, The Travel Channel, TLC, Oxygen, Adidas, Nike, & Autodesk among many others. Ryan enjoys spending time with his wife and he is a connoisseur of strategy-based board games and whiskey.

(bio and picture courtesy of Bleeding Thorn Films)