Douglas C-47 Skytrain

So we recently were given the opportunity to do our first prime time network television shoot. You won’t need cable to watch just an antenna and TV… maybe some popcorn. What we did will add up to about 1 minute of airtime. I can’t post about it until after it airs, but you can imagine we were excited to get to do it.

So why does this photo look like it was taken 70 years ago? Because you instantly look cooler standing in front of a C-47 if you’re in sepia tone.

It’s nearing Christmas time! Well it’s nearing time to have things ready that are going to be shown at Christmas. Here’s a short video we did for Nav Press’s promotion of a contest they are having. It’s short and sweet and has some fun graphics in it.

This Summer we shot some promotional material for Lifeway’s 2011 VBS. Our design on the video was to assists their audience get excited about the Big Apple Theme and help them glimpse its potential. We took a light hearted approach using the “Donnie” character that audience would recognize and tried to be entertaining while informing. The interior set were created back here in Nashville and in this video we just brush over them with other videos created to highlight the sets and even videos on how to build them.  The client wanted to emphasis how customizable the program was and so one of our favorites was using the New York Hotdog crazy condiments to illustrate that.

Once we have the interest of the local VBS directors, we give them tools to get their kids excited and build anticipation about the Big Apple Adventure. I was thinking there might be a disconnect with some smaller cities using a NYC theme, so I wanted to give them something else that was not to be missed! Something they were bringing in that would forever change their lives; the New York City Hot Dog came in handy yet again! Hopefully Donnie’s excitment will translate onto the kids watching and those hotdogs they actually eat can live up to the hype.

Two of my favorite parts of the video are the alien attack moment and then at the 11th hour we add an airplane in the background  pulling a banner. I love little touches and using FX like that.

Ok one more you can skim through. This video was made for leader recruitment. Again wanted something that was a bit oddball quirky that might actually be used. For some unknown reason coming up with excuses people might use for why they can’t volunteer seemed really easy for me … I like the pairing of the sour puss and the overly excited guy. Favorite Line:  What if I don’t check?

All in all a pretty successful campaign that’s going to be going on for the next 9 months. We’re already talking about 2012. I’m thinking the kids would love an End Of The World Theme! No, that would be terrible… unless you John Cusack.

Every summer Lifeway reveals its theme for the next year’s Vacation Bible School one year in advance. That’s right, a full year in advance. It surprised me to find out the awesome, die-hard fan-following VBS has and the particular interest these fans take in the upcoming theme. It’s a well guarded secret up until the moment of it’s release. So to help with this year’s announcement, The Lifeway Children’s Marketing Team asked us to make a series of videos that could release this year’s theme in a humorous and fun way. I enlisted the help of my friend and actor, Tyler Torti, to play the character Donnie. A crazed VBS fan in his desperate search to uncover the theme before it’s officially released. Absurdity ensues.

As part of their announcement and social networking/marketing strategy, the videos were then posted to their VBS facebook fan pages, on YouTube, on Donnie’s blog (a site by the character that give life to his quest beyond the videos) and the lifeway/vbs website. The results were thousands of hits to the videos (combine views on youtube 12,361 as of now), tons of referrals, comments and most interesting:  speculation. The videos were designed to give clues to what is next year’s theme, and the viewers dissected and examined the videos extensively. No seriously…

It’s a well guarded secret up until the moment of its release. So, to help with this year’s announcement, The Lifeway Children’s Marketing Team asked us to make a series of videos that could release this year’s theme in a humorous and fun way. I enlisted the help of my friend and actor, Tyler Torti, to play the character Donnie: a crazed VBS fan in his desperate search to uncover the theme before it’s officially released. Absurdity ensues.

As part of their announcement and social networking/marketing strategy, the videos were then posted to their VBS facebook fan pages, on YouTube, on Donnie’s blog (a site by the character in the videos where he blogged about his quest) and the Lifeway/VBS website. The results were thousands of hits to the videos (combine views on youtube 12,361 as of now), tons of referrals, comments and most interesting:  speculation. The videos were designed to give clues to what the next year’s theme is… and the viewers dissected and examined the videos extensively. No seriously…

Some of my favorite moments? One clue was hidden in the address of a letter that appears in the video for 1/12th of a second.  One viewer paused the YouTube video at the exact time and found the clue. Also their was some speculation behind the appearing, disappearing coffee mug.Turns out it was something left on accident by a crew member.

These videos turned what could have been a simple announcement into a week long event. We’ve been grateful that our friends at Lifeway have enjoyed (or put up with) our handling of the projects, our off-beat humor and sense of timing. For a second year, we’ve been able to work with them on the theme release. Here’s last year’s video that started it all: