Corbin Gross
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I’m actually getting a new camera too. Either a Nikon D800 or a Canon 5D MkIII.
I’ll be shooting corporate video mostly. Really everything from talking heads, to presentations, to spots.
I rented a Ninja II a couple of times, and I liked everything about it except that it seems I can’t calibrate the monitor. It was too bright and too magenta.
Corbin Gross | SANMAR
Photographer/Videographer | Marketing
22833 SE Black Nugget Road | Issaquah, WA 98029
206.727.5501 x5237
http://www.sanmar.com -
Hey, guys. I never checked back in to let you know now it turned out.
Here’s a link to the finished video. I think it turned out alright. It was my first time with this sort of shoot.
I didn’t wind up having enough room or time in any of the locations to put up the huge fill. Where it was possible I had one or two Spiderlights at the camera, but the medium sized ones, not the big ones. Some of the locations were just too tight for that though. Idid put a white card pretty much everywhere possible. I covered the floors and taped or pinned fill to every surface not pointed at the camera (every surface that would give good fill anyhow).
The other thing I did that really helped was scrim the overhead lights. I liked the direction of most of the overhead lights, but just not the shape. So I went to Ikea (well, the stylist went to Ikea) and got a couple of packs of the sheerest curtains they had. These were about half the density of a ScrimJim screen, so I doubled them up and hung them from the drop ceilings with those clips made for drop ceiling frames. It worked really great. It effectively increased the size of an overhead light by about 4x-6x while cutting a bit of the power.
Corbin Gross | SANMAR
Photographer/Videographer | Marketing
22833 SE Black Nugget Road | Issaquah, WA 98029
206.727.5501 x5237
http://www.sanmar.comSome contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!This happens because the functionality/content marked as “Google Youtube” uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.
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Hey, guys. Thanks for the feedback. And sorry about the late reply.
OK. So I’ve tightened it up a bit, and added a few things to hopefully clarify the message. I haven’t made any drastic changes, but I think it works for this time.
There are a few things that would be more clear to the typical viewer of our videos. Our customers will be much more familiar with the corporate environment and this type of gifting assignment. Though, this is a simplified/exaggerated scenario.
In retrospect, I’d probably have had the intern call the number on the catalog as switching between the book and the website isn’t very handy. Though it’s entirely plausible, it’s probably not as common as one or the other. We were trying to show as many of our tools as possible.
I don’t mind implying how the intern get’s to be VP. I felt if I laid it out too much it’d read more like a tutorial. But it did seem funnier in meetings than it actually turned out. With better shooting and on-set decisions I think there are several shots that could be great instead of OK.
Overall though, I’m reasonably happy with my first attempt an something besides a talking head or testimonial. The rest of the team seems to like it OK too, but they’re not you guys, so they’re not able to give me the good, technical feedback of a pro.
So anyway, I really, really appreciate the feedback I got. I think there are several things I can take in to my next project that will help out tremendously. I think the video is launching Monday, but here’s the link to the final if anybody would like to see how it turned out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6PFEE0A4Kg
Thanks again!
Corbin Gross | SANMAR
Photographer/Videographer | Marketing
22833 SE Black Nugget Road | Issaquah, WA 98029
206.727.5501 x5237
http://www.sanmar.comSome contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!This happens because the functionality/content marked as “Google Youtube” uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.
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I feel your pain, friend. I’m an in-house guy too, and nobody ever understands (superlative). My first studio was about 6×9. I was there for 2 years and never did anything but stills of swatches (which we scan now) and a few corporate headshots. It was ludicrous.
I like the shooting through a door idea, I’ve done that many times myself. That room would actually be not so bad if that could be arranged. The window is a challenge, but easy enough to block the light. If there’s not a door centered on the short wall, you might be able to get them to put that in the budget. One door is way cheaper than a whole room.
For that storage space, you might be OK if HVAC is your only noise, unless it’s super loud. It’s better to not have that, but the problem can be minimized with very close mic placement (not eliminated though). Plus, I’d rather have a little HVAC noise than zingy, too-small room noise. But that’s just me. If there are other people in that storage space that might be a problem. Are people loading/unloading or using forklifts or anything?
I have a good dedicated space where I work now. But often times I shoot other places when required. If you’re doing 90% talking heads, you could shoot in the small room and then set up in other spaces when required.
Corbin Gross | SANMAR
Photographer/Videographer | Marketing
22833 SE Black Nugget Road | Issaquah, WA 98029
206.727.5501 x5237
http://www.sanmar.com -
Thanks for the great feedback, guys. (sorry about the late reply) I’m glad you guys seem to like the photography. This was one of the first videos we’ve done with DSLR instead of video. I really, really like shooting with DSLR.
Having a video be able to stand on it’s own is a good thing to keep in my mental checklist. Sometimes I have to decide what’s absolutely essential, and 20sec can be a very long time on the interwebs.
In the recruiting video, really it’s about the working environment. The client (owner/HR) had 3 things they wanted touched in the video, (they added a 4th at the final review!), none of them were “what” is SanMar. But I can definitely see, as an uninitiated viewer, that the lack of company knowledge could be a little distracting, or even off putting. I might see if I can come up with a 1-2 line explanation that I can make sure get’s in to these.
I totally agree on mixing in some tight shots. While the recruiting video was in production we had an additional position on my team who was sort of art directing the shoot. He liked the wider shots. If I were to do it again (which I will very soon), I’d like to have a second camera shooting some tighter shots and some of-axis, camera-aware type shots.
Ugh, and the jellovision! I was using a steady cam for the first time and then tried to use the warp stabilizer (had just upgraded to CS6). Not good. I wanted to go back and replace all that stuff with the original clips but just didn’t get a chance. That’s probably my least favorite part of the video as it just looks amateur.
For the District BTS video, I really tried to show clothing and some labeling to give the viewer an idea that this is a clothing company. Originally the client asked me to shoot abstractly, lots of colors and textures, and to avoid shooting the talent as much as possible. Then, of course, at first review they were all “Where are all the pretty people?”. You know how that goes. I think if it was a little more like the classic fashion shoot BTS video that it would be easier to understand. Maybe if I’d had a shot with somebody getting product ready, or maybe even some discussions over layouts it would be more clear what’s going on.
Corbin Gross | SANMAR
Photographer/Videographer | Marketing
22833 SE Black Nugget Road | Issaquah, WA 98029
206.727.5501 x5237
http://www.sanmar.com -
Thanks for the review. And yeah, we’re a little hard to figure out.
We’re a wholesaler who’s products will usually make 2-3 more stops before it gets to the end user. We really operate in the background.
Both videos appear in a context that would answer most questions. The recruiting video is on our Careers page and has lots of info on what we do, and the District video is on the District site, making it very apparent that it’s a clothing company. I just wanted to present them out of context so as to get a review solely based on the videos.
https://www.sanmar.com/cgi-bin/jobs.cgi
https://www.districtclothing.com/
Corbin Gross | SANMAR
Photographer/Videographer | Marketing
22833 SE Black Nugget Road | Issaquah, WA 98029
206.727.5501 x5237
http://www.sanmar.com -
Thanks so much for the critique. I totally get what you’re saying about the concept. It might have been cool to start with a MGR meeting deciding to “give it to Mike, he’ll eat anything” kind of a motif. That’ll be for next time though, this is already shot and will be due soon. You’re right about the length though, I’ve already cut about 35 sec off just tightening it up and removing some of the redundant shopping shots.
What about understandability though? That was my main concern. Were you able to understand the story without reading my synopsis? Specifically, was the talent able to convey ‘passing the buck’? I thought it might look like they were distributing a memo instead of handing off the project.
Ideally, I’ll be able to convey that without having to add titles. I have a comic book style thought bubble/lower third worked out and also an X-files/crime drama typewriter look as well, but I didn’t shoot for that, so it’s going to look a little bandaid-y if I have to use them.
Thanks!
Corbin Gross | SANMAR
Photographer/Videographer | Marketing
22833 SE Black Nugget Road | Issaquah, WA 98029
206.727.5501 x5237
http://www.sanmar.com -
I got a new cable. It works now. I’m all set.
Corbin Gross | SANMAR
Photographer/Videographer | Marketing
22833 SE Black Nugget Road | Issaquah, WA 98029
206.727.5501 x5237
http://www.sanmar.com -
I’m downloading it now. It looks really cool. Thanks for the tip!
Edit: Ah, bummer! I’m using OS 10.6, but I need 10.7! Well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles, I guess…
I’ll have to try to give that software a try later on though. It seems perfect for what I’m doing.Corbin Gross | SANMAR
Photographer/Videographer | Marketing
22833 SE Black Nugget Road | Issaquah, WA 98029
206.727.5501 x5237
http://www.sanmar.com -
I was thinking about the potential for planning lighting as well. I’d have to do quite a bit more planning while building the sets though. But e’re still early enough in the planning that I don’t even know where we’re going shoot, so I wouldn’t even be able to measure out properly for falloff and placement.
I think, if this works OK, that in the future I’ll cut out some images as suggested. I was going to do that this time, but I didn’t want the look of any of the “characters” to be distracting for the other people involved. We haven’t really decided on the look of most of the characters, and some people are too literal to have a placeholder be too detailed.
Corbin Gross | SANMAR
Photographer/Videographer | Marketing
22833 SE Black Nugget Road | Issaquah, WA 98029
206.727.5501 x5237
http://www.sanmar.com