Visual Concepts Inc.

We just returned from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida where we staged the bi-annual sales meeting for the Consumer Products Group of Honeywell Corporation. You think Honeywell and some big, giant, impersonal conglomerate comes to mind. But the makers of FRAM, Prestone, and Autolite automotive products put on a very intimate meeting for about 100 sales and marketing associates. We’ve been producing and staging their meetings (as well as designing and maintaining their web sites) since 2003. Despite the size of their meetings, they continue to maintain their commitment to “putting on a good show.”

Sales meetings are all about communication. You’re trying to tell people about a new product, procedure, or program, and you want to motivate them to act on what they hear. Calling up the hotel A/V department a week before the meeting, ordering a screen, a projector, and a microphone or two just won’t cut it. You don’t have to spend a fortune but taking a minute to think about who’s going to say what, how their visuals (PowerPoint or video) will weave into their presentation, and how lighting and sound will help drive home the message is critical. We call it Business Theater.

It also shows a degree of respect for your workforce. Putting some extra effort into establishing a meeting theme, providing a modest amount of entertainment, and making things look like there was some real thought that went into the planning, goes a long way to showing the people who make your business successful that they are valued and appreciated. In these difficult economic times, it’s a small cost to pay for some potentially big rewards.

Steve Shaw

The one thing I love the most about being a Director of Photography is the challenge. Every project is unique, and every location challenges you in a different way. Sometimes it’s lighting, sometimes it’s time, but sometimes it’s a challenge just getting the “subject” in the right location at the right time! This was the case on this last shoot for Peter Pan Bus Lines.

Ric Serrenho and I spent the last two days in New York City for the second production day of the Peter Pan “On-board Video” that Ric blogged about back in July. This shoot day was all about capturing the b-roll (the pretty pictures you see in a video while someone is talking). Our goal was to capture images of the Peter Pan Bus in a variety of premier New York City destinations. Then do it all over again the next day for Bolt Bus, their premier coach shuttle service.

Logistically speaking it kind of makes you laugh. All we had to do was coordinate getting at 40’ bus through the streets of Manhattan and strategically positioned in the center of Times Square for example! Not only that, Ric and I had to get my chase car (the car with the camera in it) there first so I can get out and set the shot before the bus even gets there!

Needless to say, we had to get the most footage possible out of just one take. We shot with two cameras, our DVW700 Digital Betacam and the HVR-Z1U HDVcam camera. Ric’s camera was located on the bus at all times shooting the bus driver as he navigated the busy streets of Manhattan and shooting POV footage through the windshield. My camera was located in the chase car that paced along the outside the bus shooting exteriors of the bus driving through Manhattan. Then, the chase car had to break away from the bus and get to our next location first to setup.

Communication was critical. Using push-to-talk cell phones we kept meticulous track of where each vehicle was and to deliver the cues to the bus driver when it was time to make his “entrance”. We had professional drivers who knew the city driving both the chase car and the bus, coordinating travel routes with each other on-the-fly…meanwhile Ric coordinated shooting locations and logistics in order to capture everything on video tape.

Hat’s off to the Peter Pan and the Bolt Bus drivers! They managed to get those 40’ busses in position and around the city beautifully. Each shot took 30 minutes or more to coordinate and position, but the results were outstanding.

Seeing the Peter Pan bus in the center of the New York City really is impressive!

Rob Blanchard

After reading the recent selection of Springfield to Forbes Fastest Dying Cities I have a suggestion for the Springfield area. Why don’t you become “Basketball City, USA.” Springfield has a long rich history of innovation. One of the most important is the Dr. Naismith’s invention of the game of basketball at Springfield College. Because of this Springfield is the home of the Basketball Hall of Fame! But why stop there? Why not make all of the downtown themed after the great game that is played around the world!

Here are just a few of my ideas. Theme all the downtown streets after members of the Hall of Fame, Larry Bird Drive, and Magic Johnson Lane! Paint basketballs on the streets and murals on appropriate walls. Build outside basketball courts along Main St. with lighting for night games. It would be great to have projection systems with basketball footage projected around the courts and the city. There would need to be a number of restaurant/bar establishments as well. The big point is to make the City of Springfield part of the experience of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

With the loss of manufacturing Springfield has to really consider re-branding its image. Everyday many travel through Springfield on Route 91. There has to be a compelling reason for them to stop and experience what Springfield has to offer. Basketball City, USA can be the ticket!

Ric Serrenho

As a Director of Photography/Producer who has been creating corporate communications for the past 22 years I’m noticing a trend in the market place that is somewhat disturbing.  It appears that medium and large agencies are trying to position themselves as experts regarding the uses and methods of incorporating video elements into websites.  Let me say that Visual Concepts started as a video production company when the delivery system in the corporate world was more often than not a VHS machine.  It was tough in the 80’s to produce marketing and training video that was “broadcast quality” and it had to be dubbed to the mushy world of 200 lines of resolution.  I know that DP’s all over where happy when the DVD finally eliminated the VHS!  So, we have gone form VHS, to DVD to the web.

The web today is what I call a “fluid” medium.  What that means is that it is ever changing and moving images be they Flash or video will continue to become a bigger part of the internet experience.  So, as agencies, who in the past have been so focused on print and TV advertising are now attempting to convince the market place that they are ready to be experts on integration of moving images into the web.  When you go with the agency route you’re bascially creating a “middle-man”  agencies usually have to go out of house to production companies to produce the video for web.  Often agencies are also used to working from “television ad” budgets.  You will be paying more.

I’m proud to say that Visual Concepts was born as a video business, because that was the electronic medium that was available to us in 1986.  We have looked at each and every technology break through (web, blu ray) as a opportunity to create on a different canvas, if you will.  We have been ahead of the curve with Flash, and video elements and the whole integration and design is to have visitors experience the most the electronic communications world can deliver.  Just saying that video on the web is powerful is not enough.  One aspect will never change: it’s always been the design and delivering of the message that has to be done with great care and understanding of the audience and the medium.

Ric Serrenho

Music City USA…here I come…again!  I was back on the road again with Spalding Sports, a Visual Concepts client for nearly 20 years!  Spalding scheduled a Production Day with Vince Young, Quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, for July 22^nd while Vince was back in Nashville preparing for NFL Training Camp.  Typically we’ll shoot commercials, shoot photos for print ads, posters, catalogs and for www.spalding.com.  Spalding will also uses these days to shoot video for various marketing projects and for exclusive content on www.spalding.com and Spalding YouTube.  But the goal of this trip for Spalding wasn’t so much about marketing or branding, this trip was different.

This trip was all about community.  Giving back is extremely important to Spalding and to Vince Young, and together they have been making a difference.

We began the day at 8:00am at the hotel.  Spalding pulled their bright orange and blue sticker-wrapped pickup truck to the hotel loading dock.  We loaded the truck and two rental cars full of Spalding product, nearly 400 footballs, and headed off for the studio.  Setup started at 8:30 and Vince arrived 11.  I conducted a quick 20 minute interview with Vince, talking a lot about why community is so important to him and what is partnership with Spalding has done for him.  We also discussed a few Fan questions as part of a new viral marketing campaign that lets the consumer submit their interview questions for Vince Young via YouTube.

Afterwards, Vince posed for a short photo shoot with the latest Spalding product and by 12:30pm Vince climbed in the Spalding truck and we were off.  Over the course of the next few hours we chased the Spalding truck around Nashville, Tennessee to completely surprise a few community organizations.  We first showed up at Father Ryan High School to interrupt a football practice.  Vince gave a motivational talk to 75 young men and shook each of their hands as he gave each of them a Spalding J5V Advance football.

From there we followed Vince to the Andrew Jackson Boys & Girls Club to visit a group of nearly 100 unsuspecting boys and girls.  Seeing how they welcomed Vince was something that gave me chills.  I couldn’t help but to smile from ear to ear as the screams pierced my ears.  Vince walked in to hugs and high fives and eventually got them all to quiet down.  When you looked in the corner of the gymnasium you could see the balls they were currently using, torn all the way to the bladder.  Instantly you know why you were here.

He spent his time talking to them about the importance of respect, education, good behavior, and how all of those things will allow you to accomplish anything you can dream of.  He gave out nearly 100 Spalding Rookie Gear footballs, 1 for every kid.  Before you knew it balls were whizzing around the gym, and some were still in the box!

Then, Vince autographed every single one!

We left the Boys and Girls Club at around 3:00 pm and then went to a local Academy Sports store.  Here Vince stocked the very first shipment of Spalding VY footballs and took pictures with totally shocked shoppers.

It’s not everyday I can take part in something that means so much to so many people.

Rob Blanchard

They say history repeats itself.  Well, in more ways than one I’ve found that technology does the same.  Many of you have seen the commercials for HD-DVD’s and Blu-ray DVD’s.  To keep it short, Toshiba (HD-DVD) and Sony (Blu-ray) both developed technologies that allowed HD playback in your home.  And here is where history repeats itself with the last few years all too reminiscent of Sony’s Betamax format vs. JVC’s VHS format (circa. 1975 – yes it was that long ago…and no I wasn’t born yet).  These types of things are nothing new to our industry where there is no standard standard and there are so many format options it really makes your head spin.  Just like VHS, Blu-ray is the same…but different.

About 4 weeks ago a Fortune 100 company came to us and asked if we have the ability to author Blu-ray DVD’s.  The answer is yes, Visual Concepts can author Blu-ray discs and has been diligent in keeping up with technology and HD trends to make sure we offer our clients top-level service.  In this case, the company was editing a video internally.  After it passed all internal approvals they needed Visual Concepts to author a Blu-ray DVD for playback on a large HD video wall at a tradeshow in England.  Together we determined they would deliver the content via a data disc and we would author a looping Blu-ray DVD.

But wait, it’s not that simple…remember I said Blu-ray is the same…but different?

Blu-ray technology is still very young…the same as DVD +R and DVD –R once was.  Remember when DVD technology was so new some DVD players would play certain kinds of discs, or only certain brands of discs, and others would not?  Too keep this short, Blu-ray is the same.  I can’t explain it all here it’s much too long and much too boring.  In short, Blu-ray technology is experiencing many of the same playback compatibility issues that were experienced with regular DVD’s.

So what are your options?

There are two solutions available to our clients:  recording vs. replication.  Recording means burning media to a disc using BD-R discs (think DVD-R).  This option is much faster and much more affordable.  However, playback compatibility is a very real problem and you will end up with discs that will not play reliably in the field.  This is a scary proposition when you think about end-user frustrations, corporate image, and etc.  Replication starts with a glass master.  Your discs are then replicated by “stamping” your data into molten plastic as they are molded.  This is how all of your home movies are created.  All replication houses will also embed special licensing code into your DVD signifying that it is original copyrighted content and it will be protected from being duplicated illegally.  This option is more expensive than recording, but you are guaranteed playback in all Blu-ray DVD players.  You are also paying for all of benefits of piracy protection…unfortunately this is never a huge concern in Corporate Communications where further duplication and distribution is almost always a plus.

In this case they needed 1 disc that would play 1 time at 1 event.  The solution was simple because their scenario took place in a very controlled environment.  Visual Concepts recorded a Blu-ray DVD for them and recommended a specific Samsung Blu-ray player that was compatible with the BD-R disc.  Our client then requested this exact player from their tradeshow vendor and this project was completed quickly and inexpensively.  In their case replication would have been a waste of time and money.

Oh, and as for the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray DVD format war, Toshiba called it quits on HD-DVD in February of 2008.  Now I know what player to buy for my house and the company knows which technology to invest in!

Blu-ray DVD’s – The same…but different.

Rob Blanchard

We just starting the field production for the class of 2008 Springfield Technical Community College Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame. It was a great way to start as the first business we had to  “profile” on HD was the Student Prince Fort Restaurant in Springfield Massachusetts.  We did a detailed interview with Rudi Sherff, who is the current owner, along with his sister Barbara Meunier, and brother Peter Sherff.

Our crew included our Account Representive,  Stephaine Serrenho, Director of Photography, Rob Blanchard, Producer/Editor, Scott Serencha, and me, Ric Serrenho, consumer of Spaten and big fan of the Student Prince Fort Restaurant.

Rob shot using the Sony HVR-Z1U and he did a great job videotaping the steins, stained glass and cork screw collection!

We will be returning in September to the Fort to shoot the crowds on “speak like a Pirate day”.  The tell me it’s September 19th.  The video will play at the Log Cabin in Easthampton during the induction ceremony on October 2nd.  We are very excited to be part of this great event.  More details to follow as we continue profiling Western Massachusetts business.  Congratulations to the Student Prince Fort Restuarant!

Ric Serrenho

Here’s one not related to communications! About three years ago my wife and I decided not to cut a section of our lawn. Now, our yard is two acres of which we did mow about one in three quarters acres. We decided to make about a quarter of an acre into a wild flower area. When we did it it was because we wanted the wild flowers. Today, it seems like it would be a great way to save energy (less mowing) and make a statement about saving fuel and our environment.

Today we have wild flowers growing and it looks great! We cut the perimeter with nice curves so our “island of flowers” has a neat style. we’ve noticed more animal life (turkeys, rabbits, birds, etc.) are using the flower, wild grass area as well.

I really think that this would be a great initiative for the “yards” of America! Leave a section of your lawn wild! You will be saving energy and creating a little different piece of nature on your property! Happy Birthday America!

Ric Serrenho

We are in the process of shooting an on-board video for Peter Pan Bus Lines. Our camera of choice for this project was our DVW-700! We purchased this great digital camera in 1994-serial #28! It still creates a great image. We had to replace the head block when the camera was around five years old. It has a nice Canon wide angle lens that makes small areas look big–great for corporate work!

For the on-board video we videotaped Melissa Picknelly outside the bus as she described the services that Peter Pan provides. Our Director of Photography, Rob Blanchard used a Arri 575 with a Chimera as a key light source, along with a bounce card to give Melissa a nice backlight. The depth of field that our DVW-700 along with the Canon lens was impressive. We also videotaped a bus driver describing the safety features of the bus. We had three rows of seat removed from the bus so we could get our camera/prompter combination on the bus. We lit the bus driver with the Arri 575 with some bounce and tungsten light (color corrected) for fill.

I can’t say enough good things about the products we’ve purchased from Sony. I’d have to say that maybe the best of the best is our DVW-700! It has produced great images for fourteen years! The camera with the lens in ‘94 came with a bill of almost $100,000! I can tell you that camera owes us nothing! If HD hadn’t come along it would still be the king!

Ric Serrenho

Today my company is doing something we haven’t done in a long time.
We are documenting a meeting at a local hospital that we will edit into a DVD for hospital staff members to see when they can.
Now I realize that this is not new technology, however, sometimes we forget what a good solid tool video can be.
The hospital was having to conduct the same meeting eight different times to reach as many as possible! Now they can do it once and make sure
the DVD is available to all.

Our three person crew will document the entire meeting.
We are using wireless lavalier microphones on each presenter as sound is the most critical component of
the video.
The viewers of the DVD must hear the presentation as if they are standing right next to the presenter.
We are taping the presentation with one camera the Sony HVRZ1U shooing in the DV format. We keep lighting to a
minimum with two Arri 1k’s for overall lighting of the podium area.

Our client gives us a copy of the PowerPoint and we edit in the slides on Final Cut Pro. So by the end of today our client will have an
edited DVD of a meeting that they can make available to their entire hospital staff that works three shifts.
We will have created a time saver for the hospital staff who makes the presentation. The DVD will work better with all the hospital staff
who can now watch the message at their convience. And finally, it creates a record for the hospital of each presentation that they make.

Ric Serrenho