Sometimes we get stuck in our ways, so it’s important to keep an open mind and break away from them once in a while.

I was thinking about that today during a shoot for Goose Island Beer Company.  It’s easy to run on automatic pilot.  You want to shoot a product and make it look good, you put a soft light in front of it, and bingo… nice shot.  Or is it?

The first time I produced a beer video that’s what I did, and I couldn’t figure out why the beer wasn’t photographing well.  I started experimenting with my lights and the solution practically jumped off the screen.  Backlight.

Unless you want a silhouette, I would never think to shoot with only a backlight, but the results were stunning.  By putting the light behind the glass, the beers’ colors came to life.

Auto-pilot isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

–Tony Gnau

You might not want to watch the following video if you’re thirsty. :-)

VIDEO Goose Island-Honker’s Ale

I think marketing guru Seth Godin might be reading T60-The Blog.  Okay, wishful thinking, but he did touch on a subject I wrote about earlier this week.

Godin wrote in his Blog today that big events can generate enthusiasm for your ideas, company, et cetera… as long as you truly make them BIG.  His point is that sometimes grand openings and other big events can become normal… mundane.

One way to make sure that doesn’t happen is to create a video at your event that participants can share with others once they leave.  Make sure to let people know about the upcoming video during the event.  Display a web address where everyone will be able to find it.  Ask for their email addresses so you can let them know when it’s ready.  Post the finished video on your social media sites.

And whatever you do, don’t forget to make sure to involve the event participants in the video while you’re shooting.  If they think they might be in it, they’ll seek it out.  And if they do get into the video, they’ll share it with others.

Now your big event lives on even after it’s over.

–Tony Gnau

T60 incorporated sponsors into an event video produced for NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade

I saw a good blog post today by Jason Peck at sponsorpark.com.  He talks about some interesting ways athletes and their sponsors are using social media to connect with fans, and it serves as a great example for any business… especially if your company sponsors events.

Event sponsorship is traditionally a marketing tool that ends the day after the event, but that doesn’t have to be the case.  Creating a video at the event, and emailing links to the people who attended, could result in them sharing the video with countless others.  And if your company has social media accounts, you can share the video there as well.  Once you do that, the event sponsorship continues to generate interest long after the event ends.

See how T60 incorporated sponsorships into the following event video produced for NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade.

https://www.t60productions.com/Video-Dwyane_Wade_Basketball_Camp.html

I often encourage businesses to highlight their own employees in company videos.  The reason is simple… their passion for what they do makes them the company’s biggest, and often best, cheerleaders.

So… let’s end the week with a story about cheerleaders by one of my favorite reporters… Boyd Huppert at KARE-TV in Minneapolis.

Video on the right side of the linked page: The Cougarettes

We’ve got spirit, yes we do.  We’ve got spirit, how ’bout you!?

Happy Weekend!

–Tony Gnau

Northern Illinois had an earthquake this morning.  Yes, an earthquake.  While I’m not suggesting Chicagoland businesses run out and produce videos on earthquake preparedness, it did get me thinking.

Many companies show an orientation video to new employees.  It usually contains all sorts of information about the business, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one that includes what to do in case of an emergency.  Who’s in charge?  Are their exit plans?  Is it every man, woman and child for themselves!?

Just some food for thought.  It might be something worth considering next time you update that video or start from scratch.

–Tony Gnau

Video production is a creative process.  You can try to plan things in advance, but sometimes the best idea doesn’t come around until you’re in the middle of a shoot.

Don’t be afraid to roll with it.

–Tony Gnau

That’s right… Oprah aired some T60 video this morning.  Not much, but it was still exciting to see it.

How did that happen?  Walgreens officials called T60 a couple weeks ago and hired us for a quick shoot and edit.  The pharmacy giant needed video of someone getting their glucose level checked at one of its in-store clinics.  We were told it was for an Oprah Winfrey Show episode focused on diabetes, but nobody was sure if our video would ever make the air.

Well, it did… in the last few minutes of the show.  She aired about 10-20 seconds worth.

Thank you Walgreens and Oprah!

–Tony Gnau

T60 is all about supporting the people who support us, so please watch the season premiere of “American Greed” tonight on CNBC (8pm CT, 9pm ET/PT).

The show’s producer is Mike West… a good friend of T60 Productions. We’ll have our DVR set and hope you will too!

–A quick summary of On the Run (HR 25/Samuel Israel III): A look at what happened before and after 6/9/08, the day investment advisor Samuel Israel was scheduled to begin his prison sentence, but went on the run from police instead.

WINTER, slumbering in the open air,

Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1825

Wedding Blogs.  They’re kind of taking over here at T60.  Katie (T60’s V.P. of Marketing) and I are getting married in June, so our office is wedding Blog central.  They have been a big source of wedding inspiration, but we’re also picking up on some interesting business insights that apply to our clients.

Katie sent me a posting this week from still photographer Scott Bourne.  It was his take on wedding photographers who are selling $500 wedding packages, which he says is well below the national average.  He thinks undercutting on price also means slashing quality and damaging the industry’s reputation.

Bourne mentions that part of the problem is people who think anyone with a good camera will produce images like a professional photographer.  Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth, and it’s something I see in a lot of corporate videos.  Anyone with a nice camera and a Mac can put together a video on the cheap, but you really do get what you pay for.

This is a real problem.  A company’s prospective clients can tell the difference between a professional video and an amateur one.  Why?  They watch television.  People are savvy video viewers these days.  They’ve seen everything from their own home movies to the best Hollywood has to offer… and they can see the difference.

Companies put a lot of time and effort into offering clients quality products and services.  Why risk that reputation by creating a low-quality, amateur video when professionals are producing videos for as little as $1,200?

–Tony Gnau