Logging then uploading video is probably the most boring part of my job, but it must be done.

It takes a few hours to log a 60-minute tape, and another hour to upload it. The logging is tedious, but honestly, that’s where the video comes together in a lot of ways.

Some people will hire interns to do this job. They’ll sit them down and have them transcribe an entire tape. What a waste. A good producer may not like logging raw video and sound bites, but they do it. That process often helps inspire how the story is told. Sometimes it’s not what someone says, but how they say that makes a difference.

You can’t get that reading a transcription you made your intern do for you.

–Tony Gnau

Sen. Millner Video Wins 2010 Telly Award

Wrapping up our look at T60’s 2010 Telly award winners is a video we produced for Illinois State Senator John Millner, Labor Day Parade.  This was actually a video that was never meant to be one.

T60 has a contract with Sen. Millner to produce a whole series of videos, so we’re always looking for opportunities to shoot good raw video of him to use in those future projects. I saw on his Facebook page he was going to be in Schaumburg’s Labor Day parade, so without any prompting from him or his staff I decided to show up and shoot it.

After his initial shock of seeing me, Sen. Millner settled in and really had fun at the parade.  It was obvious he genuinely enjoyed meeting everyone, so I convinced him to let me put together a short video about the parade.

60-seconds and one Telly later, it turned out to be rewarding day both us will remember.

–Tony Gnau

VIDEO: Labor Day Parade

Click to see the rest of T60’s Telly winning videos.

Goose Island Beer video earns 2010 Telly Award

Continuing our spotlight on T60’s 2010 Telly Award winners, today it’s another Goose Island Beer Company project.

Last year we produced videos highlighting nine of Goose Island’s beers. I knew I wanted to submit one of them for the Telly’s, but they all turned out so well it ended up being a tough choice.

Brewmaster Greg Hall had a lot of great stories about each beer, so I finally decided to put aside criteria like camera angles, editing techniques, and I simply picked my favorite story, Pere Jacques.

I think Greg’s explanation of how that beer came to be really draws in the viewer, and especially how the beer got its name.  So with that, please click the link below and enjoy.

–Tony Gnau

VIDEO: Pere Jacques

312 video wins Telly Award.

As I mentioned yesterday, T60 has won three 2010 Telly Awards.  It’s a huge honor, so over the next few days I’ll share some behind-the-scenes stories on each of the winning videos.

First up is Chicago’s Beer.  We produced this video for Goose Island Beer Company. Leaders there wanted a video to show wholesalers and retailers how committed they are to promoting their 312 beer.

This project took all summer. We had to shoot a bunch of events over the course of several months, but my favorite took place out on Lake Michigan.

We went out with the 312 sailing team during a race. The only problem… it might have been the calmest day of the summer. No wind. All the sailors were pretty bummed, but I assured them we’d make it look exciting.

Let me know how I did. :-)

–Tony Gnau

WATCH THE VIDEO: Chicago’s Beer

T60 wins three 2010 Telly's.

I’m happy to announce T60 has won three 2010 Telly awards.  The Telly is one of the non-broadcast industry’s most distinguished honors, and I’m proud to say over the last three years T60 has now won seven of them.

T60 usually submits about 3-4 entries every year for the Telly’s with the hope we’ll win one. This year we went 3 for 3.  Amazing.

Links to watch our 2010 winning entries are listed below. I’ll blog about each individual video over the next few days to provide some behind-the-scenes stories that are pretty interesting.

Again, it’s a huge honor to be recognized this way, and we share the moment with all our clients.

–Tony Gnau

T60’s 2010 Telly Award Winners

Chicago’s Beer: Goose Island Beer Company

Pere Jacques: Goose Island Beer Company

Labor Day Parade: Illinois State Senator John Millner

I was reading an interesting blog post today about social media and video. According to a study done by Dan Zarrella, Facebook stories that contain video are shared more than the average story on the site.

Just more confirmation, if you want to get noticed and shared on Facebook, create a video.

–Tony Gnau

p.s. did I mention you can follow T60 Productions on Facebook? Become a Fan

I’m an expert in my field, chances are you’re an expert in yours.  When I offer my expert opinion on video, I would hope my client listens, but that’s a two-way street.

A good example presented itself today.  I was shooting some beer video for Goose Island Beer Company.  I was looking at a shot that I thought was really good when company Brewmaster Greg Hall said it wasn’t right.  The beer needed more of a head on it.

Now, this is a guy who knows good beer, so guess what we did?  You bet, we re-poured the beer and my good shot looked even better.

Listening to your experts is an expert move in its own right.

–Tony Gnau

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