"Aaaaand... Action!" Much to my pure enjoyment, this was my most common phrase over the weekend. After a short break, it was time to pull out the cameras once again only this time, it wasn't for a "side project". This time it was part of my regular job. So what exactly were we producing? Sorry, I can't fill you in on all the details, my company may not like me spilling the beans on an upcoming campaign on my personal blog. So here's the story in a nutshell.. without really telling you anything.
Early last week, we began talking about how to promote an upcoming show. As my job deals with online marketing, I naturally started pushing the powers that be to do something big for the web. I have been pushing for a long time, trying to make my case to the company that we need to do better at harnessing the power of the internet. It's quite simple, really. We create some kind of inexpensive video that no one has seen before in our industry. Something totally different from what we'd normally do, so that when people see it, they'd be so surprised that this video was somehow connected to us, that they'd just have to pass it on to their friends. You stick something like that on YouTube (totally free), or you stick it on the right internet message boards (totally free), you send it out in e-mails (totally free) and then you watch it go. Assuming you don't spend a ton on the production, and it can get some legs on the internet, then you can potentially create a very wide reaching marketing campaign.. for next to nothing.
With that as the goal and my boss giving me the line that always fires me up "We'll use this as a test of your creativity", I was off. Before long, I had written a quickie story line that I thought was intriguing to me, I had written the script and I had my video producer signing off on the concept. This was also an easy sell as I conceived the thing to look like a youtube style video. Leave home the tripods, the dolly tracks and wireless mics, this was just a down and dirty, run around and shoot style project. This allowed me to get the right look, and to keep our costs down.
So after a very quick pre-production cycle, the weekend came.. time to actually film. Due to our quick schedule, we didn't have time to really cast the film, we just ended up with what our casting agency sent over. We all met yesterday morning, scripts in hand, props ready, costumes done (yes, I had to create a costume for one character) and we began to film, working through the day to get it all done. To me, this was just great fun. For once, I didn't have to be a one man show. I could direct the film and concentrate on what I was after and, with the exception of a few shots that I just had too visualized in my noggin, I had a cameraman to do the filming. Add in a production assistant and suddenly I begin to realize why it is nice to have a big crew. This wasn't a Saturday of work.. this was a Saturday of fun!!
So.. now what? After reviewing the footage today.. I am.. actually.. scared... to.. death. Like I said, this is something we have never tried before.. so how will people, especially those higher up, respond to our little experiment? And in reviewing the footage... I am not too pleased with how my actors delivered. It comes across as cheesy and painful to watch.
And so begins the challenge... take all this footage, create something from it that will work... produce the film, create the website and have it all done by next week (and get both execs and legal to sign off on it) and get it live on the web by the end of the month. Yikes. I love these challenges!
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UPDATE: JANUARY 25TH: Finished the film today. It was quite the little puzzle to put together. In the end, the film is totally different than what I scripted last week... funny how that happens. We ended up shooting new footage several nights this last week thanks to a last minute creative idea. But, I have gone from scared to feeling a little better. I finally had the guts to begin showing it around in my own department and to a few down at the studio. They all laughed through it. Good sign!
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UPDATE: JANUARY 29TH: Today was my scariest thus far. The video is done and locked. The site is now done. Next, I submitted the whole thing to my boss, who has known I was working on something, but still very fuzzy on exactly what. For a few minutes after sending the e-mail.. I got to sit there and sweat, wondering if he would think this was the stupidest thing I had ever done, or if it was ok. With him.. you just never know...
Luckily, he loved it. And suddenly things exploded. Next thing I know, there is talk of future installments, trademarking, t-shirts, etc. And the site that was all set to go live on Friday... had to be launched early so that we could begin spreading the word early. To further ease my worries.. it actually passed legal. And when the video was shown to the CEO... "He laughed his a$$ off" was the official quote. Ok... I can suddenly sleep a little better now.
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UPDATE: FEBRUARY 1ST:
Now the site is live and we begin to promote it across the internet, I can safely add my link here. Now.. will the site perform over the next few weeks? I get to sit back and track it, and hope it spreads. Time will tell.
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