Convey

Posted by kevin - February 1, 2012 - Business, News and Recent Projects, Video portfolio

I’ve worked with Minneapolis-based PR company One Simple Plan on a number of videos. For this project, they were asked by their client, Convey, to create a branding video that would introduce viewers to who they are and use both customer testimonials and a backdrop of their large annual conference to show their leadership role in the tax reporting industry. One Simple Plan and Convey created an outline of key points for the video, and I was brought in to develop a visual approach and then shoot and edit the video.

Farmwise

Posted by kevin - January 23, 2012 - News and Recent Projects, Nonprofit sample, Nonprofits, Video portfolio

One of the more unique projects I’ve worked on for the last two years running is the Minnesota Idea Open challenge, which invites people doing good work around the state to present their ideas in the hope of winning a $15,000 grant to further their work. I was approached by the Minnesota Idea Open people in 2010 and again in 2011 to create short, fun, informative videos for the top three finalists. People around the state then watched the videos and voted on who should receive the grant. The tricky task for me was to plan, shoot and edit the three short documentary-style videos all within two weeks. I was given a mostly free hand in creative styling, which was helpful given the tight time-frame, as was fast, clear organization with the participants. The fun aspect was getting to know these great ideas growing here in our state, and getting to promote them. The Farmwise folks won the grant for 2011.

agriculture, documentary, minneapolis video production, nonprofit, promo video, video production, viral video, web video

Theater of Public Policy

Posted by kevin - January 23, 2012 - Documentary, News and Recent Projects, Video portfolio

Improv sure looks tough, and it can’t be any easier when you’re asked to riff on something as depressing as the economy, but that’s exactly what happens here to great effect. I was hired to make a promo for The Theater of Public Policy, which brings in featured experts for interviews on serious topics and then proceeds to pick it all apart with humor, courtesy of a group of Minneapolis’s best improv performers. If you’d like to see the full one-hour show, you can watch it here.

documentary, freelance director of photography, LED, lighting, minneapolis video production, nonprofit, Panasonic camera, promo video, Theater, video production, viral video, web video

The advantages of LED lighting

Posted by kevin - January 23, 2012 - News and Recent Projects

Many clients are intrigued by the LED lights I use, so I thought I’d explain their advantages. The benefits of LED lights are numerous: they’re quick and easy to set-up, they’re dimmable 0%-100%, they’re daylight temperature balanced so they’re easy to mix with sunlight, their low heat output lets on-camera talent stay comfortable and makes break-down faster, they use so little power you can put five or more lights on one household circuit, plus these models can be IDX-battery powered for shooting literally anywhere in the world. The lights I use are manufactured by Flolight. Lightpanels also makes very good LED lights, but I did a side-by-side test at rental house Cinequipt and found that Flolights were much brighter. They’re now my #1 lights for interviews, and I still have my four-light Arri tungsten set plus a Dedolight for when more light is needed (e.g. lighting sets or backdrops). When you need interviews shot quickly and efficiently, LEDs are a fantastic answer. Here are some screengrabs and a photo from recent shoots. The interview screengrab is from a shoot in which I used LEDs and a background practical lamp. The other set-up used LEDs on the talent and Arri lights on the background paper.

Arri, Flolight, freelance director of photography, LED, lighting, minneapolis video production, video production