Granted, there’s more to an effective marketing plan than a single picture. A tremendout amount of work goes into creating visual treats that communicate a client’s message to the target audience. For example, similiar to how a great chef communicates with foods, sauces and spices, a video production company’s “kitchen” prepares visual treats. There are different kinds of sous chefs: researching chefs (who find out what people’s eyes like to see and what their ears like to hear) and creative chefs (who devise custom recipes called scripts and storyboards).

Then, there are chefs who specialize in lighting, props, wardrobe and casting. There’s the head chef, the director, who watches that all the ingredients combine into a moving image that tells the story. The Director of Photography captures the images of the fine actresses and actors. And lastly, there’s the producer, who makes sure the “visual meal” for the eyes gets to the table on time and on budget. Oh, and one more chef. The editor takes all these ingredients, assembles them and, with the Director, puts the final touches to them.

But it all starts with the image.  How did the Canon come so far so fast? Two big milestones.

When Shane Hurlbut, the D.P. of “Terminator Salvation”, shot “The Last Three Minutes” on the Canon 5D, Hollywood held their breath. In what most would consider a risky career move, Shane took the first “official” step of proving the Canon 5D’s visual beauty and economical cost and size was a godsend for video production crews.

When Gale Tattersall, the Director of Photography on the award-winning TV show “House, M.D.” shot the entire season finale with Canon 5D’s, we really knew the game had changed…forever. All kinds of cameras can be used to produce aesthetic images the audience can’t resist – from Cinemascope, 35mm, Hi-Def all the way down to lipstick cams on airplane wings.  But the Canon brings a special new look with new capabilities. The Canon 5D Mark II has a huge sensor (larger than 35mm motion picture frame).  It captures gorgeous color and has the beautiful shallow depth of field video cameras have never had.

Below is an example from our Pro Level Two Boot Camp students, who shot a film noir look with the Canon 5D.  The Canon held the rich blacks and pure whites. Normally you’d have to sacrifice something with video. Either the white of the nun’s habit would blow out or you could stop down and lose detail in the dark shadows. The Canon kept the whites from blowing out and at the same time gave great detail in the dark shadows. This is something a video camera just doesn’t do. Certainly not one in Canon’s price range.

The Canon’s also extremely light sensitive. It can deliver rich images (no “sparkling dots in the black shadows”) up to 1000 ASA (ISO).  The nun image above was lit with one light overhead bouncing off a white table below.  What this means is that if you like the groovy look your nightclub location already has, you don’t turn off all the lights and bring in twelve lights, extension cords, flags, filters and three electricians to recreate what’s already there. This saves time, money and produces more realistic scenes.

5 Benefits to Using the Canon 5D DSLR for Custom Video Production

Benefit #1 – You can move 50% faster. This saves you money, but it also gets better performances from a number of people as detailed below.

Benefit #2 – For a Director and his actors, the Canon’s a dream come true.  If they’re “in character” and delivering the performance of their life you don’t have to stop them and send them to their trailer for two hours so we can light the next shot from scratch.

Benefit #3 – Gaffers (a gaffer does the lighting) love the Canon 5D because they can concentrate on the fine touches they never have time to do because they spend most of their time putting up lights to make the scene bright enough for older cameras to see. But with the Canon 5D, most of that work is done. So, the gaffer can add the cool touches and get that eyelight just perfect and lay a kiss of light on the girl’s cheek.

Benefit #4 – The Producer and the Assistant Director are happy because they’re able to stay on schedule! No more freaking out, rushing the director and yelling at the gaffers to hurry up.

Benefit #5 – Bottom line is that you save money and get a better product in the end. And when you find out that you can get the look of 35mm fillm for 85% less you’ll see that happy days are here again.

The image above was shot on the Canon 5D Mark II for Producer Karen Dixon’s client, Brainzoo.

Canon 5D has put serious filmmaking in everyone’s reach. Stunningly gorgeous images can be yours.  The Association trains people how to use Canon cameras in our Canon Boot Camps. We have one coming up March 26th for experienced camera operators, directors of photography, and grips. If you’d like to see some of our work with the Canon 5D, visit our YouTube channel.

This blog post might save you thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It’s a behind the scenes look at the advertising game, specifically Direct Response TV ads and Google AdWords.  We’ll start with Direct Response TV ads.

Like most games, the Direct Response TV has rules and players.  Some of the players in the Direct Response TV game are prepared to fleece you as fast as a poorly-designed Google AdWords campaign. To understand why, let’s look at the facts of the game and its players.

FACT ONE: TV stations make money by selling airtime to sponsors.

TV stations sell airtime – blocks of time usually in 30 or 60 second lengths. The airtime salesperson comes to work each day with a shelf full of air to sell somebody.  Now, you probably know how hard it is to find a new customer. Would you agree that the best scenario is for that new customer to return over and over again? Of course it would. That’s how you build your customer base.

TV stations are no different. They’d like to sell you lots of blocks of time…called airtime. But if you have a TV ad (or a TV spot as they call it) which worked well the first time and delivered 30 leads, you might only buy one time slot. That would be a bad thing. A good thing for the airtime salesperson would be if your TV spot produced fewer results over a longer period of time. In this way they’d have to buy one hundred time slots than just one or two.

In other words, if we made a TV spot for you that gives you 30 leads the very first time it runs, you might just be happy with that and take it off the air until you need thirty more leads.  But the airtime salesperson would prefer we produced an TV spot that only delivered 3 calls each time it ran.  That way he can sell you ten times more airtime.

There’s another villain in the piece.  Another person who also makes more money if your TV ad produces slowly rising results rather than produces a lot of leads right away.  We’ll reveal the villain in PART TWO.

Have you noticed TV ads that are “cool” but don’t really make you buy what they’re selling?  Send me your comments fletch@theassociation.tv We’ll tell you some reasons why ads like this keep running in PART TWO of this series.

(This is an ongoing series of blogs about TV commercial production and specifically, Direct Response TV commercials)

We’re spilling all the secrets in this series.  Pardon me, but I’m impatient with half-truths and rigged systems that bleed people dry.

FACT TWO: Ad agencies make money from the percentage of airtime they buy to run the TV commercial they made for you. This is why they like long – running commercial campaigns.  This is why they like to convince you it takes a LONG time to be effective.

Here’s the game. The ad agency is looking for a client.  They spend a lot of money to develop a campaign pitch on spec to land him. Maybe they only land 20- 30% of those they pitch. That means they’ve run up a lot of red ink.

How are they going to recoup their costs?

Answer: They’re going to make their money back off a new client. They’ve got two jobs to do. They not only have to pay their staff working with the new client commercial, they have to pay back the red ink they rolled up on those bad pitches.  This is why they’d like their commercial productions to run for a long, long time because they make a commission each time it runs.

So, if you’re running an ad agency, would you rather have the TV spot run twelve times and achieve huge success and have the client walk away happy?  Or would you rather run 52 times and watch it slowly build so that in a year the client was happy? Let’s say you made $1,000. every time the TV ad ran. So, we’re talking about the difference between $52,000 and $12,000.

Anybody? Bueller?

I’d go with the $52,000.  But then my conscience would get to me. Or would it? Sure it would. Especially when I find out that the new Jaguar isn’t that great a car like it was when each one came with its own British mechanic.

The other side of the coin is that a good ad agency, with good consumer analysis and a fresh creative idea that “cuts through” the clutter on TV, should make money by providing a campaign that gives immediate results. Bad ad agencies can make a lot of money running a bad TV ad campaign and putting clients off with a bunch of excuses.   

You don’t have to put up with it.

You should see results soon after the ad starts running. On one local, So. California Direct Response TV campaign, we had 320 calls the first three times the spot ran.  We didn’t really set out to be a Direct Response Advertising Agency. We just kind of backed our way into it.  We just took logical steps to produce a direct response tv ad that communicated with their target audience and got them to pick up the phone and get on their computer to sign up. The spot worked so well, the client had us take it down, so they could catch up with the leads. So effective direct response can be accomplished quickly.

In the next blog, we’ll discuss How to get good results the FIRST time the TV ad runs and how to test your TV ad inexpensively before you buy all the airtime and blow a lot of money on the wrong ad, with the wrong message, targetted at the wrong audience.

By the way, you won’t see many Jaguars The Association’s parking lot.

In my pursuit of all things related to HD Video Production, I stumbled across this:

http://www.dop.net.au/Canon_5DMKII.htm

No offense to Mr. Beck from Down Under, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around this one.

Yes, there is a Canon 5D “down under” there, sandwiched between the lens and the Betacam body.

Don’t get me wrong, I can think of many applications for this rig, from corporate video productions to TV commercials. It’s just so… out of the box. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’d really like to get my hands on one to play with for a day or two. If any of you see a video production crew using one in the L.A. area, drop me a line, Ill be right over.

And Mr. Beck, if you happen to stumble across this blog, I’d like to talk to you. You’re either completely mad, a genius, or a little of both. Anyone else seen an unusual rig or combo?

The Association been training 5D directors of photography for over a year now.  Over 145 professionals have completed our Canon Boot Camp. It’s the fastest selling camera in history and you see it more and more today. In fact, the Canon 5D continues to pervade TV Commercial Production with it’s awesome film look at 85% less cost than a 35mm film rig.

This blog post features story about a Honda commercial production shot by our friends, Michael Hartog and Chris Toth, of Camera Control in Santa Monica.  It’s airing right now. The commercial’s storyboard was a continuous time lapse shot from sun up to sun down as the camera approached, then flew through the back window of a Honda Accord and then out the front window.

(above: the storyboard for the motion control shot for Honda’s TV commercial)

You can see the finished commercial spot at:

http://automobiles.honda.com/accord-sedan/videos.aspx

When you get to the site, click on the videos, and select the one named “Sun”.
This commercial was shot in one day using time lapse to compress sunrise to sunset to 30 seconds.

Camera Control used the Milo motion control rig to do the long camera move which approaches the back window of the car. 

At the back window of the car Michael Hartog and Chris built a custom low profile camera rig to slide into the back of the car.  The window was removed and the shot continued inside the car past the driver’s steering wheel.  

When the camera got past the front driver’s seat they started booming left on the camera and back, panning to bring the camera out the front drivers window.

At the front drivers window they again took over the move with the Milo to do a long track back away from the car.  The whole commercial ended up being shot over the course of one day! The size of the Canon makes it the perfect choice for shooting in tight spaces like the one described above.  For example, Gale Tattersall was able to get three Canon’s into an ambulance in the season finale of “House, M.D.”

If you’d like to be trained in the Canon 5D SLR we offer Pro Level One, Pro Level Two and Pro Level Three boot camps. Click here to register for the next Canon Boot Camp.  If you just want to direct and leave the shooting to us, hire our trained video production crew.  Go to The Association’s website or our YouTube channel to see our recent Canon 5D work.  All our crews have their Canon Certification in the Canon 5D and 7D.  We’ve got 27 years of experience in TV commercial production – aerials, car to car, underwater, or just a nice air-conditioned studio with Caffe Latte’s all around.

There continues to be a lot of buzz about Panasonic’s new AF100 camera, and whether or not it’s going to deal a deathblow to DSLR’s like the Canon 5D MkII. While I think not, there are many applications, from corporate video productions, Indie Films and even commercial productions,  where the AF100 will be a perfect fit. The camera is already in the hands of many video production crews and filmmakers, and reports I’ve seen are very positive. This is the second article in a series of tests on the AF100.

I wanted to see for myself just how the AF100 compares to the 5D in an identical set up, so I got my good friends and fellow DP’s Tom Myrdahl and Jefferson Miller to help me shoot some test footage here in my office at The Association. We’ve all had great success shooting with the 5D, and since Jefferson is the proud new owner of an AF100, we were naturally curious to see how they compare.

The 5D has a Sigma 50mm 1.4 lens, and the AF100 an Olympus Zuiko 14-35 mm f2, attached with a DMW-MA1 Panasonic adaptor.

We called in our good friend, the very talented Jessica Drolet to be our model, and lit her with a 250 watt china ball for a key, a small Lite Panel for fill and a 150 Arri backlight.

This is the second clip in our side by side comparison. We upped the ISO to 640, with the 5D at f2.5 and the AF100 at an f2.

Make sure you select the 720p version.

Quicktime streaming versions: www.theassociation.tv/videostore/5DvsAF100_Part2.mov

We decided to stay with multiples of 160 ISO that give the cleanest image in the 5D, and were interested to see how the blacks look once we start cranking up the ISO of both cameras, especially the AF100 at those ISO multiples. In future testing, we will set the ISO on the AF100 at multiples of 200, as 200/400 seem to be its native ISOs.

Having said that, I do really like the look of the blacks on both cameras at these settings, and the AF100 looks really good at 640.

We welcome your comments and questions. Not familiar with the Canon 5D yet?
Get hands-on training at the next Canon Boot Camp.

Look for Part 3 of our series coming soon, where we dial up the ISO to 1250.

Note: This is Part III in an seven-part series I’m writing about Press Releases. Press releases are possibly an overlooked item in the enterprise social media toolbox, so I’m going to cover a few points and talk about how I’ve used them successfully for client campaigns.

Search Engines Have Categories
Google, Yahoo and Bing all have a “web” search engine (also called “organic” search, the search field one sees when one goes to these sites to search for information).  They also have their “news” search engine and one typically clicks on “News” to see the latest in that category.

A press release written in an optimized-for-search manner and correctly issued in top performing  newfeeds will appear on page one of both News and information search engines.   The news search engines are continually adding new stories and keep a press release in search results for about 28 days.

The “web” search or organic search also returns the press release in search results within 24 hours of releasing the story. These stay on the search engines indefinitely.  They appear on page one and can stay there for months or years. Depending on what your consumer analysis reveals (your target market might not trust or care about press releases), including press releases in your corporate social media plan might be very beneficial for your message.  

Social Media Search Engines
Bing is the search engine for Facebook, so press releases can also appear in Facebook searches. Some of the new feeds are also tweeting the story and Google Real-time will show the blogs it also appears in. So you can actually get some social media action without asking for it, due to the search nature many social networking sites.

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There continues to be a lot of buzz about Panasonic’s new AF100 camera, and whether or not it’s going to deal a deathblow to DSLR’s like the Canon 5D MkII. While I think not, there are many applications, from corporate video productions, Indie Films and even commercial productions,  where the AF100 will be a perfect fit. The camera is already in the hands of many video production crews and filmmakers, and reports I’ve seen are very positive. This is the second article in a series of tests on the AF100.

I wanted to see for myself just how the AF100 compares to the 5D in an identical set up, so I got my good friends and fellow DP’s Tom Myrdahl and Jefferson Miller to help me shoot some test footage here in my office at The Association. We’ve all had great success shooting with the 5D, and since Jefferson is the proud new owner of an AF100, we were naturally curious to see how they compare.

We called in our good friend, the very talented Jessica Drolet to be our model, and lit her with a 250 watt china ball for a key, a small Lite Panel for fill and a 150 Arri backlight.

Since most of the talk out there is about sensor sizes and bitrates, I was first interested in two things; how the AF100′s 24Mbps bitrate and the depth-of-field of the 4/3 sensor would compare to the 5D’s 44Mbps bitrate and full-frame 35mm still sensor.

Take a look for yourself. (Make sure you select 720p version)

View Quicktime here:  theassociation.tv/videostore/AF100vs5D_Part1.mov

Not surprisingly, the 5D has a more shallow depth-of-field. The AF100 has a very good look and the image holds up well at the 24Mbps bitrate. The 4/3 sensor of the AF100 is very close to 35mm motion picture frame size, so it will have similar depth-of-field characteristics to those film lenses and cameras. I’m surprised at how well they match color-wise and I think images from these cameras would cut together very well.

Be on the lookout for Part 2 coming soon, where we start cranking up the ISO.

Below is a list of graduates from The Association 2010 Canon Boot Camps that have received our special Canon certification. A couple of graduates have created videos using a Canon DSLR 5D or 7D, and a link is included next to their name so you may see their work.

We respect the privacy of our students and do not share their personal information. If you wish to contact them for any reason, including jobs or production, please contact our alumni liaison, Tom Murray, at tmurray@theassociation.tv or call us at (818)841-9660, and we will gladly help with your inquiry.

Pro Level I – March 27, 2010

Amy Berg
Heather Welborn
Allene Quincy Anderson
Skott Snider
Chad Slattery
Cathy Wang
Trampas Thompson
Thomas Myrdahl (video)

Pro Level I – April 10, 2010

Daniel Pearl, ASC
Oscar Alvarez
Loren Roberts
Mike Berkofsky
Charles Jessen
Joe Maxwell
James Boyd
John Smith
Dan Ayers
Michael Ozier
Alice Gu
Mario Signore

Each of our graduates receives a Canon certification of their newfound expertise in DSLR film making.

Pro Level I – April 24, 2010

Jefferson Miller
Christopher Johnson
Stephen Franklin
Eric Haywood
Michael Brewer
Pa Cadichon
Chris Robertson

Pro Level I – May 22

Bob Stevens
Erica Dunton
Richard King
Chad Bonanno (video)
Geary McLeod, ASC
Chip Bolcik
John Putch
Danny Tolli
Thyrale Thai
James Boyd
Frank Addelia
Richard Handley
Frank Flowers (video)

Pro Level II – May 29

Robert Stephens
Trampas Thompson
Eric Haywood
John Ames
Bob Stevens
Jefferson Miller
Richard King

Pro Level I – June 26, 2010

Marcelo Lewin
James Wvinner
Austin Reading
Sam Mark
Kristoffer Dios
Oliver Chow
Nile Evans
James O’Keeffe
Ken Montgomery

Pro Level I – July 17th

Armen Meymarian
Jason Knight
Carmella Hatter
Joseph Dufrene
Adrian Castagna
Jeff Weakley
Shawn Pinner
Michael Dean
Vince Giacco
Theresa Hoey
Jacob Hatley
Bradley Smith

Pro Level II – July 31st

Jason Knight
Oliver Chow
Jeff Weakley
Anthony Hemmingway
Armen Meymarian
Carmella Hatter

Pro Level I – August 21st

Daniel Harutunian
David Jellison
Tom Faigh
Kumala Nio
Michael Franks

Pro Level I – October 9th

John Knowles
Francisco Cortinas
Dutch Merrick
Erica Eng

Pro Level I – October 23rd

Neal D. McConnell
Aimee Long
Frank Carlos
David Gasperik
Christopher DelaGarza
Lester Schwartz
Chris Yu
Brandon Doo

Pro Level I – Private Sessions

Robert Stevens (May 27, 2010)
John Ames (May 27, 2010)

Note: This is Part II in an seven-part series I’m writing about Press Releases. Press releases are possibly an overlooked item in the enterprise social media toolbox, so I’m going to cover a few points and talk about how I’ve used them successfully for client campaigns.

How long does a Press Release stick around? I wish there was a standard answer to that question. We’ve had press releases hang out on the 1st page of Google for as long as a year. Typically press releases start to drop off the news search engines after 28 days. They aren’t news anymore! But if the research was done well, PRs can continue to show up well on search engine result pages for several months. Or more.

An important factor is how much competition there is for the topic and the search keywords that were chosen. Having long tail keyword research experts on hand for press release writing will potentially save you a lot of grief!  If a lot of other companies are vying for the same spot, it might be hard to keep a press release on the 1st page for more than a few days. Maybe even for a few hours.

Again, this is where experience really counts. A well researched, well thought out press release might make it to the 1st page of a search engine results page. But if it drops off just as quickly as it arrived, what good is it? Pick a good topic and the right keywords.

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