The video is a perfect blend of everything a top promotional video should have.  Cutting between Greg Martel and the testimonials of two satisfied clients, the video shows some stunning clips of new developments around Victoria.  The experience is rounded out with interactive graphics and the voice of Aclara Promotions’ own house narrator.

“It was great to receive different cuts of the video after such a short time,” noted Lia Robbins, the media liaison at Harbour View Mortgages, “the whole process was very speedy.”  Working around the clock, Aclara Promotions’ staff had a unique opportunity not only to work with Greg and his team, but also with social media experts Sunstar Creative, who helped re-brand the company and develop the website.

“We aimed to set the bar high with this video,” said Aclara Promotions principal, Christopher Ruffell, “It’s a classic example of what can be done not just for financial providers, but for organizatons of all stripes.”  Overall, the professional experience and business relationships that were developed made the Greg Martel video a raging success.  “We would definitely recommend Aclara Promotions,” said Lia Robbins. Terri Davies added “Video on the home page is perfect for conveying this message, and Aclara Promotions is the obvious choice for professional video production.”

About Aclara Promotions
The heart and soul of Aclara Promotions is found in our dedication to quality. Because our mission is to exceed our client’s expectations, we first seek to exceed our own. Every stage in our process, from writing to photography to editing, is completed with pride.

About SunStar Creative
Sunstar Creative Inc. believes in bridging the gap between brilliant businesses and effective online marketing. We incorporate state-of-the-art web development, online marketing, graphic design, and social media to create a remarkable online presence for each of our clients. Our specialty is the production of Inbound Marketing Platforms for small and medium sized businesses around the world.

To gain more information about Greg and to watch his video, visit his website: www.gregmartel.com

Victoria, BC August 17, 2010 – Cole Grifter, local Victoria band, has rocketed to national televised status with help from a local up and coming video production company, Aclara Promotions. Fresh out of the gate, the music video ‘Habit’ is now playing twice daily on the MuchLOUD rock television channel, placing Victoria along side Vancouver and Toronto as a source for great production and musical talent.

‘Habit’, the band’s showcase song, was turned into a high-grade music video this year when Victoria first-time music video director Christopher Ruffell, of Alcara Promotions, was asked to lead the team.  Despite a scarce budget, the band and crew banded together to pool resources to create a flashy breakthrough – and it worked. “We could have spent fifty grand with someone else and it wouldn’t have turned out as nice.” said band guitarist Michael Worth.

The song and concept, based on the story of a woman struggling with addiction, takes musical and fashion cues from bands such as Our Lady Peace and Moist. The video is “a well directed, well cut music video from an up and coming director to watch out for,” says Colin Minihan, winner of the 2009 Much Music Video Award for director of the year.

The music video debuted at the top of the charts on MuchLOUD, surpassing the band’s most ambitious expectations, and widening the scope of success for Victoria’s home grown talent.  This achievement, coupled with the band’s status as “Band of the Month” on 91.3 the Zone, has resulted in a strong following in BC, and growing support across Canada. Featuring local talent Aidan Logans, Michael Worth, Alex Campbell and Brandon Fry, the band plays regularly at such venues as Logans and Lucky Bar.  “Being placed alongside Canada’s top artists will certainly take us to that next level,” stated band guitarist Michael Worth, “we’ve built a strong following in BC, and now it’s paying off; our music’s being played around the world!”

The music video was directed, produced and edited by local director, Christopher Ruffell, and features locations such as Bastion Square and Gordon’s Beach in Sooke, bringing national attention to some of the notable landmarks and geographical features Victoria offers.  As principal of the Victoria based video marketing company, Aclara Promotions, Christopher Ruffell has distinguished himself as a competitive top quality video producer.  Since the official launch of Aclara Promotions in February 2010, Ruffell has attracted attention from a number of notable online video producers via his extensive Vimeo presence, and has caught the attention of more bands and lovers of music.

The music video can be viewed on the MuchLOUD website by visiting:
http://watch.muchmusic.com/video-playlists/muchloud/clip309092

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A-Channel’s Adam Sawatsky Interviews Brandon Fry & Christopher Ruffell

Contact:

Christopher Ruffell
Aclara Promotions
http://www.aclarapromotions.com
tel: 250-516-0211
info@aclarapromotions.com

In-Depth Article Behind the Scenes & The Process:
aclarapromotions.com/aclarapress/2010/08/making-of-habit-music-video/

Music Video:
vimeo.com/9391372
youtube.com/watch?v=FaiaMdaO4dM

colegrifter.com

Director, Camera Operator & Editor:
Christopher Ruffell
aclarapromotions.com

Director of Photography & Gaffer Extraordinaire:
Karl Schoepp

Starring:
Sharman Ellis-Toddington
Brandon Fry

Cole Grifter Band:
Aidan Logins
Alex Campbell
Michael Worth
Brandon Fry

Makeup:
Suzi Q
Sharon Clarke

Awesome Crew & Extras:
Joseph Boutillier
Marina Miller
Sarah Elizabeth
Jordan Harbour
Kevin D Murray
Heather Clebo
Chris Orchard
Carly Reinbold
Morgan Quinn
Megan Tannock
Kevin Tannock
Mr.Tannock

Produced By:
Aclara Promotions
LightHeadProductions

MuchMusic
Much Music Canada
MuchLOUD

“The crowd fell silent,” said lead singer Brandon Fry, reliving the night with a smile that beamed across his whole face.  “Then they erupted in applause!”

No doubt about it, the video and CD release party for Cole Grifter’s latest album was a huge success.  The house was packed and the mood ecstatic.  Before they went on, the band teased the audience with the new music video.  At first, people were quiet, watching intently.  But before the first chorus everyone was cheering.

After watching the video, director Colin Minihan said of it, “a well directed, well cut music video from an up and coming director to watch out for.” Colin Minihan won the 2009 MuchMusic Award and has directed videos for Papa Roach, State of Shock, Social Code and many others.

“I think the big shock came because no one expected the video to look as good as it did,” said first time music video Director Christopher Ruffell, “we had almost no budget and the bulk of the crew came from the band itself.”  With a keen eye for the shot and a finger on the pulse of the latest technology, Ruffell has proved great video doesn’t have to blow the budget.  “We could have spent fifty grand with someone else and it wouldn’t have turned out as nice.” noted Guitarist Michael Worth.

Karl Schoepp, the Director of Photography (DP), held nothing back, “I think I speak for everyone.  We were all blown away at how good the video turned out.”  Juno-award winning producer Mark Makoway, formerly of the Canadian rock band Moist, cut to the chase, “very impressive.”

The Song

Ruffell chose the grittiest song by Cole Grifter for his music video debut.  The story revolves around a woman’s beginning addiction to drugs and her projected future of devastating effects.  Ruffell has shot footage for various documentary projects on the issue of homelessness, life on the streets and addiction. “In Victoria, it’s something everyone’s seen.  We wanted to be that stark reminder that these people are real.”

In Habit, Ruffell saw an opportunity to challenge his own comfort level.  ‘Dark’ was a literal theme throughout the production, including the entire video being shot at night. “I most often work with the daylight in video, just enhancing the shots with additional day-light balanced lights.  However, given the chance to shake it up with a dark story, I just had to break that mold.”

The Crew

The bulk of the crew consisted of a few volunteers—some trusted independent film makers and the band themselves.  Guitarist Paul Michael Worth, assisting in production and always active in the film community, was a life saver on more than one occasion.  When the lead actor pulled out at the last minute, panic ensued.   Worth made some quick calls and found a replacement.  With only hours to spare, Sharman Ellis-Toddington pulled through and saved the day!

Having only a few hands could sometimes be challenging.  “There were many times I wish we had more crew,” lamented Schoepp after moving heavy generators and gear into remote and forested locations at night.  Drummer Alex Campbell offered his own spin, “it can be hard to appreciate the amount of work that goes into creating film–not many people understand the degree of persistence and talent required to create a quality video.” Bassist Aidan Logans finished with “It was a huge effort, but working with talented people makes it almost painless.”

Shooting in the Dark

Shooting low budget projects at night can be a challenge and flawed imagery is often the result. Camera limitations can lead to artifacting where the dark areas show a lot of gain.  Also, most camera’s inability to see as well as the human eye can sometimes mean the camera operator won’t even know what he’s looking at!   With only a few lights, Ruffell avoided these problems with the use of  incredibly fast Nikon prime lenses.

When asked to describe the experience of shooting at night, DP Karl Schoepp gushed, “it was Great! I didn’t have to fight with any daylight, so I was able to be a lot more creative with the lighting. It was difficult to have enough light for many of the scenes however, because of the size of the shots and the limited power of the lights we had with us. Thanks again to the Nikkor 50mm F1.4 lens! I don’t think many of the shots would have been exposed without these fast lenses.”

Lighting & Decoration

“The original plan was to have the band in a forest with clear house-hold large bulbs floating eerily around them,” reminisced Ruffell.  “Schoepp suggested running the lights off a control board so we could switch them on and off during the shoot.”

“I lit rock concerts before I got into film,” explained Schoepp.  “Many concerts are lit this way, so I thought I’d try it out.”

Ruffell, who also operated the camera on the Habit shoot, went on to describe how the unique light flares were created, “I placed the camera with the 50mm lens right up against one of the hanging lights.What you see is nice out-of-focus areas/bokeh, but created with pure light! I can’t recall of every having seen anything like it.”  Schoepp described the other types of flares in the lens “I thought it would be a nice touch to point the lights at the lens like JJ Abrams did in Star Trek.  I wasn’t expecting the lens flares to be so big! On the GH-1 monitor, we didn’t really see the flares much at all. In post, our minds were absolutely blown by how good the flares looked.” Both Director and DP noted that all lens flares are entirely one-hundred percent in camera, and are not in computer generated!

Creating the Look

Ruffell wanted to keep the colouring process simple.  “Compared to most stylized videos I’ve worked on, this really had the least amount of post production.  The blues were upped in the beach-fire scene to enhance the moonlight, but the orange flicker from the fire was real.”

The concept and implementation were standard, but not complex.  “The original footage served us very well,” said Ruffell. He nodded as he continued, “As has been echoed repeatedly, given the budget, it turned out better than we expected. We’re all proud of what we’ve created.”

Written By Jordan Habour
StoryArc Communications

Aclara Promotions is a video production company located in Victoria, BC. It specialises in promotional and educational videos for organizations of all types. Please contact Aclara Promotions to discuss how they can help create a video for you.
aclarapromotions.com

Here are some exciting quotes from the article:

” Increasing engagement is the number one reason media companies gave for adding video to their websites (76 percent) followed by strengthening their brand (60 percent), and increasing site visitors (55 percent). Surprisingly, increasing advertising inventory ranked fourth in the list of top reasons for using online video (33 percent). “

” Twitter referrals generate highest level of engagement with online video content. “

” Almost 50 percent of media companies plan to add sponsorships to their online video monetization strategy in 2010. “

Has your business/organization leveraged video to increase income? If not, then you’re ignoring money to be made through exposure of your brand and message via video!

Read the article: New Research from Brightcove and TubeMogul Signals Increased Investment and Growth for Online Video in 2010

‘…oh I don’t know.  It get’s the word out, right?’

It’s a pretty good answer.  Yes, it get’s the word out.  People buy what they know.  The simple truth is: video is profitable.

But before you can make that profit, you have to dig a little deeper.  Finding that inner why is important because it’s going to shape your campaign.  When you know why you do something, it often changes how you do it.

Here are some of the reasons why video works:

Emotion

People buy what they feel.

There’s a reason why history buffs love Gladiator.  It’s the same reason why nature lovers drool over Planet Earth.  Video does what almost no other medium can do.  It fills the senses with a real and visceral experience.  If you can give your clients that kind of ‘drool’ moment where they keep clicking ‘play’, your video will go viral.  And that’s great for business.

Social

There’s no better way to impress.

We’ve all heard a lot about social media marketing these days.  It’s cool and young, and for those that get it, profitable.  Social media is all about interacting with people.  Sharing ideas.  Tweeting.  Here’s the honest truth: video is the king (a-hem, guru) of social media.  Using your video in a social media context will blow away any competition that posts about kittens and their favourite jeep.

Sales

The perfect repeatable sales pitch.

We’ve all given a sales pitch.  It usually happens over a coffee or by phone.  It’s uncomfortable.  There’s plenty of face twisting, teeth twinkling and hard questions.  Ug.  Just imagine if you could have your perfect sales pitch masterfully crafted ahead of time, add music, mood lighting, and brilliant images of your product with beads of water dripping down it (might not be appropriate).  And you can use it an infinite amount of times.  Guess what… video.

Sticky

Online video keeps people on your site.

Google analytics never lies.  Your cousin’s first website (4-bit color!) a U2 fan site, still receives precisely 3.6 minutes of viewership from each guest.  Your business website?  3.6 seconds.  Something’s wrong.  Let’s look a little deeper and see if we can solve this problem.  Oh, U2sucks.com has a video on the landing page and your business site doesn’t!  A video captures the audience’s attention.  Teenagers.  If only they could design our websites.

Portable

Show your video everywhere

Remember when you were in school and the teacher put a tape in the VCR?  Remember that bubble of excitement in your throat that turned into hyper convulsions and sent you to detention?  Well, we adults are not so different.  We just hide it better.  Show a video at your next presentation.  Pop it on your iPhone and share it on the subway. Hand out flash drives at trade shows.  Now you’re getting the hang of it.

So now you know why your business should have a video.  You may have even gained some ideas as to how it could be marketed.  This is going to be important.  It will help shape your campaign and give direction to your video.

When you’re deciding on a video company, make sure they give you a thorough creative brief.  A good company will ask questions that will not only draw out your message, but will determine what your campaign should look like.

Good luck!  And if anyone asks why you’re making a video, you can tell them it’s because you want your company to succeed.

Veronique Da Silva Photography partnered with Aclara Promotions to raise funds for Haiti

Many have donated their time and money to help those in Haiti.  Few have contributed as passionately as photographer Veronique Da Silva.  On January 13^th, her Facebook post read “Haiti on my mind.”  By January 29^th, she had raised over $10,000 to help those whose lives have been destroyed by the earthquake.

Her method was simple: to give what she had.  She teamed up with fellow photographer Michael Tourigny and began a marathon photo shoot that would span a week.  Next, she organized a stunning fundraiser gala to bring the community together.

Veronique asked Christopher Ruffell of Aclara Promotions if he was willing to help.  The answer was a no brainer.  Of course!

The idea was to produce a victoria video production of the event with the hope that it might inspire others to start up fundraisers of their own.  Christopher started by going to the photo shoot where long hours were spent filming the participants.  He next brought his camera to the evening event where guests from around Victoria opened their hearts (and wallets) for Haiti.

“Simply amazing!” wrote Veronique of the fundraiser, “…the (event) was a sure winner!”  Veronique’s personal crusade to help those in need brought together some of Victoria’s most enigmatic and talented people.  Burlesque, improv, musicians and DJ’s kept the night alive.  Hours of organizing volunteers and labouring through photo shoots left her exhausted.  After two marathon weeks, Veronique was left with one final task…

…to count the money.

Related Links
Canadian Red Cross
Véronique Da Silva Photography
Michael Tourigny Studios
Miss Rosie Bitts

But some businesses escape. They cut through the vines and dodge the tigers. That’s because they do something many talk about but few realize. It’s called video marketing

Companies too often make the mistake of producing videos on the fly. They’ll do it with a webcam or find some novice film maker who doesn’t know anything about business. The videos look cheap and don’t hit the right points.

Your customer is a lot more savvy than that.

‘Quality’ is the key word in video marketing. With a great team that knows about business and how to make excellent video, you’ll receive a quality product that resonates with your customer.
This is your moment to shine, so do it with class. After all, you only get one first impression.
Below are five quality check-points that you must do to raise your company from the jungle to civilization.

Creative Brief

The first rule of quality is to understand who you are. It’s dark in the jungle, so the good video marketer will shine a light on your company. What is your message? Who is your target audience? The idea is to reach down into the soul of your company and find out what it’s all about. You want the video to be genuine so it resonates with your customer. A good creative brief is the first step. Only work with a company that offers one.

Script

With creative brief in hand, the shaman is put to work. It’s script time. There are many questions at this stage. How should the script engage? Should it be funny? Instructive? Sophisticated? It’s important that your company’s message and values are reflected in the writing. A good script will go through numerous revisions to capture this.

Talent

Even the toughest marketer needs friends, and the smartest form a tribe. A ‘tribe’ is a group of experienced people who bring their unique talents to the table. The most experienced people are worth a village. The camera operator is worth two. Just like the chieftain, he knows the lay of the land. Make-up and Costumes are the artisans. Warriors work the lights. Make sure the company you choose can provide a roster of experienced tribesmen.

Visuals

A good camera, fast lenses and inspiring locations are all part of the professional package. It’s important to compare portfolios and resumes when choosing a production company. Make sure the one you choose has a well respected web presence. It’s not enough simply to point and shoot. You want National Geographic.

Sound

It’s a dangerous truth for the video marketer that predators are heard before they’re seen. Most don’t prick their ears till it’s too late. A poorly mixed audio track has caused the death of many an otherwise fantastic video. Some marketers even refuse themselves a good score for the video’s funeral! Sound can make all the difference, and no expense should be spared to have the best.

Quality is the most important consideration in video marketing. It’s the driving force that will separate you from the rabble. If the quality is poor, it will reflect badly on your company. But if it’s high, you will find trusting customers everywhere.

Find your way out of the jungle and into a world of opportunity. Add a high quality video to your website today!

Our Place Society recently showcased a video titled ‘Hope & Belonging’ at their annual gala event, A Taste of Britain, held at Crystal Gardens. The goal of Our Place is to give a ‘hand up’ to people who are down on their luck and need a place to sleep, a hot lunch, or counselling on how to get off the street. The video showed guests at the fundraiser event what Our Place does so as to build an understanding of issues facing the homeless and describe how the community centre can help. The video was met with praise from board members at Our Place, as well as from guests at the fundraiser who said it gave them an emotional connection to the society.

CLICK HERE To Read More on the Hope & Belonging Page…

VICTORIA, BC – Our Place Society recently showcased a video titled ‘Hope & Belonging’ at their annual gala event, A Taste of Britain, held at Crystal Gardens.  The goal of Our Place is to give a ‘hand up’ to people who are down on their luck and need a place to sleep, a hot lunch, or counseling on how to get off the street.  The video showed guests at the fundraiser event what Our Place does so as to build an understanding of issues facing the homeless and describe how the community centre can help.  The video was met with praise from board members at Our Place, as well as from guests at the fundraiser who said it gave them an emotional connection to the society.  The consensus was that the video helped raise funds for Our Place by touching the audience in a meaningful way.

“A Taste of Britain came alive through the video presentation by Aclara Promotions,” said Reverend Al Tysick of Our Place, referring to the production company that made the film, “what a gift of kindness and generosity.”  To help add depth to the film, the Aclara Promotions team was given a full tour of the facility, which included very clean showering areas, a games room, nursing stations and a host of other services.  They were also able to film one of the permanent housing units, and to catch the large kitchen in action.  “Our Place Society has really dispelled the myth that street life has to end in tragedy,” said Christopher Ruffell, principal of Aclara promotions, “Our Place is a living model for empowerment and hope.”

‘Hope & Belonging at Victoria’s Our Place Society’ can be viewed at Aclara Promotions – Click Here to View

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Our Place is a non-profit society formed by the alliance of the Open Door and The Upper Room in 2006. It offers a sense of belonging to Greater Victoria’s most vulnerable citizens. Our Place provides a home, nourishment and hope through living, sharing, learning and worshipping together.

Aclara Promotions is a promotional video production company offering distinctive cinema-style production value to local organizations and businesses. Contact Aclara Promotions to discuss how they can help create a video for you.

Why, yes, we do websites here at Aclara Promotions as well as video production. Ask us about what else we do.

Next week we will be releasing the project we worked with Our Place Society on – tune in then!