Shawn Slavin, organizer of UVic’s 2010 Lipdub, was on hand to accept the surprise SMC’11 ‘Best Viral Video’ award on behalf of everyone involved on the project. “It was an honour to be in the presence of such influential and talented individuals, all of whom have extensive interest and experience with a variety of social media. This award is a testament to the hardwork that each and every single person involved in the UVic Lipdub put into it…this award is for all of us.” said Shawn Slavin. Paul Holmes, one of the co-Founders and organizers of Social Media Camp, presented Shawn the award.

Sitting at nearly a quarter-million views on YouTube, the Uvic lipdub has a life of it’s own. Having made it’s mark, element’s of it’s originality have cropped up in subsequently newer Lipdub’s, such as the impressive UBC Vancouver lipdub.

Relive September 25th, 2010 all over again – watch Victoria’s Uvic Lipdub 2010!

An all around stellar way to start off SMC ’11.

Aclara Promotions’ Media Contact:
Christopher Ruffell, Aclara Promotions
www.aclarapromotions.com
250-516-0211

Related New Articles:
http://www.uviclipdub.com/
http://twitter.com/uviclipdub
UVic Lipdub Launched – Shown on CBC’s “The National”

That’s understandable.

Promotional video marketing is a specialized field.  There is a lot to know.  Even if a business owner decides to make a do-it-yourself promotional video, there is much to consider.

Here are some of the top solutions that will help make your video work:

Step 1. Know Your Audience – CLICK here to continue reading article…

UVic Lipdub (Canada) – “Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Bublé (HD)

Hours before the internet debut, first-time director Shawn Slavin setup the video to a cheering crowd of approximately three-hundred at the University of Victoria’s Student Union Building on Friday, October 22^nd. The showing received National coverage with CBC Television in attendance, in addition to the local media: Times Colonist, Victoria News and CHEK TV making return appearances. Donations collected at the door went to the BC Children’s Hospital and United Way furthering fundraising.

CBC News: The National – Peter Mansbridge, UVic Lipdub Viral Video, Victoria BC

The idea for a lipdub music video came to Slavin after seeing the fantastic May lipdub production made in Spain by Universitat de Vic – a university also calling itself ‘UVic’!  The video featuring students singing and dancing to ‘Hey Soul Sister’ by Train quickly went viral peaking the interests of many in Victoria.  “After seeing the other UVic Lipdub video, I decided that we would have to make one too…show the world what we can do,” said an excited Slavin. Upon discovering Victoria-based Aclara Promotions, Slavin was instantly sold;  “Their style of shooting pushes the boundaries to the point where it stands out far beyond anything else I’ve seen,” he said of the production team.

Aclara Promotions recently had National TV exposure though a rock music video it created for the band Cole Grifter. Directed by Christopher Ruffell, the stylized video ‘Habit’ debuted at number one on MuchMusic’s MuchLOUD channel. The talented director of Photography (DoP) from the Cole Grifter music video, Karl Schoepp, shared the DoP role on Lipdub with Ruffell. When asked of the lipdub video’s real-time production demands, Schoepp said “It forced us to become extremely efficient and try to plan ahead as much as possible.” He continued, “It was weird to have hundreds of people watching us do lighting/camera work – we would rarely have this happen on a film set.” Alex Campbell, a member of the lipdub volunteer film crew added, “It really speaks to the ability of everyone involved that they were able to produce such an impressive product despite the stressful situation.” Ruffell affirmed – “This project definitely benefited from the crew’s experience on the strenuous Cole Grifter music video shoot.”

The UVic Lipdub video is presented as a long shot weaving through various buildings on the university’s campus.  Students were placed throughout the buildings and danced past the camera to the tune of Michael Bublé’s ‘Haven’t Met You Yet.’  The video finishes with a grand shot from the roof of the McPhersen library looking down over nearly 1000 choreographed extras performing a routine orchestrated by Koh McRadu.“My whole purpose in doing this project is to have fun and bring students together on campus.  …I want this to be talked about for the next year” said Shawn Slavin.  “This is what bringing community together is all about,” continued Christopher Ruffell, “we are proud to be a part of this event in Victoria’s – and Internet – history.”

- 30 -

Media Contact:
Christopher Ruffell, Aclara Promotions
www.aclarapromotions.com
250-516-0211

Related New Articles:
http://www.uviclipdub.com/
http://twitter.com/uviclipdub
UVic Lipdub Launched – Shown on CBC’s “The National”

“We knew video would be a powerful way to tell READ’s story, but we never expected it would reconnect us with former students and learn about the impact READ has had on their lives,” says Claire Rettie, READ’s executive director.

Serendipity was at play when Aclara Promotions’ hired Jordan Harbour to write READ’s script. At the time, Aclara Promotions’ principal Christopher Ruffell had no idea that Harbour had attended READ classes as a child. “I came to READ when I was in Grade 3 because I couldn’t read. Today, I’m a professional writer,” says Harbour. “I remember what it felt like to be teased as a kid because I couldn’t read, and it created all kinds of social problems for me because it affected my self-esteem.” He was able to use his unique insight into READ’s impact when writing the script and interviewing current students during the filming.

The two-minute promotional video, shot in High Definition for cutting-edge internet distribution, showcases READ’s volunteers, parents and students and shares the story of the organization, which was established in 1976. One of the video’s featured parents is Jarka Piecuch, an esthetician at the Ginger Group salon. In another happy coincidence, Piecuch reconnected with READ after she was asked for a donation for the Society’s recent gala fundraiser. Although READ had lost touch with Piecuch, she was eager to help because her daughter attended READ about 20 years ago after they immigrated from Poland. “READ helped my daughter when I could not,” Piecuch says in the video.

“Video is an amazing way to tell stories. Even I am continually amazed by its power,” says Ruffell, who was recently in the news for his involvement with the UVic Libdub. The Lipdub, shot and released around the same time as READ’s video has proven itself a success by achieving 70,000 views in less than four whole days! The up and coming Aclara Promotions has produced videos for other non-profits, including the Our Place Society. Christopher Ruffell went on; “We are a socially conscious business – we have an affinity with our community too.”

View the video at www.readsociety.bc.ca or www.aclarapromotions.com.

- 30 -

Media Contacts
READ Society: Claire Rettie at 250-388-7225
Aclara Promotions: Chris Ruffell at 25-516-0211

“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.”

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

‘…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:

1. It all starts with Emotion - Click here to read the 5-points article…

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 – Click Here to read the rest of the article

What use is a twenty-minute video if the viewer only watches the first five minutes? The sweet spot for effective promotional videos tends to be 1-3 minutes for a short video, or at longest, 3 minutes. With the right production-quality, that’s enough time to grab the consumer’s attention and perk the interest of future clients.

Write Words are Right - Click here to continue reading the article…