Category: How To

Talking Heads: King Charles Edition

Published in September 13, 2022
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We were just working on a new episode of #corproate film school about Talking Head shots when this very momentous talking head shot was broadcast.  Some notes on the King’s inaugural address:  https://vimeo.com/749251403 Want more tips on making corporate videos? Sign up for the Corporate Film School newsletter!

Congrats, you run the company’s in-house video department; Now what?

Published in January 12, 2022
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We know - because many of our clients run in-house video departments within corporations –that the job is something of a high-wire balancing act. On the one hand, you have a department full of creative producers and editors who want to explore and push boundaries with their work and make full use of their skill sets. On the other, you have internal clients who are often not well-versed in film l

Get Back to Setting: The Beatles on Location

Published in December 13, 2021
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George Martin: “Location isn’t really a main problem at the moment” Paul McCartney: “Breathing is, actually.” Sure, Get Back is amazing on many levels but, setting-wise, you’re stuck in one big and then one small plain room for most of the 8 hours of the hit new doc series - (Peter Jackson’s [Lord of the Rings] re-cutting of the Beatles footage that was shot f

Corporate Film School #8: Editing, a corporate video how to series.

Published in June 30, 2021
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https://player.vimeo.com/video/563771121 If just capturing scenes in the camera was all it took to make a great video, we’d all have a shot at being Fellini or Zhao.  Editing, and its’ fascinating psychological effects, is what makes film narratives sing.  But, maybe you don’t want to be Zhao or Fellini (why, are you busy?), you just want to make a video that is engaging and crisp.  

Considerations for Virtual Town Hall Meetings

Published in March 13, 2020
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Paradigm shift:  Recent advances in streaming technology, software and the capabilities of personal digital devices have set the stage for a paradigmatic shift in our perception of, and approach to, virtual, streaming large multi-location meetings  - what we call Virtual Town Halls (VTH). Also, there are some other powerful drivers - including concern about the cost, logistics, time (away fr

The Art of Asking Questions

Published in September 28, 2016
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The Interview is one of the fundamental modes of storytelling (what can you tell me about…?) and, yet, one of the most under-rated and, thus, under-examined skills to be mastered by creative producers and directors. Charming/cajoling/extracting information or stories from someone on camera is an art - with as many possible approaches as practitioners - but there a few basic guidelines to keep in mind – p

Urgency vs. Whimsy

Published in June 24, 2015
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One of many favorite moments from Cucaracha Theater Company shows a long time ago in a Tribeca that no longer exists was a monologue by Todd Alcott in which he tells a story about falling asleep while driving cross-country. He talks about the struggle to keep awake and how, when his eyes close, going 70 miles an hour down a two-lane highway, he begins to have “the most marvelous dream”. The whimsical de