Teamwork Makes The Dream Work

Aerials and broll for Nilfisk in St. Lucie, FL with Kerhsane and Juan, two talented videographers

Enjoying what you do career-wise is probably one of the best gifts you can receive. Sometimes the road less traveled is filled with pitfalls, emotional lows and the equivalent highs, but it's a road that truly is unique to the traveler taking the steps.

I feel this way about my own video & TV career, the more I do, the longer I've been at it, the better things seem to get. And that truly is a gift. But the gift comes with a price. It's how you share the cost, and how you pass on the dividends that really matters.

One of the primary reasons the gift of an enjoyable career has blossomed for me is that I get to share what I've learned with the next wave of guys and girls coming up in the world of the visual and communication arts. And by helping them through many of the challenges they face, giving them a nudge in this or that direction, pays off in many ways. For us as a company it pays off by developing young professionals who bring new vision, passion and style to each assignment. For them, they learn techniques and processes that have stood the test of time, and in many cases fall through the cracks at colleges or trade schools they've come up through. 

My crew gets younger as I get older, and it's funny how that works to the benefit of clients. My company has been producing visual media for companies like yours for a long time. And although the technology changes, the styles change, the distribution platforms evolve..., there is one set of things that stay the same.

Relationships and trust is key, listening is an art, and grinding out the work is not always fun, but it's a requirement that the time and effort put into the story will make the difference between good and great. Media is made up of many components, audio files, video files, graphic files, text files.., it's how they are shaped that make the story connect.

We hope to connect with you on a future endeavor, but until then, enjoy your own journey, and if you're not... veer off that path a little bit, you never know what that new path is going to unveil... maybe a gift or two.

The Value Multi-Cam Approach Brings to Client Relationships

Source bins and project timeline for multi-cam production using Adobe Premiere CC 2017 editing workflow.

Every client is looking for value, and by adding additional camera angles, and initially including it as a special introductory offer could help to establish new business relationships.

You can be smart though; you don’t have to give away the store and incur more expense than you feel comfortable with.  Those cameras can be unmanned as long as you plan well. And the added coverage will take your interviewee or presenters’ stand ups to another level in post-production.

Remember, to save yourself time when you get to editing, make sure you do a sync clap, slate or lock timecode on set, at minimum, have all camera mics on in addition to your your lavalier mic or mixer feeds.

In the edit, creating multi-cam sequences is as easy as logging all your clips from all camera angles, audio sources like a zoom recorder and, then taking a methodical approach to scenes, subclips and segments.  Adobe Premiere does a great job of creating a fully synced sequence, which you can then open up in your timeline to do a live on-the-fly multi-cam edit, while also flexible in tools and techniques to adjust all facets of the video and audio tracks.

As content creators, adding value while working smarter, not harder should be your goal.  Offering clients solutions that meet their needs and, being willing to grow with them as their projects increase in complexity, concepts and budgets is all you can ask for.

Going Deep

Submarine simulator training at Triton Submarines in Vero Beach, FL.

No one understands the expression, “the deep ocean is no place for compromise,” like the executives at Triton Submarines in Vero Beach, Fl. Their top-of-the-line submersibles—used for research, exploration, and leisure--are designed, built, and tested to meet the most rigorous safety standards in the world.

Triton called on us to demonstrate the features, functions, and benefits of their products, and to reveal the simulation training facility they use to train new owners. Their visual media goals were to demonstrate the various uses of their submersibles (from being dropped off the back of a super yacht for fun, to measuring scientific data, capturing rare video footage, and assisting in archaeological explorations.

While our shoot was land-based, the footage and interviews we produced will be utilized by Triton for many years to come.

Thinking On Your Feet

The interview set when we arrived on the left. After on the right.

When looking for the right production company, you, of course, want to hire people with relevant experience and a track record of success…and you also want to hire people who can roll with the punches and think on their feet.

Such was the case, when we were recently hired to shoot what we were told was “just an hour or so…” of video interviews for an international law firm. This was in preparation for their annual summit, near our offices in Palm Beach. Although we participated in numerous calls in preparation for the shoot, our point person, an associate who was out of state, knew just a bit about the vision of her internal client. We arrived on location with our standard field package, including two cameras, lighting and sound gear.

When we walked our assigned conference room, we were shown all the props and set pieces (contained in the photo on the left…1 chair), but were quickly told that the real vision had not been properly relayed.

“Can we shoot interviews with a moderator and a guest, and if possible to make it look like a network news ‘talk show’?” the client asked.

Our team exchanged looks, smiled, and got to work.

The in-house catering manager and “destination management pro” on site kindly dropped everything to help us. Within ten next minutes, we pulled together potted plants, vases, and candles, reconfigured the set to make use of a corner, and found some framing elements, such as a portable wall. Within thirty minutes, we had our base-lighting scheme, props, and talent in place. Then it was just a matter of directing the talent through their interviews.

The take-away? Thinking on one’s feet is part of every producer’s job. Preparation is key, but we must always also be prepared for the unexpected, and, when it does, find creative solutions that work.

Shaping The Brand

Fiala PR needed a new website and dynamic content to communicate its message.

One of our favorite tasks as multimedia producers is meeting companies at various stages of their business cycles. Helping them share their stories, while shining a spotlight on their allocated service or product is quite an honor. Getting behind-the-scenes peeks into corporate cultures, styles, and business process is fascinating.

This past quarter we helped launch a fresh new look for a company in Las Vegas, Nevada that specializes in providing Certified Project Management Professionals to both municipal and private organizations. Their website, www.FialaPR.com , has recently been launched, their new video is in the works, and their position in the Southwest U.S. is now rapidly growing. Exciting!

On Set with The Miami Dolphins International Cheerleaders

Cheerleaders representing eight countries across the Americas shared their stories in this 2-part TV Special. 

SFL Media Group partnered with the extremely talented in-house video team for the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. With host Kenny Walker, we looked back at the 2016 season through the eyes of the Dolphin’s International Cheerleader Squad. We captured stories of about these young women’s bonds, on and off the field.