Video Production During Pandemic

Many events I would typically film have been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions: conferences, lectures, arts performances, and sports. I’ve redirected a bit to help clients get out their messages during this time of social distancing and remote work.

Dr. Alan Goldberg help athletes with slumps and mental blocks.

I’ve had clients film themselves, and then send me their footage to edit, add graphics, and post to social media. Alan Goldberg, the sports performance consultant mentioned in my last post, is doing that. The Smith College Museum of Art sent me some footage of an exhibit they filmed just before the museum closed for the pandemic, and I edited that for use on their website so patrons would still have a chance to see it. More to come from the museum this fall, as the campus remains closed.

Smith College Museum of Art Dust Bowl exhibit.

I filmed some parts of the Williston Northampton School’s 2020 Virtual Commencement, where a few speakers were masked and well-spaced, and I was a good distance away. I filmed the Hartsbrook School’s High School Commencement, which was held outside, with masks, generous distancing, and families watching from their cars and listening over the radio.

Hartsbrook High School’s socially-distanced graduation.

I’ve been back at Williston this month to film updates on coronavirus-related campus changes. Classrooms, dining services, and health services were all featured.

Dr. Peter Elsea updates faculty on Williston’s COVID protocols.

Not everything is COVID-centered, thankfully. I’ll be at the Children’s Advocacy Center later this week to film some promotional material on their mission and process. When filming, I follow any COVID related rules while on a client site. Otherwise, I will be following current best practices regarding masks and social distancing.

 

Help the Athlete In Your Life Navigate the Coronavirus Era

I’ve been doing a lot of editing this summer for Dr. Alan Goldberg, an Amherst-based sports performance consultant. Usually, he’s helping athletes get over slumps and blocks, and generally improving performance. But when the coronavirus led to the cancelling of seasons, championships, and even team practices, Alan knew there would be a lot of new challenges for athletes. He’s been posting two new YouTube videos per week since April helping athletes deal with this new reality.

Because of COVID restrictions, we are working remotely right now. I helped Alan get set up with a refresher training for using his camera and uploading his footage, and things are flowing very smoothly. I download his self-filmed footage, edit, add graphics as needed, and upload to YouTube for him, finishing up with all of the administrative stuff that goes along with a YouTube channel. He’s got 26 videos in this series so far.

Seriously, if you know an athlete at any level in any sport who has lost their motivation, trains less, feels depressed, or can’t get going, have them check these videos out!

 

QR Codes

You’ve probably seen these funny looking black and white squares while out shopping or reading the newspaper. QR codes, short for Quick Response codes, are often used to give consumers more information about a product or business. Use can use a mobile device with a camera to view the code, which then links you to the information, which could be a website, video, PDF, etc.

Here’s the QR code that will take you to the Klituscope Pictures website:

A client recently used QR codes to link to videos that we produced to explain how to use one of their products.

Local First

Attended a meeting last night at The Northampton Brewery, the oldest operating brewpub in the Northeast. Independent business owners were gathering to hear about Pioneer Valley Local First, part of a nationwide network encouraging people to buy into their local economies and support their local businesses. The emphasis is on sustainable, environmentally-conscious ways of building strong local economies. Defintely worth checking out their website, and that of their parent organization, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).

The Bradley Home

The Bradley Home video has been finished for a while, but now is online on their website.

Built in 1938 to serve the aged community of Central Connecticut, The Bradley Home is located in Meriden, CT. The staff were great, and the residents were amazing. Everyone we talked to couldn’t stop praising the place. They have some beautiful gardens which the residents help maintain. We spent a day and a half there shooting a promotional video which they will use on their website and distribute on DVD to potential residents and their families.

The Hartsbrook School

Taping today at the Hartsbrook School in Hadley, MA. Got a little bit of wet-on-wet watercolor painting in the two kindergarten classrooms. So sweet! Also, some of the kindergarteners were hauling around big wooden boards and things to make slides and pirate ships in their classroom.

Then, off to the eighth grade for a physics class. Learning about water displacement, their challenge was to shape a 8-by-8 inch sheet of aluminum foil so that it could hold the maximum number of pennies while floating in water. Looked like a lot of fun. When I left, one group had reported floating 104 pennies in their boat. Try it at home!

Woo-hoo! New camera

Received our new Canon XH A1 this week, and put it right to work, shooting a video for the Hartsbrook School in Hadley, MA. The A1 is capable of shooting in high definition (HD), but for this project I am using it in standard widescreen mode. After some inital tweaking with the presets, I beginning to get the images close to what I want.

Here are a couple of screen shots from today:
The High School building, Piening Hall.

Two seventh grade boys doing perspective drawing in the shadow of the Mt. Holyoke range.