Another rotten day at the office...

I won't kid you... this year has certainly seen its share of challenges. Between the housing crisis and the economic meltdown, it seems like we're working twice as hard just to keep up. Having said that, however, I always feel blessed by the fact that as much of a roller-coaster as it's been lately, there are still very few things I'd rather be doing.

Case in point: Today's shoot was for Silver Spur Tours, a wonderful tour company based in Sedona, AZ. It's beautiful country up there, and just elevated enough to be out of the blistering heat of the Phoenix summer.

I love road trips because, compared to flying, you can pack so much more gear. I'm a bit of a pack-rat, so I tend to bring at least one of everything I might need.

Mike Kaser of SST (directing me in this photo) has recently decked-out these amazing Sprinter vans for his tour company, so one of the things we were spotlighting today was these incredible tour vehicles.

They truly are the ultimate in luxury vehicles. I'd much rather ride around in one of these than a limo. Far more headroom!

It's always great working with great talent, and Mike's favorite is Tiffany Young, so I twisted her arm and brought her along on the trip.

Mike always likes to get shots from the air for his tour videos, and in Sedona, that means a helicopter. Here we are about to step into our Bell Jet Ranger. Yes, it was a very tough day indeed...

There's the horrible view out of the window. OK, I think I'm overdoing the sarcasm at this point.

The final shot of the day here amongst the red rocks. Mike has a unique way of creating these videos which makes his shoots challenging and fun at the same time. He prefers to shoot what he feels is important, and then add the scripting and voice-over later on, which is the reverse of most of our clients. Skeptical at first, I've come to appreciate the technique.

...and as the sun sets slowly in the West, everything goes back in the truck for the 2 hour drive back down the hill to home. We're equally as comfortable traveling across the country as we are across the state, so if you have a project in mind that you'd like video for, please don't hesitate to drop us a line at 480-240-9270.

Here are links to a few of our previous Silver Spur Tours videos...

Arizona Landmarks

Grand Canyon Country

Sedona Wine Country

In economic slow-down, golf courses turn to online video

I have to hand it to Club Corp, the firm that owns and manages hundreds of golf courses here in the USA. Most marketing experts will tell you that during slow economic times, you need to increase your marketing efforts to maintain market share. Of course, most businesses do exactly the opposite, slashing marketing budgets during down times and then spending lavishly during the booms. Not Club Corp, however. Recognizing that they need new and exciting ways of engaging prospective customers, they've turned to online video to generate renewed interest on their websites.

Left-to-Right: Producer Jay Lee, Host Tiffany Young, and Seville Golf Club Membership Director Ryan Barmore.

For Seville Golf Club and two other courses here in AZ, we're using a combination of video, still photography, and aerial photography to tour virtual visitors around the grounds, including the course, pro shops, fitness facilites, and dinning accomodations.

In this scene, Tiffany is extolling the virtues of "Boleros": a bar and grill located on the gorgeous grounds of Seville Golf Club.

Of course, the obvious temptation for us is to shoot this scene last, and then stop for a 'cold one' at the bar (an offer always put forward by the gracious Mr. Barmore). Unfortunately, it's back to the studio for us to get down to editing.

Here's the Gainey Ranch Golf Course that we shot a few months back:

Gainey Ranch Golf Course Video

If you'd like information about producing a video for your firm, please don't hesitate to drop us a line at 480.240.9270.

Very interesting stats about online videos and where people watch them...

Here's a great article from comScore about the latest record-breaking numbers of people watching online video, with some eye-opening charts:

U.S. Internet Users Viewed 10 Billion Videos Online in Record-Breaking Month of December, According to comScore Video Metrix

Writer’s Strike May be Contributing to Surge in Online Video Viewing Activity

RESTON, VA, February 08, 2008 – comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released December 2007 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, which reaches beyond simple site visitation to measure actual online video viewing behavior. The December 2007 report revealed that U.S. Internet users watched more than 10 billion videos online during the month, representing the single heaviest month for online video consumption since comScore initiated its tracking service. Top-ranked video property Google Sites saw substantial growth and extended its video market share gains, now accounting for nearly one out of every three videos viewed online.

Read More:
Link to comScore article

Shooting LOW LEVEL Aerial photos

It used to be fairly common practice to rent helicopters for shooting aerial photos of large estates or properties to show off the grounds and surrounding areas. Then a little thing called 9-11 happened. The FAA (which has always been fairly standoffish to general aviation traffic) began to clamp down on all kinds of private flights, and fines for encroaching on airspace or violation noise ordinances were more liberally distributed.

Nowadays, it's difficult to get a helicopter to shoot photos in an urban area because if you're lucky enough to be out of controlled airspace, most HOAs frown on low-level helicopter flight, and one call to the FAA will get a nasty letter sent to the helicopter firm, which won't want to take the risk of flying out there again (and you just KNOW there's always at lease one neighbor in an HOA who loves to complain about things like that).

So, the helicopter firms often won't fly under 1000 or even 1500 feet, and that's not a great angle for taking estate photos.

Our solution to this has been the X6 helicopter:

This little guy is remote controlled, battery operated (which makes it virtually silent), deploys in under 5 minutes, and get great photos from the best altitudes (50-200 feet).

Being silent and fast to deploy, the X6 can get in, get the shot, and get out with disturbing neighbors or attracting attention. It's great for residential and commercial properties, and can even be used inside if the space is large enough.

It's also a very safe little bird, with built in GPS and inertial stabilizers, and an 'auto-land' feature if it flies out of range or gets low on battery. Here's a shot of me just after landing:

It's also FAR cheaper for our clients than renting a helicopter, and takes far less time. If you'd like to find our more about our LOW-LEVEL aerial photo/video service, drop us a line at 480.240.9270, or visit us at www.PrimeImageMedia.com.

Now, here are a few of the shots we got this morning in beautiful Arrowhead Lakes....

Capturing a seminar event on video

This week saw us shooting one of my favorite kinds of videos, the Speaker Seminar event...specifically an event put on by the Arizona Regional MLS system, who brought in two speakers to discuss real estate issues at a Harkins Theater in Scottsdale.

Why do I like these events so much? Mostly because if a company has spent money on these speakers, they usually have something pretty interesting to say, and as the videographer, I get to attend and learn while I'm getting paid, so it's a double win for me.

Many companies are turning to video to capture events like this so they can reach a higher audience by putting the video on their website, but if it's the first time a firm has video'd a speaker seminar, there can be a few pitfalls to avoid.

One often overlooked issue is lighting the speaker. In the dark Harkins theater, the slides look great, but no one could see the speaker, and he certainly wouldn't show up on video. Anticipating this, we brought a light with us and set it up (you can see it in the above photo). It washes out a little of the slide show presentation behind the speaker, but not enough to be unreadable, and it certainly allows the video to capture the speaker in a much better 'light' (literately!).

Another concern is the sound. The speakers were using handheld mics here, which were attached to the PA in the theater (as you can see, it was a full house). The techs at the theater weren't prepared to send us a line from the house system, however, so being prepared ourselves, we brought our own clip-on mics for the speakers. Once adorned, the speakers didn't have to worry about them, and we had control over our own sound without worrying about the theater's system.

This was a two-camera shoot (thanks to Jay Lee, my favorite cameraman!), where we'll add the slides in later in 'post-production'. Not every client has the budget for two cameras, but it adds a degree of professionalism to the shoot. Costs can be kept in check, however, by just having one camera, and by capturing the slides by shooting the screen, rather than editing them in later on.

All in all, it was a great event, and the video will allow ARMLS to reach a far greater audience than just those who could attend today. If you have an upcoming event you'd like to capture. Drop us a line at 480.240.9270, or email me at ben@PrimeImageMedia.com

Rhode Island Estate Auction

Recently, Andi Barness (www.andibarness.com) and I were hired to craft a video to market a gorgeous estate located in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Andi is great to travel with, because she's low maintenance, and handles last minute details with aplomb.

One great thing I love about shoot like these is that these large estate often want helicopter footage... That's always fun!

We usually hire a local firm. In this case, here I am getting into a Robinson R44 heli....

As you can see, it makes for some gorgeous shots....

Andi is great on camera, and really looks at home (a little TOO at home) in this 18000sqft palace!

But her professionalism is what makes shooting videos like this fun. Here's the final result...

Clarmar Estate Video for JP King