H&R Block was accepting pitches for the production of funny tax videos and we wanted to be in the mix. Unfortunately, we only had 8 hours to think of some ideas, shoot and edit the videos and complete our entire pitch.
This is some of the confusion and thinking of how we managed that process as well as the shooting of the final video for TikTok.
It gives you a look into how quickly and effectively we can produce content at a moments notice with no existing plan.
Behind The Scenes - "Urban Water Skiing"
This ridiculous video was the result of an outdoor shoot that had to be delayed due to heavy rain. We were sitting around with nothing to do and all decided to make the best of the rain and flooded road.
With a few quick cuts and some bolts we fashioned some water skis out of a couple old boards and we were off to shoot this fun video that seems to please all of our neighbors.
This is what happens when you seize the moment and take advantage of the weather rather than letting it stop production completely.
Streamlining Content Creation Costs
Creating content for YouTube, TikTok and Instagram is not as straight forward as most people seem to believe. In fact, there are no guarantees, no really data to draw from and no way of knowing how viewers will react at any given time.
Knowing how volatile a platform can be is critical in understanding how to create content for that platform, being able to adjust quickly, follow trends and being prepared to accept that even the best content may not result in any activity.
An important factor in surviving the social media black hole is by keeping costs as low as possible and being ultra flexible in production.
We do that by having a huge inventory of props, a small low cost studio that we own and all the equipment and resources needed.
We can produce viral content (and we have over and over) for hundreds of dollars opposed to thousands of dollars spent a larger studios.
At the end of the day, the results are all that matter. But when companies have tight budgets getting 10 videos for the cost that other will charge for 1 gives you a better chance of breaking through the social media glass ceiling.
Building Our Own Props
Our team has all the tools to build our own props, sets and special effects tools that are needed in most videos. Rather than outsourcing or using CGI to create effects, we rely on our own people to create the tools we need to make practical effects that look real.
Of course we do use green screens and post production after effects to embellish and sometimes completely create videos. But we are not reliant on editing alone to make our videos special.
The photo below shows the Massey Model 12 turned into an urban assault vehicle for golfers, complete with quilted toilet paper and draft beer on tap.
