Video Production Oakville – The Captain’s Blog

Keeping your Cool in Hot Weather or Cold Weather

Hello everyone, it’s John again, producer here at Groovy Concepts.

I spent three days in Montreal last week during the unexpected heat wave. The extremely high temperatures caused 33 heat-related deaths.

Taking measures to stay cool and hydrated made me reflect back to just six months ago . . . and what a difference six months can make in weather conditions here in Canada!

On January 29, the Groovy team was flying out of Pearson International Airport for a video production in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Wintery conditions, snow and high winds were hitting Toronto that day, which led to flight delays and cancellations. We were delayed nine hours.

We arrived in Thunder Bay at midnight. With our luggage and nine pieces of equipment gathered and all accounted for, we set off through the airport to pick up our car rental. Our directions were to head out though the sliding doors to our black SUV – 100 yards to the right in the parking lot.

A band of hearty Canadians who left home in a snowstorm, we were prepared for winter weather. We had our parkas, our toques, our gloves, we were layered – bring it on we said! Winter is winter, the rules are the same, we said! But as the automatic sliding doors opened, we entered a brand new world of cold where the rules are not the same – the most bitter cold air we had ever experienced. It literally took our breath away, as though our lungs were going to explode.

But our intrepid team was not to be stopped by cold air. We made the 100-yard trek to the rental car, and as most northerners know a car that has been sitting in sub-zero weather will be blanketed in a thick frost that will need a good scraping to clear the windshield. Unsurprisingly this was the case as we arrived at our rental. Undaunted, we clicked the doors open, loaded our equipment, scraped the windows free of the thick frost, climbed into the car, hit the ignition and the SUV’s engine roared into life.

But wait! Something wasn’t right, we still couldn’t see out the window. As the reason dawned on us, our chattering teeth gave way to laughter. There was a film of ice covering the interior of the car – as thick as the outside had been. Laughing and scraping, we spent the next 10 minutes clearing the frost from the inside of the car. With the temperature hovering around -29C and a car interior that never quite warmed up, our only mission was to get to the lobby of the Holiday Inn, get our equipment out of the frozen SUV and warm up.

The dichotomy of life is 37° in Montreal in July to the ice-age-cold of -29 in Thunder Bay six months earlier. But the show must go on and travel weather is just one more factor we deal with in the video production game. Meanwhile, I’m back from sweltering heat in Montreal and my air conditioner is there for me once again.

That’s it for now. I look forward to touching base with you again down the line. Happy filming!

#videoproductionoakville #groovyconcepts

Video Production Oakville – The Captain’s Blog

How important is luck and timing to a business or career?

Hi everyone, John again, producer here at Groovy Concepts.

Groovy Concepts has been creating video productions in and around Toronto for 15 years and people often ask how we got to be where we are today, one of the leaders in the industry.

Our big break came in 2006 when we got a call to head up to Bingeman’s in Kitchener to film President Bill Clinton, who was giving a talk to a group of 300 battered women. This was right around the time Hillary Clinton was in the running with Barak Obama to lead the Democratic Party in the 2008 election.

President Clinton gave a very eloquent and interesting speech, which we filmed in its entirety. We edited it down to a few of the more compelling parts and posted that to our website. As a result over the next weeks and months, our phone began to ring with people looking for live action shooting. “If you can film Bill Clinton, then you certainly can film us as well,” was the response from our prospective clients.

This was really a kind of watershed moment for us at Groovy, it launched us into a new successful phase. This is the one thing that we always look out for when starting a business. Good luck and good timing. Good luck always plays a part in every business and career. A chance encounter with a helpful person or being in the right place when an interesting opportunity becomes available.

You can’t do anything to influence luck, but exposing yourself to new experiences and environments can improve your odds.

Following intuition and “gut feelings” can bring the good fortune that will carry you to the next level. In our case it was filming Bill Clinton in 2006.

Hope good fortune smiles on you as it did to Groovy.

That’s it for now. I look forward to touching base with you again down the line. Happy filming!

Video Production Oakville – The Captain’s Blog

“Driving in Toronto is Easy”

Said no one!

Hi everyone, this is John from Groovy again.

Today I wanted to discuss one of the major challenges in filming a video production in Toronto and the GTA. That is the everyday traffic torture that is in the city of Toronto.

Toronto, as everyone probably now knows, has the dubious distinction of ranking number one for traffic congestion in North America. So an early morning shoot – usually an 8:00 a.m. start – is quite a challenge when we are hired to film anywhere in the GTA, in particular if it is in a downtown Toronto studio.

Gridlock is frustrating at best. As professionals we must take measures to be on time. It is a real concern and so we err on the side of caution. For instance if we had a video production in downtown Toronto, say in the Spadina and King area, coming in from Oakville we would of necessity add a good hour to our normal travel time in order to make certain that we are set up and ready at start time. Now if the traffic by some miracle is moving well we get there with time to spare – a much preferred scenario to arriving late with a car full of equipment to unload and set up!

And as they say, getting there is only half the fun. Most shoots end at 5:00 p.m. when the studios close for the day so we must pack up and head back west to Oakville, easily another two hour commute. So aside from the normal challenges of producing a beautiful film we must deal with traffic getting to the venue on time and getting out of town after 5:00 p.m.

Will self-driving cars be the remedy many hope they will be? Probably not. But as long as we’re spending hours sitting in traffic maybe we can get caught up on Netflix?

Essentially however, I guess the motto remains, where there’s a will there’s a way even if it is a slow but sure way!

That’s it for now. As always I look forward to touching base with you again down the line.

Happy filming!

Video Production Toronto – The Captain’s Blog

Natural light from windows can be a blessing and a curse.

Hello everyone, it’s John again, producer here at Groovy Concepts.

Today I thought I would talk a little bit about the importance of controlling the lighting in the studio when producing a video production. As humans we embrace natural light but when in a studio to film we need the maximum amount of control over where exactly the light falls on the scene. That means controlling / blocking all natural light.

At last Friday’s video shoot in Toronto natural light from windows was a problem from the get-go. The main room set up for the interviews was 40 X 50 with nice high ceilings, but it had four large windows; one on the north side and three on the east side. Only the north side window had blinds to block the outside light.

We started shooting at 8:00 a.m. under a bright blue sky but by 10 o’clock when clouds started to roll in, our lighting set up had to be adjusted. Then by noon, when the clouds got noticeably thicker we were adjusting the lighting again. The afternoon found us adjusting once again as the skies cleared out to a perfect blue with a blazing sun around 3:30. All this equipment rearrangement and correction cost us valuable shooting time.

So a word to the wise, when considering a video production shoot at the various studios always ensure that those studios are fully equipped with block out blinds before hand. Time is money. Studio time is charged by the hour. The ability to control the lighting environment saves everybody time and money.

The experience we went through at last Friday’s video production in Toronto, falls under the category of “live and learn”. This was the first time we expected and assumed that a professional studio would be suitably equipped for lighting but, to our chagrin, was not.

So the bottom line is never assume, always confirm. You owe it to yourself and to your client.

That’s it for now. I look forward to touching base with you again down the line. Happy filming!

Video Production Oakville – The Captain’s Blog

What I learned after filming 20 interviews in two days.

Hello everyone, it’s John again, producer here at Groovy Concepts. Today I will review the pitfalls of filming too many interviews in one day. Shooting interviews can be one of the most challenging aspects of a professional video production.

Over the course of two days last week, we filmed 20 interviews; 12 the first day then eight more the second day. The plan was to complete one interview every half hour, including the pre-interview setup. Everything rolled beautifully for the first eight interviews. However we soon came to the realization that working non-stop, through lunch, without a break was draining our energy levels and tapping into our reserves.

Professionalism and discipline are keys to a good corporate video production. But people do get tired and the one thing you don’t want to do is allow tiredness to get in the way of giving the people you are interviewing the proper attention. It’s important to stay focused, locking in on the eyes of the interviewee, showing interest in what they are saying. By showing interest you get the best out of your interviewee.

There is no magic formula, but as a general guideline we at Groovy have come to realize the importance of limiting the number of interviews on any given day to between five and eight. It’s important as professionals to honour the process by maintaining absolute energy. Just like we would schedule how many scene setups we can film in a day, we need to be realistic about how many interviews we can cover in one day.

Whether we are shooting in Montreal at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel as we did last week, or a local video production in Toronto, if there is to be 20 interviews, we would establish our limits in advance with our client; eight interviews on day one, eight on the second day, and the balance on the third day. We are not in the business to simply pump out a project. It must be done beautifully and to do so energy levels must be maintained.

One other quick but very important point while working a video production is to drink lots of water to maintain hydration, maybe cut back on the coffee and try to eat some fresh fruits and vegetables. Good nutrition is a key to really maintaining energy levels but water is an essential to maintain clarity. Also, the night before the shoot, you should try to get your seven to eight hours of sleep. Show up to the shoot in top shape, lucid and keen to go – in so doing everybody wins!

Video Production Oakville – The Captain’s Blog

T-Minus Two Minutes and Counting

Hello everyone, it’s John again, producer here at Groovy Concepts.

Today I thought I would talk a little bit about the evolution of the video industry, specifically the duration of corporate videos. When Groovy was starting out 15 years ago, a corporate video could run from 3 ½ to 4 ½ minutes. But times have changed, attention spans have gotten shorter, the Internet has gone mobile and shorter is better.

Over time we have seen the duration of both live action videos and 2D animated videos get shorter and shorter. Ten years ago, for instance, we were producing corporate videos that were under three minutes long and five years ago we saw them drop further, to under two minutes. In the last three years we’ve seen the sweet spot for all corporate videos drop to anywhere from 60 seconds to 90 seconds. We have even gotten requests for “stinger” videos of 10 to 15 seconds long.

Now with videos getting shorter your audience needs be able to quickly grasp your message. Most people click on a video because of an interesting thumbnail, a catchy title, or because it came up high in search results. People don’t think about video length until they notice that it’s too long. The cyber world has compelled all of us to shorten and tighten up our video messages.
So how do you manage to get your message across, and capture (and keep) your viewers’ attention in less than two minutes? Beyond just capturing the message the trick then becomes how to edit one or more 20- to 30-minute interviews plus B-roll images into a compact and punchy 60- to 90-second video that includes intro and outro messages as well as graphics and royalty free music. You can’t attain this with just your smart phone. It takes an experienced creative director to pull all these strings together into a perfect fit. As it happens, our creative director, who also happens to be my son, is in a class of his own in this area – our portfolio speaks for itself.

Check us out and see for yourself!

www.groovyconcepts.ca

Contact me or Mike for any of your corporate video needs and note that we can usually deliver a completed video within four to six weeks after shooting.

Video Production Oakville – The Captain’s Blog

Never Fear the Groovy Camera

How the Groovy Team helps you to shine in your interview

Although some people feel perfectly comfortable with the idea of being interviewed for a video production (including many of you who grew up with Skype and YouTube) it’s been our experience that most people dread the very idea of being on camera. But interview videos are everywhere these days, from the customer testimonial to the “about us” videos. They are a great source of content.

The Groovy team has interviewed hundreds of people over the last 15 years. Because our mission is to help you stay calm and relaxed, we have a tried and true system in place.

Before the interview, we’ll chat about anything but the interview questions. This is where we break the ice and set the “table” for the interview process. We might ask, “where do you hail from, discuss the latest news announcements, the weather – anything to help you relax and enjoy the moment. We may start off as strangers but our aim is to part as friends – friends who take care of you and look after your needs!

With the lights, white or green screens and cameras set to go and mics in place, we start our “interview”. Often times we will have sent questions that might apply to what is needed in the interview. We try to avoid Q & A. Instead we will have a natural conversation. So whether it’s a product launch or a specific message, we often start our interview with “tell me about …”

In our videos at no time will you be looking at the camera. You will be conversing with the interviewer. Our creative director will be behind us and off to the right unobtrusively filming the interview. Remember we are filming you having a conversation. The camera is just another “person” in the room. Before you know it, you will have been speaking with us for 10 to 15 minutes and that is usually a rap! Seamless and painless!

Here at Groovy Concepts we want your interview experience to be a pleasant one, your message to flow smoothly, and we want you to be proud of your successful interview.

To view some samples of our previous interviews please click below.

https://groovyconcepts.ca/video-production

Video Production Oakville – The Captain’s Blog

A Groovy Adventure

It’s 9:30 a.m. on June 11, a bright Sunday morning. With the film equipment fully loaded, the Groovy Gang heads off to Montreal.

Our Mission: To film the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum.

The six hours of travel along the 401 from Oakville to Montreal is a mix of abject boredom and near death experiences all rolled into one root canal of a trip. The way some drivers weave through traffic at break neck speeds without signaling you’d think they were racing in the Montreal Grand Prix.

As Mike and I arrived in front of the beautiful Queen Elizabeth Hotel we couldn’t help but notice all the Ferraris and Lamborghinis. What the heck is going on here? A Testarossa over there, a Bentley coming up Rene Levesque Blvd! Turns out the actual Grand Prix had just ended in Montreal.

Meanwhile back to our mission. The hotel staff helped us to get the equipment up to the Crescent Room, which was to be our venue for the next three days. It was a beautiful room, about 40 x 30 with high ceilings. Perfect for our shoot. Within an hour and half we had our lighting and backdrop screen set up and we were good to go for our interview shoot the next day.

We started interviewing at 9:30 a.m. on Monday morning. The shoot went by like a knife through butter. We finished our 12th and last interview for the day by 4:00.

Day two – Tuesday – started at 8:00 a.m. We did another eight interviews on Tuesday and were finished by noon. With our mission completed, we began the tear down of the lighting equipment and cameras, and by 2:30 the car was once again fully loaded and ready for the return trek back to Oakville.

We were heading out of La Belle Provence officially by 3:30 but it didn’t take long before the crawl along the 401 began. We were quickly going nowhere. A normal five and half to 6-hour drive stretched to seven hours as we hit three sets of construction sites along the way. But a hop on to the 407 saved the day and we were home sweet home by 10:30 Tuesday night, exhausted but exhilarated.

Another successful Groovy Concepts video production completed!

Our mission accomplished!

Check out our video log of the trip on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groovyconcepts and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groovyconcepts

Video Production Oakville – The Captain’s Blog

Another Rule of Thumbnail: Colour

Make Your Thumbnail Image Stand Out with Colour

Bright colours will make your thumbnail image pop. Of course, that doesn’t mean to go completely overboard. Do just enough to differentiate your video from the others. Don’t settle for the existing colours in your image. Use photo-editing and graphic design software to boost the saturation in the thumbnail image just enough to make the colours stand out over other thumbnails. Even small adjustments to the hue and saturation can attract viewers directly to your thumbnail. Consider applying a filter to your thumbnails. Even something as simple as sharpening the edges can have a subliminal effect on thumbnails. Remember, video production in Toronto is highly competitive. Edge out the competition with an appealing thumbnail.

The Next Rule of Thumbnail: Include a Face

Include an Enticing Image of a Person

Putting the extra effort to create a winning thumbnail is a great way to ensure success in the competitive word of video production in Toronto. People are naturally drawn to faces. Try to choose an image that will draw the eye and entice people to click. Emotional facial expressions can also go a long way to engaging viewers to watch. Extreme close-ups are one type of thumbnail that can amplify emotions. Thumbnails that show laughter, joy, sorrow, anger — all can draw attention to your thumbnail. Make the viewer wonder, “what made this person feel that way?” — and compel them to click on your video thumbnail to find out!

Here’s another Rule of Thumbnail: The Action Shot

Find an Image Packed with Action

Another way of capturing attention in the fierce competitive world of video production in Toronto, is to use an action shot as the thumbnail. The added sense of motion will encourage viewers to click on your video to see what it’s all about. The Slow Mo Guys are known for conducting crazy experiments, and along with optimized titles, they almost always include the main action shot from their videos on their thumbnails. The amount of clicks they get shows just how effective this approach can be.

Video Production Oakville – The Captain’s Blog

Why are your Video Production Thumbnails Important?

Your video’s thumbnail is the equivalent of a movie poster. A good thumbnail will attract the attention of viewers and persuade them to click through and watch your video. Because corporate video production in Toronto is so highly competitive, don’t ignore this underrated asset. An effective custom thumbnail can make all the difference when it comes to a viewer choosing to watch your video, or deciding to watch another. Many companies in Toronto and elsewhere fail to take advantage of this optimizing feature.

Most hosting platforms automatically generates three optional thumbnail images whenever a video is uploaded, but often these images don’t truly represent your video. A good “rule of thumbnail” is to manually select a still that is visually striking and accurately depicts your video content.

Nothing beats a custom thumbnail image that ties in with your video, your channel message and your brand. Apart from making a quality video production that viewers want to watch, companies should follow some basic guidelines when creating and optimizing its thumbnail.

Watch for our future blogs with more tips to optimize your thumbnails and attract more viewers.