Visual Media Group's Blog

Two VMG teams competed in the recent 24 Hour FilmRace competition, and together they took 12 of the 16 “Best” awards.  Proud? Yeah … we are pretty darn proud of them.

The 24 Hour FilmRace is one crazy competition. On May 18 at 7 p.m., the assignment was given; this year the theme was “One.” The entries also had to include a prop—the number one—and had to have the action of listening to music.

On May 19 at 7 p.m., the entry was due to the judges.

As you already know, as a creative video production company here in the Seattle area, we have some eager, talented team members who like working together. But this time, they surprised us.

The VMG team decided to take this on as two separate teams that they called Leon and Challenge Accepted. Actually, the Leon team was one team member, Nick Davis, who really isn’t that much of a rebel; he just wanted to try this one on his own.

The judges and audience loved both of the submissions. But they loved Leon’s (or Nick’s) just a little bit more.

Best Film Award went to Leon, and 1st Runner-Up went to Challenge Accepted. Nick now gets the honor of having his film compete in New York with other films from around the nation. Stay tuned, and we will let you know how he does.

Below are the links to both films as they were submitted. Just for the record, we are equally proud of both.

24 Hour Film Festival – Limbo

24 Hour Film Festival – The One

Yes, we are talking about our spanking-new VMG logo. You are probably asking yourself, “Huh … very nice, but why a tree on the VMG logo?”

It all has to do with our founder, the Queen Bee, Kelly and how she created this business.

The tree in our new logo is a graphic representation of single act of kindness that helped to grow VMG/studio520. The story goes like this…

Near the beginning of VMG, Kelly was working as a freelancer out of the family garage, one woman, one computer and one camera, when she landed a job creating a wedding video. (No, we do not do wedding videos now … this was a long time ago.)

A year later the bride asked if Kelly could possibly edit out an inebriated individual from the video. (Huh, a drunk person at a wedding? Who would have thought?)

Somewhat amused and totally understanding, Kelly worked late the next evening, made the change and delivered the new DVD.

Relieved and grateful, the client asked for the invoice. Kelly graciously made this change at no charge but requested the client to, “Help me grow my business, take my card and if you know of any businesses that can use my services, please give it to them.”

Turns out that person worked for Beth Shalom, and a month later when they needed a fundraising video, they called Kelly. Someone at that event saw the fundraising video and asked what was now Visual Media Group to create a video for them.

Then, from all that came video work from Swedish Medical Center, hiring her for the great work she (and now her small team) had performed.  The young company started to hire more people, and before long, it moved out of the garage, and into a very bustling business.

So, you see … that single act of helping someone out, that seed of kindness, grew into a thriving business. From one business to another, to another, Kelly saw that single act directly affect the growth of VMG.

Just like planting a seed and growing a tree.

As a creative digital production house here in the Seattle Area, we talk a lot about video, web sites, corporate communications, etc.  However, this article isn’t about any of that.

It’s about dogs.

Specifically, the rescued dogs of VMG.

What prompted this article is the remarkable story of Una (a puppy recently rescued from Bosnia by world traveler and newest VMG Team Member) Kevin.  Turns out we had another rescued dog story in our team.  Alysia, our indomitable Executive Assistant/ Marketing Maven, also has a great story to tell about her rescued pup, F.U. Tractor.  (That really is his name…you will find out why in a few paragraphs.)

Una and Kevin at her first check up

UNA: The survivor from Bosnia

You need to understand the context to grasp Una’s story.  She was found in an abandoned crematorium at a cemetery in Bosnia, a country still recovering from war.
There are a lot of stray dogs in Bosnia… and they travel in packs.  To find a single puppy out on it’s own, probably means that it’s mother and siblings were dead or that some sort of trauma had separated them.

Kevin was visiting with his lady Hana.  They were there because of the recent death of her grandfather.  The final day of the visit included one last trip to the cemetery to see grandfather’s grave.  But that little trip yielded an unexpected twist in their travels.  As the group was getting out of the car to go to the grave site, out from the old crematorium wondered a puppy.  It came over to them and sort of fell over/laid down.  It was tan, nearly skeletal, very weak and filthy.

“It was like she had no alternative, she had given up and was casting her fate to the wind,” says Kevin. “ Feed her, pet her, beat her or kill her… that was it for this dog.  We were her last shot. She was young…like less that two months old.  She was also as cute as they come and had just about the sweetest personality I have ever seen in an animal.”

This last statement is telling.  You see, Kevin really isn’t a dog person.

The decision was made to bring her back to America on the spot.  So, the last day included an emergency trip to a Vet, who agreed to help them with an examination, shots and a doggy passport. (Yeah- they have to have one, just like you do.)  A bath revealed that she wasn’t tan at all…she was white.  Of course, they fed her, too.  And also of course, since she was only used to what she could scavenge, she threw-up and had diarrhea all the way on the ride to the airport.

Then came the 12 hour flight with a wild puppy small enough to fly as ‘carry on’ and two completely anxious, inexperienced new dog owners.  “It was pretty much awful,” says Kevin.

That was several months ago.  How has it been going for Kevin, Hana and Una?

“The honest truth?” says Kevin, “I really just wanted to save her, I never really wanted a dog, and it was tough at first.  Poop all over the house, things getting torn up.  You know, just the sort of things that made me get a cat in the first place. But as she gains strength, get’s healthy and learns how to live with us, I am getting to love her. She really is a good dog…and she is doing really well, considering all she has been through.”

Una visited our office this last week…Kevin was right, she has just about the sweetest personality you have ever seen in an animal.

Trac after his first of many surgeries

F.U. Tractor (Trac for short)

The whole story of F.U. Tractor is summed up in his name.

Trac was an outdoor dog.  The farm life for him!  Until that fateful day with the tractor.

Tractor vs. dog…who do you think is going to come out on top?  According to Alysia their good friend (who happens to be a soft-hearted Vet) gave them a call.  She knew they were looking for a cute, smaller dog, potty trained with a good personality.  Had to be a snuggler.

She thought she had the perfect dog.

There was only a small caveat.  The owner of the dog had brought him into the vet to be put down.  The expense of repairing him was too much for the farmer.  The aforementioned softy of a vet couldn’t stand it.  She asked the owner if he would surrender the dog to the vet and she would take it from there.  The farmer agreed and left him in the hands of the vet.

The vet knew the dog would eventually be 100% fine, but it was going to take a lot of work on her part and lots of TLC afterwards.  The vet would repair him, free of charge, if Alysia and her roommate agreed to take him as their dog when she was done with him.

“First time we saw him, he was pretty pathetic…but adorable,” says Alysia.  “He was so drugged-up the first month we had him. We had to carry him pretty much everywhere, including down the stairs to take him outside.”  How did they know he had to go, you know, outside?  “Well, we just made sure we carried him down there on a very regular basis.  The first month was sort of brutal.”

But from the looks of things, it all turned out well.

Una taking a nap

By Mark Sparks, President

As a creative content provider here in the Seattle area, we get to do some interesting things from time to time. Recently, we have been doing a fair amount of underwater video work.

As a kid, I loved the old TV program “Sea Hunt.”  And yeah, I was one of those kids who wrapped the family’s super 8 in Glad ‘cling wrap,’ scotched-taped it carefully together so no water would get in, held my breath and dove down to capture the amazing sights.

Took me a couple year’s worth of allowance to pay for that little adventure.

Underwater is certainly one of the most inhospitable places to take a camera, let alone all the other equipment needed to make good video. Of course, when shooting video, ‘inhospitable’ usually equates to ‘money.’

Then there is a small matter of expertise.

Like everything else we create, we do all our own shooting here at VMG. However, our vast experience stops at the waterline. To go below, we turn to one of our friends who specializes in such things. Ben Griner is one of those friends. Ben is well known in diving circles as an adventurer who, with his team, finds long-lost wrecks and explores uncharted underwater caves, all the while chronicling what he finds with video.

He does stuff that, frankly, gives me the willies just to think about.

“Sea Hunt” was shot in clear, warm, water, according to Ben, “So they didn’t have the cold, dark water we have here in the Puget Sound that is full of back-scatter. They could see forever underwater, without lights and they could stay in one position as the well-rehearsed action took place in front of them. We don’t have that luxury here.”

Back-scatter?

“Oh, that’s the amount of material in the water that reflects back light and hampers the auto focus on our cameras. It’s pretty bad here…. lot’s of silt in the water. It takes a skilled diver not to kick up a cloud at every hand or flipper motion.”

But, back to the equipment. It’s expensive. “I would say, that to do a decent job recording underwater at depth, the average diver will have about $30,000 worth of equipment on them when they go under.” That’s per diver, and, it takes many of them to shoot and light things properly.

The physical challenge of dealing with camera equipment and the lighting required is as demanding as the technical skills needed to shoot good video underwater. And things compound the deeper you go. “You have to have housing for all the gear that can withstand intense pressure, that adds weight and makes your calculation of buoyancy tricky.”

“My team and I are mostly diving to discover old wrecks here in the Puget Sound, or to explore fresh water caves in Florida,” says Ben. “But finding a ship that has been lost for years, or being the first human to see something…it’s a real rush.”

Yeah. I have that same emotion when I find a new coffee shop up here on Terra Firma.

“Our biggest find? Besides the on-going exploration of the underwater caves, we were the team that found the third sunken mine sweeper in Lake Washington. But, we do find a lot of other things…like the occasional body.”

Body?

“Yeah, one of my diving buddies has found three of them so far. Really screws up your schedule. You have to stop everything and wait for the police.”

We feel your pain, there, Ben, and wish you a lot of luck in video shoots under the surface.

If you ever have any questions about shooting video underwater, or maybe just how to make your next marketing video or corporate presentation rise above the surface, give us a call (425) 457-7100.  We are VMG…your source for creative digital content.

This is serious stuff, this sex-on-camera-stuff, so, no smirking.

As a creative video production company here in the sexy city of Seattle we get asked some interesting questions.  This is the next in our occasional series about the oddities of our industry.

The client that approached us regarding a ‘bedroom scene’ wasn’t talking porn. (Get your mind out of the gutter… right now, buster.)  They wanted to consider just what it would take to capture that most intimate of human endeavors…love, the physical type.

Naturally, the first place you have to turn when considering such things is The Union.  So, let’s see what the Screen Actor’s Guild has to say about this.  The issue of sex/nudity on the set is found in section 43 of the SAG General Codified Agreement.

First, you can’t just wander in and watch.  First rule is a closed set. And only the absolutely necessary tech crew is allowed.  After a full discussion with the performers; agreements and waivers are signed.  Anybody gets uncomfortable… the deal is off.

This doesn’t sound very sexy…yet.

To get the real scoop on the ‘action’ itself, we talked to our friend, TV and screen veteran, Rob Estes.  Rob is the star of such movies and TV shows as Silk Stockings, Melrose Place, 90210, CSI: Miami and Nostradamus. He’s a good-looking guy who, in his estimation has done about 18 intimate scenes with his female co-stars.

“It’s a young person’s job,” chuckled Rob.  Then he got serious, “And you always keep one thing in mind when you do such a scene:  what’s the focus, what’s the intent? As an actor you have to understand why the scene is necessary…. how it moves the story along. Other wise, it’s really hard to make it believable, and you don’t even sign the papers.”

Yeah, yeah, sounds very professional… tell me about the naked bodies.

“There are scenes that require full nudity…. but most of the time, the actors are wearing something…. even if it’s just pasties and a skin colored g-string.”

“Most of the ladies I worked with were friends; I had the utmost respect for them.  There was one time, though, when the lady was a real bitc….er, pill.  It was a pretty horrible experience.”

Ok, fine… but did you ever, you know… get REALLY into the scene??

“Oh, that. No, never!  It really isn’t like that.  And I have worked with some ladies with some very hot bodies.  Many times, after ‘cut’ there is a lot of laughter between the actors.  It’s like…‘wait till I tell the kids about this.’

That’s another thing: as an actor, when you hear ‘action’, there are just two people in the room, you and your acting partner.  When you hear ‘cut’, your suddenly aware of everyone else in the room…it is a little jarring.”

“The most difficult love scene I have done?  Has to be with my then wife.  We got cast in the roles, which included a love scene together.  My wife was very uncomfortable about it.  To her it was brining our very private lives into public view… she didn’t like it at all.”

Well, so much for me living vicariously through Rob. He makes this sound like another day at the office, which, when you think about it, for him it really is.

If you ever have any questions about such things as love scenes or even something as mundane as just getting your marketing message captured on video, give us a call at 425-457-7100, or check us out on the web site at www.visualmediagroup.net.

We are Visual Media Group.  Whadda’ you lookin’ at?

Mark and the little tyke!

Another in an on-going series of sort-of-strange things about our industry.

So, you need a baby for your next video, but you don’t have any on hand, and no one will lend you one?  Not to worry, we have you covered.

As a creative digital production house in Seattle, we recently did a shoot for a client in which a baby played a key role.  Rather than find a real baby (let’s face it… they are pretty hard to work with) we bought one.  Well, a life-like doll that looks like a baby.  These are not your dime-store variety dolls.  They really, really look like a baby.

These things would fool anybody.

And they breath.

We are not kidding about this.

The dolls come in all sizes, ages and both sexes.  Black, white and in-between.  There is even an Obama baby which looks just like him, only six months old. (And no, he isn’t wearing a tie.)  They come with skin that feels real, hair and some are ‘anatomically correct’.

You can even order a “Little Baby Jesus” doll, which comes in hay-lined manger.  Don’t ask us how they knew what it was suppose to look like, just take our word for it, the thing sure as hell looks like Jesus to us.

These life-like impostors are not exactly cheap, they can easily top $200.  But, they don’t need a union card to appear in your video, and they don’t get fussy if they have to work over time.  And they do great stand-in for the real thing.

If you have any questions of an odd nature (or one that isn’t), don’t hesitate to give us a call.  Visual Media Group… “Whadda’ you lookin’ at?”

Visual Media Group is a Creative Digital Media House in the greater Seattle area.  We specialize in video production, animations, motion graphics, website development, presentations, and video again! If you need any of the above services do not hesitate to give us a call at 425.457.7100 or email us for more info at info@visualmediagroup.net! We look forward to working with you!

On March 16th the New York Times released an article describing the growing importance of utilizing online video as a marketing tool. Describing the need as cost effective and efficient we are seeing more companies turn to video to sell their product, raise awareness or reach out to clients and employees. Online video is fast becoming a staple in the small business advertising game plan. People can see a product demonstration or get information without ever leaving their homes. See how video can help your business too.

Read the article by clicking on this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/business/smallbusiness/17sbiz.html?src=dayp

Visual Media Group of Seattle, WA produces all kinds of corporate and commercial video. We specialize in all kinds of video production as well as multimedia. If you have a need for corporate communication, sales videos, marketing videos, product demonstrations, web videos, etc. contact Visual Media Group.

Please call 425.457.7100 or email info@visualmediagroup.net

For More Info or to See Samples of our Work: http://www.visualmediagroup.net

By Mark Sparks, CEO

(Another in our series about the oddities
of our industry)

Action movies. Admit it, you love them. Because things blow up. Buildings, cars, boats…even people. Here is how you, too, can blow things up in your next video.

Actually, as a Seattle creative video production company, we would probably be the ones you would hire to blow things up. You know, add a little pzazz to your next testimonial, marketing video, corporate communication piece, you name it. However, you, a mere mortal, would not be allowed to blow things up on your own; well not legally at least!

OK, the fact is, neither would we. We would contact Eric Rylander.  You probably have not heard of him, but you have seen his work. He is Special Effects and Pyrotechnical Forman for such films as “XXX” with Vin Diesel, “Terminator Salvation”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”, “Tropic Thunder”, and the list goes on.

Eric knows how to blow things up.

For example, in Spider Man 3, he blew up 16 cars in two different takes on 7th and Spring in Downtown LA. No small feat.

“The first thing you have to know in blowing things up is what governmental agencies need to get involved,” Eric told us in a recent phone interview.

That sounds boring to us, we just want to blow things up; but, we suppose there is this sort of unwritten code about not scaring the natives, so you have to get the authority’s approval.

“Oh, that’s just the beginning,” according to Eric. “The Fire Department has to check all the safety procedures, the plot plan, your storage, the kill zone and disposal plan of unused product… then of course there are the licenses.”

The ‘kill zone’?

We assumed that means that anyone within that zone dies, or, if they didn’t die, they might wish they had.

“Once, in the middle of New Mexico, I blew up 1,500 gallons of a napalm-like substance that ran for 300 feet in a 12 inch PCV Tube. Because New Mexico doesn’t have much involvement in this sort of thing, I had a lot of officials with me when I blew it.”

“We were less than 100 yards aways from the blast. Guess that was a little close to the zone. Scared the liver out of them,” he said chuckling.

Eric has fired rockets into buildings, blown up buildings, cars, and 40’ semis loaded with explosives. He seems to enjoy his work.

In The Green Hornet he accidentally set Seth Rogen’s hair on fire. “The material I was using for the explosion was hotter than I expected. Seth took it OK, I had CO2 with me and put him out right away.”

So, you want to be the one to blow things up? You need to do what Eric did. Spend about 12 years working with a mentor before he knew enough to go out on his own.

“There isn’t any formalized training for this,” said Eric. “You just have to hook up with an old guy in the field and start working the them… that’s how I did it.” Then he paused and laughed, “Guess I am the old guy, now.”

Considering that in the last 10 years there have been half a dozen accidents in his chosen field that killed someone, we think getting older is a preferable alternative.

We are Visual Media Group, a creative video production company based out of the Seattle area.  Give us a call if you want to blow things up, or if you just want explosively wonderful video for marketing, sales, training, fundraising, or corporate communications.

By: Bryan Johnston, Creative Director | Idea Guy

I must credit my wife for the inspiration behind this article. A voracious reader, she had only read maybe a third of her most recent book before she tossed it aside. I asked her what the problem was.

“Main guy was boring,” she said.

For an author, no words are deadlier.

If the story is the car, the protagonist is the engine that drives it. Uninteresting protagonist equals apathetic reader, equals low book sales, equals writer out of a job. Luckily there are universal principles you can apply for creating the perfect protagonist. Not rules, principles: things that have proven over time to work.

So where do you start?

When building your perfect protagonist you start at the same place you start when building anything, you start with the foundation. Your protagonist’s foundation is his character. What does he believe in? What are his strengths, his weaknesses? Is he charitable? Does he kick dogs? Your protagonist’s foundation gives him meaning and identity. To establish his character think in terms of Roots and Fruit. The roots determine the fruits. The roots are his purpose and principles, his beliefs and habits of the heart. The fruit are his performance, conduct, behavior and habits of action.

Okay, let’s start building your protagonist. Let’s say you’ve decided on what kind of a person he is, his principles and beliefs. Then what? Give him a past, a history. A person is molded by his experience. If he’s a bully it would be nice to know what happened to him in the past that made him that way. Get to know your protagonist better than you know your best friend. It shouldn’t be that hard, after all, he has no secrets from you, you’re the one making him up!

Choices

Once you’ve built your protagonist’s foundation and established his past, how do you get your reader to understand what he’s all about? With choices. True character is reflected in how your character reacts to choices. If he’s in a store and the cashier reaches down to pick up a dropped quarter, leaving a cash-packed till wide open, what will your protagonist do? How he chooses to respond to his circumstances tells your reader what kind of character he is, and what kind of character he has. Here is the ultimate test for what type of person your protagonist is: How will he act when he’s absolutely certain nobody is watching and he won’t get caught? Of course, one-time actions do not define his character. His character is defined by what he does repeatedly. It is a result of habit and consistency. Does that mean you want your protagonist to be predictable? No. You have an entire story to reveal elements of him. It is through the course of the story that his picture is drawn.

Motivation

Every decision, every choice, every move your protagonist makes all comes back to one thing. What does he want? Your main character must have a desire or goal. Once you’ve established what it is he’s after you have to ask yourself why he wants it. What drives him? This opens a can of all sorts of other questions that will fill in his character. How will he get what he’s after? How far will he go? Answering these questions gives your protagonist facets and dimensions, and your protagonist must be more multi-dimensional than any other character in your story. Giving him more dimensions makes him more complex, which makes him more interesting.

Good versus Evil

Your protagonist doesn’t necessarily have to be much of a good guy. Whether he’s good or bad doesn’t make a difference, as long as he’s the focus of the story. And sympathetic. You have to care about him. He can be evil as the day is long; knocks off old ladies for their social security checks, tips over children on crutches, doesn’t matter, just as long as you make your readers care about him. No small trick, but when you pull it off you have a dynamite protagonist.

Developing a sympathetic protagonist who isn’t all goodness and light isn’t easy, but there’s a quick rule of thumb you can use to establish if he is indeed, at his core, good or in league with the devil. A good character uses his principles to determine his goals. A bad character uses his goals to determine his principles. Your bad guy can be the most intelligent, charming, funny, and admirable character you can imagine, but his one fatal flaw will always be his self-centeredness. It’s all about him. He will reach his goal no matter who gets in the way. In the end he will see the needs of himself outweighing the needs of anyone else. Some would argue this is the true measuring stick of bad guys. Even sympathetic ones you find yourself rooting for, in spite of yourself. The line between good and evil can be blurred due to the characters complex nature.

Complexity

Complexity is the key. Whether your protagonist is a good guy or a bad guy, he can’t be one-dimensional. It’s necessary to throw a contradiction into his nature or behavior. You know, the likable killer, the philandering good father. By giving your protagonist a moral characteristic that seems to go against his grain it makes him more human. No one is all good, or all evil. When your protagonist shares our common foibles, fears and insecurities your reader will better relate to him.

Help from the cast of characters

Another measure of your lead’s character is how he reacts to the others in the story. Your protagonist cannot respond the same way to everyone around him. If he did that he would be an extremely flat, boring, easy to predict character. Let’s face it, there are some people we like and some we don’t like. We don’t act the same way around both sets. The cast of characters act like a set of funhouse mirrors, each reflecting something different about our protagonist. We see his compassionate side when he’s with his dog or his competitiveness when he’s around his older brother. Someone else might give us a glimpse of his cruelty, while another could show us his tender side. An assortment of personalities surrounding the lead gives him many opportunities to let the reader develop a strong sense of what he’s all about.

In closing…

Once you have a clear picture in your head of what your protagonist is all about you’ll be surprised at how much easier writing the story will be. Ideas will magically materialize in your head, mostly because you have such a strong framework to hang ideas from. You know exactly what you’re working with. In effect, your main character sets the rules, and when you know the rules any game gets easier. Once your protagonist is armed with a strong foundation and a clear goal he is now prepared to face a myriad of difficult choices. Congratulations, you’ve just built yourself a seriously powerful engine to drive your story.
And there’s no limit to where it can take you.

About the Author: Along with being the Creative Director for Visual Media Group, Bryan Johnston is the author of two books, Inside the Warped Minds of Men, and JP Patches: Northwest Icon. He has also written for ESPN.com. Seattle Bride Magazine, Seattle’s Child magazine, Jr. Baseball magazine, ByLine magazine, MEDIA Inc., Writers’ Journal and WeeklyWriter.com. He is a ten Emmy awards winner for his work as a television producer. The Johnston clan hang their hats in the ‘burbs of Seattle, Washington.

Yes, you really can.

By: Mark Sparks, CEO

This is the first in a series we are calling; “Interesting Things About Our Industry”, which we hope you do, indeed, find interesting, mildly amusing or at the very least, weird. This month’s topic: How to Rent a Monkey… No, really. We aren’t kidding.

As a Seattle video production company, we get asked some fairly strange things from time to time. The latest was a client who asked us to have a monkey in their video.

“OK,” we said, “Give us a few days to look into that.”

And sure enough, we found the monkey rental people. Here were their parameters:

First, they do not drop-ship a monkey to your video shoot. Monkeys (we are not talking a chimpanzee here, this is a little guy) are very sensitive creatures and need special handling and consideration. They need several days to acclimate to the shooting environment to feel comfortable. This, of course, means money.

A one day shoot escalates anywhere from three to five days as soon as you include a monkey; and, don’t get the idea that you can just let the monkey wonder around your set for a few days by himself to ‘get a feel for it’. Your rented monkey has to have a head trainer and an assistant trainer, as well as accommodations, meals (including bait) transportation and Per Diem for the entire monkey entourage.

Here’s the bottom line: you should plan to include an additional $15,000 to $18,000 to add this little fella to your video shoot.  Monkeys may be cute and mischievous, but they certainly aren’t cheap.

If you are interested in putting a monkey, parrot, panther, or any other creature in your video, presentation, or to have them wander around your web site, give us a call!