STEP 1: An initial phone call with the client’ to discuss the company mission, convention topics, and scope of the videos.
STEP 2: A separate conference call with employees to get perspective on their leader’s managerial style, sayings, verbal and physical demeanor, families, pets, hobbies and over all idiosyncrasies to over exaggerate their puppet doppelgangers for comedic conflict.
BEHIND THE SCENES A.K.A. UNDER THE PUPPETS
VIDEO 1
At the last minute, the clients wanted an initial video on their sign-up website prior to convention. However the puppets were with me across the country for the primary video shoots and edits.
I wrote the script and designed the camera shot list for their in-house Pittsburgh crew, providing the puppet footage on green screen for them to insert.
Executives aren’t actors and corporate editors are not always full of pizazz. But it was cute, outside of their usual media content and provided a great introduction to why the puppets are there along with a little cliff hanger.
VIDEO 2
The team sent over some snap shots of the president’s office which we made graphic cutouts. It’s a campy, quick, visual recognition without building expensive practical sets.
After some digging we heard he was an avid hunter while she was a zealous shoe lover. We took a few liberties to over exaggerate this one …
VIDEO 3
These two are complete, personality opposites making for terrific fodder. Especially when we magnified the president’s love for her animals.
VIDEO 4
Like most companies, they use a ridiculous number of acronyms within the company’s language. In addition, the President and VP utilize this Sonny & Cher song for all of their conference introductions over the years. This was a little bonus we provided giving a nod to their ingrained company culture.
VIDEO 5
At the conference, we only had hours to shoot, edit, clear and “air” this completely improvised “Job Performance Evaluation” footage. These unwitting participants were dragged in from the convention hall! The video played at the final evening’s gala along with a brief, live appearance confronted by their human counterparts …
SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS
When we arrived to the conference we found out the initial videos created such a frenzy, employees were placing bets on where the puppets might pop up during the convention which gave us an idea …
Without detection, we took photos and video on the puppets arrival, spying on employees and utilizing the hotel amenities.