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July 12, 2021
July 12, 2021
I started working for Launchpad in May of 2020, so it's been a little over a year now!
Mostly video work, videography, producing video, creating ads...things like that!
Well before any project, you've got to start with an idea. If I’m creating an ad, I’ll brainstorm on my own and often collaborate with other team members to spitball ideas. From there, we’ll narrow it down to three different ones to hone in on, and once that's decided, we pick one that we believe will be the best and focus on that. From there, my job is to bring it to life with audio and footage. I won't go into the weeds here, but to illustrate, it could be stock footage or footage we’ve captured ourselves. After that comes the editing, which I would say is the longest part. It’s because it takes 1.5X the amount it takes to film, and sometimes it might even take double the time. The process is a journey, but it’s worth it!
So to answer your question, it involves a lot! Creativity, communication, being on set, recording/inserting video and audio, writing scripts, sifting through footage, and lots and lots of editing are some things off the top of my head!
The footage will depend on the project and the client. Sometimes I might make a whole ad using footage that we have or footage that we can find, or I find out what we can replace with actual videography that we go out into the field and shoot ourselves.
Let’s say I'm working on a type of project where my role is to record interviews with people. The footage I'm capturing is obviously going to need to be done myself because I'm not going to find it anywhere. It's enormously specific.
This is comparable for clients who sell products. A lot of footage we look for focuses on how to best market their goods to reach consumers. The footage and audio we use in an ad must communicate and connect effectively to ensure we achieve the goals for the brand. If we have usable footage already from past work that lets us achieve that, that's awesome! However, I have learned that sometimes you can’t always find what you need within what already exists. If you have a great idea or know you can execute something better, go out and do it!
I think it was when I started my YouTube channel. I was just graduating high school, and at the time, I was really into photography.
Even though none of the videos I was making had anything to do with good videography, as I delved into exploring the number of techniques I could learn and execute to help my videos look better, that's when my interest started to rise.
I began going down a rabbit hole of combining my love of videos with my passion for photography and creating beautiful images. As these two things melded together, that's when my interest and influence for videography skyrocketed. From that moment onward, it was only a matter of time before I became interested in video producing as a career.
You just know! It’s a feeling, and I can’t articulate what that feeling is. Something just has to hit inside yourself, and that's when it happens! During a photo shoot, I'll be taking 50 shots, but then, all of a sudden, I would look in the viewfinder, and I just knew that the one I'm capturing is "the one," even if it seems identical to others.
The freedom with my job. It’s nothing I've ever experienced at any place before. Just the amount that Cliff, Jason, and Jenn trust me with work. With other jobs, I feel like I never had the freedom to do things that I wanted to do or do something that I liked to do or even give input where I can, but it’s totally different at this company. I get to be an individual within the system we have going on, and that's amazing!
Communication. Three aspects need to communicate very well; the visual element, the verbal aspect, and the actual business/client’s goals. If all three of those things can communicate great internally between one another, they will be able to communicate powerfully with the consumer.
Cliff heavily influences my answer on this one because he’s the reason why I have this theory in the first place! Branding to me is storytelling—telling a story by communicating to the people you want to represent and influence. I’ll hold onto things from brands I like because not only do I think they look fantastic, it's like they speak directly to me. Storytelling is all about communicating your brand's story and allowing consumers to admire, fall in love and identify with that narrative that you project out in the world. That’s what branding is, and it's a beautiful thing.
My favourite part about clients is just getting to know them. It’s cool to explore the personality of other humans and witness how that gets translated into business. As a branding agency, the first thing we have to do before starting any work is understanding our clients and who they are. I love making new friends because it makes the environment so much better. It’s essential for us as creatives to connect and form this relationship because the more I understand the client, the more I understand the brand and where they're coming from!
Along with talking to the client, when coming up with new ideas for a brand, ironically enough, I like to go back and revisit old ideas that I've seen before that I haven't executed myself, and I see how I can bring that into a new piece of content for a client. The internet is a great tool, so I do a lot of research through that as well. Our team has an astonishing environment where your creativity is freely flowing, and we can come together internally to brainstorm and get some fresh ideas.
I just want to make things that people are going to enjoy. If I can make something that people can appreciate, I don’t even care if people know I made it, I just want to make things that I know people will genuinely love and feel entertained by. That's more than enough for me.
We cut the bullshit and make sure your brand will communicate to real people out there. Many brands get stuck in a way of speaking and interacting that doesn’t align well with the people out there. They’re missing that communication directly with the consumer because they’re not speaking human. Our goal is to make sure that this story, that this brand, whatever it is...is being told that anyone and everyone will understand it. That's what being human and speaking human is.
Films and movies! I think it would be so cool to be a part of a movie production!
I find my style from being inspired by others, so I think people get their film style from replicating other people they like. Ultimately, you can’t do it exactly the same as them, and you end up having your own little quirks and whatnot with it. You can try as hard as possible to replicate someone, but it’s still going to be your own style, no matter what. My advice for anyone looking to discover their style is not to wait for it to happen. Just start making videos, and your vibe will breed from that.
Wow, that's a tricky question because there are so many to name! Recently I’ve loved Mailchimp's branding. It’s immaculate, organized and lets you work well as a creator. Aesthetic-wise, I’m attracted to the atmosphere that Riverdale is throwing down - I think it's a stunning show. I don’t quite know how to describe how I'm drawn to it as an aesthetic. Whether it's the imagery or the dramatic colour pallet. I just find their vibe strongly resonates with me, and I can appreciate the mood it creates visually for society.
I believe that everything that inspires us also gives us valuable knowledge we can practice throughout our lives! YouTube is one of my main sources of entertainment and education. I always become motivated when I find new channels and creators with nourishing artistic content to dig into. Right now, I've been watching incredible videos from the “Rob Ellis” YouTube Channel. Videos like these are fantastic for cultivating my creativity because they help develop my photography and videography expertise. Through growing my understanding of topics like lighting, equipment, etc. It inspires me because it assists me in becoming better in my passion and career.
Lately, I’ve been watching and bingeing on all of the great movies that I, for some reason, never got around to watching when they actually came out.
Here’s a list of some of the iconic titles I’ve recently watched:
Mysterious.
I’m a big sports guy! My whole life in high school revolved around playing basketball. Even though I enjoy other sports, I’m all in on basketball because it’s the game I grew up playing. My favourite player is Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo.
“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
A watermelon seems pretty spacious. I think a nice hollowed-out watermelon would be good. I was thinking about coconut, but I wouldn’t want to drain the whole thing. I‘d like to scoop a bit out of the watermelon and call it a day.
His pocket, easily!!!!! You don’t know what’s going down his shower drain.
