How do you make a good on camera impression? You have to come through the glass. We’re  all equipped with survival instincts that give us a pretty accurate first read on almost everything we see. In a split second. And we make these decisions all day long. Such is the power of imagery.

I remember a particularly difficult interview/shoot with a director of HR in a large pharmaceutical company. I had seen him before on site and didn’t get a very good feel from him even though we’d not been introduced. Nothing specific, just gut.

During the interview he lived up to my initial reaction.He was defensive, argumentative, didn’t like the questions, the answers and everything in between. And he wrote them! Tough customer!

There was a major company downsizing on the way and he needed to inform employees as clearly and delicately as possible. Once he rewrote his lines, and the cameras started rolling, and he turned on his version of charm, we got through the shoot.

That evening, while editing the footage my wife came up behind me and blurted out “Oh my, who is that? She had an extremely negative reaction to him even though he had on his game face. “There’s something about him that makes me uncomfortable”!

The moral; The camera reveals more than you think. If you’re nervous, unsure, not confident in the message, got something else on your mind or just not into it. Your audience will surely pick up on it.They have years of viewing experience, remember. My role as a producer is to make you look good and bring out your best.

Well, most of the time anyway

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As our creative evolution continues its amazing journey, we have been producing more and more informational corporate videos in the form of TV shows. This approach has created quasi celebrities in their companies and has proven to be a very palatable delivery method for vital company information.

These productions take the form of on-camera presentations and interviews, sprinkled with departmental commercials, safety reminders, upcoming events, HR Updates and executive messaging.This provides a fun and refreshing way to involve the entire organization.

The variety show flavor brings out the best in each department (and maybe even a little competition). By segmenting topics in this way it is sure to be memorable.

We provide all the equipment, know-how and experience to make the production seem effortless and have a rewarding outcome without the Hollywood price tag.

We very much enjoy producing and being part of these creative endeavors.

As we all know, retention is gold and this is a very effective way to get it.

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Storytelling is nothing new, it’s been going on around the campfire for ages and been scribbled on cave walls since the beginning. There are many gifted yarn spinners among us.

As a matter of fact, my auto mechanic has always been a great storyteller. Especially when presenting me the bill. Any drunk who has stayed too late at the Elks can conjure up a spellbinder that would make Hemingway envious.

As J.D. Sallinger once said, “never state the obvious”. I agree. If you get someone’s ear, don’t tell them stuff you know they already know. Like storytelling is effective communication.

Marketing is and has always been about telling stories. Why is storytelling a cottage industry all of a sudden?

I think someone’s telling us a story.

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The view of our casita from the main house.

This winter has certainly taken a toll on the mind and body of many of us. Productivity can be elusive when you are locked down by winter weather. As a corporate video producer I can see the effects on my clients first hand. About two years ago we purchased a home on a large property in Cave Creek, Arizona, to be used for winter getaways and maybe move there someday. It has a main house, a pool, hot tub and a casita.

This year we had a very interesting experience: we mixed business and pleasure by inviting clients out to brainstorm a rather large project. What came out of our intense brainstorming was fresh ideas, good food, exercise and plenty of sun. Oh, did I mention golf?

Each day we would hike in the morning, have a great breakfast, work until early afternoon, then golf, ride horses or go shopping. That night we would barbecue, hang by the pool and continue the idea creation process.

Beautiful weather does wonders for the creative mind and spirit.

This offbeat approach worked so well and word has traveled so quickly that our hacienda has turned into a retreat for creative professionals.

Who knew that our company Double O Creative (West), would develop into the ideal location to bring ideas to life?

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