A location shoot can always present some obstacles, but when the location is literally an obstacle course then you know you are in for a real adventure. That was certainly the case for Omni Media on a recent shoot at WildPlay Niagara.
The shoot was carefully planned, but on set, things happened. Things we couldn’t ever plan for, like a crewmember that volunteered to try the expert course and had no idea what he was getting into.
Once we saw how challenging the Whirlpool Adventure Course was we knew we had to capture and convey the sheer excitement shared by everyone on set.
When it came time to assemble the thirty-second T.V. commercials, Omni Media’s Senior Editor, Derek Burnett had the enormous task of sorting through the footage, picking the best of the best. He created a great story and made sure the wishes of the client were correctly reflected.
Those wishes were to show family fun.
To convey the different levels of complexity (there are three).
That safety is numero uno.
You can ‘play all day’, and relax on the patio.
(There were other client requests, but a television commercial is only 30-seconds!).
A good video/film editor must have a great mind for memory. It helped that Derek was also the primary shooter on location. You can store a zillion clips on your dashboard, but it really helps to know where scenes best fit together.
To get the shots, Derek with the (tightly held and secured) Canon 5D took to all three courses and followed several daring participants who agreed to climb, zip, struggle, and wrangle the ropes.
At the same time Laura, a particularly willing participant, wore a Go-Pro and went through the course on her own without a single complaint.
All this generated plenty of footage (there was also a follow camera on the ground) that had to be sorted through to create the story.
It took one entire day for Derek just to sort his favourite clips. He filtered them all and built his first cut around the soundtrack (voice with music and effects). It took another full day going back over the cuts many times to manipulate, massage and manage the footage until he had the final look he wanted.
The client was delighted with the finished two spots. They went to air (and YouTube) within 5 days of the shoot.
If you ask him, Derek will tell you he enjoyed his work-out on the course and the challenge of cutting the commercials. It really shows in the results.
Here they are!
About Omni Media
Omni Media Productions is an established television production company based in Ontario, Canada. Our level of expertise has provided top-notch video production services across Canada and internationally. We have gained success due to the personalized service and well-maintained equipment that we bring to every project.
Our highly knowledgeable on-staff Ontario film crews will execute pro-level videography, webcasting, and video editing services. Utilizing professionals with years of video production experience is essential for any project. Omni Media Productions strives to exceed the expectations of our clients, and helps turn their vision into a reality.