We’re pleased to announce that Manning was awarded two bronze Telly Awards for the a global branding program “Making A Difference” produced for our clients Stryker Corporation and their PR Agency, Gibbs & Soell. The video was a winner in both the Corporate Image and Employee Communications categories.
For years I’ve been fascinated by how visual effects technology has advanced storytelling in motion pictures. As a kid, I was first introduced to this with Return of the Jedi. I’ve never been the biggest fan of the Star Wars films, but I watched them to see just how someone’s imagination was translated for everyone else to enjoy. The film that changed everything for me was E.T. I was 8 years old, and although I had no career ambitions, I knew I wanted to create things using my own imagination. Fast-forward 26 years, and my work as an editor has allowed me to do just that. Both in my personal and professional work, I’m allowed the freedom to create while earning a living. Not bad. When you have the time, take a look at the Michael Bay website and the “Reels” section of the Digital Domain website. One provides a unique look at one of the most successful Directors, while the other shows examples of how script and imagination are translated to the big screen.
My job in the past year has changed pretty radically with the invention of P2 media. We rarely shoot anything to tape, and instead we shoot HD video files to a P2 card…basically a hard drive inserted into the camera. This allows a fully tapeless workflow.
Downloading these raw HD video files is a critical process and it must be done with extreme care to insure that no media is lost. But I must download footage wherever the shoot takes me, and that can pose some awkward moments to be on a laptop.
Below are my top 3 most complicated places I have downloaded footage in the last year:
#3: In the sleeper cab of a semi truck.
I was recently filming a driver training video for Navistar in the desert outside of LA. We were shooting so much footage that day and I was constantly downloading to keep up with the fast and furious pace of the production. I was miles away from water, electricity, or even cell phone access. My only option was to download while riding in the sleeper cab of the truck as we made our way through the California desert.
#2: At a West Point, United States Military Academy football game.
The assignment was to create an advertisement for use during the USMA football game. I was there on the night of the first home game of the season. It was one of those crisp fall days perfect for a game. The stands were packed and the fans were showing full support. Me…I was on the front row on my laptop. To the untrained eye it looked like I was squeezing in some extra office work. But I was really hard a work downloading our raw HD footage.
#1: On a golf cart in the middle of a school bus factory, in Tulsa, OK.
I was recently filming a video for IC Buses in their mile-long factory in Tulsa. Here the busses are built entirely from scratch and the production line wraps a total of 3 miles around the facility. Our schedule was packed with no time to loose, so we didn’t have the luxury of returning to an office to download footage. Therefore, I made use of an available golf cart to download in the midst of all the welding, painting, and construction of these lovely yellow school buses.
Manning is in the middle of producing a videotape for the American Cancer Society which seems like a good enough excuse to remind everyone that 
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The most important thing to remember is that when detected early breast cancer is 98% curable. That’s right…98% curable!
Fortunately, the effort to get the word out has gone high-tech. This year Estee Lauder launched an online marketing campaign to spread the word to younger women via social media and networking sites. The Susan G. Komen Foundation has online tools and printable cards to help women with self-examinations and the American Cancer Society has an online sign-up form to remind someone you love to schedule a mammogram.
It’s football season. So what better way to show your team spirit than with a tricked out truck to haul your squad’s gear? That’s what Navistar is doing to show their support for West Point cadets both on the field and in the field.
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The Black Knights’ new ride is the star of a short promotional video shown at the school’s home football games. Manning produced the 30-second piece to generate excitement for the team, cadets and their fans.
Even though they’ve lost their first three home games so far, at least their gear arrived in style!
Question: How do you fit two 2-ton trucks into one 13 foot high studio?
Answer: Very carefully.
We recently did an HD shoot at Resolution Digital Studios for Navistar. After some hand wringing and lots of measuring, the trucks were in and ready for their close-up.
