Event Video: Huawei 5-Year Anniversary

Case Study: Huawei: 5 Year Anniversary Video

The Challenge:

Keywest is proud to say that we have worked with Huawei Canada on several projects in the past. This time, Huawei Canada required an informative and engaging video to commemorate their 5-year anniversary and showcase at their event. They were looking to create a video that documented their journey within the past 5 years, as well as illustrate their success and progress within the Canadian market. The video was to be shown at their 5-year anniversary event to remind staff (and everyone else) just how far the company has come in such a short period of time… and to thank everyone for their patience and dedication during the transition.

The Solution:

The final product was not only engaging, but succinct and a reflection of Huawei Canada as a company. Keywest chose to juxtapose short interviews with staff alongside images from previous events, many of which were significant to Huawei Canada’s development. The staff interviews illustrated the company’s progression, as each interviewee had been present from the very beginning – when Huawei had made their transition to Canada back in 2008. The interviews showcase their dedicated staff, depict their incredible work ethic, and highlight the variety of skill sets that the employees possess. Interviewees are from various departments within the company, such as delivery and service, TAC support, billing/revenue, engineering, tax, operations, and finally the president. The interviews touch upon the future of Huawei, pivotal moments within the past five years, their approach to customer service, their views on teamwork, and their strategies for continuous improvement, etc. The final video provides the viewer with an informative look at Huawei Canada’s development from fruition to present day, celebrating their 5th year in Canada.

Key West Video Inc. — Corporate Video Blog — Huawei Canada

 

Event Video: Huawei 5-Year Anniversary

SAMSARA: The Power of the Visual

Attention has been recently brought to the stunningly beautiful documentary entitled SAMSARA. Samsara actually means ‘continuous flow’ in Tibetan, and refers to the repeating cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. The film, which debuted in 2012, was shot on seventy-millimeter film, over a five year period, and in twenty-five different countries. It documents the beauty and horror in our world, and at times, the beauty within the horror.

Such is the case with the recent clip of the film which went viral online. The film has no narrator or commentary at all. The visual imagery is meant to speak for itself. In the six minute clip, which has been cited as ‘quite possibly the most eye opening six minutes ever on film’, we delve into the world of mass factory farming.

In those six minutes, we are shown scene after scene of monotonous, and often grotesque practices which are used in order to prepare meat for human consumption. The slow pan, and long shots tell viewers we aren’t allowed to look away. The film is not meant to quickly show us what is going on around the world, but to allow us to feel, if even for a short period of time, what being in that moment might actually be like.

The creators of SAMSARA, Baraka and Samsara, Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, had this to say about the attention the clip has been getting:

“We are happy this clip has struck a chord with so many people, and we hope that the interest in this clip will lead viewers to see SAMSARA in its entirety. This clip represents only 6 minutes from a 102 minute long film, which was photographed in 25 countries and explores many other diverse aspects of the human experience. We would love for viewers to experience SAMSARA as a whole.”

Unfortunately, with a price tag of around $4 million, the film only grossed just over half of the filming budget. Hopefully though, with this renewed interest in the film, movie-goers and fans of the obscure will take the time to find it in theaters or legally download and watch this film.

One viewer on IMBD had this to say about the film,

“For the first 10 minutes I thought it was a mistake to buy the ticket. It was first time for me seeing a documentary without commentary. The images are so beautiful and interesting, but I expected that I would get bored in a few minutes. And in fact I did. But after a while, somehow I gradually got absorbed in the movie again. Watching gorgeous images lead me to a kind of meditation. And in the end I ended up impressed. Watching this you will experience something different from an ordinary documentary.”

So if you are looking for something different then what you normally would watch, and are interested in seeing how visual imagery can affect our emotions and consciousness, then take a look at this film.

SAMSARA: The Power of the Visual

Event/Highlight Video: artsScene

Case Study: artsScene Event/Highlight Video

The Challenge

Business for the Arts came to Keywest looking for a highlight video for their latest artsScene event. artsScene is a network of leading young business professionals who support the arts through volunteerism and patronage.

artsScene‘s mission is to:

• Inspire interest in the arts.
  artsScene offers unique and meaningful encounters with the arts. Attend a different arts venue on a quarterly basis, from theatre and opera, to ballet and film, preceded by a “Behind the Scenes” encounter with the artists, directors and designers.


• Deepen engagement in the arts.
  artsScene connects young business professionals to volunteer board and committee positions in the arts with BoardLink.


• Unite & Strengthen the Next Generation of Business Leaders:
  Employee engagement and building of creative leadership skills is aimed to enhance performance, as well as mentor opportunities with senior business leaders who support the arts.


• Recognize YP volunteers in the arts.
  artsScene celebrates young business professionals who demonstrate leadership as volunteers in the arts with the Arnold Edinborough Award.

The Solution

Keywest captured artsScene’s latest event at the trendy holt’s café. The final video includes dynamic shots of members mingling and brief snippets of speakers, thereby capturing the true atmosphere of the event. Keywest wanted to ensure that the artsScene event was enticing and interesting – by using candid footage of the actual artsScene members and their conversations, viewers are able to experience a small portion of the event for themselves. The final video depicts artsScene as a great resource for young business professionals. It is a useful and empowering tool for those wanting to support the arts.

Check out Business for the Arts.

Keywest Video – Corporate Video Blog – artsScene

 

Event/Highlight Video: artsScene

Non-Local Video Production in Toronto

Non-Local Video Production in Toronto

Product Video: Touch Film by Ryan Design

Case Study: Touch Film by Ryan Design

Challenge:

Keywest Video was contacted by Ryan Design to create an informative and promotional video for their latest innovative product “Touch Film”. The goal of this video was to not only promote the product, but also showcase its functionality and usability in the appropriate setting.

Solution:

The final video was not only an excellent illustration of the product’s capabilities and functionality, but also its ease-of-use and sleek design.

The video begins with an informative, professional voiceover along with dynamic b-roll of the actual product. By shooting at night, we were able to show Touch Film’s high-resolution screen and how it’s eye-catching placement is able to easily draw in consumers.

Keywest hired two actors to “use” the device and demonstrate its functions. In doing so, we were able to depict the various features of the device, along with its user-friendly interface. The actors, along with the informative voiceover, depict the device’s multi-purpose nature making mention of “interactive marketing tools”, “interactive storefront presentations”, etc.

Ryan Design wanted Touch Film to be marketed as a high-end interactive tool for real estate professionals. The dynamic product shots captured in the storefront of Bernice Whelan Realty Inc. added to the device’s sleekness and sophistication.

Touch Film also features interactive elements such as QR codes, which are targeted towards the consumer on the go. Since many may not have the time to view listings on the device, the QR codes allow them to revisit the properties at a later date, and at their own leisure. In order to illustrate this fast-paced lifestyle, we incorporated b-roll of Toronto city scapes at night, which added to the metropolitan feel of the video and targeted it towards city-dwelling consumers.

Keywest Video – Corporate Video Blog – Touch FIlm By Ryan Design[/caption]

 

Product Video: Touch Film by Ryan Design

TV: Is it Dying? Quite Possibly...

Is TV Dying? Does Anyone Care?

If cable television died would anyone care? Recent stats show that over the past few years there has been a sharp decline in the number of new cable TV subscribers, and more and more individuals are abandoning their current subscriptions altogether.

Jim Edwards wrote an interesting article several days ago detailing this shift away from cable and even broadband, with a large number of individuals accessing video content on their smartphones through utilizing free wifi.

He begins by explaining the current state of cable television;

“Aside from a brief respite during the Olympics, there has been only negative ratings growth on broadcast and cable TV since September 2011, according to Citi Research.”

This is not a promising report. It shows what many have known for some time, but cable executives have been in denial over.

So what does this mean for video content producers? It simply means that we need to find different avenues to reach these audiences. The decline in cable viewers does not mean that those audiences are done with video content. On the contrary they actually crave video content more than ever. They just do not want it in a traditional format.

“We’re at the beginning of a major historical shift from watching TV to watching video — including TV shows and movies — on the internet or on mobile devices.”

Why should we be told when to watch a particular show, when we can watch it online at any time that is convenient to our individual schedules. This is one of the reasons for the change, because our societies and thus lives have changed over the past decade, therefore our access to entertainment needs to adapt as well.

The move from cable to digital format (mobile, computer and tablets) is not only based upon scheduling but also location. With smartphones we can now watch our preferred content anywhere we are. It doesn’t matter if you are on the bus, at a coffee shop or waiting in line somewhere, content such as YouTube videos are very accessible and convenient to watch. With the way modern lifestyles are, and the fact that more and more video content is being reduced to several minutes in length, it is no wonder why 40% of YouTube traffic coming from mobile devices. It is easy, quick and always accessible.

While companies have known about this shift away from standard cable viewing to digital devices has been happening for some time now, the investment in ad dollars for digital versus cable hasn’t transformed the way one would expect. There is still more ad dollars pumped into commercials for cable TV then there is for marketing in the digital sphere. This is something that needs to be investigated and changed otherwise there will be missed opportunities.

One of the major reasons this is occurring is because even though TV audiences are declining, it is still a place where companies can reach a mass amount of people. In the digital sphere there may be larger audiences but they are currently more segregated and have thus proven difficult to reach. There are so many different avenues, due to different platforms, different social sites, and different devices. Due to this, there is no one ‘tried and true’ method like there was with cable TV. Advertisers need to be innovative and find interesting ways to reach these audiences, ways that have never been done or even thought of before.

It is quite clear that unless drastic measures are taken to make cable TV more accessible to the digital culture we now live in, it will slowly die away or at least, like radio, have much less of an impact on society and thus the ad dollars that it brings in.

Tells us what you think! Do you still watch cable TV? Would you be mad if it disappeared, or would you just turn to your phone or tablet for your video content?

 

TV: Is it Dying? Quite Possibly...

Interactive Billboards

Innovative Advertising: Interactive Billboards

Have you ever been walking on the street or driving in your car and suddenly seen an airplane fly overhead and wonder where it was headed. Well with British Airway’s new interactive billboards you can stop guessing.

British Airway’s recently unveiled their new billboards which interact with airplanes flying above the billboards and actually tell viewers where that plane is headed. The billboards utilize a video clip of a young child pointing up to the plane, while text above states the final destination of that specific plane.

The interactive billboards use custom technology in order to decipher exactly what plane is overhead and where it is going. This clever advertising technique aids all of the daydreamers out there who look up into the sky and imagine themselves on-board the plane themselves headed to an exotic destination.

Abigail Comber, British Airways’ head of marketing, told marketing and media magazine The Drum,

“We hope it will create a real ‘wow’ and people will be reminded how amazing flying is and how accessible the world can be.”

This type of advertising is the future of the industry. No longer are we interested in seeing just another pretty face representing a jean company, or a silly concept to sell us candy. More and more consumers are expecting to be targeted through these innovative and often interactive means.

It seems as though every day there is a new concept popping up in order to get consumers to engage with their brand. The time of one way communication is over and the future is here, and it looks like interactive marketing. Whether it is through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, or viral videos on YouTube, or interactive storefronts and interactive billboards, it is clear that in order to gain the attention that companies crave, advertisers need to be more unique then ever. Most importantly, they need to find a way to get consumers to interact.

Tell us about an innovative advertising technique that you saw and really caught your attention! Where do you think the future of advertising is headed?

Interactive Billboards