With more and more organizations turning to virtual webinars and events, Sapiens, a global leader in providing software solutions for the insurance industry came to us to help produce a fun video. The idea was that the pitch video would essentially replace a live webinar to showcase their offerings. Considering the technical glitches, audio and network connections that sometimes plague virtual sessions, they wanted a fool proof method of presenting their solutions to potential customers.
Sapiens’ Marketing Director Christine Burke’s idea was to create an informative but fun video for the digital viewers to remember. The virtual event was simple, it was a Zoom conference call with a host organization that curated time slots for various companies to talk about what they offer within 20 minutes. So what did Sapiens do? Instead of having their team talk and explain away in the Zoom chat, they wanted to produce a video that explained what they had to offer, but styled as a tongue-in-cheek “Breaking News Broadcast”. This included everything that you’d expect in a news broadcast. From a news anchor talent, info-graphics with voice overs, field interviews, motion graphics, client and partner testimonials via split-screen interview segments from folks located across the world, as well as comic relief segments having fun with the weather report, sports segment, and even a short commercial, all while keeping the concept to pitch and promote their product.
So how did we tackle this project with a million different pieces and keep the social distance? We started with a breakdown of the script that Sapiens provided to identify all of the logistical and production needs. But we wanted to make sure that the core of the video had to look professional so that even if the quality slightly varied with some of the remote video recordings, it would still be acceptable in split-screen segments. But at least, the professionally shot news anchor would enhance their credibility even with the tongue-in-cheek theme. So starting with the news anchor, we hired John Milewski, Chris’ former colleague who has a journalism background with a great anchor voice. He also played the roles of the weatherman and also did the voice over as the sports commentator which sounded amazing. Searching for shoot locations on PeerSpace.com, we found Rock Creek Production’s Studio in Herndon, VA. They had the perfect location with plenty of space to continue social distancing with our crew and talent which was a total of less than 10 people, and had a green screen for the anchor and weather segments, and all the props we needed.
In addition to the location needs, the short commercial piece was scripted to take place in an office environment. Rock Creek Studios amazingly already had an office styled set right next to the green screen set, ready to go which was exactly what we needed for what we storyboarded. Our colleagues Laura and Christian who was also our Cam Op were casted for the talent needed.
In the year 2020, it’s highly likely that everyone would have a phone capable of recording HD video or better. For the remote customer and partner testimonials as well as the Sapiens team speakers, we figured that the most efficient and cost effective way to do this is for them to use their mobile phones to record the videos. To help get the best quality video out of their phones, we created guidelines with shooting fundamentals for phone positioning, framing, lighting (shoutout to my wife Linda for standing in as the model), and even suggested very affordable equipment for phone stability as well as optimal audio using mobile compatible lavalier mics, which Sapiens Amazon Primed to the participants. We then scheduled Zoom calls with the participants on a separate computer and sat in for tech support and directed them for the best setup with their phones. We had the participants record short test clips which they shared with us via text so we could monitor and confirm the framing and audio levels. Once they were set, Christine sat in the Zoom chat as the “Anchor” and as “Other speakers” as she prompted the questions and conversational lines. We scheduled about 10 of these remote video sessions from folks across the country all the way to Israel, and collected their footage via a Dropbox folder we shared.
Once all the video recording was done, we still needed some voice over, info graphic, and motion graphic pieces for some of the segments. Following Sapiens’ Brand Style Guide, Christian designed over-the-shoulder graphics for each news segment.
For portions we could not record such as the horse race during the sports segment, we used stock footage and edited it to sync with John’s sports commentator VO.
Then we finally had all the ingredients we needed to start piecing this thing together and the real challenge began. We had all these video footage of all these people “talking to each other” without every really seeing or talking to each other, so now the fun began to make it seem like they were all having a live broadcast conversation with the edit.
The TRT (total running time) needed to be just under 20 minutes, with enough time for the Sapiens Product Specialist to talk for a few seconds before she’s interrupted with the “Breaking News”. The rough cut ended up at 30 minutes with all the content and soundbites selected by the Sapiens team. But, Christine and her team chipped away at trimming the video by calling out timestamps to cut, without sacrificing the integrity of their concept and most importantly their story. After several revisions and a couple of dry-runs with the actual event hosts in the virtual convention, we got the video down to just under 19 minutes the night before the virtual event. Sapiens received alot of great feedback on their clever way of filling their 20 minute slot for their virtual booth. They were amazed and very thankful for how we brought their vision to reality all while keeping everyone involved socially distant and safe.
For proprietary reasons, we’re not allowed to share the full video. But here’s Sapiens’ testimonial that proves it turned out legit!
“I wish there were 10 stars for 8 media group. These guys are awesome! We needed to put together a corporate video, but with the Corona virus, everyone was stuck at home. 8 media group worked with us to help record our presenters from their home and also found space to record our studio needs. From the talent they hired for us, to sitting in on all our recording sessions with our customers and partners, our graphic requests, and all of our editing. The end project exceeded our expectations beyond belief. The word “no” was not in their vocabulary, and last minute requests were always answered. We will be using them for all of our future video needs. I can’t thank them enough for their hard work and dedication to our project. Can’t wait to work with them again!”
– Christine Burke, Marketing Director, Sapiens
