Last Updated on November 21, 2023
Recently we updated a team video and we’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about it. So we thought, hey why not write a blog on it? And we can direct all those folks who want to know more to it.
But before I do that, here’s a little background.
We wanted to create this team video to connect to all those swell people out there who’ve been following us closely and love our work. We wanted to take them (and others curious about us/our work culture) behind the scenes. But you know how these things go…we’d been planning it for 6 months(or was it 8?) and somehow couldn’t find the time to accommodate a team video. Then one fine day we decided, let’s just keep all work aside for some time and take the break we wanted and deserved. Mypromovideos’ third birthday was also around the corner, so we belted up for some fun.
It was rather convenient that Saravanan Palanisamy, a very good friend of the team, was in town, and his camera and talent were available to us. This was a wonderful opportunity and since all things were falling into place, we were all set to start shooting.
Another Saravanan from our team, Saravanan Ranganathan (our senior animator), was conceptualizing/directing/ editing the video. He researched a lot on how team videos are made and took a look at a few really inspiring team videos. Armed with all this knowledge, he was ready to tackle this new adventure.
We were going to use a Canon 5D camera with 50 mm and 35mm lens. We’d planned to have the shooting in two parts- first day indoors and the second day outdoors. We wanted to give a real feel of what Mypromovideos really is.
And thus we began our shoot. Oh my! It was back-to-back moments of fun, with bloopers happening all the time. On Day 1 we could only start shooting in the evening at around five o’clock, due to many reasons. But starting at that time meant that the lighting would change continuously. Thankfully, as we were shooting indoors, we managed….and that too using just one spotlight! Howzzat!?
We had bigger challenges than lighting- getting the team to be natural before the lens . What happens when you have this bunch of absolutely clueless people face the camera? Absolute chaos. We blundered through it all, laughing at each other and ourselves. The camera must’ve had a rough time coping…sorry Saravanan Palanisamy 😉
But the toughest part of our shooting session had to be getting the team shot. We’d wanted a shot of the team with Mypromovideos board in the background. And thanks to heroic efforts of Udhay and a few others, we managed to get it up. But when we actually posed for the shoot…the board promptly flew down, as if on cue. You should’ve seen the look on Santosh’s face! After several such failed attempts, we decided to do away with the scene. Phew!
Want a glimpse at the craziness? Click play at your own risk 😀
And then there was the outdoor shoot that followed… naturally, the hilarity did not stop. It is a wonder we got ANY footage worth making a video from it. Actually, we had over 45 minutes of footage to make this minute-long video! Saravanan Ranganathan had his task cut out for him.
We had chosen a music track long before we actually began the shoot. We were all in love with the track and we wanted it to be like our team anthem. The track was a Tim McMoriss song called “We’re Going Up”. So all the editing happened to match this.
Editing was done on Adobe After Effects. Saravanan Ranganathan gave a unique look to the video using a film effect that’s, in a word, remarkable. All the editing didn’t even take three days… and we were done! The final result seems pretty good…what do you think?
If you saw the video and it looked fun, know that a LOT of fun went into the making of it!
Psst: We’ll be having more behind-the-scenes videos coming in the future…so watch this space 🙂
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Camera: Canon 5D camera
Lens: 50mm and 35mm
Music:
Tim McMoriss – We’re Going Up
Software: Adobe After Effects
