Wednesday, December 15, 2010

DOC Editing

December brings so many things to people around the world, and for Immediate Info, that has held true in the form of a very cool project.  Calamari Productions (see Vimeo page)has been creating documentaries in the areas of child welfare and juvenile justice for over 12 years, and have recently been commissioned by the Indiana Department of Correction to create a new training DVD.  Utilizing old content from inside state juvenile facilities, courtrooms, etc., Calamari is creating a video to train new and current staff for better practices in dealing with sexual misconduct at these state facilities.


Immediate Info, a partner with Calamari for three years, is handling the editing of the DVD.  We have also handled shooting some new materials for the DVD, including interviews with case workers, experts in juvenile sexual development, internal affairs officers, and others.  Editing for this type of content can be tricky, and very sensitive, as the impact of such a video is very important.  The correct content and assets must best be used in such a way that they communicate a clear message to viewers in need of training.  Calamari Productions owner Karen Grau is scripting the video, under the guidance of Michael Dempsey, Executive Director of Youth Services for the DOC.


This project should take a couple months to complete, because the information involved needs to be so specific.  Immediate Info is honored to work again with Calamari, and we enjoy knowing that the work we do can have such an impact.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Video Production from Indy to Rushville

This weekend brought about the unavoidable fact that Christmas is upon us.  Be sure to get your lights on the house, tree in the living room, and shopping done as soon as possible.  And, if you have the means, do not forget about local and national charities who can all use the help in this season of giving.


Immediate Info was a part of their first Christmas event of the season, taping the Fraley & Schilling annual Safety and Awards Banquet in Rushville, IN.  Fraley & Schilling is a trucking company, and the show was run by VP Chip West, who managed to get former administrator of the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration)John Hill as their keynote speaker.  It was yet another example of how being behind the camera allowed me to see a different side of everyday business, hearing Mr. Hill speak about upcoming regulations in the trucking industry.




After the presentation, which was the focal point of the shoot, Chip invited me to stay for a catered lunch and holiday cheer.  It was a fun day, and the video was captured and put on DVD very quickly so that Chip could have it by Wednesday for a conference he is attending.  This is an example of how Immediate Info is truly capable of handling our video production customers' needs to ensure that we can take care of them with a little extra effort (like working on Sundays... during football!).

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Surgery in NYC

The month of November means big things in Indiana sports - the Colts are usually doing well (though a little more worrisome this year), the Pacers get into action, and college basketball begins as well.  Here in Central Indiana, Purdue and IU and Butler reign supreme, and we at Immediate Info always enjoy the season.  So, you can imagine our disappointment when we learned that All-Big Ten forward Robbie Hummel of Purdue went down before the year even started with yet another torn ACL.  This was a huge blow to the Purdue team, as they were ranked in the top-5 nationally in most pre-season polls.  But, with arguably their best player already done before the season even starts, the outlook seems a little less exciting.

After meeting with radio host/writer/journalist Mark Montieth about his vision for a documentary, we quickly shot some game-footage, and interview with Robbie, and booked flights and hotel to New York City to be there to tape his surgery.  Immediate Info has spent many hours inside operating rooms through different surgeries utilizing the Da Vinci robot, but this was a bit different as it was a more "hands-on" procedure.  Needless to say, our time at the Hospital for Special Surgery was very interesting and welcomed by the accommodating staff.  This was a real treat for an Indianapolis based video production crew in a new place.

The surgery involved taking a piece of Robbie's patella tendon, a tendon that is large enough through the middle of the knee to provide a chunk to serve as a new ACL.  When the sample was taken, the main surgeon continued to clean and prep the inside of Robbie's knee with a laparoscope and plenty of sterile water.  The second surgeon took the piece of patella to a sterile table to shave and cut it into the appropriate shape and size before it was reattached into Robbie's knee to serve as his new ACL tendon.


Meanwhile, through all this, I am dodging around the room with a camera in an attempt to get clean shots and interesting angles despite the group of surgeons and assistants crowded around the knee.  The surgery took about 1.5 hours and was made more enjoyable due to some narration from the main surgeon, explaining the different steps and tasks of the process.  It was further interesting to look at this beyond just shooting the surgery, but to follow Robbie all the way from the entrance of the hospital to the check-in, to the OR, and to the recovery room.  In fact, he saw my camera before he saw his own parents when he woke up!



This project has already started out very interestingly, and a feature TV documentary should be a very cool final product.  This project will be ongoing for the next year, so more updates will come about Robbie's recovery and rehab, as well as the development of this story.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Pancakes and Omelettes

With Halloween approaching, candy is a necessity not only on the 31st, but throughout the month of October for Immediate Info.  However, this October we are experiencing another kind of sweets as well - the delicious food of the Original Pancake House.  The McDermott family who owns the two Original Pancake House locations in Fishers and on the north side of Indy, are opening a third location at 146th St. and Gray Rd. in the Carmel/Westfield area.  Along with the new store, they are adding a new feature to the entrance area - a large television to showcase a looping video of the delicious eats of the restaurant.








This looks to be a particularly fun project, as after the first shoot it has become apparent that I will not be leaving the restaurant without something delicious (like strawberry waffles or chocolate-chip pancakes) in my belly.  The video is expected to be about 30 minutes long, looping, and contain close-ups of various menu items, demonstrations of how dishes are made in the kitchen, interviews with the managers, testimonials from customers, and more.  30-minutes is too long to post to our YouTube page, so when this is complete you will have to go to the restaurant to see the video... And to eat some delicious food!


                                                   


Monday, October 4, 2010

Hello October

You know Autumn is officially here when you see the Halloween candy available at the stores.  Unfortunately, this doesn't mean much in the world of video production, but personally, it is a wonderful thing to have bite-size candies abounding.

The end of September found the completion of our largest project to-date for Urology of Indiana.  Their 3rd video with us was for their biggest procedure - Da Vinci Prostatectomy.  This video was shot at various locations all around Indianapolis, and included interviews with 9 doctors, as well as one patient.  Needless to say, it was also a deal of work in the editing room, but the whole video came together nicely to explain the procedure and U of I's involvement with it for the past 5 years.  You can find this video at www.urologyin.com in their Robotic Prostatectomy section.


This video proved interesting because not only is there important information to get across to a viewer, but we also had to balance screen time for the different doctors while editing, to ensure that everyone was treated fairly.  This type of video work can be tough since not everyone interviewed explains things the same way, or totally fit as much of what they said as well as some one else.  This was an example of a video where editing WITH the customer in the room was helpful.  Most times, it is easier to just edit a rough cut and swap notes, rather than have someone looking over your shoulder.  Here however, there are so many moving pieces that it worked very well to go against our normal process.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Hawk Walk

Immediate Info has been involved with philanthropic group The 24 Group for a few years now, and was happy to help again this year with the "Hawk Walk."  The 24 group is a non-profit organization that educates the public and supports families of someone struggling with addiction.  Their fundraising has allowed them to grant treatment scholarships to those who need financial support to help with their treatment. Immediate Info has donated in-kind services to The 24 Group in the past, shooting event recaps for the Hawk Walk to help provide web video for their website www.the24group.org.



This year we did something a little different.  Rather than shooting the 2009 Hawk Walk and posting a recap video shortly after, we suggested waiting until about a month and a half before the 2010 walk to unveil it.  They were able to use this "new" web video to send email blasts with the link, to boost interest and attendance.  The result was the largest group the Hawk Walk has ever seen.

This goes to show how utilizing Search Engine Optimization and viral marketing can really have an effect on a non-profit.  The 24 Group used our web video alongside emails and Facebook to successfully promote their event, and we couldn't be happier.  You can see the video on YouTube at THIS LINK.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

First Blog

Welcome to the first ever Immediate Info blog. Here you can get to know the minds behind the business, and see what we are working on, where to find it, and other insights into how we are continuing video production in Indianapolis and beyond.

This blog comes alongside a revamped website www.immediateinfo.net, which I encourage you to check out.  We have scrapped the outdated "Podiium" that was featured for a simpler, more explanatory site.  Our "vidfolio" can now be found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/immediateinfo.

Currently Immediate Info has recently completed a video project for Seven Corners Travel Insurance, based out of Carmel.  This was our second video featuring talent Tim San Filippo, as he explained the benefits of travel insurance while walking through the Seven Corners office.




Their video is available on their YouTube page www.youtube.com/sevencornersinc.  We are also currently wrapping up our longest Urology of Indiana web video, this one for Da Vinci robotic prostatectomy surgery.

Please check back here in the future for more updates on Immediate Info, thoughts on web video for businesses and nonprofits, as well as the occasional thought on video and storytelling.  

Cheers!