Inspiration.
Below are some some examples of creative content that we love. If you have creative content that you'd like to share, just shoot a link and description of why you love it, at the bottom of the page. The content below is meant to serve as some thought starters, to get your creative juices flowing. Have a look and a listen and think about what makes these great in your mind. Is it the writing, the look of the film, the music, the lighting? Now think about how you could apply that thinking to the ESA Experience. Would you use slow motion, or stop motion or hyperlapse to capture an entire basketball game in just a few seconds? Or maybe we hear a poem being read over beautiful images of nature around campus. What if we strapped the Nikon Key Mission to a cat? The most important thing is to come up with ideas that you would die to make and then let's go make them. And remember that inspiration most often comes outside of school as well. Some of the best idea ever have been thought of while taking a shower, driving to school, or just going out for a run. Most importantly, focus on what STORY means the most to you.
Storytelling without words
The Tree of Life trailer is highly powerful and achieves this through beautiful camera work and lighting. Each shot evokes a strong sense of emotion and the mix between live action and simple shots of nature is a great combo.
Storytelling with words
Sometimes amazing film is shot in one take. Or is shot very simply. This Super Bowl ad by Nike uses a beautifully written voiceover to make a poignant observation about athletics. Athletics can be captured in many forms. Slow motion, hyperlapse, celebrating greatness or even embracing defeat. It's really about capturing the feeling of the moment in thoughtful ways.
Virtual reality and 360 video
Virtual reality and 360 video is taking off right now. Everyone knows it's cool and it can be uploaded to Facebook or to YouTube. But the merits of virtual reality and 360 video are just beginning to be explored. You have access to some of these video capabilities. So, how will you use them best? In general, 360 video and VR is best used when we think about the entire environment around the camera. We want to create film that encourages people to want to watch it again and again to gain new perspectives of the situation. For example, what if we put a VR camera on a basketball goal at the state championship? And our film showed the final shot. Would we want to look at the crowd or the team or the ball? The good thing is that we can look at everything.
Seeing the world through different lenses
Sometimes it's important to try and portray the familiar in unfamiliar ways. Most people think of highschool being very traditional and similar no matter where you go to school. ESA is not that. So how would you tell the story of a traditional education being quite different. Is it a story about someone who seems to steal locks and nothing else? The epic short film about the lock thief of Cade...
HACK IT
The video above is a great example of use of camera technology to create something stunning, in a very simple way. You have some really amazing tools at your disposal and if you dig in deep enough you can find new ways to use them. This technique is about creating something amazing because it has never been done before.
music
Music and sfx are really important when thinking about film. This is a beautiful idea that came back to the strategy with such a simple and amazing execution. It's that "What if we..." kind of idea. Think about those "What if we..." kind of ideas and relate them back to the ESA Experience stragety and then give them a shot. For example, what if we put a go pro on a cat that tends to hang out on campus, to show the ESA Experience from its perspective? I bet we'd see some smiles.
Poetry in motion
A very simple and often well used technique is to take a famous poem or quote or passage from a book and match it to picture. The video above takes a passage from a play and was matched with having a famous british actor read it outloud. Finding a good voiceover voice can really make your work stand out. It could be a friend of yours, or a teacher or a grandparent. Just think of who you know who you'd enjoy hearing read a book.
Be silly
Sometimes it's fun to just be a little crazy and weird, as long as you stay on strategy.
single take techniques
A great way to capture your viewer is to use a technique that makes the viewer feel as if they're seamlessly moving through a scene. This Tears for Fears opening scene helps the viewer understand many things about the school in a very rapid and fluid progression. It would be interesting to see how that might feel for ESA and what positive day-to-day experiences make us unique. Maybe we could remake the video shot for shot but with the intention to give a new perspective student a since of break on the deck or Frisbee in the quad.