Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Web Hits Fill Ships

 

We produced this video for a luxury yacht marketing firm here in Florida.  The 3.5-minute film is designed to hypnotize you with visual and audible beauty, thus prompting you to click the link in the lower corner and book a week's vacation (costing you $100,000).

All kidding aside, the link is how we track response to the video as it gets picked up by travel blogs, Facebook fans and other websites around the internet, always driving traffic back to our client via the link that always travels with the video wherever it appears. Do your videos feed you bookings like this?

We featured the 130-ft. Westport tri-deck "Mary-Alice II" piloted by Captain Kelly Esser at 23 knots off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida just two weeks ago.  Helicopter wizardry was provided by Iftach Shimonovitc with Boca Raton Helicopters who had us at about 20 feet off the water at times.  Music composer was Ganga http://bitly.com/rme78c

 

If you're interested in seeing more of our work, please visit http://bit.ly/rspcin

Friday, October 14, 2011

Air-To-Sea Luxury Yacht Shoot

We were hired to produce a video of the 130-ft Mary-Alice II luxury motoryacht http://bitly.com/​qwf3wF which you can charter for around $100,000/week.

While I shot with a Canon 60D http://bitly.com/​nN9dwZ this BTS video was captured using our GoPro http://bhpho.to/​GoProCar which was mounted to the cockpit windshield with the suction cup mount (still vibrated heavily). But, I felt it was good enough to enjoy along with Darko Saric's high-energy track http://bitly.com/​darkouplift


Skillful helicopter flying was courtesy of Iftach Shimonovitc with Boca Raton Helicopters 
http://bitly.com/​qyK0gpas the yacht was piloted by Captain Kelly Esser. The shoot lasted 1.5 hours and took place off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale and Dania Beach, Florida.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Love This Video? Get A Room.


We just produced a cool, dramatic, sexy video of Andaz San Diego, a boutique hotel brand you will hear more about in the coming year. As usual, we've included the "click to book" link so viewers can go directly to Andaz's booking engine.
We'll monitor traffic and our client will monitor ROI.  When did image marketing become so accountable?  It's about time.
Music track is by British electronica band Urban Myth Club http://bitly.com/mYrZDo

Thursday, August 25, 2011

How To Put Heads In Beds

Sure, every resort has a video showcasing its "fabulous spa" and "ten thousand square foot fitness center" and "championship golf course."  Oh and I almost forgot to mention the "award-winning chef."

Don't any of these marketing pros (many who are my friends and clients) realize that these words have become innocuous, if not annoying to the consumer?  But, properties continue to churn out these videos featuring the same two or three voice talents and stock musak tracks.

It's time to shake things up a bit.

While the above video is certainly not "award winning," it is a small test sample of a new direction in video marketing for resorts.  Visuals that are shot at the right time of day, carefully chosen and legally licensed music tracks with no annoying voices reciting the well-intentioned bullet points.  However, all important areas (i.e. guest rooms, restaurants, pools, etc.) will be well covered.

The best part is the ability to track response.  That logo in the video's llower right corner is actually a clickable link to an external website (my portfolio, in this example). But, imagine if consumers could click this link and be taken directly to a booking site.  Now that's a great idea.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Fashionably Trackable


Suddenly I'm obsessed with driving ecommerce traffic to fashion websites.  Do you run a fashion website?  Want traffic from people who are—at that very moment—feeling interested, excited and/or seduced by your product?  Then let me produce a video for you. We will send it everywhere and track the results.
Above is a 42-second viral video for Levi Strauss & Company that when embedded, includes a clickable logo in the lower right corner which leads directly to product purchase. Go ahead, click the logo and see what happens.  (Well, at least wait until the video is over...unless you're so excited you cannot contain yourself.
Here are some other "case studies" of ours:
CALVIN KLEIN LINGERIE
Our CK Perfectly Fit lingerie video has over 10,000 views and was picked up by many fashion blogs, websites and Facebook fans. We embedded CK's logo directly in the video, taking viewers to a page to purchase. 

DEAR EARTH ECO FASHION
Here's a "lookbook-in-motion" we did for Dear Earth, an organic apparel designer based in Miami.  This was shot in 3 hours using minimal lighting and equipment.  When it appears outside of my portfolio, a link at the end drives traffic back to Dear Earth's ecommerce website.

UNITED NUDE SHOES
We produced this video for Dutch shoe brand United Nude at their Miami Beach pop-up store. After getting picked up by many fashion bloggers, it appears worldwide.

Here's the same video as it appears on the InYourHead blog http://j.mp/rawb1Z and after being picked up by the Brazilian sapatos.net website where it drives traffic back to United Nude's website via the trackable link http://j.mp/pnZDfZ

If you're interested to know how viral videos can help sell your product, feel free to give us a call at 1.561.912.9921.
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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Marriott Image From Cancun, Mexico

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Marriott is using one of our images from a shoot we did in Cancun, Mexico with model Toni Muñoz http://j.mp/r90ftO Marriott used it for their rewards program newsletter http://j.mp/qOFavv

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Courtney :: Architecture

We scouted and planned a sunny rooftop video shoot with Miami-based Elite model Courtney O'Connor. It didn't go according to plan when, on the shoot day, the weather was not sunny. In fact, it was dark, cloudy and pouring rain. The footage looked more like Northern Europe rather than South Florida. So, I bumped up the blue (a lot) and let Courtney take command of the architecture.

Soundtrack is called "Beached" and legally licensed from Shawn Ethier "Revalver" based in Montreal, Canada.

CINEMATOG: Corey Weiner http://redsquarephoto.com
ASSIST: Jeff Herron http://jeffherron.com
MODEL: Courtney O'Connor http://courtneyoconnor.org
SOUNDTRACK: "Beached" by Revalver http://twitter.com/tweethier

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Ensemble Debt Collection



This morning, I was standing in front of the Ensemble Collection furniture store in Ft. Lauderdale holding a sign with the word "THIEVES" in large caps (and I never type in large caps). It's a hefty accusation to make publicly.

So, how did I get here?

It was bound to happen at some point. While I've always had slow-paying clients, it would usually end after a few uncomfortable phone calls and then finally, a payment. One time, I had a client file bankruptcy with a $3,500 write off. But, for some reason that I will never understand, Ensemble Collection decided it was worth it for them to test my will to collect a bad debt. So for the first time in my life, I exercised my First Amendment right to free speech and picketed outside their store in order to collect a long-outstanding debt of $1,600.

It all started in late 2010 when I gave EC some very nice art pieces to sell on consignment. It was part of an effort to establish relationships with a few high-end retail furniture stores in hopes of selling artwork to their customers. Since EC carries top designers like Kartell, Eames, Stark and Saarinen http://bit.ly/kjZXPp I thought they were a perfect fit for my artwork.

For those not familiar with art consignments, both artist and retailer are equal partners (unlike a supplier relationship where a retailer can negotiate months to pay). After consigning two pieces, I received a call from an EC salesperson who announced that a customer was about to purchase one entitled "Water" http://bit.ly/mDNsu3 so after having to call multiple times to find out it had eventually sold, I invoiced EC in January 2011. When payment wasn't received by February, I followed up by sending a few polite emails and voicemails with no response. In fact, there was no response in April, May or June either. Internally, there were a few employees trying to facilitate payment but all of their efforts were falling on deaf ears at the top. Once, when I was lucky to speak with their CFO Kathy she told me the "check is going out tonight" and then rushed me off the phone. After 12 more days passed without payment and even more of my voicemails ignored, I suddenly realized they were making an effort to avoid paying me. According to our signed agreement, this money belonged to me "upon sale" and since they were refusing to forward my portion, I now considered this not a matter of late payment but matter of theft.

So, what's a recession-weary father-of-two supposed to do at this point? Call the police? Pay my lawyer good money to go after them? I decided on an interim step before legal action: picketing their store.

Ensemble Collection is located on a very busy intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and US1 http://bit.ly/iuzgYE and I knew that a regular weekday would have thousands of cars passing by. I cleared my schedule and planned to picket for two full days, 11am-6pm. I had some friends who offered to stand there with me but I figured I'd use them on the second day, if I had to. If that didn't work, I would then have my lawyer start the meter.

In a phone call with one sympathetic EC employee, I said that if their bosses brought me to the point of picketing, I would also use my 20+ years in marketing and my 5,000+ Twitter followers http://bit.ly/jx5LFI to make sure everyone knew that it was EC's choice to escalate this matter. The day before I planned to picket, I sent both store owner Joe Mirabile and CFO Kathy one last email in hopes either one would give me my money or at least respond to me in some way. Here is the final paragraph of my email:

I hope you understand I have done all that I can and have waited as long as possible before losing hope to be paid by EC. If you do not return my call today or a check is not received, I will be in the unfortunate position of having to collect this debt in court which will make it more expensive for both of us. Please don't force me to do this as I am only trying to be paid for my work.

Neither phone call, check nor response was received. Exactly twenty-four hours after that email, I arrived at the store with sign-in-hand and asked to speak with Joe in a last ditch effort to avoid publicizing this piece of dirty laundry. After all, it was Joe who I had originally met with face-to-face (yet was avoiding my calls and emails for six months). When store employees once again told me "There's no check here for you and Joe isn't available right now," I politely told them I would stand there with my sign until someone puts that non-existent check in my hand. It was 11:05am.

Over the next 20 minutes, I estimate 300-400 cars passed by with many drivers craning their necks to read my 4x3-ft sign. I had designed it in Adobe Photoshop CS5 http://adobe.ly/miCzHd using the store's logo and large, bold 900-point type (yes, 900 points) with a clean, black and white palette to match the store's sleek, modern inventory. The sign company http://instasign.com also had an 8-ft sign but I felt mine was plenty enough to do the job. As I was standing out there in the midday Florida sun, five or six store employees and a few curious customers seemed somewhat entertained by my willingness to right this easily avoidable wrong.

By 11:25, an employee came outside and said, "Well, it didn't take long. Here's your check." Feeling relieved, I immediately drove one block to BankAtlantic and walked out with my $1,600 cash-in-hand.

Case closed.

Well, not so fast. I take pride in having warned Ensemble Collection multiple times that I am a publicist by trade (in fact, it's basically my only marketable skill) and it's so gratifying that I was able to use my advertising, PR and journalism experience to bring justice to the situation. Every EC employee knows how hard I tried to avoid getting to this point.

Once I posted this story, my Facebook page lit up like a Christmas tree with words of support from family, friends, friends of friends and complete strangers. It's been retweeted multiple times and bit.ly shows it trending with 152 clicks in the first hour after posting. It seems everyone has faced something like this at one time or another and considering EC's 2-star rating on Google http://bit.ly/mCEe92 and 2.5-star rating on Yelp http://bit.ly/k5b5cz I'm not the only one unhappy with the way they do business. With the internet being the world's great information archive, your reputation in cyberspace becomes an organic, dynamic and permanent record of who you really are.

Ok, now, case closed.

UPDATE JUNE 22, 2011: Case re-opened. At 11:12am this morning I received a call that began, "Hi, this is Joe Mirabile." I immediately thought he was calling to sincerely apologize for mishandling this whole thing. Instead, he went on to say, "You mentioned in your blog that I'm the owner. Well, I'm not the owner. The owner is a company that might take legal action against you." After a stunned pause, I asked him, "After six months of ignoring my calls, that's what you called to tell me?" Then I hung up.

If Joe Mirabile is, in fact, not the owner then the owner must be really, really pissed at him right now. And, what's the first thing an incompetent manager does when the boss asks why some man is picketing outside the store on a hot summer day? Managers like Joe (and so many companies are filled with them) try to blame the victim (because he certainly couldn't have caused this himself, right?). I sure hope Joe's boss is smart enough to see through it. If not then any decent legal counsule should ask, "Why didn't you just give the guy his money to begin with?"

Monday, June 20, 2011

Johanna :: The Wall


If your father is Italian, your mother is Dominican and you're 24, there's a remote possibility your body could look like this. It might also depend on diet and exercise but without the genetics, you'll probably be on my side of the camera.
Wilhelmina New York fitness model Johanna Sambucini was in Miami Beach for a few days so we decided on a quick collaboration. Just east of Collins & 18th is a newly-painted white wall. Next to that is a beach shower. Add a model (and a bit of clothing) plus the Miami sun and you'll have all the ingredients of a video shoot.
Legally licensed soundtrack is "Macky" from Danish composer Ganga http://ganga.dk

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

PORTFOLIO-in-MOTION :: Kendra In-Studio

This is the strikingly beautiful Kendra Holliday. Kendra is a Miami-based Elite model and we've worked together before. I was thrilled when she agreed to be a part of this first "portfolio-in-motion" idea of mine.

A 2.5-minute video can give a photographer or filmmaker a better idea of what a model or actor would be like to work with more so than any headshot or still portfolio. There's a big difference between seeing a frozen 1/250th of a second that's been photoshopped to death versus seeing a captured 5 or 10 seconds of motion.

The cost of producing a video like this (with full studio rental, assistants, hair, makeup, etc) would certainly be a few thousand dollars. However, multiple talent can split production costs to make them palatable. Plus, every video doesn't have to include this many "looks" but we wanted to get as much done as we could while on set.

Equipment included one Canon 60D, 24-70 L zoom, Cinevate Atlas 10 slider, Gitzo 5-series, Glidecam 4000HD, ShotTracker skater dolly and one 7-ft Westcott diffuser umbrella. Lighting was done with either one or two Lowel DPs. Edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 and color graded with Magic Bullet Looks 1.4 (based on their presets but highly modified).

CINEMATOG: Corey Weiner http://redsquarephoto.com
MODEL Kendra Holliday http://kendraholliday.com
HAIR/MUA Jennifer Majewski http://kissthismakeup.com
ASSIST Alex Markow http://alexmarkow.com
SOUNDTRACK Slinky Gal by Darko Saric http://bit.ly/lIhaRq

Monday, June 6, 2011

I Need Music Just Like This

Since moving into filmmaking, I have an ongoing need for great music. While I've managed to find a few very talented, independent composers who can license their tracks directly to me, most of the other stuff out there is really, REALLY bad.

I need tracks that are of high production and creative quality. Here's a link to a playlist with a few tracks I have licensed.

http://bit.ly/lTF1rD

Anyone out there with more like these? Feel free to email links and license fees to music321@redsquarephoto.com

Thursday, May 26, 2011

PORTRAIT-in-MOTION :: Austra

Models, actors, musicians and other professional artists should be creating these short, 2-minute "portraits in motion" to promote themselves.

For years, models have shown potential clients their highly retouched portfolio or when the client asks, a very poor quality digital "Polaroid" snapped by a friend. Neither one shows the model as they really are.

Now, motion pictures (aka "films," "moving images" or the cheap-sounding "video") have the ability to show different angles, expressions, personality and features of a particular person. Beauty closeups, walking, jumping, laughing and other actions can be included, or not. The best part is retouching motion pictures, for now, is exclusive to the biggest budgeted Hollywood productions so you can be sure the model looks just as you see them.

We shot 20-year-old Austra Noelsson with 100% natural light one morning outside in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The shoot took about an hour and editing was about three hours. The music is a legally licensed track called "When I Close My Eyes" from Danish composer Ganga.

Monday, May 23, 2011

How I Handle Telemarketers

Such an unfortunate part of American culture is the acceptance of telemarketing calls. I really don't know why we don't take to the streets against these people interrupting my time with my family.

This is a list of all the telemarketers that have contacted me over the past few years. I created a contact for them so I can avoid their calls. However, the list grows weekly, despite me being on the so-called "Do Not Call" list.

This is a list of fax machines that call my cell phone. Most likely, they are the telemarketers too.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Marriott Rewards Image

Marriott is using our image for their "Rewards" benefits email newsletter. So, why are we not upset their using our work? Well, because we shot it for them at their property in St. Thomas, USVI.

Marriott_rewards

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