One thing is certain, no two days are alike in this business. In the last month, we've been racking up the miles, including SkyMiles on shoots around the state and the UP. Yes, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
At first blush, you may think 'Michigan, ugh. Poor fellow, sorry he had to go there.' Fortunately, you'd be wrong. Northern lower Michigan and the UP are quite different and quite beautiful. I'm lucky enough to have a couple of clients on Mackinac (pronounced mack-a-naw) Island, just east of St. Ignace and the Mackinac Bridge.
This picturesque island is only 8 miles around and was America's second National Park. It was turned over to the state and became Michigan's first state park. 80% of the island is protected, making it perfect for hiking, biking and exploring it's many natural features. It's also a cameraman's paradise.
Having the opportunity to shoot video for two of the hotels on the island, the Chippewa Hotel and Lilac Tree Hotel, has been fantastic. We've created a looping video that plays in the lobby of each hotel that features not only images of the hotel, restaurants, rooms and activities, but scenes from around the island. Visitors day and night enjoy the video on the 60" flat panel monitor behind the front desks.
We're now updating the videos for their websites and creating a video for the Lilac Tree Spa. This has been a great project and the fact that it's been on Mackinac Island has made it even more special.
Closer to home, we've been busy with The Weather Channel, crewing camera and audio tech's for live shots at their studio, which is located about one mile from our Cobb County studio. This past Friday, the topic was keeping your car in good condition during the hot summer months. Good advice from AAA at a time when much of the country is sweltering from the heat. I learned that the summer months are actually harder on a car's battery than the winter months.
We recently traveled to Griffin, GA for a shoot for Cisco Systems. The video was for a business profile video for one of Cisco's retail partners in Griffin. We shot on the full-size Panasonic HDX-900 to match other segments that were being taped around the country. After the interview, we moved around the historic building capturing 'b-roll' of the client interacting with co-workers.
Our studio has also been booked with green screen productions. I snapped this photo between takes with one spokesmodel who frequents the studio taping commercials for one of our clients.
We're pleased with the variety of productions we work on in any given month. From broadcast work for clients like The Weather Channel to commercials to web videos, clients depend on Forrester Media when quality, experience and service are important.
