Finally, you've gotten them to your site. Now you need to give them a reason to click. Movie clips are a great way to keep your audience entertained.

Focus Groups

For a series of videos we did for Umbria (now J.D. Power Web Intelligence), we used the idea of personifying the company in a single person, in this case a female (named Angie in this clip).

We also included our target audience, a brand manager, as one of the characters.

In this webisode, our brand manager wonders if the Focus Group is really a representative sample.

Challenge: Make a low-cost video showing how blog analysis can be used instead of Focus Groups.

Solution: We knew we wanted to do something about a focus group, but the problem was that the multiple actors and filming a group around a table would increase costs. We hit upon the idea, "Wouldn't it be funny if everyone in the focus group was really the same guy?"

Viro Video

This was made in 2000, but was not posted at that time. It's long—about 9 minutes, but was hugely successful with the client.

This was made on 16-mm film, and as you'll see was quite involved with locations, sets, and actors, so was pricey. Hard to remember back then, but streaming wasn't even a possibility, and so this was not even posted on the web until years later. Instead, it was burned to a CD, and salespeople ran it off of the laptops to begin a sales presentation.

Client: Aspect Development

Challenge: In this case, the company was a very technology-oriented, engineering-focused company. The challenge was to take boring software, and breathe life into it.

Solution: We decided to set up a scenario that highlighted the benefits of the software in a dramatic setting. Very little "technical" information is given, but the software is the hero of the story.

01.20.09

Small Change Romeos

This music video was a pro bono one, filmed with a high definition camera. The band had always wanted to be filmed in front of some of the great murals in San Francisco, and so we incorporated that strong visual element into story.

Give it a listen.

Music by Small Change Romeos.

Got Odors?

An answer for indoor gardeners who have issues with bad smells.

Client: Pure Foods

Challenge: The client originally envisioned a longer "show and tell," but we convinced him that a shorter, punchy video would work better.

Solution: In this case, we worked with the client to distill the idea down to an answer to the question: "What's the biggest benefit of this product?" The answer was that it eliminated smells. Hmm. What's something that everyone associates with bad smells?

A Man with a Mission, Part 1

It's springtime, and a young man's fancy turns to ridding his property of snails.

Client: Us, just for fun. Features Carter Coleman

Challenge: Take a mundane subject and make a documentary of something interesting.

Solution: It was springtime, and we were battling snails, and so we took that as our subject. Fortunately, working with Carter makes it pretty easy to make stuff interesting.

Mystery Blogger

In this webisode, the brand manager and blog analyst notice some peculiarities about the blogger.

Challenge: The client wanted 30- to 60-second videos that would each explain a single concept about their offering.

Solution: In "Mystery Blogger" we were simply trying to associate the company name with blog analysis, as well as make the point that the number of blogs is huge. We noticed on YouTube that cute animals are extremely popular, and so we took a cue from that.

Peterson Bay Bridge Retrofit

Watch how the Bay Bridge was earthquate retrofitted in 2006.

Client: Peterson Caterpillar

Challenge: The company wanted to highlight its participation in the 2006 Bay Bridge Retrofit.

Solution: The story was cool in itself, so this one was straightforward—show and tell.