Over the past month, Stratus' team of marketing consultants was tasked with creating a fun video for a corporate client of ours, CoreDial. The video was supposed to be a humorous way to get a behind the scenes look at the characters and people that make CoreDial such a great company, as well as a great place to work. Enter Go Pro.
So how do you make a fun corporate video (do those exist)? How do you make any video, really? Our first mission was the brainstorm. We locked ourselves in our conference room and threw ideas at the wall to see what stuck, and how we could accomplish it. After many hours of "ehhh," "I don't know," and "maybe," we came across a clip from The Office while digressing, showing the various actors and actresses performing a lip sync video to the song Nobody But Me by The Human Beinz:
We were sold. Not only was it funny, it was an way to make the video lighthearted and fun, while still providing an opportunity for creativity and bombastedness. We began work outlining the necessary projected steps. The first of which was song choice. This was the major factor declaring what the video would look like and what kind of tone it would have. After some heavy deliberation and a brief meeting with HR, we decided on the song Glad You Came by The Wanted. Some of the rejects included:
- Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke
- Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore
- Getting’ Jiggy Wit It by Will Smith
- Some song about talking foxes…
In the end, Glad You Came worked out nicely due to it easy (and limited) lyrics, as well as its catchy tune. After the song was solidified, we got to work on planning the videography.
The idea of using the Go Pro to shoot such a video might not seem like your first choice on a project of this caliber, but its ability to record in 1080p resolution in addition to is incredible field of view made the Go Pro an easy decision, especially after navigating the tight corridors of CoreDial's main office. It’s added accessories, the chest and helmet mounts, gave us incomparable viewing angles while filming, making the process more fluid and succinct.
In order to get the timing down perfectly, we walked through CoreDial’s halls over and over while listening to the song in order to establish where we needed to be to the second. That way, we could alter the filming and figure out who we wanted, where, and how much time it took for each segment. The planning process was heavy, and by the time we finally got through it, all that was left was the actual video shoot. That, and get more confetti. (Turns out, confetti is the keystone that holds lip dub videos together.)
We’re lucky at Stratus to have so many connections and ties to other businesses around the area, and none of those relationships are stronger than Boxcar Brewing Company. The boys over at Boxcar supplied Stratus with multiple kegs of beer to help get our future stars loosened up! Add about 18 pizza’s into the mix, and everyone was good to go for the final video shoot. We had multiple, MULTIPLE practice runs before we were able to shoot the final version due to all the moving parts, but the great sports at CoreDial kept the party going and were able to put together a fun memento for their awesome year.
The final product ended up needing a couple of cuts (although the original was planned as a single-shot video), which meant we had to get creative for some of the timing. But overall, the video was a hit, and was shown for the first time in front of the entire company at their annual, blockbuster holiday party to many laughs and cheers.
Take a look at the video above, and let us know what you think in the comments!
