Making Of:
GO Virginia Region 2’s Impact Video
A Special Project with a Collaborative Organization
Working alongside staff from the Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement (VT CECE), we created a video that summarizes the diverse and far-reaching impacts of GO Virginia Region 2. This project featured several on-camera interview sessions across three locations in Roanoke, Blacksburg, and Lynchburg, Virginia.
This project succeeded because of the shared sense of collaboration between VT CECE, Aspire, and the businesses and individuals that were featured in this project. Without people willing to be on camera, host events for GO Virginia, and open up their businesses to us for filming, this project would not have been successful.
Locations and Collaborators
Each host location met our crew and project participants with absolutely open arms.
Working with our production crew and makeup artists local to each region, we were able to conduct on-camera interviews during each event. This went very smoothly and is something we’d love to duplicate in the future.
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We captured a number of on-camera interviews at a happy hour style event at the RAMP building in downtown Roanoke, Virginia. In addition to the interviews, our team filmed b-roll of the event as well as drone photography and videography in downtown Roanoke.
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Vector Space is a Maker Space in Lynchburg, Virginia. We filmed a variety of b-roll in their expansive series of workshops. In addition to on-camera interviews, we captured drone content throughout Lynchburg
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We conducted interviews with various members of GO Virginia Region 2, stakeholders, and board members. We also filmed at CoGro Labs, a new business incubator lab with a focus on biotech development in Blacksburg.
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Botetourt Technical Education Center allowed our crew into the classroom to capture b-roll, mainly surrounding their welding program. The facility was incredible and it was neat the see how GO Virginia impacts job readiness in the region.
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We met with Jennifer Gilbertie, Founder of Qentoros, Inc. in Blacksburg for an interview and b-roll shoot with her horses. Her company is doing promising research in platelets.
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Luke Brugh
Director, Lead Videographer
Luke took the lead on the filming and editing of this project. He was in charge of the set design and leaned on the rest of our team when he needed support.
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Devon Arnold
Assistant Videography, Drone Operator
Devon assisted at each location and took on the bulk of the b-roll and drone duties at events.
She also helped created a custom map graphic and motion graphics for this project.
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Cody Thompson
Project Manager
Cody organized filming dates, coordinated with small businesses, and ran all the logistics for this project.
This is a key differentiator for Aspire. We are adept at planning and execution of projects without much input from our customers.
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Jonathan Roberts
Lead Photographer, Behind-the-Scenes
Jonathan produced the still photography for this project. Capturing content at each event as well as filming behind-the-scenes content, he produced media throughout this project.
Special Considerations
Although this project took us across our region to film, everything was well-within our team’s core capabilities. We didn’t have to rent anything for this shoot, which is pretty rare. It’s nice to be equipped so if similar projects come up with a fast turnaround, our team is ready.
Equipment
Main Camera: Panasonic EVA-1
Our workhorse cinema camera, the EVA-1 absolutely shines when it comes to interviews. Skin tones are incredible and this camera works well within our production workflow.
B-Cam: Panasonic Lumix S5
The first camera we purchased when we switched from Sony to Panasonic, the Lumix continues to performs well for us in a variety of situations. From second camera setups in interviews to b-roll capture, the Lumix is a versatile camera!
Stills: Panasonic Lumix S5
Another Lumix here, the full frame sensor and dual-native ISO really extends our ability to capture stills in many environments. Low light really isn’t much of an issue with this camera in our quiver!
Audio: Tascam DR-10L for on-Camera Interviews
Our go-to lavalier mic and recorder, this is what we use for most of our audio capture. Small, always hidden, and reliable!
Lighting: Aputure Light Storm 600x Pro
Our main light, the Light Storm is incredible. It hasn’t let us down even once and is so versatile with powerful, completely customizable light.
Delivery and Distribution
In addition to the video deliverable, our team captured stills during each GO Virginia event, as well as during some b-roll shoots with individuals and businesses.
These various multimedia assets allow VT CECE and GO Virginia Region 2 to use these materials for years to come. This media is appropriate for a variety of purposes across platforms.
Lessons Learned
Typical logistical challenges came up; however, this project ran very smoothly because of the clear communication between the Aspire team and VT CECE representatives.
In the future, we’d like to offer more collaboration between stakeholders and our production team. A lot of content collected during this event can be used for future video projects, whether that’s for VT CECE or for individual businesses and organizations featured in this project.
Want to talk with our team?
We’re happy to chat if you’re interested in this work, answer questions about our process, or get started on a new project for you or your organization!