Motion Graphics | T2 + Back Alley Blog - Part 2

Motion Graphics

December 31st, 2010
by T2 + Back Alley Team
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360 Panoramic – Apps We Love

360 Panoramic App

Reading a blog post on Mashable about innovative ways for realtors to broaden their customer bases and integrate social media more effectively into their business prospecting efforts lead us to Occipital’s iPhone app, 360 Panoramic.

The images you can get using 360 Panoramic are stitched together in real time without any effort from you (bonus!) and can be a quick and easy way to add dimension to a website, landing page or some other customer experience that you want to make more impactful and interactive. This app doesn’t replace the need for web video, but definitely has a wide range of applications. And the DIY factor is huge.

Here’s a video showing how it works:

Now, go experiment. And if you do, let us know how you like it!

Garrett Fuselier
December 17th, 2010
by Garrett Fuselier
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Google Demo Slam

We learned about the Google Demo Slam competition a few weeks ago and were psyched to dive in and create something. And, if you’ve not heard of it, Demo Slam is a Google campaign that allows people to upload a video showcasing their use of a Google product (maps, docs, etc.) in a really funny or quirky way.

We love Google products and it was hard to pick just one. But we did. We chose Google Voice, a service that allows you to mask your phone number with another (or to route your calls from a variety of different numbers to just one number) and it also helps you keep track of your voicemails and texts. Well, we posted photos of our maintenance man dressed as Santa all over the city (see attached photo) and invited people to call Santa and let him know what they would like for Christmas. Haha!

The project was intended to be an absolute joke and fit right into the Google Slam video collection, but we also figured we’d wrap it up by making someone’s wish come true. It was great. We got a week’s worth of totally goofy texts and voicemails. People phoned in and left messages asking for everything from fire trucks, rainbows, college-themed sweatpants, the Chucky series, and the list goes on. We were even going to figure out how to deliver a couple of these items in a really weird and funny way. But then, one voicemail in particular changed everything – the one below.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The laughter subsided and we realized our campaign had turned in a completely different direction. It was no longer about goofy messages and being silly, it was about someone real. And someone who really needed our help.

We talked it over decided as a group that we wanted to help Stevie Joe. We called the Kansas City Rescue Mission to make sure he was the real deal and then we asked our staff and friends who were interested in donating money to help out. Our CEO, Teri Rogers, agreed to match whatever the staff collected as donations and all told, we ended up raising about $500 to help Stevie Joe and grant his wish to get back to his children and family.

Once we had the money, we called Stevie Joe, but his cell phone was turned off. We finally managed to reach him and made arrangements to meet him outside of the KC Rescue Mission. Of course, he was curious, yet very happy to see us. He told us about the recent turn of events in his life; how he lost his job in July, how his wife left him and how he was separated from his kids and family who were living several hours away. He wanted to go home, but he had no means to make that happen.

When we handed him the envelope with the money we’d raised in it he was ecstatic. And in shock. And so happy that he would finally be able to see his family again. Check out the video ….

Doing something creative and goofy is really fun. Doing something that changes someone’s life at a moment when they need it the most is even better. Thanks, Stevie Joe, for being a part of our lives this holiday season.

Teri Rogers
December 10th, 2010
by Teri Rogers
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Creative Director – New Media & Motion Design

If you’re reading our blog, you might already know what we do. But just in case you don’t, T2 + Back Alley Films is a digital media company located in the Crossroads Art District in Kansas City that provides a full service offering from digital strategy through delivery. Think. Create. Deliver. It’s more than just a tagline, it’s what we do.

And please don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because we’re located in the Midwest that amazing design doesn’t happen here. It does – and we can prove it. Enough said.

Our specialties include 2D and 3D motion graphics design, editorial, experiential design, augmented reality, mobile app design and other forms of new media design. Additionally, through Back Alley Films, we produce digital content across all media platforms, including original films and documentaries. We like to get our hands in every detail of the storytelling process and are not afraid of pushing the envelope. Every aspect of our business is about creativity and we believe collaboration is the formula for success for any company today.

We’re looking for a truly passionate leader to inspire and guide our group of young and talented designers. Someone who totally gets how critical creative storytelling is — to us and to our clients. And understands how to translate that story into design. And, of course, you need to be able to pitch creative to internal and external business partners and be a part of the process of continually building and growing the business.

This is a Creative Director position and reports directly to the CEO. If you’re interested in the position, we would love to hear from you. We think that some of the things you need to be adept at (that aren’t specifically mentioned above) include:

  • At least 10 years of relevant experience in motion design
  • Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Fine Arts, Film, Graphic Design, or Digital Media Design
  • Extensive understanding of interactive and moving media
  • Proven hands-on knowledge of AfterEffects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Maya / Cinema 4D and Flash
  • Ability to solve problems quickly, collaboratively and intuitively
  • Experience in strategic planning and execution
  • Strong people management to provide clear creative direction and to motivate and inspire the creative team

Submit your resume to trogers at t2.tv and include a link to your online motion design reel. Please make sure your experience is appropriate to the position. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Teri Rogers
December 10th, 2010
by Teri Rogers
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Rocketboom – A Resource For Filmmakers

Rocketboom

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love filmmaking – and when I find something that helps people who love it as much as I do – well, I get excited. Today’s discovery — The Rocketboom Filmmakers Program.

The Rocketboom Filmmakers Program was developed to help filmmakers by making resources more available. As anyone involved in the business of filmmaking knows, ideas are plentiful, it’s the money and resources that can be the tricky part. So, if you have some great ideas (and of course a fair amount of talent) and are interested in producing short run web series or short films, you should definitely explore Rocketboom’s program. I know my buddy Heather and I will be doing that with our web series as soon as I finish writing this blog post!

Acceptance isn’t a given, so be prepared to sell yourself to the folks at Rocketboom. But if you’re successful, their mission is to help underwrite the production costs, help you distribute and promote your work through their network and even let you use their resources and content studio as needed.

To be considered, you’ve got to email them and include the following information:

• A brief description of the short film or web series you would like to produce.
• A treatment or script for the project
• Your filmmaking background and experience
• Links to or files of previous work they can view
• Overview of previous projects

Intrigued? Like to know more? If so, check out Save The Date, a 10-part web series that was produced as part of The Rocketboom Filmmakers Program. For more information, send them an email directed to filmmakers at rocketboom.com.

And if you’re not interested in filmmaking but video journalism is your gig, Rocketboom is also looking for independent video journalists and field correspondents from all over the world to submit content. You not only can get paid for doing what you’re passionate about, but you can produce great work, maintain ownership and freedom-of-use, but use Rocketboom’s powerful platform to distribute your work (and make a name for yourself). Check them out here for an example of the kind of episodes they are looking for and connect with them by email for more info at humanwire at rocketboom.com.

Rocketboom is no flash in the pan. They’ve been around for awhile and have been earning rave reviews from a myriad of sources including AdAge, Rolling Stone and CNN, to name a few. And the Rocketboom vlog has been honored by Forbes with a Best of the Web nod. What they do at Rocketboom is awesome and really on the cutting edge of video on the web, innovative filmmaking and so many other things. – I’m so glad to have found them.

Now go make films – or a series! Just tell good stories – and get them to Rocketboom.

Teri Rogers
November 2nd, 2010
by Teri Rogers
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Online Video Facts That May Surprise You

Occasionally I get sucked into the Internets. You know what I mean. You start out looking at one random thing and, before you know it, hours later, you’re off on a tangent and discovering things you can’t get enough of. This week, stats about online video hooked me. I started reading some stats from comScore’s annual video matrix that was published in the spring and, well, they’re pretty compelling. Here are a few:

• The average U.S. Internet user watched 186 videos per month.

• 183 Million Americans watched a total of 33.9 billion online videos in the month of   May alone.

• YouTube, naturally, is the top dog when it comes to online video content viewed at 143.2 million unique viewers, with Yahoo! Sites coming in at 55.1 million unique viewers.

• Facebook is rocking it as an online video portal, coming in third overall, with some 46.6 viewers (only a million more than Microsoft sites.

• Americans viewed nearly 3.6 billion video ads in July, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at 783 million.

• comScore calculated that video ads reached nearly half (44.5%) of the total U.S. population an average of 27 times in the month of July alone.

• More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than all 3 major US networks produced in 60 years.

• From 2005 to 2010, Online video grew at a phenomenal rate of 910%, versus 114% for the Internet and 0% for TV.

910% growth? Oh yeah, video is everywhere. And now you know why I spent so much time checking this out. It’s an optimistic sign for our industry – and certainly our experience in the work we’ve been producing this past year back all this up. These ad spending stats from eMarketer back all this up as well.

eMarketer Online Video Stats

And the world of video content production has changed significantly. Back in the day, the agency world (and thus my world), used to focus on the :30 spot. Today, there are less ads and more branded content. We see less advertising produced by creative teams at agencies and executed by motion graphics firms and more content produced by way of partnerships between advertisers and content producers. For consumers who live in a fragmented world and who are constantly bombarded with stimuli and messages of all kinds, one piece of content (e.g. that :30 spot) just isn’t enough. Smart marketers are adopting a strategy of enveloping their audience in a fog consisting of a variety of messages rather than hitting them over the head with just one message.

And the reason for the messaging has changed. The website has become the hub of a brand’s business operations and a significant place for brands to engage their customers. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media outlets are becoming equally as important, and viewed as a complement to a brand’s website. Thus, it’s critical that branded video content is created with these different venues and varying strategies in mind. Sometimes the content is developed for brand enhancement purposes, sometimes it’s to entice them to a site, sometimes it’s goal is to engage website visitors once they get to a site, and keep them there longer. And other times, it’s developed for lead generation purposes. And more goals mean more content.

I think the future of video content is pretty clear. I bet at T2 + Back Alley Films, we’ll just keep producing more of it and doing it less expensively. It only makes sense.