Author: carl
The West Virginia Housing Development Fund came to iA for a better way to educate potential homebuyers about the process of shopping for, choosing, and financing their own home.
iA responded by writing and producing a 4 part video series utilizing the trending technique known as “whiteboard animation”. To create the effect, iA turned to Videoscribe to create the foundation of the clips, but chose to enhance the effect using Apple Motion for a smoother result. The final video series now resides on YouTube and is embedded on the WVHDF web site. The videos have also been shown at realtor luncheons across the state to better familiarize the real estate community with the home buying process.
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Our great actor Jason reacts to having won the Lottery! |
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Another great local actor acts as the neighbor of the winner |
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Bill Hogan directing the boat action |
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Todd, Bill and Tracy adjust the camera |
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Happy clients are always a good thing on a film set |
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The legendary Chuck Turner is a key crew tech that we have been working with for 25 years |
Dancers rehearse
What do an adorable little girl, two disgruntled moving men, four square dancers, a frazzled family and an eighties rocker have in common? They are all part of two TV spots created by iA to promote the West Virginia Housing Development Fund’s new “Movin Up” home loan program. The program was designed for existing homeowners who want to move up to a larger home or are just ready for a change.
The first of the two comedy spots titled Get Movin’ depicts a family who must wait in line as a teen daughter monopolizes their home’s only bathroom. “Nothing could be more to the point or funnier.” said iA’s Carl Varney, the spot’s creator. “These folks really need a larger home.”
In the second spot called Change male and female characters who “change with the times, change their minds and finally change places” thanks to a “Movin’ Up” home loan.
“We’re grateful that the Fund let us run with our ideas for these spots. It’s not every day an institutional client has the vision and the courage to use comedy to promote a financial product,” said director Bill Hogan.
The spots premiered on TV stations across the state in February and met with immediate, positive feedback. George Gannon, the Fund’s Communications Manager reported unprecedented traffic on the Fund’s Facebook page and web site within twenty-four hours of posting the “Movin’ Up” spots. Patti Shamblin, a loan origination manager with the Fund, reports increased phone traffic since the spots began airing.
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A new thirty-second Frontier Communications spot produced by iAproductions for West Virginia markets has been picked up for use by multiple Frontier regional business units. The spot titled Best Gift Ever employs kinetic typography and animation to herald Frontier’s holiday customer promotion. The spot offers customers a $450 Apple gift card as an incentive to sign up for Frontier’s “Triple Play” package for phone, TV and internet service.
This is the second spot produced by iAproductions for Frontier that utilizes an animation technique known as kinetic typography. Kinetic typography involves the creation of blocks of text, animated in sync with speech and music, that convey a particular idea or emotion. It’s first recognized use was during the opening credits of Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest in 1959. iAproductions previously employed this technique on a grander scale to promote Frontier Communications’ “Custom Value Pricing” promotion.
Response to the spot in West Virginia broke sales records and Frontier’s home office immediately took notice and requested the spot be adapted for use throughout the Frontier system of twenty-eight states. According to iA’s Creative Director Bill Hogan, “The spot was so successful that Frontier requested the spot be retooled for extended use following the promotion.” Hogan went on to say, “It’s been a pleasure to work with Frontier’s Southeastern region marketing team and we are grateful to them for providing us with the opportunity to ‘go national’ with the gift card spot. For us it’s the Best Gift Ever!”
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Bill Hogan directs talent
Background Set for Slow Motion Shot
A new sixty and thirty-second TV concept created by the Fahlgren Mortine agency for the West Virginia Lottery provided “just the type of creative challenge we relish,” said Bill Hogan, the spot’s director. The spots are the first in a series intended to profile the contributions Lottery funds make to the state’s education system, tourism industry and senior services. The spots dramatize the impact lottery funds have on the lives of everyday West Virginians.
“In the past the lottery has used documentary-style spots to let folks know where the Lottery proceeds are going. This time they tried something different…drama,” said Hogan. The new Education spots follow a girl and her family as she progresses from her first day of school, through elementary and high school to college graduation.
The spots presented various creative challenges from casting and make up to art direction. “We had four different period looks that spanned two decades,” remarked Sharon Harms art director. “The subtle changes in costumes, props and sets from year to year had to be carefully researched and painstakingly created.”
Casting was equally complicated. The Lottery requested that the cast be made up entirely of West Virginia talent. iA was charged with finding three different girls to depict the graduate at age four, twelve and eighteen. All the girls had to share common physical traits and two parents had to be cast to match the girl’s look.
The parents presented a make up challenge as they had to age twenty years in sixty seconds. iA called upon the talents of local make up artist R.J. Haddy who had been brought to iA’s attention through his aging make up created for the TV program Face Off. “R.J. was the right guy for the job,” said Hogan. “The make up was believable at each stage of aging.”
The shoot entailed weeks of preproduction, three long shooting days and a cast and crew of over forty talented individuals. Bill Hogan sums up the experience like this, “It was a challenge to depict twenty years of personal history in thirty and sixty seconds, but we had a great time shooting these spots and the results are really gratifying. We appreciate the chance to bring Fahlgren Mortine’s creative concept to video and look forward to completing the ‘Proceeds’ series.”
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shooting an early morning shot when the light is just right |
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director Bill Hogan confers with cameraman Larry Dowling while talent Bill Neu looks on |
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Genny Hogan , the director’s daughter, taking camera notes and slating scenes. |
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Actor Bill Neu adjusts his ear prompter and gets set for the next take |
