World Rolling Series ‘Uploaded’ was the very first all-digital rollerblading contest. Competitors were invited to submit a :60 second edit showcasing the very best of what they have to offer on blades. The contest allowed everyone to compete on their own terms; no runs, no heats, no parks, no restrictions. I was able to help make the contest a reality through various online promotions, establishing the rules and encoding all of the submissions. The contest generated over 500,000 views and 100,000 votes from 125 countries in only two weeks. It was an enormous success. This promo was created to not only promote the event but the World Rolling Series as well. Filmed by Karsten Boysen, Mike Torres, Htat Htut, CanisLatrans, Simon Mulvaney, Daniel Prell, Guilaume Chanaud, Jordan Maders, Martins Jansons, Vinny Minton, ODNY, Greg Miryzon, Seth Lloyd, Craig Smith, Ivan Narez, Daniel Scarano, SlapTap, SSM, Cesar Macay, Sam DeAngelis, Mike Riccitelli, Freddy White, Sophie Planque, Anthony Finocchiaro.
This is an additional promo I created for the World Rolling Series filmed by Benjamin Buttner, Kato, Jordan Maders, Ivan Narez, Matthew Dearden, Simon Mulvaney, Vinny Minton, Mike Torres, Jason Reyna, Juan Mosqueda, Alex Beaupre, Anthony Finocchiaro, 912 Crew, PMG, Hawke Trackler, Sam DeAngelis, Karsten Boysen, Martins Jansons, Brazilionaire, Sophie Planque.
These commercials for Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri were created for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month that is meant to promote breast cancer awareness, share information on the disease, and provide greater access to services. The stop-motion look and feel of the commercial was accomplished by shooting video at the usual 29.97 FPS and then reducing the frame rate and increasing the speed in editing. Filmed by Jerry Emmerich with a Sony NEX-FS100, Canon EOS-7D & GoProHD. Written and directed by David Haznaw and produced by Jim Stiener in collaboration with The Roberts Group in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Editing was done with Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects.
The script for this commercial promoting Ho-Chunk Gaming’s summer giveaways came to me with a few notes and little video direction. This presented the opportunity for me to develop the fun, energetic, do-it-yourself look of the finished commercial. The appearance of found images cut out and attached to wooden skewers was done in Adobe After Effects with additional image editing done in Adobe Photoshop. Produced by Tom Kermgard and the final audio track was done by Haggar Audio.
This series of commercials for Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri was a big departure from other recent campaigns. It focused heavily on storytelling and provoking an emotional response through a simple narrative and striking visuals. Filmed by Robb Fischer with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Written and directed by David Haznaw and produced by Jim Stiener in collaboration with The Roberts Group in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro and graphics were done in Adobe After Effects.
The Bitter Cold Showdown is an annual rollerblading event that I founded in 2001. The event has grown to become the largest event of its kind with an attendance of well over 1000 rollerbladers from all over the world. The 2010 event was host to a television pilot produced by the World Rolling Series that has not yet been publicly released. This is an online promo for the 2011 event. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro and graphics were done in Adobe After Effects.
The Fiskars brand is defined by its strength and simplicity of design. Although widely know for their orange-handled scissors, the recent line of X-Series Axes is cutting-edge in more ways than one. This promo was done in collaboration with the Fiskars in-house production team. Filmed by Jerry Emmerich on a RED ONE®, editing was done in Final Cut Pro with additional color correction done with Magic Bullet Looks and graphics were done in Adobe After Effects.
This campaign for MG&E focuses on the awareness of and what do when you smell natural gas. It is another very simple yet highly effective campaign directed and written by Jim Armstrong of the Madison, Wisconsin based Good for Business. Filmed by Robb Fischer on a RED ONE®, editing was done in Final Cut Pro and graphics were done in Adobe After Effects with additional 3D work done by Paul Musselman in 3D Studio Max.
The World Rolling Series is an international organization linking together some of the largest rollerblading events, organizers and professionals across the globe. The overall goal of the WRS is to increase global recognition and awareness of rollerblading as a sport. This is a web promo created for the WRS to promote the 2010 World Finals, which took place November 6, 2010 in Rye, New Hampshire. I not only organize one of the largest events of the series, the Bitter Cold Showdown, but also organized many parts of the 2010 World Finals. Filmed by Benjamin Buttner, Kato, Jordan Maders, Ivan Narez, Matthew Dearden, Simon Mulvaney, Vinny Minton, Mike Torres, Juan Mosqueda, Alex Beaupre, 912 Crew and PMG at events all over the world, editing was done in Final Cut Pro with effects and graphics done in Adobe After Effects.
Check out an additional promo for the event below.
The United Way was recently recognized as one of the world’s top 50 most valuable brands by Forbes Magazine (via). This commercial was done in collaboration with Hiebing in Madison, Wisconsin for the United Way of Dane County. Filmed by Jerry Emmerich on a RED ONE®, editing was done in Final Cut Pro with additional color correction done with Magic Bullet Looks and graphics were done in Adobe After Effects.
This project came together while I was in Tehachapi, California at Woodward West for the Amateur Inline League World Championships. Over the course of the weekend I was tasked with coordinating several cameramen in documenting not only the competition but also gathering interviews from the various amateur competitors. Friday night, before the competition we were given access to The Hangar after it was closed to the public. Several amateurs were gathered along with a few key figures within the rollerblading community which included: Chris Edwards, one of the originators of the sport; David Sizemore, a competitive rookie that has recently made his mark and Chris Haffey, the most prolific rollerblader of the past decade. The message is simple; without a future generation to carry the torch, all of the accomplishments of the current generation mean nothing. This is just the first part of a longer project documenting the young talent that was present at these amateur championships. Currently it is being used as a promotional video for both the Amateur Inline League and the World Rolling Series, the professional rollerblading tour. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro and graphics were done in Adobe After Effects. It was filmed by Juan Mosqueda, Daniel Montellano and Chris Fowler with 2 Panasonic HPX170′s and a Panasonic HVX200.
It’s very satisfying working on a campaign for a company that is making a positive impact and of which I am also a customer. MG&E or Madison Gas & Electric is obviously the utility company for the city of Madison, Wisconsin. Where it differs from other utility companies is in it’s “Green Power Tomorrow” initiatives and the fact that it has the highest participation for green power of any utility company in the United States (via Good for Business). This campaign focuses on creating awareness for Digger’s Hotline and calling 8-1-1 before you start digging for any spring project. What is most apparent in all of these commercials is there inherent simplicity. The message is simple, so the campaign follows suit allowing the focus to remain on the message. Despite the simple appearance; color correction, 3D shadowing and composites were used to increase production value and add texture and realism to the commercials. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro and compositing and graphics were done in Adobe After Effects. Directed and written by Jim Armstrong of the Madison, Wisconsin based Good for Business.
Once again, another GoDaddy.com television campaign that is pretty out of the ordinary. Out of dozens of wild lines three were chosen to comprise the “Grandma” campaign. The campaign was on deck for a Super Bowl XLIV appearance but was pushed back for a Spring release. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro and compositing was done in Adobe After Effects. Directed and written by Greg Popp.
This pair of :30 commercials for Mounds Pet Food Warehouse were written and directed by Rick Kessenich and produced by Matt Cowden. None of the animals used were professionally trained and were provided by Mounds employees. Filmed by Jerry Emmerich on a JVC HD 200 with a Red Rocks 35mm lens adapter. The project was done on a comparatively modest budget for the HD quality that was produced. The slight color and blur vignetting along with the editing was done in Final Cut Pro and graphics were done in Adobe After Affects.
Well… What is there to say about this…? The desolate Nevada desert, Danica Patrick in a red 69′ Mustang and a beautiful policewoman out to prove that she has what it takes to be a “GoDaddy Girl.” The commercial first aired during ABC’s national broadcast of the Indy 500. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro and the process was in a word, enjoyable. Directed by Art Haynie and written by Marc Rhatigan.
I was fortunate to be on the set for this television commercial for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, in collaboration with Staples Marketing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The staging of the accident came together unbelievably authentic due to the use of local police, fire and paramedic personnel and vehicles. Additionally, the vehicle used was purchased from a junkyard after being involved in a similar head on collision. The flashing seat belt light was done in post, along with the ghosting of the actor by Paul Musselman using Adobe After Effects. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro. Directed by Billy Nahn, produced by Tom Kermgard, and filmed by Jerry Emmerich with a JVC HD 200.
This television campaign was done for Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in collaboration with The Roberts Group in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Most of the footage and interviews used were repurposed for this campaign from previous projects done for Saint Francis Medical Center. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro and graphics were done in Adobe After Effects. Directed by Billy Nahn and produced by Tom Ketterhagen.
“Baseball” was done for GoDaddy.com and has marked a very large milestone in my career. Not only was it the first national television campaign that I worked on but it also aired during the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLIII. This was the highest rated Super Bowl in history with 98.7 million viewers (via). With this came all of the stress, pressure, immediate revisions, late nights and overtime one would expect when working on a project of these proportions. It was worth every moment knowing that it was seen by so many people.
Shot in L.A. with a 6 camera HD crew, it came into my hands with all of the takes and angles one would expect. Organizing all of the footage, finding the selects and eventually narrowing it down to the final versions was a huge challenge but the kind of challenge that every editor relishes. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro and I used Adobe After Effects to composite GoDaddy.com’s home page on the laptops in the courtroom.
Produced by Jim Stiener and Jonas Dolkart of ProVideo & Film, Inc., directed by Billy Nahn, written by Marc Rhatigan with additional graphics by Paul Musselman.
This television commercial was one of the first projects I worked on as video editor after joining ProVideo & Film, Inc. after my move to Madison, Wisconsin. Editing was done on an Avid DS Nitris and graphics were done in Adobe After Effects. It was done for Norwich University, located in Northfield, Vermont, in collaboration with Stamats, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Directed by David Haznaw, filmed by Jerry Emmerich and produced by Tom Kermgard. It was shot on a JVC HD 200 with Redrock 35mm lens adapter.
This television campaign for the South Bend Clinic was shot beautifully on a Panasonic DVX100 with a Redrock 35mm lens adapter giving it the look of film using digital video. I was not brought onto this project until after production was completed and post production began. One challenge in editing the spots was the lens adapter flipped the original footage, and everything had to be viewed upside down before rendering. After editing, color correction was used to enhance the film look and achieve a “big budget” look with a modest local budget. Editing was done in Adobe Premiere Pro.
This advertising campaign won an Award of Distinction in the 2008 international Videographer Awards.
The concept and storyboard for this spot was put together by the Notre Dame Media Group not only to promote the University of Notre Dame Softball team but the new stadium they would be playing in. After reviewing the storyboards I became excited about the challenge of mirroring the two images. I brought the project together quickly under a limited budget and time constraints. However, once the shots were pieced together it became clear the desired effect had been achieved. Editing was done in Adobe Premiere Pro.
This advertising campaign won an Honorable Mention in the 2008 international Videographer Awards.
The majority of planning for this television campaign was already in place when Gibson Insurance Group came to PentaVision Communications, Inc. The scripts were already written, smaller models of the chair were in use to convey the company’s message to clients and a full scale model of the chair was under construction by an Amish craftsmen. I was immediately drawn to the project because of the special effects that would be required. The goal was to bring the image of insurance buyers losing the legs of their chair and staging a closing tag for each spot featuring the chair in the same position amid a variety of backgrounds. Producing the effect of the disappearing chair legs was deceivingly simple due to the fact that the chair was constructed with removable legs. This allowed the actors to reach under the chair and react to a missing leg while still safely sitting on three others. The disappearance of the remaining legs was accomplished by shooting an empty background plate without the chair once the initial reactions from the actors were obtained. Once both of these elements were shot, masks were used to cut out the legs of the chair and reveal the empty plate underneath. Editing was done in Adobe Premiere Pro and special effects were done with Adobe After Effects.
This advertising campaign won a Platinum Award in the 2007 international Ava Awards.
Take the time to watch Winterclash 2013 - Snowtime. Showtime! // Two incredibly talented videobladers put in work vimeo.com/benjaminbuettn… // 3 days ago
