I thought I'd go back and talk a little about the videos I posted the other day. Just a little insight as to how sometimes an idea comes to you after the fact and if you trust an instinct, you run with it and you hit pay-dirt!
I met James through a business group and due to my experience (past) as an actor/director/writer, he thought that I'd be someone that might be interested in creating a sort of News Network. His company is Kokopelli Financial. They help you sort through the health insurance craziness, planning for your future (retirement and life insurance) and help you discover other ways to protect yourself financially. When I sat down with James to hear his pitch, I was very honest about who I would work with and the why. The why had to include the simple fact that I would not do this unless I felt like he could help people. Is he running a business? Yes. Is he trying to get your attention? Yes. But without interruption, I could hear that James has a passion for helping people with the gifts he's been given (financial know-how) and to help people to "Know what you don't know", a tag line we kept from that meeting and is the mission of both Kokopelli Financial and our little show.
I think it works well for James because I can stop filming at any time and say "uh...I don't know what that means", which helps James break down information that is generally confusing and make it very clear to me. This rarely happens because he simplifies it already, but when James, John (works with James) and I discuss topics and planning, they can start speaking in a language that sounds like Latin and I have to call time-out. I have learned so much from our little show!
So that's the back story. We wanted to create something that was entertaining and not just sit at a desk and babble stuff that would put me to sleep. The only idea I really had, especially not really knowing James that well or wether he'd do well with the camera rolling was that I had to use the natural energy and enthusiasm James displays every minute he's awake. James is not shy, so we had that much going for us. I decided that we should just get together and and shoot some stuff as a pilot episode. I also wanted to see how I was going to shoot him, what lenses I'd use, what sound equipment, etc... this was supposed to be a pilot or dress rehearsal with camera rolling and I was gonna be a one man band and not bring assistants...I had a basic outline, but nothing concrete.
Being a Detroit guy, James felt strongly about using a particular song by Eminem in our opening credits. Having this song in mind, I played it as a soundtrack in my head as we played around. It was all very Hip Hop-Eminem, so of course I was seeing 8 Mile as I tried to get some ideas rolling.
When I sat down to start editing, I had created a score that resembled the tune James gave me (didn't want to get in any trouble by using Mr. Eminem's music) and sent it over to James to get his thoughts. The footage wasn't necessarily great. I didn't work hard at nailing focus, exposure or white balance. This was mostly about just getting ideas flowing and checking the camera's sound capabilities.
We kinda liked what was happening, but I wasn't blown away. I wasn't 'feelin' it. But I still had yet to come up with something I was in love with. It was while I was playing around with the color and focus on a particular clip to see what level of correction I had over any technically poor footage, (like EVERYTHING I had recorded that day) could be recovered or fixed. Well I found out what I couldn't do, but in that process, I found Kokopelli Man! We had played with an idea of a boxing metaphor while comparing health insurance agents against the mighty government, and when I saw James throwing punches, I saw him as a superhero!
Still, the version I sent to James was supposed to be a draft. I wasn't particularly happy with any of the technical aspects, but James ran with it. He posted it on the YouTube channel and Facebook and everywhere else. I guess he liked it! And though it's still not technically sound, Jame's enthusiasm and the energy of the trailer (and opening credits) is exactly what we were going for: Fun, entertaining and the best way we could think of to grab your attention.
More than anything, we did not want to just fade in on a guy sitting at a desk and babbling away about numbers and public exchange and.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
So after we decided together that we were on to something, Kokopelli Man was really only going to stick around for a handful of episodes and then a new concept would appear every time a new general topic was introduced. But we just loved Kokopelli man and not only did he become permanent, he's inspired us to turn it up a notch.
And as everyone knows, a hero needs a super villain! Introducing, Dr. Destitute! In the next post, I'll share my inspiration and our collaborative process in discovering Dr. Destitute's name and super villain powers!!
Introducing Kokopelli man!
I met James through a business group and due to my experience (past) as an actor/director/writer, he thought that I'd be someone that might be interested in creating a sort of News Network. His company is Kokopelli Financial. They help you sort through the health insurance craziness, planning for your future (retirement and life insurance) and help you discover other ways to protect yourself financially. When I sat down with James to hear his pitch, I was very honest about who I would work with and the why. The why had to include the simple fact that I would not do this unless I felt like he could help people. Is he running a business? Yes. Is he trying to get your attention? Yes. But without interruption, I could hear that James has a passion for helping people with the gifts he's been given (financial know-how) and to help people to "Know what you don't know", a tag line we kept from that meeting and is the mission of both Kokopelli Financial and our little show.
I think it works well for James because I can stop filming at any time and say "uh...I don't know what that means", which helps James break down information that is generally confusing and make it very clear to me. This rarely happens because he simplifies it already, but when James, John (works with James) and I discuss topics and planning, they can start speaking in a language that sounds like Latin and I have to call time-out. I have learned so much from our little show!
So that's the back story. We wanted to create something that was entertaining and not just sit at a desk and babble stuff that would put me to sleep. The only idea I really had, especially not really knowing James that well or wether he'd do well with the camera rolling was that I had to use the natural energy and enthusiasm James displays every minute he's awake. James is not shy, so we had that much going for us. I decided that we should just get together and and shoot some stuff as a pilot episode. I also wanted to see how I was going to shoot him, what lenses I'd use, what sound equipment, etc... this was supposed to be a pilot or dress rehearsal with camera rolling and I was gonna be a one man band and not bring assistants...I had a basic outline, but nothing concrete.
Being a Detroit guy, James felt strongly about using a particular song by Eminem in our opening credits. Having this song in mind, I played it as a soundtrack in my head as we played around. It was all very Hip Hop-Eminem, so of course I was seeing 8 Mile as I tried to get some ideas rolling.
When I sat down to start editing, I had created a score that resembled the tune James gave me (didn't want to get in any trouble by using Mr. Eminem's music) and sent it over to James to get his thoughts. The footage wasn't necessarily great. I didn't work hard at nailing focus, exposure or white balance. This was mostly about just getting ideas flowing and checking the camera's sound capabilities.
Version #1.... Not my favorite
We kinda liked what was happening, but I wasn't blown away. I wasn't 'feelin' it. But I still had yet to come up with something I was in love with. It was while I was playing around with the color and focus on a particular clip to see what level of correction I had over any technically poor footage, (like EVERYTHING I had recorded that day) could be recovered or fixed. Well I found out what I couldn't do, but in that process, I found Kokopelli Man! We had played with an idea of a boxing metaphor while comparing health insurance agents against the mighty government, and when I saw James throwing punches, I saw him as a superhero!
Still, the version I sent to James was supposed to be a draft. I wasn't particularly happy with any of the technical aspects, but James ran with it. He posted it on the YouTube channel and Facebook and everywhere else. I guess he liked it! And though it's still not technically sound, Jame's enthusiasm and the energy of the trailer (and opening credits) is exactly what we were going for: Fun, entertaining and the best way we could think of to grab your attention.
Version #2... We found it!
More than anything, we did not want to just fade in on a guy sitting at a desk and babbling away about numbers and public exchange and.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
So after we decided together that we were on to something, Kokopelli Man was really only going to stick around for a handful of episodes and then a new concept would appear every time a new general topic was introduced. But we just loved Kokopelli man and not only did he become permanent, he's inspired us to turn it up a notch.
And as everyone knows, a hero needs a super villain! Introducing, Dr. Destitute! In the next post, I'll share my inspiration and our collaborative process in discovering Dr. Destitute's name and super villain powers!!
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