We showed up and showed out with ECG’s latest show reel!
This fast-paced, action-packed piece shows exactly what ECG is all about – quality video storytelling that’s cool and entertaining. The tricky part was condensing all the great content we’ve produced over our 14 years in business into a red-hot minute & 42 seconds. Where to begin, you might ask? With an editor that’s up for a challenge. Enter Sebastian Chamaca, video editor and sound designer extraordinaire.
Getting the Goods
The idea to create a new reel for ECG sat in the back of Seb’s mind for a while, but the opportunity finally arose when we rebranded and launched our new site. It was the perfect time to freshen up our reel and show anyone who watched it what it’s like to work with ECG.
Once he got his head around just how much content there was to choose from, Seb dove into ECG’s 14-year archive of projects. There was a wide range of creative produced for Hachette Book Group (who doesn’t love a good book trailer) automotive explainers for Mercedes-Benz, videos promoting live events (Coors Light, anyone?)…you get the idea. Then, of course, there were the music videos that showed off how creative we can get with our lighting, and promotional spots that, well, hit the spot. There were also food and beverage videos that left you drooling and feature films that showed off our storytelling skills.
And who could forget about animation? There are so many projects that show off the different styles our team can create. Motion graphics? We got you. 2D and 3D animation? Leave it to us.
Point is: we’ve done a lot over the years. We have the range and this reel had to highlight it all. Easy enough, right? Well, Seb certainly made it look that way.
Mixing it Up
Whenever a video seems tricky, Seb turns to audio first. In his mind, sound was always the way to make this reel stand out. The videos on the screen tell a story, but the sound design brings it all to life.
He knew he wanted to separate the footage into different segments, so he started to choose music that would fit each mood. A total of three songs went into this track, spliced, diced, and overlaid. As he mixed the audio, he also started to put together the video timeline. That’s right, folks, a multitasker at work.
Seb also used a handy piece of software called Metadigger. This program let him search for sound effects within our library by their metadata. Shocked? So was Jason Sirotin when he learned that such a magical program existed. Don’t worry, though, Seb made a tutorial for everyone (mostly Jay) on how to use Metadigger for all your future projects.
Getting the Right Flow
Our goal for the new reel was to show that we’ve done it all (and then some) in a concise and entertaining video. Like we mentioned before, to do this, Seb split the footage into three groups – grand introduction, in with the culture, and events. The biggest challenge? Picking and choosing what would go in each part and how they would flow into each other. But Seb, master editor that he is, overcame the challenge and created a seamless flow.
Not only was he able to show off our production talents, but also the skills we have in post-production. Just take a look at the before and after shots with James Patterson and the bikers with Resurgens Orthopaedics. ECG truly is a one-stop-shop for all your video production needs.
Six revisions and a few review sessions with the partners later, we present to you ECG’s 2020 Show Reel. Want to hear more about how this reel was put together? Check out the podcast where Jay sat down with Seb to ask him all about it.