Video Production is a complicated and multi-step process. Meriu Creative Solutions has experience at every step of the path from conception to promotion. A few examples that we are really proud of in previous projects can be found below.
These effects and techniques are broken down below. For more information on all of the steps in Video Production and where we can help you, please visit our Video Production Services page.
Set Designs
One of the steps involved in pre-production planning is deciding on the stage design – will this be a real stage or a virtual stage. We have worked on projects for both types of stages.
Real Sets
The Brown Chicken Brown Cow Podcast & Show set is a real stage. This is a current and on-going project – Meriu Creative Solutions is working with the BCBC crew on creating a monthly vodcast and multiple podcasts.
Virtual Sets and Environments
Virtual sets and environments can make the scope and scale of a video seem larger, place the viewer in new and engaging environments, and can allow videos to shoot scenes that would otherwise be prohibitive or impractical. During Todd’s time at the BOE, he created a number of virtual sets for the show. Several examples of that can be seen in the following
Todd’s Notes
All the talent in these videos were shot against green screen. Note how seamlessly the foreground and background are married together in the first shot.
The second shot involved a green screen treadmill that we built for the shoot from an old scrap treadmill that I re-wired for manual control.
The living room with the elderly folks using a computer is neat because it’s shot as if you were inside the computer monitor looking out at them. And the background was built from scratch to match a live location.
The last shot shows how post effects can resolve on-set challenges. The client couldn’t use the painting they brought to set because of copyright issues. So I motion tracked the tree painting into the picture frame for them.
Miniatures & Practical Effects
It is not always possible or desirable to create a digital version of an action, nor is it always possible to work with the real thing. Todd W. Spencer has extensive experience with a wide range of live, practical, on set effects such as smoke, rain, fog, miniatures, simulated pyro and fire, water reflections. “If I do it right, no one will ever realize it was not the real thing.” At other times, a functional prop is the only way to go, so the creation of a practical effect is the correct tool for the job.
Todd’s Notes
In this video you’ll see:
An example of a complex prop – a rube Goldberg machine built entirely of things you would find in a chemistry lab.
A street scene that is entirely synthetic with a composited live element and foreground miniatures (the vehicles). I installed working lights in these miniatures with electronics that made them flash to further sell the illusion.
Motion Graphics
Motion graphics bring informational videos to life. No more talking heads. No more dry boring text. Colorful, vibrant, moving graphics communicate much more eloquently. In addition to the raw information they provide, videos rich in motion graphics can convey emotion, demonstrate style, or promote a brand.
Todd’s Notes
All of these motion graphics were constructed on a MacPro using a combination of Adobe Premiere, After Effects, and Photoshop.
Compositing
Compositing techniques allow the skilled post-production technician to juxtapose live video, graphics, effects, green screen or blue screen elements, and much more all in one harmonious and evocative image.
Todd’s Notes
A quality composite can be used to convey information concisely, as in the first shot in this reel.
It can create a mood, like the second shot, where we shot live elements that were set in the 50s and made them appear as projected film. (And it was a good thing I know how to thread a projector because nobody else on set did!) We also used a cool technique I learned from working on big budget car shoots. We projected video onto a high-gain projection screen that Lee and I built. I let that reflect on the antique car to sell the illusion that they were in front of an old timey toy store.
The final shot was based on print materials. But in video the pictures can move, words can change, and the talent can appear to walk from frame to frame as if they were windows.