Not going to lie, I’m happy to say goodbye to 2018. It was quite a year, we produced a lot of videos, like a lot of videos —roughly 90 video exports. Ninety videos!
Video marketing is definitely changing. A two-minute video used to be considered short, and now it can seem unbearably long. We did multiple cuts of 6-15 second promos for a variety of clients this year, we got to mess around with stop motion, square and vertical videos. It was a totally wild year of experimentation — and although I tried to avoid it, I really like creating vertical video.
We’ve been running our business together for about two and a half years, and every year we get a bit more refined as to who we are as business people, what our focus is, which projects we want to take on, and where we would like to expand. This year I was able to step away from day-to-day social media posting for clients, which drastically increased my mental health, and focus more of story edits for video. My background is in storytelling and this year gave me the confidence to start really owning that side of our business. Which means 2019 will hopefully see more longer-form storytelling through all sorts of mediums.
Some highlights for this year definitely included continuing our work with Tourism Cowichan. We helped design and produced a program that would allow small businesses in Cowichan to have access to affordable, high-quality video. From my perspective, the program was a success, and I’m really proud of the work we did. It was one of my goals for 2018 to start contributing to the local economy. Our business isn’t big enough yet to hire contractors (we hired out a measly amount of work this year), however, in working on this program with Tourism Cowichan, I felt like we were able to contribute in another way by promoting local business.
Throughout the year, Daniel was able to use and refine the studio space, and we shot a few more live off the floor sessions down there. The studio can get out of hand, especially in the summer with camera gear, and camping gear, and bike gear all piling up, so when it is cleaned out and fully functioning it’s pretty spectacular.
So with so many videos produced this year I thought I would take a moment to look back at our top five. In no particular order here’s some work we put out into the stratosphere!
Charlotte Denton - No One Else
Charlotte lives in London (not Ontario) and was home on Vancouver Island only for a couple of days. A bunch of things about this shoot fell apart at the last minute — Daniel and I both had a terrible stomach flu the day before, there was a last minute piano player (who was awesome) and a last-minute venue. Yet throughout all the trials of the production, Charlotte really shined in her performance. What sealed the deal for me in this video wasn’t when we were there shooting it, but when we got home, and Daniel finished the edit. Watching the final product brought me to tears, and I WAS THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED LIVE. Charlotte really rocked her performance, and I’m pleased with how this came together (mostly Daniel’s work).
Chemainus Theatre Festival - Once Promo
Once is a lovely play and the Chemainus Theatre put on an incredible version of it in 2018. Watching this promo back makes me want to see it again, but alas I cannot so the promo will have to do.
10 Things to Do if You’re here for the BC Summer Games
This video is just kind of silly. We produced several Top 10 lists for Tourism Cowichan this year, and for whatever reason, I decided that I wanted to be in this one. I’ve been producing videos for a few years and had a couple years as a broadcast reporter in Victoria. Nothing I have ever produced has gotten more attention from friends and family than this video.
30 Seconds of Road Tripping from Calgary in the Poor Man’s Ferrari
A Bit Salty only published five videos this year (which is seven videos fewer than I wanted to —ugh Meghan get it together). With a busy year for the business, I wasn’t able to prioritize the videos I make just for fun. However this 30 seconder turned out pretty well, and I like how much of the trip got crammed in there. The good news from the A Bit Salty front is that we filmed a lot. We did a road trip in the Yukon and produced an entire series called the South Islands Cider Cycle Circle Route. All these exciting videos will be released in 2019 (the Cider Cycle Circle Route is coming out in three weeks!!). So although it wasn’t a big year in delivery, it was a medium year in production. You know what they say, “procrastinators make the leaders of tomorrow.”
Tourism Cowichan AGM Video
The Tourism Cowichan AGM video made my list last year too. It’s a very cathartic video edit as we get to review all our best footage of the year and create a story that will (hopefully) get people excited about the work we do. This year we interviewed Miranda, Tourism Cowichan’s Executive Director. Miranda is a powerhouse and force to be reckoned with— she’s also my friend, so producing this video was super fun.
I can’t reflect on this year, professionally or personally, without paying tribute to Daniel’s Mother Lynn who we lost this summer to ALS. Without Lynn’s support, we honestly wouldn’t have a business. She took us for dinner every Tuesday when we couldn’t afford it, she purchased a new stove so we could have her old one, she helped me with the bookkeeping and shared her knowledge of running a business for over 20 years. She was quietly funny, hugely supportive and is greatly missed by everyone here in Maple Bay.
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