Ruckus VP of Production Phil Osborne discusses how “The Coronavirus crisis might bring transparency to the industry”

In an interview with TIA, VP of Production Phil Osborn discusses what makes Allentown a great place to live and work, upcoming projects, and how the Coronavirus is affecting the industry.

What makes your city an attractive place to do business?

Our HQ is located in NYC, so that speaks for itself, but our studio team is located in Allentown, PA. Allentown is the 3rd largest city in Pennsylvania and growing rapidly. We are in the process of building a state-of-the-art studio space that we are really excited about. There is an energy in Allentown that feels like anything is possible.

Can you talk about one of the upcoming projects that you’re excited about?

We are really excited about a multi-day and location shoot for a fashion/jewelry client. Our team is going for a high fashion look with a focus on gold and neutral tones. A moving light will showcase the gold in detail on models dressed for various time periods in a pure black environment, highlighting the quality and personality of the 24k gold jewelry. It is also a project that our entire team at Ruckus has worked on: branding/strategy, design, and technology. So, there is a lot of energy and excitement around the project as a whole.

How does video production design process differ from the rest of digital communications?

I don’t think it differs much at all. Every creative endeavor involves some level of planning, production and finishing, video is no different. However, video can involve dozens of people depending on the size and scale of the production. There is also a tremendous amount of planning. Pre-production alone can include up to a dozen deliverables including casting selections, storyboards, location scouting, shot lists, script and story synopsis, voice over reads and so much more.

The most important thing is having checkpoints along the way at each stage to ensure buy in from stakeholders. We are careful not to move into production until everyone is rowing in the same direction.

When a client comes with a brief, how can you tell if the story will be better described with moving images or another interactive interface?

I would love to say that video is a solution no matter what the story, however it really depends on the purpose of the content and the audience consuming it.

Where do you start to plan a video?

We start with a phase we call “Discovery” where we really focus on uncovering the look, feel, and purpose behind the video project. Essentially, we discover the vision and spirit of the video. We accomplish that through a series of exercises and briefs. This phase is especially effective for clients who aren’t quite sure what they want and why.

What challenges were you facing before the spread of COVID-19 and how are you dealing with them right now?

My team loves to interact face-to-face. We thrive on it, especially during post production. So that has been a challenge that has mostly been solved using google hangouts. As far as our clients go, there definitely have been significant pivots that have been made in terms of focus and strategy.

We have also spent a lot of time brainstorming solutions for all of our clients. For video specifically it means focusing on ideas and concepts that include editing, animation, graphics, etc. since capturing footage is a challenge.

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