Posts tagged Maine video production

Weaving Art and Function at Heide Martin Studio

0 Comments read Assignments, Creating Spaces, Creative, Creativity, Editorial, Mainers, Mainers at Work, On Assignment, On Location, Video

As part of my ongoing Creating Spaces series featuring Maine artists in their working environments, I had the opportunity to work last fall with Heide Martin and her husband, co-founder Patrick Coughlin.  The couple operate Rockland, Maine-based Heide Martin Design Studio, creating unique and functional furniture and housewares.   

I was drawn to the studio because of the strong sense of style that permeates their work.   Working with natural, simple materials available here in Maine, the two produce exquisite pieces of art that happens to double as functional furniture. 

In particular, I love how Heide incorporates the art of weaving into many of her pieces, drawing for inspiration from an out-of-print book on traditional weaving patterns, among other sources.  

I’m happy to be able to show the video we produced that day, along with a few stills from my visit with Heide and Patrick in their spacious and well-ordered studio. 

Heide Martin and Patrick Coughlin at the Martin Design Studio. © Brian Fitzgerald

 

What’s Your Problem?

0 Comments read Blog, Marketing, Shop Talk, Storytelling, Video

 

brand stories
© Brian Fitzgerald

Clients hire me for all sorts of reasons—often to create content for an ongoing campaign or to make their websites look more appealing. These situations involve parameters that are already set, and my task is to execute consistently with an established look or direction. It’s a valuable service and a useful skill for any visual professional. I’m grateful for that part of my business.

However, when clients ask me to help create a new campaign, a new style, or tell a story about their brand, it’s an entirely different level of creation, involvement, and trust.

Initiating any new visual project involves an exercise that cuts to the heart of things—to establish the story that most needs telling. Once that is done, actually telling the story becomes straightforward. Without this crucial step, it’s impossible to create anything cohesive or interesting.

This is particularly true with video. No one wants to watch a 10-minute video listing a company’s services or products. However, they may watch a video that impacts them, relates to them, or shows them something new. I ask questions like, ‘What is the number one problem you’d like to solve?’ For non-profits, it might be needing more donations. For some companies, it might be brand awareness. For others, it’s to highlight something that truly makes them unique.

I always seize the opportunity to be involved in the process of telling a story and crafting an approach that gets to the heart of what is important. There are plenty of tactical problems to solve when it comes to telling a story. The most important thing is to ask the right questions at the outset to clarify the expected results.

 

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A Tradition Forged in Iron

0 Comments read Blog, Client Work, Creativity, Industrial, Mainers at Work, On Location, Projects, Video

 

The artists and craftsmen who call Maine home share a cultural heritage with those who have gone before them.  This link to the past is epitomized by Sam Smith, an aptly-named blacksmith who operates several forges across the state as guildmaster of the  Maine Blacksmith’s Guild.

Smith and the guild use and teach 19th-century techniques and practices and have an active apprenticeship program. Smith also teaches and works his trade in Germany and Brazil for months each year.

“Preserving the skill set of working iron by hand and not allowing machines to do the work is my mission,” says Smith.

I spent time with Smith last year as part of a larger project on Maine craftsmen and artists and am happy to be able to show it here.  Smith was crafting a Brazilian Churrasco BBQ knife with a handle made from Peroba wood reclaimed from a 120-year-old home.  

 

Brazilian Churrasco Knife, © Sam Smith

Portland Chiropractic Neurology in motion

0 Comments read Blog, Showcase, Video

Last year, Fitzgerald Photo produced a series of videos for Portland Chiropractic Neurology, a Portland, Maine-based clinic providing uniquely comprehensive treatment that addresses underlying neurological causes for many debilitating and chronic ailments. The videos included instructional, how-to videos, patient testimonials and videos for social media campaigns that we rolled out throughout the year.  

I’m happy to share one video in particular that we’ve now released.    The goal was to provide a welcoming introduction to the clinic and staff for use on their website.   This is a great example of what video does so well:  transporting the viewer into a scene while vividly capturing the mood and feel of the clinic and giving a real sense of the patient experience.    

These kinds of video productions give an opportunity to tell stories that connect and inform in a way that augments and enhances the still imagery we continue to create.  See more of our Maine video productions here.   

Showcase: Portland Boxing Club

0 Comments read Blog, Client Work, Inspire Maine, Mainers at Work, On Assignment, Showcase, Video

I’m fortunate that I get to meet a lot of very interesting and very cool people in the course of my daily work as a commercial photographer in Maine.  Every person has their own unique story and are fascinating in their own special way.  

Some just happen to work in environments that take ‘interesting’ to another level.  The Portland Boxing Club, a 1900s-era former wood-drying kiln set tucked behind Morrell’s Corner in Portland, is one such place. It’s there, enclosed by thick brick walls and floors of concrete, sweltering in the summer and freezing in winter, that Head Coach and owner Bob Russo has honed fighters of all ages and sexes for almost 30 years. On concrete and on the canvas, they strengthen their bodies and toughen their minds.

I’m excited to release this short video profile of Coach Russo. This was originally done as part of a larger piece on the gym for Inspire Maine several years ago but edited recently. Enjoy!

Showcase: Dove Tail Bats

0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Case Studies, Client Work, Inspirational, Mainers at Work, Showcase, Video

Dove Tail Bats by Fitzgerald Photo

During the past two months I’ve been busy with ongoing projects, especially with video production of work I started before the stay-at-home orders shut things down.

I love the impact of the still image and it’s my primary way of telling stories visually. Often, a crafted campaign built on remarkable still imagery is the most effective and impactful way to tell a story. Other times, a single still image alone isn’t sufficient and that’s when I turn, increasingly, to video storytelling.

I’m excited to release a new video showing Dove Tail Bats founder Paul Lancisi in his manufacturing facility in Shirley Mills, ME. This was part of a photo assignment for Down East Magazine. While I love the portraits I produced for the magazine, I decided to incorporate video as well because it better conveyed the processes that make Dove Tail Bats so special.

I love how Lancisi pivoted from a woodworking business to one that embraces his lifelong passion for baseball. What he and his wife Theresa have created is amazing: a Maine company that crafts beautiful, one-of-a-kind baseball bats sought after by major league hitters and top college athletes. The bats might look great hung on a wall above the fireplace, but—just like Dove Tail Bats—are destined for greater things.

It’s inspiring to be able to show Maine companies doing such remarkable work and and achieving great success far outside of our state.


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Ready to level up your storytelling content with photography, videography and multimedia? Contact Fitzgerald Photo to see if we’re a good fit for your brand or project.