We produced an infomercial for UNCF Special Program Corporation’s “Institute for International Public Policy,” which serves to enhance US national security and global competitiveness by promoting excellence, international service, and awareness among a broader, more representative cross-section of the American citizenry.
Since the Institute prepares a cadre of well-trained, language proficient minority young people to compete in the global marketplace, we chose an eclectic cast to participate in the videp. IIPP helps ensure that those entrusted with the affairs of the United States (foreign as well as domestic) reflect the diversity that defines us as Americans and we were sure this video would help recruit the future leaders of tomorrow.
Pre-production
MMG was approached in the summer of 2008 to develop an infomercial for IIPP (funded by the U.S. Department of Education), which was to be used as a recruitment tool to attract new students into the program. The video production team provided the client with a variety of artistic concepts for the infomercial, which was slated to be no longer then 2 minutes. The winning concept was the white cyclorama- a white background, which makes an actor standing in it appear to be in a sea of white space. This concept required extensive research of archival footage at the National Archives in College Park, MD, as well as development of the infomercial’s overall message. The project was then sent through the Pre-Production Scripting process. A series of drafts were submitted to the client based on client specifications. MMG ensured that all the goals of the program were covered in the draft and all the information was factual and coherently organized. The final draft of the script was approved and MMG moved on to the casting phase of the project. The auditions were conducted on location and recorded for the benefit of the organization. The Director, Producer and a committee from IIPP then made the final selection of actors for the infomercial.
Production
The production phase took place in a cyclorama studio in Fredericksburg, VA. MMG provided a make-up artist, wardrobe assistance and a dedicated audio engineer to assure the highest quality sound recordings. The video footage was shot by MMG’s experienced and award winning production staff. All footage was recorded in HD format with multiple Panasonic HV 200 cameras directly onto P2 Media cards. With all of these elements planned accordingly, the infomercial shoot was completed in one day.
Post Production
After the footage had been digitized during the recording, it was combined with the archive pieces from the National Archives and additional Final Cut Pro edits such as color corrections, audio enhancements, and text overlay/animation. The postproduction process was fast and efficient, taking only a few days to complete. The first draft was put together as planned in the original concept and presented to the client for feedback. The final version of the IIPP infomercial has been approved and published on DVD disk as well as the IIPP website. All aspects of the production phase were completed on time and on schedule.
