BTS: Reserve Moments & The WRAp!

Take a look behind the scenes of our latest 7-video production at Western Reserve Academy. We always focus on student input to make sure we capture the school as authentically and energetically as we possibly can.


Client: Western Reserve Academy
Location: Hudson, OH, USA
Date: September 2019
Category: Behind the Scenes, Making-of

The WRAP (6-part Admission Series)Client: Western Reserve Academy Location: Hudson, OH, USA Date: September 2019

The WRAP (6-part Admission Series)

Client: Western Reserve Academy
Location: Hudson, OH, USA
Date: September 2019

Reserve Moments [Musical]Client: Western Reserve Academy Location: Hudson, OH, USA Date: September 2019

Reserve Moments [Musical]

Client: Western Reserve Academy
Location: Hudson, OH, USA
Date: September 2019

Your Second Home [Musical]Client: Western Reserve Academy Location: Hudson, OH, USA Date: September 2018

Your Second Home [Musical]

Client: Western Reserve Academy
Location: Hudson, OH, USA
Date: September 2018

Even Wizards Can’t Believe ItClient: St. George’s School Location: Middletown RI, USA Date: November 2019

Even Wizards Can’t Believe It

Client: St. George’s School
Location: Middletown RI, USA
Date: November 2019

 
 
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A behind-the-scenes documentary. Finally.
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A behind-the-scenes documentary. Finally.
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Since the dawn of The Film Guys have we said that it would be valuable to document our process, if anything to remember this unusual phase of life. Normally there just aren’t enough hands to make it happen, but in the Spring of 2024, the moment was ripe.

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An Oration for Boarding School
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Two boys who discovered a passion for filmmaking at boarding school, come back fifteen years later to share it with their school.

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Yet sometimes the California dream takes up the room. How does your real, quality, intensive academic offering balance its reputation against “California: chill out and surf“?

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Know Your Audience: German Edition
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When marketing to German families, we were advised to stick to the facts and leave emotion out of the equation. That’s exactly what we did. Sort of.

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A Video Fit for a King
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A Video Fit for a King
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We typically have three days to come up with the full, completed script of a video that will meet the commandments. Three days, otherwise we make Alesi’s job much harder. Each day we take for writing takes one day from her production planning. The relationship has a perfect pressurised balance. Pressurised, indeed, because each day I don’t deliver a script is added pressure to the creative process that is already drowning in expectation.

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Project Spotlight: Concordia's Musical
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Project Spotlight: Concordia's Musical
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The proof is in the pudding as they say. As of now, enquiries and applications are up 129% and 182% respectively as compared to the previous year. Video is simply a medium. For most, it does little. For those who use it right, it will make all the difference. We’re in the business of results. If you’re going to hire a film crew, you better hope to see return on your investment.

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3 Timezones, 2 Film Guys, 1 Virtual Graduation
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3 Timezones, 2 Film Guys, 1 Virtual Graduation
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From a production perspective, this project was beyond extraordinary. Having to coordinate so many people, describe to them how to film, how to get good sound and how to send it to us all the while not personally knowing any of the senior class and doing it between three totally different timezones was, as the cliche has now come and gone, an “unprecedented circumstance”.

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A Positive Spin on Things
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Coronavirus has proved a difficult time for many of us. Though for some, it’s been a treat having people home all the time.

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The Sincerest Form of Flattery?
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The Sincerest Form of Flattery?
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We found a pretty absurd video and we need to share it with all of you. Let’s just call it an homage of epic proportions.

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Taking Ownership of Your Story: Salisbury Case Study
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Everybody already knows that Salisbury is an athletic powerhouse, but what they don’t know is that it raises boys to become truly thoughtful, nice and emotionally available men. The challenge is that these points are difficult to articulate without sounding cliché or making big, hard-to-substantiate claims, so we had to figure out how to get around this.

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Q&A with Omer the Admissions Guy
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Q&A with Omer the Admissions Guy
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There’s a reason why companies hire spokespeople. It’s difficult to connect to the buildings or the history of a place, but a face and a person is universal. Somebody to latch on to for your mental associations is very valuable. Boarding schools tend to both literally and figuratively put up high walls, despite the fact that the funnel for families interested residential schools is shrinking. I think we should be doing everything we can to make the admissions experience as welcoming and familiar as possible.

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Making of: Your Second Home
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The ladies lit up with excitement and immediately started imagining it. I looked across the table to our producer, Alesi, and quietly apologised. A musical would be a substantial (near impossible) task given the circumstances: we had 16 days (to present a final product), we were a two person team, neither of us had ever done a musical and neither of us are musicians. Meg, Sarah and Rose did have reservations about how realistic a musical would be, but they were so enamored with the idea that they were willing to take the plunge and trust that we could do it. We do like challenges.

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