The Cancer Center will be hosting a St. Baldrick’s head shaving event to raise money for cancer research, so I put together a little video featuring some of the shavees. This is the first time I’ve been able to promote a fundraiser since last year’s Emmy eligible (fingers crossed) Polar Plunge PSA. That spot helped bring in some record breaking donations for the NorCal Special Olympics, so hopefully we can do the same here!
Measles & Graphics
Developing new graphic standards for our video projects. This project is the first to try them out, and is also a good example of the type of stories I’ve been working on.
Christmas at the Hospital
Christmas is a busy time at a Children’s hospital. Many are working tirelessly to make sure patients aren’t missing out, so I put together these two videos to highlight the efforts of some amazing people.
Retirement and Beyond
After 13 years of working in television, I’ve officially retired.
Sort of.
Back in October, I joined the Public Affairs team for UC Davis Health. As their sole videographer/editor, I produce all sorts of projects, including news stories, internal messages and videos for patients. Here’s a few videos I put together over the past two months -
It’s been kinda nice getting back to my photog roots, without all the added stress of working in a newsroom. More to come soon!
This Is Our Backyard - The Complete Campaign
It was a long, tedious project that spanned the entire market, but it's complete! Here's the three :30 second spots for the "Good Day - Our Backyard" campaign.
Each segment (Hike, Dine, Learn, etc.) had it's own :15 second spot as well.
But that's not all... I also made a :15 second spot for the week of 4th of July, and a :15 second spot for Sac State football, which is replacing the River Cats spot as we transition into football season.
I shot most of the segments, edited them all, and came up with the concept for this project.
Two National Awards
We're doing pretty well this year! Today, our department won two national PromaxBDA awards.
First, we won gold for "Good Day Saves Christmas" (Holiday/Special Event Promotion category), the same promo that won an Emmy a few weeks ago. I was a producer/writer on this project.
The second was a silver award for "We're Fans Too," a campaign that cross-promoted Good Day with the CW's primetime lineup (Program Promotional Spot category). I was a producer/director/writer/editor on this project, and am excited it got some recognition, because I was proud of how these wacky spots turned out.
This brings my Promax total to 2 gold and 2 silver.
Building a Hero
I had a big idea for the latest edition of the popular Our Backyard campaign. With super heroes being all the rage these days (especially with The CW's primetime lineup), perhaps Good Day needs a hero if its own!
Utilizing the talents of coworker and legendary cosplayer Bryson Hatano (star of last year's "We're Fans Too" campaign), we designed a costume for anchor Cody Stark, with the goal of finishing it in time for a comic book convention coming to town. Check out the process by clicking through the slideshow below.
The costume was a hit on Good Day and made for a fine promo!
We Won an Emmy!
On Saturday night, our cartoon "Good Day Saves Christmas" won the Promotion: Single Spot category at the Northern California Regional Emmys in San Francisco!
This was a really fun project that took months to complete. Starting in July, I wrote up a script and worked with our art and promo managers to craft the story into something special. The intro to it was inspired by Disney's classic animated films (which my daughter forces me to watch regularly), and I think really helped set the tone of the whole spot. Check it out:
I also took screen captures and printed it out in a book for my daughters. We've got a new holiday tradition in the Nelson house!
This is the third time I've been lucky enough to call myself an Emmy winner. The first was in 2006, when my senior project in college won the Student Production category in the Northwest Regional Emmys. "Oregon's War at Home" was a short documentary on Vietnam protests at the University of Oregon, which I directed, shot, edited and co-wrote. The second came in 2012, when I won in the Feature News Report: Light category in the Northern California Regional Emmys. "The Seabreacher" is a story that I produced, shot and edited.
2006, 2012, 2018. I've won every six years in three different stages of my career. See you again in 2024!
This is our Backyard... Phase 2
Dining, hiking, and baseball... oh my! Phase 2 of the new Good Day image campaign has rolled out, introducing you to some new characters, some new locations, and some new things that make our region great. Part 1 was a hit, so hopefully the sequel can live up to the original!
In addition to this :30 spot, each of the segments (Dine, Cheer, Hike) gets its own :15 to run separately.
Now on to production of Phase 3: The Grand Finale! Starting with a trip to wine country...
This is our Backyard... Phase 1
NEW IMAGE CAMPAIGN ALERT!
I'm proud to finally start showing off the new Good Day image campaign. This one took a while. Lots of moving pieces. Parts 2 and 3 will premiere in the coming months, but here's part 1 of the new campaign that I produced/directed/edited.
Each of those segments (museum/record shop/bridge) will have its own :15 spot as well. Phase 2 has been shot and is in the post-production stage.
More coming soon!
River Cats on CW
Our station just signed a contract to air River Cats baseball games, so I shot and edited this weekly game promo.
Giants Return
Nothin' says sports like "We Will Rock You".... which we don't have the rights to use. But never fear! Megatrax has a royalty free knock-off that'll do just fine! Here's the Giants game promo I came up with for this season's games on CW31, cut to a Queen-like beat.
Your Weather Questions Answered
With a big storm hitting the valley and Sierra, I shot and edited this spot to promote our weather coverage. Nothing fancy, but I thought the last shot with Dave turned out pretty nice.
Polar Plunge PSA
Drones in news... it feels a little like the early days of GoPro, where they flooded newsrooms and demands to "take a GoPro" were made by managers without consideration for whether or not their use was warranted. It's new and fun and exciting, and not always necessary. But like a GoPro, when used properly, a drone can produce amazing results.
That being said, here's a PSA I directed/produced/edited. I was really impressed with what the drone could do, providing shots that would have required a helicopter rental just a few years ago.
And props to Joe, who voluntarily took a dive into very cold water on a very cold day.
Retro Gaming Animation
After an evening of diving into some video game favorites from my childhood, I started wondering if I could replicate the 16-bit look using Illustrator and After Effects. (NOTE: I have no background in graphic design, and always struggled in high school art class.) I've been (very) slowly improving my animating abilities using these programs, mostly during lunch breaks and the occasional downtime. Here's 8- and 16-bit illustrations of Good Day anchor Cody Stark:
And once I had the basic drawing down, I had to see if I could build a level to go with it. Here is my very first attempt at replicating a game like Sonic the Hedgehog
It's lacking a lot of detail from a true 16-bit game, but it's a start! Now to come up with a promo or Good Day show segment that can use it...
Also, while out running errands, I stumbled upon this light-up MegaMan. Given my current efforts to learn this style of animation, I had to make him my new edit bay mascot!
Black Lightning Takeover
(UPDATE: This was nominated for a CW APEX Award for best promotion.)
CW's got a new superhero show, and we had an idea to promote it!
Armed with coffee sleeves and swag, we took over a local comics and coffee shop near the state capitol in downtown Sacramento. 131 cups of coffee were on us, while we spread the word of Black Lightning's premiere that night on CW31!
Good Day spent hours at the shop, chatting with customers, showing off clips from the show and giving away some cool stuff. Here's some of the highlights I cut together to show off our effort:
And it turns out the show is solid! I've never been a fan of any CW shows, but this one's got me coming back next week.
Adventures with Animation
My adventures into the world of (very basic) animation continue as I learn new tricks and techniques using Adobe Illustrator and After Effects. It's something I've been teaching myself during down time and lunch breaks. Using some characters my 3-year-old made up, I would come up with an idea and see if I could figure out how to make it work. Here's the result:
Here's a look at the first episode I made a few months back. I'm making progress, but still have a lot to learn before I can do what some of our talented artists are able to create!
What a Year!
2017 was a big year for our Creative Services department, and for me personally as a producer. From cartoons to cowboys, we pulled off some pretty big projects (with little-to-no budget) that had some impressive results. Here's a 2017 department reel I threw together to show off some of my favorite projects from the year:
Holiday with Heart
We decided to try something different for CBS13's holiday promo this year. After one of our graphic artists lost his mom, he came up with this story, which we shot with a cast/crew of 30+ people on a very small budget. I edited this spot and helped out as needed during production.
Good Day Saves Christmas!
Every year, the promotion department goes big for the Good Day Christmas promo. Last year's won gold at Promax (as have 3 or 4 others in previous years), so the standards are high! So how can we top the great work of the past?
Determined to top ourselves, we started planning in June and spent the last five months crafting "Good Day Saves Christmas." I was responsible for writing the narration and sound design, while a much more talented coworker handled the animation. Check it out:
Now we just have to figure out how to top it next year! Oh, and this isn't all we have to offer for the holiday season. Stay tuned for the CBS13 holiday promo.. and bring a box of tissues, because there won't be a dry eye in the house!
