Award shows and me... we go way back. I created animated showcases for interactive entries at the 2009 and 2010 Hermes Awards shows, and helped with creative direction for their 2010 show. My recent work on the awards presentation for AIA Dayton was a little different. Instead of having a video that supports the emcee and provides visual accompaniment, AIA Dayton wanted to try using a video instead of an emcee. Thus, the burden of keeping the rapt attention of 100+ attendees for over eight minutes fell upon me.
Focusing on Design
There were a few factors working against me on this one. It should suffice to say that I didn't spend more than two weeks on this, start to finish. But something that worked in my favor was an established design aesthetic evolved through many years of these shows.I was shown an invite postcard for the event, designed by RADG's own Jenn Gobrail, and I knew I couldn't go wrong. Even though I had a nice visual starting point, I was given almost no external art direction. Because of the extremely short timeline and small budget, the client basically had to accept whatever I created. Sweet creative freedom!
 |
| Jenn's lovely postcard invite |
Process
I didn't get to do as much pre-visualization as I'd like. Most of it happened in my mind's eye and I just did my best to execute ideas in a way that worked well and efficiently.I basically did a few little sketches, thought about it a lot in the back of my head, and got to work designing and animating.
 |
| My submission for the "tiniest storyboard ever" award |
 |
| An early sketch of the event A/V layout |
The Event
The icing on this project's cake: I was to help run the A/V at the event. That meant hanging out in the crowd, munching on hors d'œuvres, and doing my best to avoid the open bar until it was time to show the main video.The hanging LCD screen "chandelier" rigs showcased the entries in a unique way that added interest throughout the event. The main awards presentation video was projected across the room onto a large wall.
 |
| Hanging LCD chandelier |
 |
| The big screen |
The actual steps to start the main video were very simple, but it still stressed me out a bit. Luckily, my A/V buddy, Alison, provided some much-needed backup.
 |
| Alison (producer) and me and a flower |
Jerry's Final Thought
I'm proud of this project, and especially proud that it came together so well in such a short time. Thought not the ideal process, it was nice to be able to just imagine something and then quickly execute it without external review.Also, big props to Adam Haroff for his lightning fast voice-over talent and audio editing skills. Full credits on the Vimeo page.
