After a young man falls from a tree while taunting baby birds, he finds himself unexpectedly standing before an ethereal figure in white robes.  He is promised an eternity filled with all the Doritos he can eat, which turns out to be too good to be true; it was actually the Devil in disguise. The man’s punishment is to suffer a toothless eternity surrounded by Doritos he cannot eat, forever deprived of that famous Doritos crunch.

Make-up artist Andrea Caruso performs some mild dentistry on local actor Tim Anderson.

After spending a few hours in the make-up chair becoming the Devil, AJ DeJean waits to be called to the soundstage.

Model and angel Samantha Strother gracefully sprinkles Doritos in front of a green screen.

Phil directs Tim on his character’s horrified reaction to discovering he’s lost the majority of his teeth.

Make-up and body paint artist Faith Briscoe adds feathers to complete KZ’s transformation into a baby bird.

Baby birds KZ, Ryan and David sit in their nest and beg for Doritos.

2011 has been an incredibly busy year here at Space City Films, as we’ve been working feverishly to create all-new programming and support several live events.  One of my absolute favorite shows to produce is National Space Symposium, held each spring at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.  NSS is a massive week-long aerospace industry event that is the result of an enormous amount of work from the tremendously talented and visionary folks at the Space Foundation.

Each show has a different vibe, and this year’s hot topic seemed to be the state of America’s civil space program.  Everywhere we went, people were talking about the end of the shuttle program and the uncertain future of America’s leadership in space.

The big events on Tuesday included a Shuttle Commander’s Forum that featured six legendary Shuttle CDRs, each representing one of NASA’s orbiters – Joe Engle and Enterprise, Dick Truly and Challenger, Brewster Shaw and Columbia, Eileen Collins and Discovery, Fred Gregory and Atlantis, and Dan Brandenstein and Endeavour.

The second big event of the day – which we produced and directed – was a sold-out luncheon, Industry Salutes the Space Shuttle.

The audience was filled with industry titans and astronauts galore, as well as starstruck attendees hoping to rub shoulders with these legendary heroes.  We created a gigantic high-def video wallpaper that included jaw-dropping still images from every Shuttle mission ever flown.  This 40-minute piece played during the meal and was a gigantic hit.

After desert and coffee was served, we dropped the house lights to black and rolled a short ten minute tribute to the greatest spacecraft ever built, the Space Shuttle.  We built in a couple of places to allow the audience to reflect upon what they are watching, and give them a moment to breathe.  During those pauses, there was not a sound to be heard from this audience of nearly 800 people.  When the program finished, there was not a dry eye in the house.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch it HERE.

With only a single flight left after Friday’s final launch of Endeavour, pause for a moment and reflect upon what is truly a Magnificent Flying Machine.

One of the most powerful tools in the production arsenal is the on-camera testimonial.  Whether the purpose of your film is marketing a product or service, raising funds or resources for a cause or charity, or communicating a particular point of view, your target audience wants to hear from someone they can believe and trust.

We often work with large companies, CEOs, celebrities, and public figures.  Before we sit down with these folks for an on-camera session, we generally work with public relations professionals to talk about the purpose of the interview and what we want to accomplish, and coach them up about our interview style and technique.  Their interest, of course, is making sure that their executives or the folks that they represent look and sound their best, with no unexpected surprises, ambushes, or gotchas.

There are several components to a successful and productive interview session. Things like preparing the set, proper seating, lighting and audio, camera positions, making sure that the subject wears appropriate clothing, informing them about what they can expect when they sit down with us, and ensuring that they are comfortable so that they appear relaxed and natural on camera.

Over the next few days I’ll explain the interview process and share several tips and tricks to make sure your executives look and sound their absolute best.

The world of high definition media production is changing – rapidly – and we at Space City Films are changing right along with it.  From acquisition to distribution, the way that we capture, process, edit, create, manage, output, distribute, and use HD content is vastly different than it was just three short years ago.

As our company evolves, so will the way that we present ourselves to the public and communicate with our customers and colleagues.

With the advent and incredible growth of social media, blogs, increased bandwidth, affordable high definition video, blazing search capabilities and multimedia websites, the way we receive and process information has evolved faster than any time in our history.

Our customers no longer request tapes or DVDs or any of the old-school methods for showcasing the products we create for them.  The first thing they ask is, “Can I play this from a laptop or put it on our website?”  The answer, of course, is yes, followed by the next question, “Can you show us how to do that?”

We want this site to answer those questions – simply, cleanly, and effectively.

We are big believers in this radical evolution of the way that individuals, businesses, and organizations communicate, and we want to help those folks ride the wave with us.  Hence the all-new, completely overhauled, revamped, re-purposed, and simplified Space City Films website.

We created our new site for several reasons.  The first and most important reason is to provide as much information as we can to anyone with an interest in how to use HD media to communicate with customers, constituents, colleagues, and friends.  We are going to  – in my friend Jeff Carr’s words – “open the kimono” and give away all of our secrets.

That’s right – everything – from how to design a program to how to price a show to how to evaluate and choose a production company, even if it’s not us. We’ll teach you to prep your executives for interviews and show you the do’s and don’ts for what to wear on camera.  We’ll tell you how to save money and offer all sorts of insider tips and tricks.  And we’re going to do all of this with HD video, right here on this website.

Second, we want to use our site as a virtual demonstration of the powerful effects of using HD video on the web, including your website or social media sites like Facebook or in your own blog.   As an example, go check out what our customers say on our Testimonial page.  The impact of actually hearing your customers talk about you is far more effective than just reading words on a page.

And finally, we are creative types, and we just cannot resist the opportunity to stretch our legs a bit and make something brand new.  Many thanks to Mike Popersky and Phil Sexton for pulling together this beautiful new home on the web for Space City Films, and for putting up with all of my “what if?” questions.  This place is beautiful, and you guys rock.

We develop and create programming for a wide variety of clients, from advertising and marketing agencies, theme parks, and economic development groups to the National Football League, NBA Entertainment and television networks. We also produce viral media, live events, awards shows, and concerts across the country.

At Space City Films the words “Above and Beyond” are not just some catchy phrase or marketing jargon. It is our mission statement, our mantra, and the way we do business.

Film and video are highly collaborative media, and we tend to develop and nurture friendly, long-lasting relationships with our clients. It is this kind of dedicated teamwork that sets us apart from the crowd. You are never just a number or a faceless account at Space City Films.

Whether its developing and creating a high definition marketing vid, producing a live event for five thousand people, or designing an animated world on a planet, Space City Films always strives to deliver more than our clients expect.