Over a year ago I was hired by the Canalside Restaurant in Port Colborne, Ontario, for a video project to promote their ten individually themed hotel suites. After a walkthrough and conversations with Greg, the owner, I understood the need and had sketched an outline – a short promotional video highlighting our small city, the central location of the Canalside Suites, and the rooms. I had a game plan.
I had to visit multiple times to get access while the rooms were unoccupied. With ten separate rooms in two buildings a half mile apart on three separate days, the logistics were not difficult, more a simple matter of organization. This small project was easily managed. The main thing was to ensure consistency of style and visual appearance across locations and shoot days.
I ensured the weather was good, to take advantage of natural sunlight and avoid the need for lighting gear or other equipment. This had the advantage of letting me wander through the rooms without restriction, for a strolling guests-eye view. I shot the same walkthrough style for each room to give myself flexibility to mix and match in post processing. The trick was, I used a 360 camera.
360 Camera
360 cameras record everything from every angle. My task became to painstakingly review all the footage later in my editing suite, selecting the best angles for each room to focus on their unique features. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun. Many decisions had to be made. Did I want to look out of the windows at the Welland Canal? Or focus on the luxury beds? The kitchen areas? The wall art? The living space? Each room is unique. That’s part of their charm and beauty. Bringing out their character was part of my goal.
Once these choices were done for each room, I added some still images of the rooms, which will also be used separately in marketing and advertising print. I cut in some b-roll video of the area to add local colour and a sense of the community of Port Colborne. Some was my own b-roll, but some was provided by the City of Port Colborne, and I thank them for letting me use it here.
Finally, transitions were paced to a music track I selected for a warm, happy vibe. The original outline was for Greg to voiceover from a script, but this did not happen he’s simply too busy. Audio was not really needed since the video was going to run in silent mode – more on that later – but an audio track is a simple thing to add and gives additional options. For example, Youtube viewers won’t watch any video that is completely, unnervingly silent. In the absence of that voiceover, music track it is.
I made two versions of the promotional video, with different sound tracks and pacing, and presented them to Greg. I like to give options in projects where the deliverables are less defined. In this case Greg had outlined the broad concept but looked to me to fill in the spaces, giving me carte blanche to do whatever I liked. But the question was, would he like it? He did! He preferred one version so that is the one we went with. Greg offered some notes and we made plans to update this project next Summer with additional content and footage.
We are going to replace that b-roll to showcase activities in the area. From Nickel Beach to the Welland Canal, amongst other things. So I have more work ahead of me, which will include drone footage. I always love breaking out the drone. Any excuse.
Where are we now?
The video has been running on a loop – in silent mode – on a screen at the end of the restaurant bar for the last year. Visitors will stay for a drink or a meal, thinking of staying overnight. Somewhere. And while eating and wondering where to stay, they watch the video… and book one of those beautiful rooms. It’s a natural, quick, easy solution for everyone.
The Youtube video below, with music track, also runs on the Canalside web site, reaching a far wider audience. Visitors researching Canal Days, for example, find a place in the thick of the action where they can eat, drink, and fall asleep after a long hot day in the Summer sun. By the time they leave the web site a booking has been made.
The future
The goal of this project was to make a short, punchy, feelgood video short to generate bookings. It works. Mission accomplished.
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