Category Archives: Arts & Entertainment

There’s nothing more satisfying than helping a client score a big win. Killer Suit Creative Media  recently produced an internal video skit/presentation as part of a team-building competition for global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. We recently learned that the team, pictured here previewing the final product, took home the win for best presentation. Congratulations!

It’s funny how leaner times have dovetailed with the modest production values of online video. There are so many new and inexpensive ways to promote your brand, convey your message and tell your story. What used to take a large production team (and even larger budget) can be accomplished with much less. Killer Suit helps you “knock em’ dead” with both style and substance using small-scale video production to tailor your message and, well, get you noticed.

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Sharing a joke is like giving someone a little gift. Taken the right way, and under the right circumstances, it can momentarily distract us from the mundane, the gloom and doom, the terror, with something very simple. A smile. When someone has entrusted you with a good gag, you feel like you’re in the possession of something great—you can’t wait to share it with someone else. And we don’t need to explain how this plays out within and across offices around the globe. We all know the doldrums of cube life, and how valuable an amusing three minutes out of an eight hour day can be.

Comedy is also intrinsically memorable. Our minds run back to it whenever levity is required. So it’s not surprising that a majority of our television ads use comedy as a vehicle for selling a product, and it’s no wonder that many businesses and organizations getting into online video follow suit. We know that, if successful, the joke will be passed around, along with the message or brand identification we have tucked between the punchlines. The degree of comedy, from outright edgy to just cute and fuzzy, will of course depend on the organization and message, but many can benefit from this tried and tested medium.

But as with any performance, there comes the peril of that henchman, stage left, armed with a hook to whisk us out of the spotlight if we’re tanking. We’re not all funny. We’re not always willing to admit that, and we’re certainly reluctant to tell others when their kneeslappers are just plain showstoppers. (So who’s gonna be the one to tell the CEO that he’s not as funny as he thinks he is?)

There are, however, a number of creative solutions to make comedy work for your organization, without seeking the aid of trained actors and large video production firms. The first step is identifying the players. (This is actually one of the first steps in developing any successful video communication. Some are just more camera-ready than others. Make use of your in-house talent). Identify staff who are not only enthusiastic but also comfortable in front of a camera. Sometimes the office jester freezes up when moved away from the safety of the watercooler. Do some casual screentesting up front.

But say your CEO is committed to telling that joke. What do you do then? Well, with some clever video editing, it’s possible that even a dud can become a doozy. Comic delivery is about timing. Ever listen to a friend try to repeat something funny they heard from a professional comedian, and all you can think is “guess I had to be there”? If the timing and rhythm are fumbled, then so is the joke. The beauty of video editing is that you can correct bad timing. A skilled video editor can actually shape comic delivery.

And we’d be jesters ourselves if we failed to mention one of the most alluring benefits of using comedy. The term “cheap gag” lives up to its name in more ways than one. Comedy doesn’t require effects. It doesn’t demand props. Comedy just needs people and can be inexpensive to produce.

Let’s face it. These days we all give The New York Times or CNN.com the obligatory click in morning, just to make sure the world hasn’t blown up while we were getting our coffee. And while we’re usually not greeted with anything that extreme, it’s pretty rare that the news gives the kind of smile we’d want to share with someone else. We need that laugh now, more than ever.

GdB

In case you haven’t heard, there’s an election going on in the Boston area—and you’ve never seen one like this. Four of the most notable acts in the local music scene, sharing a bill at T.T. the Bear’s Place in Cambridge approached Killer Suit to produce a series of spoof campaign ads to promote this lineup of heavy hitters. But aside from just being notable showmen, they’re pretty hands-on within the music community as well.

In addition to his Brendan Boogie and the Best Intentions, Brendan Boogie hosts the largely successful Cover-Up series at the Lizard Lounge. Mike Epstein of The Motion Sick also created Launch Over, a music licensing, publishing, and consulting organization with his wife Sophia Cacciola of Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling. Leo Blais fast became a well-known name, with an ad from none other than the Northeast nectar that is Dunkin Donuts, which uses his song “Show Me Love.” And Tad Mckitterick of Sidewalk Driver? Well, him you just need to see. If there was any doubt that the glittery showmanship of power pop and metal were things of the past, he will vanquish that idea the minute he walks in the room.

The idea: run a full suite of campaign ads throwing the spotlight, for better or worse, on these frontmen. And without giving too much away, we kept all the twists and turns of a tough election cycle in mind when storyboarding the videos. Shot largely in Davis Square, the vignettes use the distinctive neighborhoods and people of Somerville as their setting.

Filmed on a single day, the production notably coincided with the start of the now infamous “Aquapolypse,” when a water main broke in Weston, MA. At wrap, we knew we had some pricelessly humorous material, and were laughing too much to care about how much water we’d need to boil when we got home–comedy has a way of doing that.

GdB

The Rock Primary event will take place at T.T. the Bear’s Place on 7/16/2010.

You can watch all episodes of The Rock Primary campaign series here.

Check out the recent Killer Suit Creative Media article on the effectiveness of comedy in producing web video.