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Florida House Victory | Ricky Junquera

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RICKY JUNQUERA

FLORIDA HOUSE DISTRICT 118

In collaboration with the Florida House Victory Campaign, Turn Florida Blue, we wrote, produced, and distributed a series of political ads to increase awareness and buzz around Democratic Candidates who needed a boost in the polls. Patrick Henry was one such candidate.

 

Ricky Junquera grew up in a Cuban American household right here in West Miami-Dade by his single mother and grandmother. Since early childhood, he saw the risks and sacrifices his family made to make sure he had education and personal improvement opportunities. In 2010, Ricky was attending law school and working on Joe Garcia’s 2010 bid for congress. That’s where he found his calling, helping communities through public service. After receiving a master’s degree in intercultural communications, he became the Communications Director for Congressman Henry Cuellar of San Antonio in 2015. He joined the campaign just as Donald Trump was beginning his own. This pushed Ricky forward and enabled him to work further to hone his communication skills to combat Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric.

 

For the Florida House Victory Campaign, we distributed three ads for Ricky Junquera (30-second, 15-second, and 6-second versions) while using advanced SEO tactics to boost searchability and organic viewership.

A PROMISE TO DISTRICT 118

In conjunction with the three ads published in part by the Florida House Victory campaign, Ricky Junquera’s base commissioned us to write, produce, and distribute an independent collection of political advertisements.

 

In 2015, after witnessing the EPA’s attacks, Ricky accepted a position as the Regional Press Secretary for the Sierra Club. This began his start in shaping environmental communication strategies throughout the Midwest and Florida. Ultimately, Ricky chose to run for House Representative because he cared deeply about his community’s health outcomes and fought to balance working-class communities’ economic struggles. Vocalizing this in our media wasn’t difficult at all. We knew his words would meet the emotions of many in a community that had seen hardship after hardship, from the EPA to the current COVID-19 crisis. For this series, we highlighted Ricky Junquera’s focus on the issues that matter most to our communities: healthcare, unemployment, gun violence, clean water, public education, and viable transportation. These issues have been a part of Ricky’s life since childhood. He’d seen the hardships that crushing medical expenses have on a family. He’s personally been a part of the fight for clean water since early 2015. We see that many of these issues are still ones we face today. There’s much work still left to be done, and that’s why we banded together to give Ricky the media he needed to get his words and work in front of a larger audience.

 

The framework for these ads led to increased voter turnout for Ricky Junquera.

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Florida House Victory Campaign

FLORIDA HOUSE VICTORY CAMPAIGN

A FULL SCALE PUSH TO TAKE THE HOUSE

The Florida House Victory Campaign, Turn Florida Blue, was a massive political effort funded by state Democrats in an effort to unite the Florida House of Representatives under democratic leadership. The idea for this campaign came in the wake of the 2018 election, where Florida Democrats flipped various seats in the House of Representatives. To build on this momentum, the Democratic party ran a Democratic candidate in every district election for the first time in our state’s history.

 

The Florida House of Representatives has been under Republican leadership for the past 20 years. They’ve controlled the legislator and have implemented biased policies, many of which directly or indirectly take advantage of hardworking Floridians and their families. The Florida House Victory Campaign was aimed to capitalize on the national momentum and shared interest for a “blue wave,” using the current political climate to drive democratic turnout and, ultimately, take control of the house.

 

Though the 2020 election results favored Republicans in Florida, our campaign stoked interest around important Democratic policies that we will continue to fight for in the elections to come. Among the most important topics discussed in this election, the Florida House Victory campaign advocated livable wage jobs, a healthy and well-guarded environment, equal state funding for public education, correcting our broken unemployment system, access to affordable healthcare, and the revitalization of our state economy.

 

We wrote the scripts, directed, produced and distributed the political ads for 13 Democratic Candidates running for office and re-election in districts as far south as Key West and as far north as Orlando.

ORGANIC

Views: 104,162
Watch Hours: 725.7
Impressions: 13,851

ADVERTISING

Budget: $31,140
Impressions: 4,120,027
Interactions: 3,188,191
Clicks: 5,623
EXPLORE THE

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

ECONOMIC RECOVERY

BEACHES & WATERWAYS

EDUCATION

MINE BLASTING

ENVIRONMENT

ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Four candidates pushed the topic of economic recovery to bolster their status on the polls. Each video was tied to the COVID-19 pandemic considering it was one of the greatest concerns among voters in the Democratic base and those still undecided.

 

We wrote unique scripts for each candidate, drawing talking points from their political track-record and community’s status. We spoke predominantly to local business owners, unemployed workers, those who recognized the failures of leadership in Tallahassee.

Ricky Junquera | District 118
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Patrick Henry | District 26
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Jean-Pierre Bado | District 114
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Pasha Baker | District 28
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Jim Bonfiglio | District 89
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Jennifer Webb | District 69
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BEACHES & WATERWAYS

Another important topic discussed by Democratic candidates in this year’s race was the importance of protecting and preserving our beaches and waterways. The framework for this argument was also tied to COVID-19, which enabled us to weave economic elements into these scripts.

 

The most impactful argument here was that Florida tourism is a $90 billion industry. It upholds our state and local economies, powers business, and ensures that thousands of workers are employed. Amid COVID-19, travel has been difficult for some and impossible for others. International travel has been greatly limited and these factors have been devastating to businesses that need tourist dollars to survive. 2020 has shown that when tourism dies, our communities suffer. This reinforced the importance and value of our waterways and beaches. These natural resources support our tourist industry and are, therefore, vital factors to our state’s economic health.

EDUCATION

Four candidates ran on a platform of correcting Florida’s biased public education funding system. The main point of contention is the fact that for the past 20 years, our state legislator has funneled tax dollars to support for-profit charter schools. This biased practice has completely hindered our public schooling institution’s ability to function; the cost of which is shared among teachers and students alike.

We wrote a collection of scripts to inform Florida voters of the situation while presenting real solutions that would benefit our communities, families, and children.

Andrew Learned | District 59
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Franccesca Cesti-Browne | District 115
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Joy Goff-Marcil | District 30
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Tracey Kagan | District 29
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Cindy Polo | District 103
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MINE BLASTING

Perhaps the most specific topic of conversation among our candidates was Mine Blasting to which Cindy Polo provided a voice. This issue is specific to business owners and homeowners in District 103. This mining practice is damaging and is at their expense. Since no other candidates were bringing this issue to light, Cindy Polo stepped in.

ENVIRONMENT

Protecting and preserving our environment is a growing topic of conversation. With the severity of climate change worsening every year, we expect that this conversation will remain at the center of political dialogue. Current trends aside, the environment has long been a primary concern among Florida voters. Our state’s economy is largely dependent on the health of our natural resources, as they are a major contributor to tourism.

 

For candidates Delores Hogan-Johnson and Geraldine Thompson, we wrote, produced, and distributed the following political ads centered around environmental stewardship and the importance of nature in our economy. We framed the conversation alongside covid-19 to reinforce the urgency and provide added framework to our case.

Geraldine Thompson | District 44
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Delores Hogan-Johnson | District 84
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Bring Your Movement to Life

The Florida House Victory Campaign demonstrates the power of purpose-driven storytelling—targeting key issues like education, the environment, economic recovery, and infrastructure to amplify candidate platforms and connect with voters statewide.

 

When your campaign needs more than ads, contact us. We have the tools and insight to propel your message across Florida’s most critical districts.

Bring Your Movement to Life

The Florida House Victory Campaign demonstrates the power of purpose-driven storytelling—targeting key issues like education, the environment, economic recovery, and infrastructure to amplify candidate platforms and connect with voters statewide.

 

When your campaign needs more than ads, contact us. We have the tools and insight to propel your message across Florida’s most critical districts.

Florida House Victory | Cindy Polo

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CINDY POLO

FLORIDA HOUSE DISTRICT 103

In collaboration with the Florida House Victory Campaign, Turn Florida Blue, we wrote, produced, and distributed a series of political ads to increase awareness and buzz around Democratic Candidates and bolster their ratings in the polls. Cindy Polo was one such candidate.

 

For the Florida House Victory Campaign, Cindy Polo wanted to address an issue specific to her district: mine blasting. While most candidates focused on COVID-19, economic hardships, unemployment, education, and the environment, Cindy Polo opted to pursue this route to speak to a distinct voter segment. By addressing local business owners and homeowners affected by mine blasting, she expanded her base and increased awareness around her campaign.

 

We distributed this campaign using advanced SEO tactics and ad spend to boost searchability and viewership.

ORGANIC RESULTS
VIEWS: 6,206 in 30 Days
DEMOGRAPHIC: 48% of Views Between Ages 18-34
GENDER: 70% Male | 30% Female
ADVERTISING RESULTS
BUDGET: $1,540
IMPRESSIONS: 149,270
VIEWS: 133,066
INTERACTION RATE: 89.14%
COST PER VIEW: $0.01
-- USE YOUR VOICE --
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-- THE FACTS --
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Florida House Victory | Franccesca Cesti-Browne

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FRANCCESCA CESTI-BROWNE

FLORIDA HOUSE DISTRICT 115

In collaboration with the Florida House Victory Campaign, Turn Florida Blue, we wrote, produced, and distributed a series of political ads to increase awareness and buzz around Democratic Candidates who needed a boost in the polls. Franccesca Cesti-Browne was one such candidate.

 

Franccesca Cesti-Browne ran on a platform of education. As a mother and businesswoman, she is vocal about advocating for the health of the communities of Florida. She believes that every community is only as strong as the opportunities they are given. Thus, she states that we must provide more opportunities to our present leaders and the young people to lead our future generations. She advocates heavily on correcting the imbalance and bias affecting public school funding throughout Florida. She is critical of the State Legislator, who contributed to the massive education gap that has been decades in the making.

 

This campaign was distributed via Facebook Advertising and was targeted at demographics based on their viewer history and language preference to garner the best results. For the Florida House Victory Campaign, we distributed three ads for Franccesca Cesti-Browne (30 second, 15 second, and 6 second versions) while using advanced SEO tactics to boost searchability and viewership organically.

ORGANIC RESULTS
VIEWS: 30,964 in 30 Days
DEMOGRAPHIC: 42% of Views Between Ages 18-34
GENDER: 67% Male | 33% Female
-- ENGLISH --
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-- SPANISH --
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Florida House Victory | Patrick Henry

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PATRICK HENRY
FLORIDA HOUSE DISTRICT 26

In collaboration with the Florida House Victory Campaign, Turn Florida Blue, we wrote, produced, and distributed a series of political ads to increase awareness and buzz around Democratic Candidates who needed a boost in the polls. Patrick Henry was one such candidate.

 

Patrick Henry has been a proven leader for District 26 of Florida since first assuming office in 2016 and has always upheld his promise to voice real Floridians’ interests in the state capital. With so much at stake in the 2020 election, we got to work educating Florida voters on the importance of re-electing Patrick Henry. His platform was honest and straightforward: the COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating on our local businesses and our economic wellbeing; these hardships could have been and still can be avoided if we had real leadership in the State Capital. Now more than ever, we need real, commonsense solutions to put Florida back on track. Vocalizing these three crucial points was essential in increasing voter turnout for Patrick Henry in 2020.

 

For the Florida House Victory Campaign, we distributed three ads for Patrick Henry (30 second, 15 second, and 6 second versions) while using advanced SEO tactics to boost searchability and organic viewership.

ORGANIC RESULTS

VIEWS: 33,601 in 30 Days
DEMOGRAPHIC: 51.4% of Views Between Ages 18-34
GENDER: 67% Male | 33% Female
A PROMISE TO DISTRICT 26

In conjunction with the three ads published in part by the Florida House Victory campaign, Patrick Henry’s base commissioned us to write, produce, and distribute an independent collection of political advertisements.

 

For this series, we highlighted Patrick Henry’s promise for the future and the key areas that he would continue to advocate: livable wage jobs, a clean and healthy environment, access to healthcare, and quality public education. These social issues have long been the heart of Patrick Henry’s work in the State Capital. We can look around and see that his work is not yet complete. This is not a knock on Patrick Henry, but rather a call to action to unite the Florida House of Representatives under likeminded Democratic leadership so we can create real, functional policies to improve these areas.

 

The framework for these ads achieved many successes that led to increased voter turnout for Patrick Henry. Most importantly, it reinforced and drove traffic back to the Florida House Victory campaign ads, which, ultimately, contributed to Patrick Henry’s massive viewership in such a short timeframe. And it also helped focus organic viewership in Florida where a total of 108 watch hours were recorded.

ADVERTISING RESULTS
BUDGET: $3,000 over 30 Days
IMPRESSIONS: 64,631
VIEWS: 8,761
COST PER VIEW: $0.07
CLICKS: 94
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Florida House Victory | Geraldine Thompson

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GERALDINE THOMPSON

FLORIDA HOUSE DISTRICT 44

In collaboration with the Florida House Victory Campaign, Turn Florida Blue, we wrote, produced, and distributed a series of political ads to increase awareness and buzz around Democratic Candidates behind in the polls.

 

Geraldine Thompson was running for re-election for Florida House District 44 on the promise of reinvigorating opportunities for local businesses and hardworking Floridians as the means of getting our state economy back on track. Her opponent, Bruno Portigliatti, ran on a similar promise. However, his assurance was contradicted by his track record of taking advantage of vulnerable seniors, college students, and unemployed workers. We made a point of showcasing his harmful and volatile track record to further support Geraldine Thompson’s re-election bid.

 

We distributed three ads for the Florida House Victory Campaign (30 second, 15 second, and 6-second versions) while using advanced SEO tactics to boost searchability and viewership organically.

ORGANIC RESULTS
ELECTION: Win!
VIEWS: 5,969 in 30 Days
DEMOGRAPHIC: 45% of Views Between Ages 18-34
GENDER: 73% Male | 27% Female
BRUNO PORTIGLIATTI
ATTACK AD

Operating in conjunction with the Florida House Victory Ad, we also produced an attack ad to aid Geraldine Thompson on her re-election bid further.

 

Her opponent, Bruno Portigliatti, ran on a similar campaign promise; however, his track-record was a complete contradiction to these claims. The idea for this ad was to show the disparities in the American Dream; how some people — people like Bruno Portigliatti — use their position to take advantage of people as a means of deepening their pockets. Educating Florida’s voters was imperative here. Some of the most affected demographics from the COVID-19 pandemic — seniors, students, and unemployed workers — deserved to know that a vote for Bruno Portigliatti would greatly affect their economic futures and physical health.

 

This ad was distributed primarily on social media using Facebook Advertising and greatly increased voter recognition for Geraldine Thompson as the ideal candidate to continue representing Florida House District 44.

ADVERTISING RESULTS
BUDGET: $2,600 over 30 Days
IMPRESSIONS: 155,149
VIEWS: 139,931
INTERACTION RATE: 90.19%
COST PER VIEW: $0.01
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Orange Can be another person's nightmare title
One Bruno Portigliatti title on black and white backdrop of him
Geraldine Thompson Orange One Person's American Dream title
Orange Helpless Seniors title on black and white backdrop of older man wearing military cap
Orange Non Tranferable Credits title on black and white backdrop of two women
Orange Unemployed Workers title on black and white backdrop of woman wearing earrings and lipstick

Freebird

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Freebird Real Estate Fort Lauderdale

Freebird is an exciting new real estate concept debuting in East Fort Lauderdale.

Freebird real estate agents focus on the unique lifestyle needs of their clientele to find them a home that best suits their way of living. Before beginning the home buying process, they take the time to get to know their clients personally. If you’re a yogi, an outdoorsman, a business person, a boater, a foodie (you get the point), they’ll learn about your interests and passions until they have a firm understanding of how you live. Then they’ll find you a perfect home in a neighborhood that exemplifies your lifestyle.

Freebird’s personalized program represents a massive paradigm for real estate in East Fort Lauderdale.

Freebird believes that how you live is the first step in deciding where you should live. They inject the home buying experience with a social-centric, no-pressure vibe, which provides their agents with the intel needed to locate your dream home in East Fort Lauderdale. This intimate process creates a positive and relaxed atmosphere in which their clients can experience life in East Fort Lauderdale before committing to a move.

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Smiling woman with long curly blond hair headshot
Smiling woman with long brown hair wearing bright red lipstick headshot

Freebird has invented a new style of community building.

They are unlike any other real estate firm in the profession. And we are confident they will enrich the quality of life in East Fort Lauderdale for residents interested in buying, selling, or renting a beautiful home.

Man and woman walking holding hands with dog past picnic tables in a park
Two women wearing dresses facing each other on a balcony with green foliage overlooking a city
Young man wearing blue swimming trunks and young woman wearing a black bikini sitting on a white boat smiling in a harbor
Group of men sitting at a wooden table with some toasting drinks and smiling in a restaurant
African American man wearing black cap, shades, salt and pepper goatee, red shirt and black shorts walking down steps holding a water bottle
Two women in colorful yoga outfits striking yoga poses on the side of a swimming pool with a yacht and buildings behind them
View from behind of man and woman paddle surfing with many yachts and city in the background
Two men both wearing t shirts and shorts, holding hands and walking down a path in the woods looking at each other

Branding Freebird

The first step in branding Freebird was creating an image that would welcome home buyers, sellers, and those interested in the East Fort Lauderdale lifestyle.

Our image had to excite consumers by breathing life into real estate. Boring wouldn’t do. Ordinary wouldn’t do. Their real estate process contradicts the status quo, therefore, their branding had to be completely unique for the industry.

 

First, we created a color palette that was iconic to South Florida scenery yet unique to the Freebird brand. One important difference here is how it distinguishes the company from other real estate agencies. The client wanted to avoid mimicking the realtor aesthetic that has completely saturated the market. This decision inspired us to incorporate people into the branding collateral. Rather than showcase homes and realtors in suits, we chose to showcase real people living and enjoying the East Fort Lauderdale lifestyle.

 

Given that Freebird is redefining the real estate process for home buyers and sellers by making the entire experience more social and laidback in nature, we avoided using imagery or language that denoted hard sales. We want users to feel comfortable every time they interact with the Freebird brand. If we did not achieve this, then we risked devaluing the Freebird program, which would, ultimately, cast the brand in the same shade as generic real estate agencies.

 

The final product is a distinguished and easily identifiable brand image that we are confident will become an icon to real estate in East Fort Lauderdale. No other company embodies the same values, energy, or process as Freebird, which is why the branding is so effective.

View Freebird’s Branding
Freebird Real Estate Fort Lauderdale Branding on Facebook

Freebird cultivates the most experienced professionals in the industry. Their leadership has been serving the East Fort Lauderdale markets in various capacities for the past 30 years. They know everything there is to know about Fort Lauderdale and will use their insights to guide you to your dream home.

 

More importantly, once you do find your new home in East Fort Lauderdale, Freebird invites you to join their community permanently. They host monthly Happy Hour occasions throughout Fort Lauderdale, so you can embrace your new home and start building your social network.

Freebird Real Estate Facebook Website

Designing & Developing Freebird's Website

The crown jewel of Freebird’s branding and marketing is their website.

We designed and developed a digital home that exemplifies the Freebird program. The entire website is built around the user experience. It is designed to excite consumers, inform them of the benefits of Freebird’s unique program, show them the validity of their process and encourage them to reach out to schedule a tour with a Freebird agent.

 

The greatest challenge we faced in the creation of the website was the interactive map for the Areas East page. This custom design provides an overview of East Fort Lauderdale, showing major points of interest and the locations of the most iconic and livable neighborhoods in the city. Our interactive map allows users to embark on a digital tour of East Fort Lauderdale. Each icon leads to a unique page that provides lifestyle information and pictures of the neighborhood, the most recent real estate statistics, and a few Freebird favorites.

 

To exemplify the laidback, social-centric appeal of Freebird real estate in Fort Lauderdale, we created a custom lifestyle quiz. This casual intake form preps users for the program and provides Freebird agents with a few talking points to get to know their clients on a personal level. A major function of the site is to ease consumers into this new real estate process while gently feeding them information on the Freebird brand and what awaits their new life in East Fort Lauderdale.

Freebird Real Estate Post Card

Black Violin

Red and white Black Violin Logo
Man playing violin in a field under cloudy blue skies as another man looks on

BLACK VIOLIN

Black Violin is a classically trained violin duo with a versatile musical range that blends hip-hop with triumphant instrumentals and lyrics.

 

Violinist Kevin Sylvester (Kev Marcus) and violist Wilner Baptiste (Wil B) use their talents to reach beyond the stage. Their art, music, and activism benefit young students across the U.S., advocating freedom of expression, pride, identity, and unity.

 

We first worked with Black Violin when collaborating with the Kennedy Center on their Turnaround Arts Program. Our perspectives on society and our vision for the future were similar and, ultimately, became the building blocks to our relationship. So, when Kev and Wil asked us to conceptualize and produce a few music videos for their new album Take the Stairs, we were all in!

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"IMPOSSIBLE IS POSSIBLE"

“Impossible is Possible” is the second music video that we wrote, directed, and produced for Black Violin’s new album Take The Stairs

When brainstorming this music video, we toyed around with a few concepts before writing this script and moving into production. Some of the other concepts are what you’d expect… there were the ideas in a concert hall with Wil, Kev, and a ballerina (overdone), the radical “no-care-in-the-world” concepts that you’d expect from Kanye and Jay-Z, and the uplifting wanderlust ideas of people living their out their best life. But none of these seemed right to us. No, we wanted to tell a real story — something that was genuine, true, and would fully capture the essence Black Violin’s beautiful song.

 

The chorus, “show the world the impossible is possible” kept ringing in our minds. It stuck with us. It begged the question,  what is impossible… what’s possible?

 

Now, this holds a lot of different meanings to a lot of different people. Naturally, what’s achievable for some and hard to come by for others is decided early on, literally at the time of birth. Yes, the circumstances we are born into can surely dictate what we are capable of achieving. This idea of opportunity is what we gravitated towards and what we chose to articulate in this video.

 

It’s an important theme and more relevant than ever. As the super rich continue to accumulate wealth and deepen the inequality gap that separates the haves from the have-nots, the opportunities afforded to everyday people will continue to shrink until even the slightest success seems like an impossible feat.

 

With this in mind, we told the  story of a young boy born into poverty, who pursues his dreams despite the odds and excels in life because of the beautiful support network he was blessed with. His mother and father sacrifice everything to provide him with a better life. And what’s important is that he sees their sacrifices and turns this into success, He make the impossible possible; he changes his stars.

NOMINEE The Nickis 2023 1
OFFICIAL SELECTION Reel Teal Film Festival 2023 White logo
OFFICIAL SELECTION Fuoricampo FilmFest 2023 White logo
NOMINEE A Royal Chance Film Festival 2024 white
One Step OFFICIAL SELECTION A Royal Chance Film Festival 2024 white
Closeup view of a boy wearing tank to looking in the distance at dusk
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Side profile of African American man talking with an African American boy wearing a yellow t shirt
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There's a moment when you realize
that everything we're told was lies

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View from behind of a man wearing a black t shirt walking down a business corridor holding an assault rifle
Overhead view of two police officers by a black car and a man wearing white tank top and jeans laying shot on the street
Girl holding her knees up to her chest sitting in a corner in semidarkness with someone wearing combat boots
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Closeup of man wearing a black cap getting out of a car with hands in the air with another man being held by a policeman in the background
Side profile of a policeman shouting orders holding a gun in outstretched arms at someone in a car with graffiti on a building behind him

"ONE STEP"

‘One Step’ is the headline track for Black Violin’s new album, Take The Stairs, which released November 1st, 2019. When we first listened to the single, we immediately felt a connection to the song and the message therein. We knew that we wanted to create a music video that was equally powerful. To do that, we had to stoke controversy and take a stance. Black Violin’s song is an anthem. The video we produced together is a war cry.

The chorus chants ‘one step to the future.’ This had us questioning what that future looks like.

When we look at the state of America today, it’s impossible to avoid scenes and stories of violence and oppression. Yet, despite these disturbing circumstances, most of us are able to ignore them and carry on with our lives. Society has tuned out. We’ve grown accustomed to seeing and consuming aggression on a daily basis. It has lost is affect. What were once conflicts that would inspire progressive action have become entertainment components wielded by the news media. This digression is being passed from one generation to the next. That is how we are stepping into the future. And we fear for our kids and their kids (should humanity even survive that long).

 

Understand that we, nor Black Violin, are making a political stance. We are spotlighting reality. That may disturb some people. It may anger others. But the truth is a hard pill to swallow, and that truth is that most people don’t care to stand up against oppression anymore because they are complacent. And god forbid we risk our comfort. The world we live in today is not a safe place for our children. That is the message. If we are going to step into the future to create a brigher tomorrow then we must address these issues hurting us today. And in doing so, we must identify them and talk about them first. That is what this video is about.

We are born with our father's names
and we, too, inherit their sins.

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Kennedy Center

There was no way we could have captured the essence of this event with just still photos. The production needed to be emotional and cinematic in order for us to showcase the real impact Black Violin had at Walker Elementary.

The goal was to use emotional language and high-quality visual media to create an original video that captured the essence of the Turnaround Arts program.

Our production crew covered every aspect of the event. It was important for us to capture every aspect of Black Violin’s involvement with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and how they served as an inspiration to the students at Walker Elementary.

 

The visuals are an important part of our storytelling process. In order to show the whole story and bring out all aspects, we interviewed the organizers as well as Will and Kev. We also had individual conversations with them so that every part could be captured accurately. All the visuals came together in post-production. During the editing process, we added in the background dialogue and went back through the video in fine-detail to perfect every pixel in each frame. We took our time to make sure that all the visuals came together and that the overall story was clear and engaging. Our film editing services are meticulous, but worth it to create a high-quality finished product.

African American man wearing black ball cap, black t shirt playing a violin on stage facing a man wearing a white t shirt next to him also playing a violin
African American man wearing black ball cap, black t shirt playing a violin on stage with a man wearing a white t shirt next to him also playing a violin
African American man wearing black ball cap, black t shirt and gray jeans talking with children in a parking lot with cars in the background
Black Violin Turnaround Arts Frame Two men wearing black caps playing violins on stage
Side profile of a man wearing glasses playing a piano on a concrete rooftop
Closeup of man wearing shades playing a violin on a concrete rooftop with a piano nearby
Two men by a piano posing for the camera with one looking at the sky and the other holding a violin on a concrete rooftop
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Side profile headshot of a man wearing glasses and another man wearing glasses playing a violin both posing for the camera
Side profile of a man wearing glasses playing a violin in the sun

The Gear

Scouting locations for Black Violin’s music video was quite the task.

We had less than two weeks to find talent and secure locations and permits in Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale. One of the leading settings in “One Step” is the rooftop sequence featuring Will and Kev. They’re overlooking downtown Los Angeles, using the rooftop as a platform to address the world. To make these scenes possible, we had to figure out a way to get a grand piano on a roof! As you can see, we got the job done.

 

The equipment we used (mainly when shooting on the rooftop) also made a great impact on the quality of the video. We used the Orion anamorphic lens for these scenes. Whereas some lenses flare red, the Orion lens flares blue, which really played to color palette we developed. Similarly, these blue sun flares add to the message communicated in the lyrics, adding a somewhat heavenly voice to the language.

Shooting with RED Digital Cameras

One of the best parts of working with RED Digital Cinema cameras is the quality of the frame grabs. No other camera in the industry can generate such crisp, flawless stills. One of our favorite cameras in our arsenal is the 8k RED Monstro VV. It’s capable of pulling 8k stills at over 60 frames per second. These screen grabs are a result of RED’s masterwork engineering.

Our children are our greatest treasure.
They are our future.
Those who abuse them tear at the fabric of our society and weaken our nation.
- Nelson Mandela

Finetuning The Story

Check out Dailies 0056 for BTS of the production! 

We are a turnkey agency, in that we take each project from concept to delivery. Because of this, we house a full creative suite of editing and post-production software. One of our most powerful editing software, which we used to put the final touches on Black Violin’s “One Step” music video, is DaVinci Resolve. This is the best color correction and non-linear video editing application for macOS by Blackmagic Design.

 

Since editing is one of the most critical steps in our process, nothing is overlooked. DaVinci Resolve helps us zone-in on key points of interest to create maximum clarity and outstanding color harmony. In this phase, we take all the footage, audio, and additional assets and lay them on a timeline to arrange the absolute best narrative flow. This process is extremely time-consuming. According to the industry standard, every minute of shooting translates to an hour of editing, which makes sense since this is where true storytelling comes together.

 

After editing, the project moves to color correction and audio mixing. This is where we balance the footage for proper exposure and grade the footage to give it a look that improves the overall story. Audio mixing is similar to video editing. While video editing pertains to video only, audio mixing has to take all of the audio sources and blend them to broadcast quality sound. All of this is done by our very strong and talented post-production team, who work around the clock to meet our client’s deadlines.

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View of computer display screen of audio software
View of computer display screen of audio software
View from behind of someone wearing headphones working with audio and video software on a desktop
View from behind of someone wearing headphones working with audio and video software on a desktop
Closeup of Red Digital Cinema Professional camera view screen
Closeup side view of Red Digital Cinema Professional camera. Tv production Film Production
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Side view showing silhouette of video camera at dusk with building in the background
Closeup of Red Digital Cinema Professional camera
Closeup of Red Digital Cinema Professional camera lens
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