Writing, Self-Publishing, Book Marketing

When I was a little kid, a man claimed he could tell my future, so I let him. I’ve wanted to be in film since I was a toddler, so when he said I’d grow up to do “advertising,” I was pretty dismayed.

Now, however, at 34 years old, I’m making commercials. And it’s not so bad.  Especially since I’m helping to promote a company I really believe in. Free self-publishing? Once the cat’s out of the bag, it really kinda sells itself, don’t you think?

The first video I did was a “Welcome to Wordclay” infomercial. I initially thought: “Two talking heads, some screen captures … easy.” But then there was the backdrop. The hosts had to be somewhere, and we don’t exactly have studio access here. 

My cohort in crime was Angie, and we busted our brains for a few hours trying to decide where to videotape the actors. We were on a shoe-string budget and didn’t have access to green-screen technology, so the backdrop had to be a physical creation. It came down to Angie and me with X-Acto knives in hand, cutting out different colored concentric rings and pasting them together to create those logos you see floating behind the hosts. The paper was curling throughout the shoot and required constant re-gluing and flattening. 

Moral of the story? I don’t know. But when you see the background, just know that there are blood, sweat and tears in it.

Shortly after the “Welcome” video was completed, we decided to try making a short commercial for the Web. “Die, Fly” was Angie’s idea, and everyone loved it. I like that it didn’t have any dialogue. We didn’t even write a script for that one, just a shot list. 

My favorite part is a bit of improvisation I asked of Trent. (Trent is the actor in the commercial, who looks like he should front an emo/boy band.) I asked him to spin around while swatting the fly – kind of how I would spin around if I knew a spider was on me (I hate spiders). I called it the “crazy dance,” and he felt so silly doing it that I only got one take. The video has been very well-received so far, and appears to be doing its job – bringing people to Wordclay.

I’m glad Wordclay has decided to start making videos. The Web is such an audio-visual place. It only seems natural that video should play a big part in the success of our company. I’m hoping to make more advertisements, as well as some tutorials and trouble-shooting guides for Wordclay users. 

If you have any comments or suggestions about current or future videos, please leave a post!

Guest Blogger Scott Schrimer