A Marathon, not a Sprint
As I somewhat drunkenly typed, o-n-e-l-e-t-t-e-r-a-t-a-t-i-m-e, late last night/early this morning, we’re finishing a project for Gatorade that’s been in post- - just post, mind you, not including the production time or the creative orgy and client weeding process that preceded it- - for three months.
We’re working with a local effects house, Reel F/X, and they’ve done an absolutely amazing job.
We’ve had a core team of their creatives with us from early in the bidding process, traveling with us to São Paulo for the shoot in early December and, of course, toiling daily on the back-end magic, since.
I’ve worked with quite a few effects houses in my career; some I liked, others not so much (all for different reasons/experiences/results).
It’s been nice, over such a long process, to work with such a talented group of creatives who also happen to be headquartered just a few blocks from our offices. Often you’re left giving direction via conference call then waiting patiently for a QuickTime to be posted to a website. Step, repeat, step, repeat. Having the ability to sit at a table- - or in an edit suite- - across from the people who are handling your baby makes for a smoother, more collaborative experience.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have the opportunity to camp out at the Mondrian (though it would be more precise to say I’d camp out at the Skybar) for three months while I’m working on a job, but I’d be rather daft to use my client’s money that way.
And, all things being equal (and Reel F/X is certainly the peer of any of the top effects houses in the world), for such a marathon process, it just works better to be in the same room with the effects monkeys as often as possible.
If you get the chance, roll the good folks at Reel F/X into your bidding process.
I know the experience will be worthwhile.
Email Article Friday, March 10th, 2006 at 01:13pm Mack Simpson
Filed under: Ad Monkeys, Ad Jungle, Monkey Town | add this post to del.icio.us
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