A few months ago we here at August Hour received a call; “How would you like to produce video content for a Times Square interactive project?”
It was friend and client Barrett Prelogar, CEO and founder of Winntech. Winntech was building a huge, interactive video display for the H&R Block flagship office in Times Square and they wanted August Hour to help produce the video content.
photo from NY Daily News, Gabel
Now, Winntech produces the most sophisticated and thoughtful interactive experiences I’ve ever seen. I like this because it challenges August Hour to produce compelling video content that matches that level of quality and meet the reputation of a top-notch company like H&R Block. At the time we partnered with Winntech, we didn’t realize what a massive undertaking this would be. At the end of the project August Hour – with Winntech’s creative guidance – produced over 850 separate High Definition videos in under two months; 543 of which were produced in 16 days for the H&R Block grand opening on December 7th, 2009.
Photo courtesy H&R Block
Working with Winntech required August Hour to pull together all of our core capabilities including: casting, pre-production, chroma key and digital animation, live-action HD shoots, music composition, digital photography and editing, sound design, and audio recording and mastering.
In Kansas City we shot five days of live-action video to produce eight different interactive host segments (H&R Block employees). After shooting wrapped this footage was edited into 331 chroma-keyed videos combined with digital interactive animation that guide the viewer through the interactive process.
Next we spent two days filming on location in New York to produce 20 short biopics about each of the Tax Professionals who work in the flagship office on Times Square (my personal favorite part of the project).
Finally, the project involved producing the content for the huge video walls and tickers that are displayed on 7th Avenue. This meant August Hour had to help conceptualize, produce, direct, render and output a dozen videos that were over twice the resolution of HD video, all in under two weeks.
We’re proud to say the work was completed on time, on budget and the flagship office is open on Times Square.
These projects are successful because of clients and project partners like Winntech and H&R Block who bring creativity, expertise and experience to the process. We owe a debt of gratitude to everyone from H&R Block, Winntech, DDB, and all the folks who worked long hours to pull this project together.
Just some of the client feedback on the project:
WOW…I am speechless!!!!! Seriously – you guys rock, and you just made my weekend and my whole week next week. What talent! Thank you so much for all your hard work and everything to come. Please have several drinks to celebrate – you deserve it.
Sarah Nichols
Marketing Manager, Retail and Digital Experience
H&R Block
If you’re interested in seeing images of the work first-hand, we suggest a little trip to New York; the flagship office is located at 555 7th Ave. If you would like to see some images of the video work we did for the project please contact us.
Read an article on the H&R Block Times Square flagship location here: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/01/11/2010-01-11_hr_block_adds_razzledazzle_to_tax_prep_in_times_square.html