TurnHere Blog

This week’s video of the week goes to Cypress located in Walnut Creek, CA. Talented filmmaker Nelson Nunez did an fantastic job of capturing the unique dining experience at Cypress. 

If you're in the East Bay and drop by Cypress, remember to dress formal, since this is a sophisticated ambience, complete with table-side cooking and your personal chef

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE VIDEO?

Dimitri, client: Our favorite part of the video is the interview and how seamless the voice over was.

Nelson, filmmaker: Of course, capturing the tableside service!  The steak and strawberries flambe being freshly prepared in front of the guests was awesome to capture.  Who doesn't like seeing a kiss of fire when delicious food is being cooked?  Also, as a huge fan of the Food Network, it was fun to capture their finished dishes looking their best.

WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE VIDEO:

Dimitri, client: The goal of the video is to exhibit our genuine desire to please our guests.

Nelson, filmmaker: To show that Cypress is no ordinary restaurant; you come here for a unique dining experience.  Particularly, tableside service.

HOW WAS THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE?

Dimitri, client: With respect to the experience; professional, unobtrusive, engaging, productive, well worth the time.

Nelson, filmmaker: Chef and Marketing Manager were very accommodating and worked hard to make sure I had everything I need for the shoot.

OTHER COMMENTS:

Dimitri, client: With regards to any comments: thank you for being a part of our success.

Nelson, Filmmaker: Delicious!

These days food trucks are more popular than skinny jeans. There's something really delicious about getting some tasty tacos every Tuesday of the week.

This week's video features Short Bus Subs in Austin, Texas. Maxwell McCloud did a fantastic job of capturing the guys' personalities and some amazing food shots. See for yourself!

How did you come up with the business name/idea?

Eric, client: The business came to me in a dream, seriously. I did have lots of experience with deli's, but the bus idea was straight outta the subconscious. All about mobile catering, so I didn't have to pay rent, and I could always be on the move. I like moving around alot. 

How long was the shoot and were there any challenges?

Max, filmmaker: The shoot was about 2 hours long. A challenge I ran into was getting good audio inside the Bus. The guys were working during the interview and I was picking up a lot of background noise on the soundbites I was capturing. After the lunch rush when the guys had some free time, I was able to get one of them aside and got some good clean audio.

What is your favorite part of the video?

Eric, client: The sandwich running through the oven.

Max, filmmaker: My favorite set of shots are the close ups of the sandwiches coming through the oven. Those shots really make the video in my opinion. I set the camera up about 5 feet away from the oven and zoomed in tight and I'm really happy with how it came out.

How was the overall experience?

Eric, client: I had a good time, but wasn't happy with my voice, was hoping for a little more variety in the speaking and sound.

Max, filmmaker: I had a good time, but wasn't happy with my voice, was hoping for a little more variety in the speaking and sound.

The creative that has completed the most TurnHere projects is the talented voice-over artist, Chris Davies. He has been with us since the early days and wraped up over 1,500+ voice-over projects. Over the years Chris has sent us excellent work and is a pleasure to work with.

We asked Chris a few questions about his experience over the last five years:

When did you start working with TurnHere and how did you hear about us?

I was found online and given a call to see if I would be interested. I started at TurnHere in '06 to do some small voice-overs, and several more in ‘07 & ‘08.  Then in '08 and '09 with the Yellow Pages ads, I was really, REALLY busy and loving every minute of it.   They kept me on my toes and helped me fine-tune my skills.

What was your favorite TurnHere project?

It's hard to pin point a certain project that I really enjoyed, there have been so many.  But I really like being a part of this opportunity for the small businesses to have a really high quality video made and put out on the web for a much more affordable price than they ever thought possible.   Giving a really good image for the 'little guy' on the web and help build small business across the country...that's always been really rewarding.   Not to mention all the interesting people I have to call in order to figure out how to properly say the company name or the street that the business is on!

How has your experience with TurnHere been?

I have always considered Turn Here one of the best groups of talented people I have ever worked with.  Friendly, down to earth, fair, responsive to questions....just a bang up group of workers.  Been very blessed to be a part of the TH gang.

Here's another great video by TurnHere filmmaker Johnie Tidwell for The Beef Jerky Store in Las Vegas, Nevada. One Yelp review perfectly describes the store and its owner Steve Nitura:

Excellent snack shop. Folks from Hawaii all know about this place. Crazy owner Steve sings to you at the counter. Ask him to sing his "Yelp, I Need Somebody" song.

The jerky selection is amazing.  You name it, they have it.  Friendly staff from Hawaii.  Our kids also loved the slushy drinks.

We stop by every visit to Vegas.  See you all next time!!

We asked Johnie for an inside scoop on the shoot.

How long was the shoot?

Johnie, filmmaker: The video shoot was about two-hours, but much of the additional time spent on location was getting insight into the business and who they market there business towards. They have a large inventory of specialty snack products and we had to focus on the key products that brought them their business. Steve Nitura (spokesperson) was a natural with the interview portion - having Steve "pop-up" in various parts of the store made the most sense with his energetic personality. The rest of the shoot was getting interesting b-roll with lots of product shots - that had visually appealing packaging.

What were some of the challenges?

Johnie, filmmaker: I think the main challenge was how to film a store full of inventory. There was a large selection of Beef Jerky, but they also offered hundreds of other snacks. We decided to focus on some key products and do a walk through tour of the many sections of the store with Steve as the tour guide. Unfortunately, it was way too long to incorporate in the edit. We just used it as b-roll footage at the end.

What is your favorite shot?

Johnie, filmmaker: Favorites shots are with Steve say "Like Tofu" and his intro.

How was the overall experience?

Johnie, filmmaker: It was a great shoot, I had fun with the client and they were willing to go with the flow. During the pre-checklist, we discussed what they thought was most important to mention in the video. Pretty much, they were flexible with the creative aspects.

Any other comments?

Johnie, filmmaker: Just another fun shoot, I think that is when "happy accidents" happen. I had no idea how it was going to turn out until I started the editing process. It was certainly one of the few smooth edits that I have worked on.

Today's LivingSocial deal features one of our favorite tea shops in San Francisco - Samovar Tea Lounge. But don't just take our word for it, take a look at the video we did for them.