October Newsletter - Hey Stranger!
It’s been a while since we were last in your inbox, but we’re guessing that has probably flown just as fast for you as it has for us. What a year 2020 has turned out to be! If anyone has any ideas on how to order something entirely different (i.e. much, MUCH better) for 2021, please let us know.
While COVID-19 has been serving up all kinds of crazy around the world, we are incredibly grateful to call regional NSW home and thankful that, for the most part, it has been business as (almost) usual here at Mayfly Media. This has meant working with some amazing local businesses, creating all kinds of interesting content, being a videographer for national media, geeking-out over new technology, snaffling another industry award and wrestling with the work/life balancing act that is small business with a young family, all while practicing social distancing!
BEHIND THE SCENES: Winning work
Starting the year out strong, Steve won an Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) gong for his work on the beautiful Deltroit Homestead. Taking out a silver in the state (ACT) awards, Steve was pretty chuffed to be acknowledged. “This has been a goal of mine for many years and I was genuinely honoured to receive this award among such talented peers.”
The award-winning video was produced for a London-based client as a gift for Sir Michael Hince. It featured a prestigious heritage homestead and property renovation project turned around in a particularly tight timeframe scheduled around some royal visitors. Steve’s drone footage of the property was suitably majestic and got him across the line on the award. Well done Steve, we knew all those hours spent avoiding your house chores to hone your drone skills would pay off eventually!
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The Forrest Centre – video series
The client: The Forrest Centre, an aged care provider based in the Riverina with two residential facilities, a palliative care hospice and at-home services.
The brief: We were called in by our good friends at Frank & Earnest to work on a series of videos that showcase the client’s residences, hospice and at-home service through the lens of their exceptional level of care. We were asked to help tell the story of this trusted local brand with a big-hearted approach by developing an authentic glimpse into everyday life with The Forrest Centre. We needed to create clips that would give the audience a sense of what the facilities are like, how caring the staff truly are and what help is available.
Why it worked: We captured footage of genuine client and staff interactions and used a combination of observer-style footage where they were unaware of being filmed and directed/choreographed actions that were still natural to the context. We showed up for all the weekly highlights in the residences and in typical in-home care settings and were sure to include plenty of the warm faces and happy and sincere interactions. We also used natural light as much as possible and avoided styling or staging scenes too much. The overall result was content that showed the facilities and people exactly as you might find them if you showed up or they called around tomorrow, and we think with a whole lot of heart. But we have to say, we honestly think they work so well because of the people we were lucky enough to film.
Our favourite part: Filming in aged care is humbling in so many ways and being around people and places that are all about caring for others is just so heart-warming! Our heartstrings were tugged quite a bit throughout this journey and we absolutely loved working with The Forrest Centre.
A self-sufficient solar farm
Whenever we get the call to film for ABC, we know it’s going to be an interesting story. The Haystacks Solar Project at Grong Grong was no exception and really appealed to our inner greenies. The project is part of a broader story – Fight for Planet A – about community groups getting together to form solar cooperatives and take back control of their energy production and invest in renewables. Haystacks is the Riverina’s first large-scale solar garden where co-op members purchase a 1 megawatt plot of panels which generates enough energy for about 300 houses.
Check out the ABC video for the full story:
VIDEO OF THE QUARTER
We love creating content that really works for our customers. We don’t always get to see the impact our videos have but sometimes we get very clear feedback. Each quarter we plan to share the best-performing video for our clients, starting with this one for local celebrant Aaron McDonnell. This was a lot of fun to shoot and it has been doing particularly well for Aaron.
"Thanks Alexis - its had over 1700 views on Facebook without a sponsored post ... so I'm happy with that and I've seen an increase in contact from couples"
ON THE BOIL
As always, the projects we’ve been working on over the past few months have been quite varied. One notable mention goes to a recent job for AgriFutures Australia. We’ve worked with AgriFutures before and really love the work and what they do. This occasion saw us filming sheep at a custom- built research facility at Charles Sturt University. These guys were among some of our cutest subjects we have ever filmed! Watch this space.
IT’S A WRAP
From the pandemic to people power, the hottest of dance talent to the coldest of crimes, we’ve wrapped up a number of projects focused on subject matter that have kept us completely fascinated these past 12 months. Honestly, how good is our job?
We are looking forward to sharing our next edition with you all. Until then, happy distancing.
Take Care,
The Mayflies