Project Brief – Velodrome Coffee & Headway Collaboration

This coffee video project is something I dreamed about making seven years ago. When I first went to school for video production and photography, the idea of pursuing something like this felt impossible. Through great new opportunities, hard work, and incredible friends all the pieces finally fell into place to make it happen.

Let’s talk about how this project came to life and even received a 2017 Addy Gold Award.

Stronger relationships create better stories.

Aligning creativity with business goals

At Headway, we wanted to create a holiday gift for our clients with some depth. Where it comes from and why that’s important? Not just another gift box from the internet or local cheese shop. Fancy cheese does sound delicious right now though!

The first idea that came to my head was coffee. Not just because it’s one of my favorite things in life, but because my friend, Brice Sturmer of Velodrome Coffee Company, was someone that could help us bring this year’s holiday gift to life with us. His devotion to coffee and roasting aligned with our values as an organization as well as who we are.

We both love creating incredible products through incredible people and how can we improve our current process to better serve others?

We began talking with Brice to figure out how we could package two roasts and the best way to deliver them. I also began to figure out how Brice would be a part of telling this story. Why did he agree to work with us? Where does the coffee come from? Why is that important and sharing his philosophy on roasting coffee?

Understanding your subject for better interviews

Already having a strong relationship with Brice gave me the confidence to start building up a story for the video I wanted to create. I already had an idea of what his values were with coffee and life, so I had a good starting point on what questions I wanted to focus on for the interview with him.

Don’t assume you know their answers

Even though I had a good relationship with him already, it doesn’t mean that I know everything about him. Think about it this way. Even the people you live with and love can surprise you with their answers and thoughts. So always be willing to ask questions you think you know answers to. You don’t know what you don’t know. Right?

Interview Tip

When filming interviews, it’s important to get really specific to get the results you want. While broad questions can get you interesting results, asking them more questions about their specific answers will help you dive deeper. Asking your subject about how something specific makes them feel can provoke really unique answers. You could also ask them why they believe one of their answers is true. Pull the “whys” out of their answers to get more truth.

Looking to dive deep into telling better stories and filming better interviews? I highly recommended Muse Storytelling.

Creating a team to make the production successful

I knew I needed a production assistant and second camera operator, so I immediately reached out to my friend, Alex Hopkins, of Loure Group. A big part of wanting to work with Alex was that I trusted him. I have worked on shoots with him before and he always has great insight into the production. He also is someone that pushes me to grow cognitively and creatively. I was so happy he was able to help film with me in Marquette.

Alex was intrigued to head to Guatemala with Brice and capture the experience on the coffee farm, where the coffee was actually sourced. While I could have gone, I knew I could trust Alex to capture everything we needed to make the project a success. And he nailed it. We met before his trip to cover the types of shots I was looking for, but also wanted him to execute in his style and empower him to have some creative freedom.

For the graphic elements and packaging part of the project, I was able to rely on the design team at Headway.

Looking for inspiration and choosing a style

While I spent time searching online for coffee videos and looking for a film style to be inspired by, thankfully Brice shared a documentary called “A Film About Coffee” with me. It was exactly what I was looking for to find inspiration for shots, pace, and dialogue. I was able to watch the entire film with Alex at his apartment and I gathered frames from the film and even search for photography through Unsplash to gather inspiration.

I utilized the mood board tool from Invision to gather all the frame grabs and photography that I found online. It allowed me to easily share visual styles with Alex and inspire my shots as I was prepping for film days.

Executing on production day

Filming at Velodrome Coffee Company – Marquette, MI

Alex and I woke up early on a Saturday and hit the road from Green Bay, WI to get to Velodrome so we could film in the shop during the day when folks were visiting. It allowed us to get familiar with the environment and get Brice comfortable with us being around before filming the interview the next morning. None of that footage actually made it into the final edit since it was not essential to the story being told, but there is the opportunity to create other content from it.

Sunday morning, Alex, Brice and I woke up before sunrise and it was actually raining, but I think that played in our favor. The shot of Brice walking into the shop in the rain added an element of struggle and persistence. A reflection of building his own business, searching for the best coffee beans in the world, and constant refinement of the roasting process. As the light came through the windows in the morning, it developed a sense of progress and hope with each coffee plant that is grown and every batch that is roasted.

Filming on the coffee farm in Guatemala

This part of the production was not fully thought out as the rest since it was an added bonus to the project, but I did manage to meet with Alex for lunch before he left for the trip. I chatted about the types of shots I was looking for but based on the limitations he had with traveling outside of the country with minimal gear and the conditions he may have been filming in, I trust him and his creative execution. He knew the style I was going for, but I also wanted him to flex his creativity as an artist in a new and exciting place.

Filming at Headway HQ – De Pere, WI

We had some time limits on filming the packaging since the team was pretty busy with other client work so I kept it simple. I hand held the Canon C100 Mark II for most of the shots and tried to get as many angles and perspectives as I could of the packaging process, including the technology involved in this, and all the equipment can be fond in the Roberts Technology Group website. Since Samuel Pecard designed the label and packaging elements remotely in Reno, I had Billy, our senior designer in De Pere, bring up the Sketch files on his computer so I could capture the digital part of the design on his screen.

I captured close up shots of the coffee getting brewed, poured, and dripped from the Chemex to complete the coffee journey. I set up two lights in the Headway conference room and filmed using a tripod by myself. I ended up filming a for few minutes straight in order to capture the last few drips the way I wanted them to be. I poured the cup of coffee a few different times with a few different angles and light setups. I felt like a scientist with lights and a camera. Haha.

Working on the edit

Building a story from the interview

When I am cutting interviews for projects I always play through them to grab the most interesting statements and send them to a new sequence so I can start understanding all the pieces I have and how they fit into the story puzzle. You can usually play at double speed to be more efficient and slow down as needed.

With the edit, I knew I had a chronological way to tell the story of where the coffee comes from visually, but the conversation had to be about Headway partnering with Brice from Velodrome Coffee. Our focus on building good products that serve both businesses and customers to their best ability aligns with what Brice and the farmers he partners with believe. And we wanted to share that passion with our clients through the coffee Brice roasts. With that in mind, I created a story through the conversations I had with Brice.

I want note that music tracks really help me develop a pace for both the cuts of the edit and the energy of the dialogue.

I knew I needed a good opening statement to kick off the video. I focused on the importance of ambition, persistence, and craft for Brice to grab attention of the audience. The conversation naturally progressed from there and tied into working with farmers, Headway, and the details that have an impact on the coffee through the entire process. I had about a five minute cut, but knew it needed to be shorter to help move the story and the message more effectively.

“Less, but better.” – Dieter Rams

Thanks to the intro section of the music track I selected, I created an opening sequence to tie some of the elements of brewed coffee together. Water, people, and of course, coffee beans. A big thanks to Alex from Loure Group for helping me capture the water and roasted beans in slow motion. Any artificial cuts in the dialogue were covered by other footage or the B camera from the interview. This helps make the conversation and cut feel more natural and intentional.

Reviewing the edit with the team

It can be really hard to notice flaws or gaps in your story if you don’t share it with others. Along the way, I shared new cuts with Andrew and the design team at Headway. This review process allowed me to get the proper feedback I needed to make adjustments to the edit.

Sweetening the sound

Over the years I have found myself becoming more focused on the audio production within my video work. You need to focus on capturing the best sound possible during production. This allows the mixing process of the audio to go more smoothly. With simple EQ, compression, and volume automation on your tracks, they begin to work together and support the story on screen.

Are you in need of an audio translation and transcription services? Then, you may want to check out a site like https://www.espressotranslations.com/audio-transcription/ for more info!

If you’re looking for some quick EQ tips for getting better audio mixes in your edits, check out this little guide by Vashi Visuals. If you’re looking to invest in more in-depth education on sound for film, check this course out by Defacto Sound.

Sharing the story with our clients and community

After the coffee was shipped out to Headway’s clients and partners, we also published an article on the Headway blog. This helped convey why Headway partnered with Velodrome Coffee and the journey the coffee took to their cup.

Read the article here.