seeing bands as brands entry no. 25 We're a music video company, right? We've produced over a hundred music videos, so on the surface, you'd probably say yes; however, that's not why bands hire us. At first, it's typically "hey, we need a music video, and we were recommended your way." From here, we give intro's and decide if we're a good fit or not, but a band shouldn't be hiring us to make a video. Why? Video doesn't solve the problems of a band. Strategy does. ​ The proble

The Dreamwalker "Forever Adrift" project entry no. 24 As a company that's produced several music videos, we find ourselves doing a lot of the same things over and over, yet always trying to keep a project unique or next level. How does this come to be? Where do the best ideas come from? The answer isn't simple, but we believe one thing that nourishes our creative muscles the most is trust from our clients. ​ The reality is, as artists, we can doubt ourselves, and when a clien

using limiters to maximize creativity entry no. 22 I've always found limiters to be beneficial in creating projects. The name itself gets a bad wrap because it sounds like you're holding back, but I've found them to create more consistency and opens up as much creativity as I want within them. The "Old Friends" project took a very minimalistic approach to what many would consider a simple performance video and gave it a fresh look with a designer approach. ​ Upon hearing the

LDD case study: preparation meets execution entry no. 19 Every project we do feels like the next evolution in work. I think as creatives, we all feel this way. I guess with the Gossip project; it feels this way because we worked in new territory and succeeded. It's just a great feeling seeing our team work hard, to be appreciated, work with great talent, and to see it all composed together into a film we're incredibly proud of. ​ In this project, the overall goal was to showc

Feverwar case study: Permanent Fix music video entry no. 17 Long-time friends, Feverwar, trust us when it comes to our strategy, abilities, and approach to projects. With that, it makes the whole process smooth, more effective and collaborative. That's the real benefit of working with a band for four years and knowing their needs. So with creating the "Flu" we naturally made that happen with ease. With their EP, Piss Poor, it deals with addiction, working through those strugg

Fear Culture Case Study: It's all in the details entry no. 16 Phobia, became a project that birthed a new phase for JECP. The project was challenging on multiple levels and at a time we felt we needed to try something new as music video creators. We believe our biggest strength is making low budget projects seem huge. This is due to an idea we exercise often. Keep the core idea simple and execute it dynamically and with great detail. We make up for lack of budget by knowing o

Sink the Ship "Out of Here" Case Study: Power of a Good Shot-list entry no. 15 Our approach to production, focused on how we can navigate in an efficient manner while still making something visually enjoyable. This is through energy, cinematography, lighting, shot variety, art direction and set design. These elements all add up to what we call creativity. Even when we set out to create a band performance video, we ask ourselves, how can we keep attention. With the Out of Here

Dreamwalker "Essence" Music Video entry no. 14 At first glance this project is everything we try to imagine a project to be. Showcases musicianship, introduces the band for familiarity, and matches the genre’s needs with a splash of creative elements. When going into this project, we met the idea of the film with a different production approach and fresh to the market tools. The general idea was that Dreamwalker really wanted to make the band a reality for some years, and the

The Creative Process for STS Everything Music Video entry no. 13 In pre-production, we decided to plan this project to be less about a scene by scene narrative, and tell the story instead, through metaphor, art, and light. Ross (Director), had a short story pre-written, that oddly fed great into what was needed for the B-roll of this video, so we decided to adapt it into a more simple direction for the video. We played with lighting to represent emotions, built a futuristic s

using the color red to lead our art direction entry no. 12 This project was a mix of Post Modern's feelings about the track and our thoughts on color. We felt it needed to be subtly violent and red, and Matty, PM’s vocalist, lead the way with props based off this direction. The video didn’t need to drive a story home but be more artistic and visually fun to watch. Mixing full band, creative light effects, simple camera movement and the bloody visuals made this one of our favo

midwest weather project entry no. 11 Expression of art meets depression. Many artists can relate with the experience of feeling a sense of high after creating something, only to find themselves on a low when things aren’t actively happening. We painted a picture of Midwest Weather as a character through Jordan and Tizzer’s physical representations. Jordan’s character is dealing with the stressors of being an artist and not finding satisfaction, while Tizzer is the vision most

Lave Project Highlight entry no. 10 Have a look into our underwater adventure for LAVE's track, Seafoam. The film was completed with the Canon 5dmkiv and Canon t3i. ​ CREW Josh Emerick | Cinematographer, Editor and Art Ross Theisen | Director + Art Gage Green | AC Drew Hiles | PA Powered by Ohio HD Use the Promo Code: TCP for 50% off #storytelling #trust #buildingbetterartists #marketing #musicvideo #branding #ohiohd #kinoflo #canon1dxii

Finding art direction to symbolize deep meaning entry no. 09 When A Liar's Eyes initially discussed this project, they wanted to be sure we could create something a wide audience could enjoy, but also keep a specific message to the track. Separate deals with death and it’s mental stressors. At conception of this project we knew it was important to showcase this idea while also introducing the members. As ALE's very first music video, we needed it to look of quality and be a g

Borrowing inspiration from other genres entry no. 08 The approach of this project was to create a music video that had hardcore elements with a touch of hip-hop. Our overall goal, was to showcase energy and have fans wanting to come back and view over and over. We mixed performance in studio with slow motion and singular shots with heavy red saturation to break the film up. This all mixed together created a dynamic viewing experience. The first thing we considered after getti

Managing time and power entry no. 07 "Subjective Morality" is a heavy hitter track. From the start we knew the edit needed to carry an immense amount of energy. Designing the look, we created an edgy, dark and energetic performance to lay the ground work and mixed in subliminal messaging. While all of this happened, we had two big production challenges to overcome. We had a short timeline with only having the night to film and NO ACTIVE POWER to the location. ​ Lighting was t

Pale ash project entry no. 06 Over the years we’ve had a lot of projects and some are plan-heavy, others, more so concept and some are just about strategy in execution. "Pale Ash" challenged us in all departments. From acquiring locations, scouting for the right times of day, coordinating schedules, finding talent, getting the story right and making sure we had the crew and equipment to execute, we were challenged. This project was a true collaboration between our team and LA

Heavy Things Sold entry no. 05 You have two weeks to meet your artist, scout locations, plan your gear, assemble a crew and edit the project for a release. Go. The "Heavy Things" project just so happened to get pushed up and we decided to use this project as a challenge. Not just to turn a project around quickly, but to see if we could do it and do it fashionably. It’s exciting knowing we met our deadlines and somehow impressed ourselves in the process. This project taught us

Lave Project Highlight entry no. 04 "Pale Ash" was a project that took time planning, getting information together, aligning schedules and the support of local business's. We are so happy with the direction this film took and how everything turned out. Enjoy the film and follow LAVE on their social media outlets. ​ CREW Josh Emerick | Cinematographer, Editor and Art Ross Theisen | Director + Art Gage Green | AC Taylor Tigner | PA Powered by Ohio HD Use the Promo Code: TCP for

Denihilist Still Project entry no. 03 Our productions are a nice balance between crafting the perfect project, working our asses off and having a great time all along the way. The key thing in this is, that it’s a group effort with every project and that’s the main reason our projects turn out the way they do. Each person has their own tasks, skillsets and flavor they bring to the table. We feel this is a key reason for why people love working with us. The "Still" project we

Post Modern Project entry no. 02 For Fury, we took an extra step in creativity and making something more unique than usual. Our previous project for Post Modern, A Haunting, was received very well, so I personally felt this project had to be a step up. This project was a combination of creative ideas, team work, a great light design, good usage of talent and hard work. A lot of time was spent in pre-production planning and prepping, as much as the effort we put in for a 16 ho