EXP is about to break new ground for lawyer advertising.
Our soon-to-be-released Web series, “A Day in the Life–The Accident,” will give viewers an unprecedented look at the realities of a car accident, by letting them see the impact and aftermath through an accident victim’s point of view.
But to tell this story the way it needs to be told, our crew had to design and build a first-person camera rig no one’s ever seen before. Bill Filipiak and team rose to the challenge and are about to deliver cutting-edge content made possible through innovative execution.
Through an Accident Victim’s Eyes
Cineastes and film theorists agree; there is no greater experience in cinema than the point-of-view shot (or POV, as we say in “the biz”). You’ve all seen ’em. POV shots are those where the audience gets to see what a character sees. Think back to these famous examples:
- Hitchcock’s Rear Window,
- Scorsese’s Good Fellas,
- or any scary movie ever made.
The POV shot is so ubiquitous because its psychological effect on the viewer is so powerful. We humans are voyeurs by design, predisposed with the desire to observe those around us. And POV shots in cinema feed that desire by providing opportunities for the viewer to stop watching and start participating.
“A Day in the Life—The Accident” takes the first-person concept to the max by telling its story entirely through the accident victim’s point of view. The viewer sees the world through the main character’s eyes from start to finish.
For accident victims, this series is an opportunity to connect with a law firm that understands what they’re going through. For law firms, it’s a rare look at the real-life moments that prompt clients to call.
We’re wrapping up post-production now and will be launching this project later this summer. EXP clients will receive the series as part of their subscription, and can purchase the full-length version at a reduced cost.
This ain’t no safety helmet.
To pull off a project that relies entirely on first-person POV shots, EXP needed a hands-free camera rig in order to include the main character’s movements during the scenes.
We already had the camera. We didn’t have the rig.
The boys in the lab (aka Drew Williams, Adam Childress, and Dustin Mason) did some research to see if such a thing already exists somewhere, but nothing perfectly matched what we needed. So the EXP guys did what any guerrilla-style filmmakers would do. They built their own.
They started with a standard football helmet found lying around the office (don’t ask). Then they went to Home Depot and bought some brackets and weights, along with an assortment of screws, washers, and bolts to put it all together. After much trial and error, they had themselves a pretty handy video tool.
It’s alive!
For you video wonks in the crowd, here’s a diagram of EXP’s low-cost masterpiece. We give you… the Helmet Cam!
Be on the lookout for the new POV web series “A Day in the Life—The Accident” from the EXP team at cj Advertising coming soon.
And let us know what you think of our helmet cam. We’d love to swap geek tips with anyone who’s tried a similar shooting approach!
