One of our new clients for 2011 is Nordic Naturals. They approached us to produce a video that would capture the final steps of the build out of their new facility located in Watsonville. By the time they brought us on to the project, the exterior was complete, most of the interior was done so what was left was the furniture being built and everything being moved in. The goal for this video was to create a feel-good piece for employees and to have a video that could play at their open house…a fresh start in a new and unique facility. On its hilltop, overlooking northern Watsonville, the facility, by design, resembles a Norwegian fishing village.
We met with the Nordic team at their new location and decided we were going to capture the build out downstairs of the cubicles, the game room, the lounge area and the cafeteria. For the day of their opening, we would add a fourth camera outside to capture arrival and a fifth camera upstairs to obtain employees entering their offices for the first time.
This was the first project where we used GoPros stationary for a long period of time, in multiple locations, capturing events in still mode. Throughout the build out, we used different fps (frames per second) in different locations. Depending on how much action was going to be happening at any given time, determined how many times we wanted the camera to take a photo. For a month, the four cameras clicked away and I traveled to Watsonville every few days to change memory cards and download the images to my computer.
It was finally the first day for employees to go to work in their new location. We arrived early to set our outside and upstairs camera and to reposition other cameras previously set. There was a welcoming ceremony and then employees were allowed to get down to business. During the day, we interviewed employees about the new building, what they liked about it, what they were looking forward to, what it meant to them. There was definitely a buzz in the air as everyone settled into a new home.
The building itself is absolutely amazing, very aesthetically pleasing and love the fact that it’s green (not the color but how it was made). Makes sense considering sustainability is an important component of the company’s philosophy—Healthy People, Healthy Planet. My favorite area had to be the warehouse. It’s so spacious. They really created an environment for the employees there to be efficient and just watching how everyone works together with the machinery was really fun.
The final video was definitely a collaboration (what we like best) with the Nordic Team, giving them an historical piece to remember where they came from and where Nordic Naturals is going.