As I discussed in a previous post, COVID-19 has not eliminated nonprofits' interest in video, and several of our clients immediately embraced virtual video production. When the pandemic disrupted our plans for filming with the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry (UUUM), it was unclear what next steps would be. Deciding on Messaging The video was intended to support a capital campaign for the interior...

After the March lockdown here in Massachusetts, we wondered what the implications would be for video production during COVID-19. Fortunately, in the same way that folks switched their in-person meetings to Zoom, our video productions also went virtual, and so work continued. Then, starting in July, some folks began to inquire about returning to in-person filming. The nature of our productions...

 Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) provides legal counsel to low-income Boston residents. The Family Law Unit within GBLS works with victims of domestic violence, and GBLS wanted a video that told the story of one of these clients for a recent fundraising campaign. The need for sensitivity GBLS identified a former client, Sam, who was willing to share her story. Beyond removing herself from...

 The mission of Reach Out and Read (ROR) is to incorporate books into pediatric care and encourage families to read together. For our first project with ROR a year ago, we filmed a series of videos with families that had children of different ages, from infants to toddlers. In our most recent project, ROR wanted to do another series but with children with different disabilities, including hearing...

A few months back, we had a client who wanted several training videos. The only location they had available to them was in their rather uninspiring conference room, and so no one was particularly enthusiastic about how that was going to look. Their previous videos had been filmed against one of the room's white walls, which had worked reasonably well, but I thought we could give ourselves a little...

The mission of Music & Memory is to bring personalized music into the lives of the elderly and infirm. "Personalized music" is the key element. Plenty of research exists on the general health benefits of music, but Music & Memory focuses on helping this population access music from their past that has personal importance to them. Many individuals suffering from dementia show little engagement...

We were filming at Floating Children's Hospital last weekend, and when we came through the door with all of our gear, one of the doctors said, in so many words, "Holy cow! That's a lot of equipment." Relatively speaking, it actually wasn't all that much, but her response is a common one among folks who haven't experienced video production before.  Throughout the weekend, she also commented...

Harvard Hillel recently embarked on a major campaign to raise money for several initiatives related to programming and capital improvements. The campaign included an event to celebrate the 90th birthday of Henry Rososvky, who served Harvard for many years as a professor, dean and even twice as acting president. The event was also used as an opportunity to re-publish a catalogue that accompanied a 1986...

A little while back (3 and 1/2 years, actually!), I mentioned that for folks who are capturing their own video, I'm of the opinion that bad picture won't ruin a video as readily as bad audio. And, with that in mind, it makes sense to spend a few dollars to purchase a simple microphone. The videos we produce here at Reflection Films have always fallen into one of two categories: 1) client video...

You can watch this video for one of two reasons: 1) to hear Rachel muse about how organizations differentiate themselves; or 2) answer the question Why the heck is she dressed up like Julia Child? Rachel: We’ve entered the holiday zone and I’m just whipping up some of my famous Indian pudding for the office party. This is also the time to reflect on the past year. We here at Reflection...