It would have been hard for Back Alley Films‘ director Jesse Selwyn to find a better feel-good way to spend part of the summer than to accompany Brett and Cameron, “The Compliment Guys”, on The Kodak® Brightside Tour giving passersby free compliments.
But it sometimes seemed as if Selwyn was participating in one of those whirlwind film-production competitions as he shot, posted and composed guitar tracks for nine Kodak-branded Compliment Guys web videos in 12 days – all while on the road. “I felt like a contestant on a reality show,” Selwyn admits.
“Each day I shot footage of the guys in a different city, digitized and edited in a bouncing RV, finished in my hotel room, wrote a quick guitar part and posted the videos to the web – all during the unbearable heat of midsummer in the south. But we got in the swing of things together, adrenaline kicked in and we got it all done. And when the tour was over, it felt like summer camp had ended. We had all bonded with such intensity.”
An award-winning director of commercials, music videos, comedy shorts, branded content and viral concepts, Selwyn is emblematic of the kind of multi-talented director sought by Back Alley Films‘ clients. “We get a lot of inquiries for directors who are capable of finding the story and handling multiple tasks,” notes Teri Rogers, CEO of parent company T2. “With today’s smaller budgets, quick turnarounds and innovative new-media applications, people are looking for a director with the ability to think on his or her feet and efficiently manage all aspects of a production. Jesse is a perfect example of that kind of director.”
Selwyn and “The Compliment Guys” were an ideal match for Kodak’s Time to Smile campaign, which aims to build and strengthen relationships. Brett Westcott and Cameron Brown, both Purdue University students, had already perfected Westcott’s idea of giving compliments to the public with their weekly appearances at Purdue’s Centennial Mall.
After making appearances on “Good Morning, America” and creating a buzz on YouTube “The Compliment Guys” were invited to head out on the road as part of Kodak’s Brightside Tour, and Selwyn was asked to create a series of videos that expanded the duo’s reach beyond the cities they visited.
“The Compliment Guys'” tour kicked off in New Orleans, traveled through the south up to Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia before ending production in New York City.
Selwyn began by spending a few days “figuring out how much direction” to give the very likeable pair, he recalls. “I wanted to keep the guys as organic as possible. I needed to be the fly on the wall observing their compliments then step in to get certain coverage. I quickly realized when to shoot and when not to so I didn’t have six hours of footage to wade through every night.”
“People were simply blown away; making them smile was so easy. We received over-whelming positive reactions, and a lot of people knew who the guys were – they did the morning news shows and received a lot of press wherever they went, making people excited to meet them.”
Selwyn shot Standard Definition MiniDV for the videos which intercut clips of Brett and Cameron offering compliments to people big and small with people’s reactions to the inspirational, pay-it-forward gesture that many said made their day.
“MiniDV looks good on the web and fit the guerrilla-style vibe of the project,” he points out. “The real-time digitizing process had a very old-school documentary feel that I liked. When I edit I usually get to step away for a time to get a fresh perspective. But that wasn’t possible here.
“Still, knowing what footage he had captured every day gave the director a head start in editing. He cut on a portable Apple Final Cut Pro system with Garage Band software for music recording and editing.
“I wasn’t contracted to do the music,” Selwyn notes. “But I had brought my guitar along and decided I could either download some production music or compose it myself – something a little jazzy for New Orleans, something with a little more country roots for Alabama, customizing for each place.”
Selwyn “blanketed” the Internet, including Twitter and Facebook, with the videos on a daily basis. There was a Compliment Guys channel on You Tube where the videos resided and a Compliment Guys blog on Kodak’s www.brightsidetour.com.
Within five days of completing the tour Selwyn created a compilation video documenting the experience, which was screened in Kodak’s hometown of Rochester, New York to a standing ovation. “I wasn’t sure I could do it all,” says Selwyn. “But the project was a great creative push for me and ultimately very rewarding.”
About Back Alley Films
Launched in 2008 Back Alley Films, a sister company of T2, features a roster of multi-talented directors from both coasts and the heartland who are dedicated to meeting the challenges of today’s commercial/new media landscape. Back Alley’s directors are known for thinking on their feet, efficiently managing all aspects of a production and delivering stellar content for traditional and innovative new media platforms.
For more on Back Alley Films, please visit www.backalleyfilms.com
