Schaefer Advertising Co.

Lights. Camera. Action

There’s so much more than hiring a good actor and flipping on a camera to producing top quality video content.
We’ve recently teamed up with the folks at 1820 Productions to bring TTI’s Ask The Specialist (ATS) series to life. Take a peak behind the curtain with Korey Miller, one of the directors of the ATS Series, as he walks us through their production process.
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Schaefer: Walk us through the process you go through when forming a creative approach while interpreting a script.
Korey: Creative by definition means relating to or involving the imagination, so in order to interpret a script you have to picture something that does not exist. When the client provides the script the genesis for me is putting myself in the shoes of the actor that will be delivering these foreign lines. I start to rehearse how it might sound, I ask myself how should the dialogue be paced fast or slow, should it roll of the tongue or be choppy? Once I’ve done the homework, I begin making notes on the script to help guide the actor.
Schaefer: Working with art direction for the set – We give you a script and high level details on what the end result could look like. What factors do you consider when prop shopping for forming the set?
Korey: The art direction of a set really is a blast. I always ask for as many details from the agency/creative director as possible to make sure I have a clear understanding of what their vision is before beginning to add my own. Once I have a strong grasp, I begin storyboarding/pre visualizing key elements of the set. This is not necessarily a typical process for all directors, but for me I find it helpful before shopping for props. I always give the Art Director a very clear idea of how things should look and how we can use them multiple ways. I don’t like to purchase props that can’t be repurposed, I try to think more universal.
Schaefer: You all have nicknames when on set, what are some of the other secret code keywords you use?
Korey: Yep nicknames are a big part of our culture, it keeps things fun. If you’re a crew member you typically earned the name in some obscure way, for instance “POP BISCUIT” is the nickname of one of our DP’s because he hates the sound biscuit cans make when they’re opened.
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One secret term we use is called a 50/50. This is a term that I use with the crew to alert everyone that we’re rolling without talent knowing. Sometimes the talent can over think things, so it’s the way I get real moments without yelling “Action”.
Schaefer: You’ve really helped define the ATS style through your editing. How did you help get us there?
Korey: Our approach to editing this series is a team effort. Our lead editor typically begins by assembling a rough edit, this is how we make sure that above all the story is told. Once the story is locked, we begin throwing around lots of ideas. The editor and director spend hours looking at the footage and angles in search of fun moments. We use all kinds of tricks of the trade to enhance what has been shot. If we told you more we’d have to kill you.
Schaefer: Describe your approach to talent sourcing. We give you a character in a script form, how do you bring this to life?
Korey: As a director my approach to sourcing talent for shoots always starts with the story. I first ask who can best serve the narrative, sometimes the actor may not have the right look but their tone or delivery is spot on. The process of finding the right actor happens by auditions or sometimes an actor will get the roll because we have worked with them before and know that they will be perfect for a part. When I’m auditioning a talent I most often talk very little about the script, I focus more on finding nuances in their normal speech patterns body language or how their eye darts during a laugh, finding these subtle distinctions are where I begin when building a character.”
Schaefer: What is the strangest prop request from Schaefer so far?
Korey: The strangest prop request thus far has been asking us to use a wench to hang our main actor Matt upside down on. When I saw this request I thought to myself have I just died and gone to heaven! The truth is I love quirky, outlandish ideas, this is how you keep things interesting and create memorable moments the make you ask yourself…”Did we go too far…Nahhhh!”
Schaefer: What is your favorite part about working with TTI and the ATS series?
Korey: Our favorite part of working on this series is definitely the collaboration. The agency and clients allow us the freedom to bring fresh ideas to the table and it helps that they all have a wicked sense of humor too!
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Thanks Korey, the pleasure is all ours! We look forward to many future episodes. And it looks like we need to come up with some more challenges for the script and prop requests – get ready!

October 23, 2015

Facing the Beast

“You’ve gotta learn to drive with the fear. There ain’t nothin’ more frightenin’ than drivin’ with a live cougar in the car.”

Wise words from the character, Reese Bobby from the critically acclaimed movie, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
In our case, the cougar (or tiger) refers to: the beast that is professional networking. Whether you’re a professional concerned with finding new talent or a student worried about starting their career, the Fort Worth Creative Co-op’s Creative Gauntlet is the place you need to be. With 4 years under their belt, the FWCC has become familiar with creating environments for open dialogue and friendly advice. This year the event was held at 916 Bryan, a recently redeveloped 2-story warehouse building designed for creative office uses, housed in Fort Worth’s Near Southside. The free event brought students from TCU, UNT, UTA and The Art Institute of Fort Worth together to make connections with creative industry professionals and present their work in a “speed-dating” style conversation/portfolio review.
Jon Chapman created the look for Creative Gauntlet No. 4 and Trust Printshop screen printed the posters and gift bags.

October 14, 2015

Arts Goggle 2015

Now that the chalk dust has settled, who is ready to plan for Arts Goggle 2016? Ok, so maybe we aren’t there yet but if you were not able to make it out this year, you missed out. This year, Arts Goggle took over the streets of Magnolia and we took over the street between Henderson and S. Adams. Best Idea Ever!! Having the freedom to be as creative as we wanted, we decided to create a 10ft x 40ft chalkboard wall in the field next to our office. The wall was covered from top to bottom with frames that were all shapes and sizes and allowed for the community to be as creative as they wanted. Starting off, the team was vigilant at keeping the wall clean for more people to participate, but as the day went on and the crowds got bigger, they over took us. By the end of the night the chalk drawings, messages and shout outs had taken over the street.
We teamed up with Trust Printshop for the second year in a row and once again, they out did themselves. To keep with the chalk theme, Matt Lucas put on his mad scientist hat and created chalk–infused ink for the day and printed Southside shirts on site. All the proceeds from the shirts went to help Fort Worth South continue to promote public art in the Southside. “If you didn’t leave Arts Goggle covered in chalk dust you were probably doing it wrong. By the end of the night that giant wall and the shirts were the chalk of the town… See what I did there?

Thanks to everyone who tagged us in your posts! It was great to see your art and hear your thoughts. Here are some of our favorites:

“Having so much fun at Art Goggle in Fort Worth today! Made my day to meet and chat with Matt from @trustprintshop and Ken from @schaeferadco. You guys are awesome! #celebratealways #artsgoggle2015” — celebrate.always

“Super cool art wall set up by @schaeferadco at this years Arts Goggle. #artsgoggle2015 #iheartart #FortWorth #instafw #instagram” — brianhutsonphotography
“A little art culture for the soul. @schaeferadco #iheartart #art #streetart #fortworth #texas” — vangbee87
“My super talented wife having fun at Arts Goggle. #artsgoggle #artsgoggle2015 #nearsouthside @schaeferadco #iheartart — weaver.engineer

September 27, 2015

Zoo Ball at the Flamingo

The Story

Each year the Fort Worth Zoo hosts an annual gala event, Zoo Ball, to raise money in support of the zoo’s ongoing mission of conservation. In a city as large and philanthropically minded as Fort Worth, it’s absolutely vital to break through the noise of other worthy charity events. This year being the 30^th anniversary, the planning committee held high expectations for all aspects of the party. Dubbed 1940’s Las Vegas nightclub themed, we set on the path to creating a high-end invitation the encompassed the elegant event.

The Work

To define the tone of the event, our first step was to create inspiration boards. Focusing on high end elements, animal details and historic landmarks, we created the visual foundation for the invitation and ultimately the event. During our research, we discovered that Bugsy Siegel’s legendary Flamingo was one of the first nightclubs in Las Vegas. Leveraging the iconic venue, we titled the event Zoo Ball at the Flamingo. Just like that, the perfect animal pairing for our period event was born.

Harnessing the juxtaposition of larger-than-life Vegas shows within dark, unassuming nightclubs, we developed the concept for an elaborate three dimensional pop-up invitation. Though we may not be paper engineers per se, we always aim to seek what’s possible. Concept turned into reality through partnership with Cockrell Enovation and Structural Graphics, good ‘ole trial and error and more than one paper cut.

The end result is a structural masterpiece. The custom envelope was built to ensure the piece would not get damaged in mailing. The guests were presented with what appears to be a flat “standard” invitation. But upon opening, two pink flamingos emerge from the pages of the invitation, unfolding into an incredible display of creativity and paper construction.

The Results

This year’s event sold out in record time and successfully raised a record-setting amount for the Zoo. Invitees began posting videos of the invitation on social media. And yet again, the bar was raised a little higher for next year.

UPDATE:

Schaefer was awarded a gold national Addy for the 2015 Zoo Ball invitation, for the second year in a row! To give it some context, we were one of only 83 gold winners out of 40,000 entries. We’re incredibly proud of our back-to-back wins and excited to represent Fort Worth among some of the top agencies in the country.

Check out the complete List of 2016 National Gold Addy Winners.

September 1, 2015

The Making of TCU Riff Ram 2015

It’s all about the details and that was the story for the 2015 Riff Ram Video. Our team embraced the opportunity to make this in-game tradition something special for the Horned Frog faithful. Each scene was curated with new and old memorabilia and a few custom creations to make each viewing a new experience. We designed t-shirts, coffee mugs, pennants, digital downloads, wall murals, an 80’s workout video and even commissioned a painted SuperFrog portrait.

We vandalized, trespassed and 2-stepped our way through a coffee shop, practice field, barber shop and tattoo parlor over 3 days of shooting. We directed a Heisman hopeful, a former chancellor and a 5-year old cheerleader. We pulled it all off with a chorus of football players, a retro workout video and Renaissance painting of Super Frog. Enjoy this behind the scenes look at how Schaefer reinvented TCU’s classic tradition for the 2015 football season.
Produced in partnership with N8 Visuals.

September 1, 2015

Opinion: Google’s New Look

Blair: My first impression is that I like the multi-colored “G” as the icon.

Jon: Because of its simplicity, I kept looking at it to try to notice details, but then I realized that the simplicity is the detail.

Charlie: My first thought was, “It’s about time.” To me, this matches everything they’ve been doing for the past few years – from a UI perspective, from a design perspective…

Scott: So, simple question: Do you like it?

Charlie: Yes.

Blair: Yes.

Jon: I think it serves its purpose.

Scott: Do you feel like this is an innovative mark, or are they following a trend?

Jon: I think they’re following the trend that when a company is successful, they can rely on a mark that’s simple. It’s kind of a power move.

Blair: I think the other things with the logo like the animations, the “G” logo and the little man that turns up the “E” in the video gives it some personality.

Charlie: I think they’re kind of the poster child for a dynamic logo, and they’ve built on that for so many years with animations and games, etc. It’s never been static, and this new typeface fits the playful whimsy that you’d want if your name was Google. Another big part of their new identity is the animated dots and the interaction they create. There’s a robotic response to it, whereas I wouldn’t be surprised if you could soon be talking to your browser.

Scott: Do you think they ripped off Siri with the ‘OK Google’ thing?

Charlie: No, they’ve had that for a while.

Blair: Apple has Siri, but Google is Google. It’s a noun and a verb.

Charlie: I think they started the trend, and their brand embodied it. Now, I think their logo fits that trend that they created. In all honesty, I think Apple followed the trend that Google started a few years ago.

*At this point, Amanda brought cookies and everyone went downstairs. So there it is, Google. Schaefer Advertising approves of your new logo.
**A little while later, Todd came back from a meeting and decided to weigh in.

Todd: I associate Google with the thin, serifed, lower-case “G,” so I wouldn’t have updated to a bold, sans-serifed font. Nike didn’t add a wave to their swoosh after 17 years. That’s all I got.

September 1, 2015

Opinion: Google's New Look

Google unveiled a new logo today. And while they chose not to run it past us first, we feel sure that they’re still very curious what our opinions are on the matter. Therefore, I’ve assembled our crack team of rebranding experts to weigh in on the update.
Blair: My first impression is that I like the multi-colored “G” as the icon.
Jon: Because of its simplicity, I kept looking at it to try to notice details, but then I realized that the simplicity is the detail.
Charlie: My first thought was, “It’s about time.” To me, this matches everything they’ve been doing for the past few years – from a UI perspective, from a design perspective…
Scott: So, simple question: Do you like it?
Charlie: Yes.
Blair: Yes.
Jon: I think it serves its purpose.
Scott: Do you feel like this is an innovative mark, or are they following a trend?
Jon: I think they’re following the trend that when a company is successful, they can rely on a mark that’s simple. It’s kind of a power move.
Blair: I think the other things with the logo like the animations, the “G” logo and the little man that turns up the “E” in the video gives it some personality.
Charlie: I think they’re kind of the poster child for a dynamic logo, and they’ve built on that for so many years with animations and games, etc. It’s never been static, and this new typeface fits the playful whimsy that you’d want if your name was Google. Another big part of their new identity is the animated dots and the interaction they create. There’s a robotic response to it, whereas I wouldn’t be surprised if you could soon be talking to your browser.
Scott: Do you think they ripped off Siri with the ‘OK Google’ thing?
Charlie: No, they’ve had that for a while.
Blair: Apple has Siri, but Google is Google. It’s a noun and a verb.
Charlie: I think they started the trend, and their brand embodied it. Now, I think their logo fits that trend that they created. In all honesty, I think Apple followed the trend that Google started a few years ago.
*At this point, Amanda brought cookies and everyone went downstairs. So there it is, Google. Schaefer Advertising approves of your new logo.
**A little while later, Todd came back from a meeting and decided to weigh in.
Todd: I associate Google with the thin, serifed, lower-case “G,” so I wouldn’t have updated to a bold, sans-serifed font. Nike didn’t add a wave to their swoosh after 17 years. That’s all I got.

August 5, 2015

Process: Zoo Ball 2014

Project

The Fort Worth Zoo’s largest annual fundraiser, Zoo Ball, attracts some of the biggest names in Fort Worth to support the Zoo’s local and international wildlife conservation and education efforts. 2015 will see the event’s 30th anniversary, and past invitations have included everything from View-Masters with custom slides to flocked, psychedelic blacklight posters. For last year’s invitation, we wanted something new, exciting and different.

The 2014 Zoo Ball theme was “Festival of the Elephants,” an annual festival held in the Indian city of Jaipur during the Holi festival when elephants are elaborately painted to honor the Hindu god, Ganesha. The theme was chosen in part because the Fort Worth Zoo had just welcomed two baby elephants named Belle and Bowie only a few months prior. (If you look closely, you’ll see they made an appearance in the invitation with their mothers.)

We started by researching Indian culture and events as well as typography, textiles and more. With reams of printouts taped up on the walls of our office for inspiration, we were most intrigued by some of the intricately die-cut wedding invitations we found.

Process

At Schaefer, we have a reputation for punishing ourselves – often saying, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if…” then scrambling to figure out how to make it happen within the given timeline and budget. For this project, we did it again. Our complex design required us to partner with many more vendors than we typically do, but the end result was worth it.

From paper and printing to foil stamping and laser cutting, each step of the process required multiple press checks and test samples, each of which had to be okayed by the Zoo Ball committee. Thankfully, they loved it, and it was a big hit with attendees. The Zoo even had event decorations produced to match the invitation, including ten-foot panels that were die-cut using the same illustration files.

Results

According to the Zoo, this invitation was their new high-water mark. That’s quite a compliment, but as we get ready to reveal this year’s Zoo Ball invitation, it’s also a slightly intimidating bar that we’ve set for ourselves. Thankfully, we like the pressure.

We have received several awards for the piece, including Best of Show for the 2015 Fort Worth ADDY awards, a national Gold Addy Award and entry into the Graphis Design Annual.

July 31, 2015

Office Space:
Schaefer Advertising

Despite the title, this isn’t a parody video of us smashing a printer. But it is a great article from Fort Worth, Texas Magazine on our daily inspiration! (We cleaned up for this, so you at least have to look at the pictures.)

July 31, 2015