This project for The Center of Media Psychology & Social Influence (COM-PSI) at Northwestern University was an absolute delight to work on. We provided video production services for a short film being produced by a PhD graduate for research. Our crew was happy to have the freedom to flex some creative muscle during production knowing the end deliverable will play an impactful role in the department's research. From pre-production through the shoot day, we made this a successful project for all parties, delivering on-time and under budget.
The Center of Media Psychology & Social Influence operates at the intersection of communication, psychology, sociology, and health sciences. Their research draws upon theories of media, communication, psychology, and social influence to design, test, and evaluate communication interventions to identify strategies that improve behavioral and psychosocial outcomes.
This specific project's goals were to study various messaging strategies regarding HPV vaccinations, specifically amongst black Americans.
Dual Native partnered with writer/director/co-producer (Trey Kalny) to complete this Chicago video production. We received the first version of the script from Trey around July 10th, 2024 and were given notice to they were aiming to film in early August (less than four weeks away).
Immediately we jumped into our standard pre-production process with Trey, which included: script reading, references & inspiration collection, shot list creation, and booking crew and rentals.
One major constraint we uncovered during pre-production was the limited time we were going to have in our two locations (a doctor's office and a basketball gymnasium) for filming). Trey informed us we only had a half day in each location. This heavily influenced the shot list and lighting plans we had; we ensured our shot list covered angles that were essential to the research as well as simplifying our lighting setup to handle the majority of shots.
All of the planning and preparation can only get you so far entering a production. Our goal is to always remain open-minded, nimble and flexible on-set as you never know how the day will play out.
The foresight and willingness to adapt pre-production plans on shoot day can be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful shoot.
Even though we had accounted for limited time at each location, we still found ourselves having to cut planned shots/angles in our shooting schedule for various reasons (e.g., number of takes needed for essential lines, late unforeseen load-in). Thankfully, with constant and clear communication between our director of photography (Dan Wu) and director (Trey), we were able finish both shoot days quickly and confidently, gathering everything we needed to support the research.
Although Dual Native was not responsible for the post production, we still ensured there was timely and organized delivery of raw video and audio files to the editor. In addition, we provided additional notes and commentary on the files to provide extra context and support a smooth post production process.
This project was a great example of how Dual Native can partner with directors and co-producers to deliver smooth, on-time and under-budget productions. By communicating often (e.g. texts and phone calls as needed), understanding the goals at hand (i.e., obtaining high quality script delivery from actors to support research) and being flexible given constraints, we made this an enjoyable production for all parties.
