Ever wonder what it’s like being an intern at Ellenbogen Creative Media? Over the next several weeks we will introduce you to our five summer interns! Hear about what they do on a daily basis, what they learn, what they hope to get out of their experience and maybe even some tips for future interns! Starting off, summer intern number one: Marie Roser.

“Hello! My name is Marie Roser. I am a senior at Mercy College majoring in TV & Radio Production. I just finished four years of NCAA Division 2 college sports, participating on both the Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse team. I am also the managing editor and sports editor on our college newspaper, The Impact News. Currently I am a new intern here at Ellenbogen Creative Media.

Being an intern was a scary thing in and of itself. Especially when you don’t know what exactly to expect. But with everyone being so friendly, it made the transition much easier. Coming into this with an open mind I knew I wanted to learn about things I never really had the chance to experience while in school. Especially with technology that is up to date, unlike what we have at my school.

Now I have been here for about 2 weeks. I would say 3 but I went away on vacation in the very beginning. I have been on one shoot and on set for a couple short shoots here in the studio. I’ve learned a lot about camera work, lighting audio, editing and even live multi-camera events. I’ve had hands on experience with so much already. From the setup of different shoots in the office and even in the studio on the green screen, to being the technical director of a live event for Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation with 3 different camera feeds.

Knowing that I have learned so much already, when looking to the future I know that I expect to learn even more. Since I am the least experienced intern with editing, due to the fact that all the editing classes were during my class time, I hope to learn even more about that. I’ve learned things already but I hope to learn even more and even be able to edit some of my own projects. I also hope to get more experience on camera. Shooting in the TV studio at our school with rehearsed scripts is completely different than shooting live unrehearsed, unscripted and uncontrolled environments. Lastly I hope to gain confidence after leaving here. Confidence in what I am doing, what I have learned and what I have chosen to do with my life career.
It has been a great learning experience so far here with the Ellenbogen team, and I cannot wait to get even more out of it.”

If you, or someone you know, is interested in being an intern with us, contact us at info@ellenbogen.com!

While filming a commercial for the powerful and efficient MetroVac Air Force Commander, a lightweight and portable pet hair dryer, Ellenbogen Creative Media got to work with some new gear and some very special talent: a slow motion camera and our new furry pawed friend, Prima! Let’s also not forget the very talented human actors on set that day as well, Cathy and Dylan!

Working with any type of animal can be a real hassle, but with the help of expert pet trainers, Ron Watson and Apryl Lea of Pawsitive Vybe, Prima was everything but a prima donna. Prima was on point and had high spirits throughout the entire shoot. She played in the sprinkler, rolled in the mud and especially enjoying being pampered with the Air Force Commander!

Focus Media has been handling the advertising and public relations needs of MetroVac for years and brought Ellenbogen Creative Media into the mix to work on their video productions. Director of Marketing Services for Focus Media, Bridget Clark, directed the shoot. “This is one of many videos we’ve collaborated on and it may well be one of my favorites! We had it all…dogs, kids, hired talent, specialty gear and even menacing clouds! We wanted to highlight the power behind this product and the only way possible is to show it in action. Bring on the dog!”

Metrovac has an incredible line of commercial vacuums and dryers available, and the Metrovac Air Force Commander, available in several new colors, is a stand out amongst pet owners! These dryers work so fast, the hardest part of the shoot was keeping Prima wet enough for continuity! No matter where the scenes moved, the dryer was easy to relocate due to its small size and its surprisingly low weight. Even six year old Dylan had fun with it making sure to test each speed level on his own hair!

Knowing the Air Force Commander’s potential, we knew ordinary camera shots wouldn’t be enough. We brought in the big guns with the Black Magic URSA in order to capture amazing slow motion footage. Which Director of photography, Zoltan David, loves the impact of slow motion in video, “I loved working with the URSA. It really makes a difference to the end product when you can incorporate images that are different or unexpected. Slow motion shots of a dog shaking and being dried off …where water is slowly spraying off of them looks phenomenal!”

What also looked great were the jib arm shots from above the action. Ellenbogen CEO, Jeremy Ellenbogen, always pushes for the extra-ordinary, “If we have access to the tools…we should use them. Create shots that are appealing to the eye and show the product in action. Anybody can point a camera and shoot…it’s what you do with the camera that makes the difference. It’s an art…and we have very experienced artists at Ellenbogen Creative!”

Just your typical Wednesday at Ellenbogen Creative Media!

The Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation, HVEDC, held the 2nd Annual State of the Hudson Valley Economy: Full STEaM Ahead event recently at SUNY New Paltz. The Valley’s top economy leaders shared insight about the state of affairs for our region and where the local economy is headed. The event’s keynote speaker was Paul Harrington, Ph.D., joined by panelists Dan Freedman, Paul Kassel, Harold King, Kale Kaposhilin and moderator Larry Gottlieb. They all brought their expertise together to explain what STEaM­educated workers will mean to this economy’s future. STEaM standing for: Science, Technology,Engineering, The Arts, and Mathematics.

As a trusted media partner of HVEDC, Ellenbogen Creative Media handled the audio/video needs of the event running three cameras, portable microphones and live switch editing capabailities. Having a bigger video presence on site allowed us to not only capture the panel discussions but also shoot live audience reaction and Q&A with the speakers.

HVEDC President/CEO and moderator of the event, Larry Gottlieb, was beyond pleased with the event, “Not only was it a great turnout but it was also a great discussion. The economy will only grow if we take care of it. Being able to collaboarate and brainstorm with leaders, hear from the Valley’s residents and start conversations is what gets things in motion. Having it documented by Ellenbogen expands our reach even further. The team did a great job capturing this event; they also helped get the initial buzz out with the creation of an infographic promo. Having that helped generate interest and fill seats!”

Ellenbogen Group CEO Jeremy Ellenbogen utilized this event to introduce our summer interns to live event recording, “What better place to debut our interns than at a college! We had all five of them work this event from running cameras and live microphones to live switch editing. Of course our team was there to oversee the entire production, but having them actually work hands on with the gear at a live event is important for them experience.”

And we are glad to report that all five interns returned to work the next day!

Stay tuned for a link to the full State of the Economy event right here!

As the nation celebrates nurses this month, Health Quest/Vassar Brothers Medical Center honored its nursing staff with a very special tribute video
highlighting those who give their all every day to help save lives. Over the course of three days, the Ellenbogen Creative team covered the hospital
grounds, capturing moments reflecting a day in the life of a nurse. We interviewed more than a dozen members of the nursing staff and really got a feel for what it means to say, “I’m a nurse at Vassar Brothers Medical Center.”

“When you walk through the halls and see smiling faces and cheery greetings, it’s hard to believe that these heroes were on the tail end of an 18-hour shift. During that shift they’ve seen new life and patient breakthroughs … but they’ve also seen trauma, broken bones and heartache. … And yet, they still smile. Genuine smiles,” Ellenbogen Group production manager Amanda Popovich said, noting that it’s proof they love what they do!

John Nelson, Director of Public and Community Affairs for Health Quest, couldn’t agree more. “We have amazing, highly trained nurses here at Vassar Brothers Medical Center who come to work every day, not just because it’s their job … but because it’s their calling! We wanted to celebrate them, to create a video that tells their story, expresses their passion for nursing and reflects the pride they have in Vassar Brothers. We feel Ellenbogen did a great job capturing that!”

Ellenbogen Creative Media CEO Jeremy Ellenbogen was honored to have been chosen to work on this project. “It’s always a pleasure working with such an exceptional group of professionals that have the same drive and passion for their field that we do. Health Quest has a stellar reputation and to be chosen as a company that meets their standards, needs and requirements says a lot!”

The Nurse’s Week video premiered at a reception honoring Vassar’s 718 nurses and was well-received with smiles, tears and emotion. All of us at Ellenbogen Creative Media offer a huge ‘Thank you!’ to all nurses for not only saving lives, but for offering the comfort needed during recovery.

About the process:
Our crew got a taste of what it’s like to be a nurse in the operating rooms. We had to don full sterile wardrobe coverings, hairnets and booties. Zoltan David, our director of photography, loved it the most and continues to wear the sterile uniform on all shoots.

Our crew used full HD gear, a dana dolly, wheelchair, and time-lapse video during the production process. Health Quest was a huge help with scheduling the nurse interviews and working endlessly to secure appropriate empty space to shoot b-roll scenes throughout the campus. A big ‘Thank you!’ to John and his team for being so accommodating!

Vassar Brothers Nurses Final from Ellenbogen Creative Media on Vimeo.

Travel Log: Day 2

Our calendar says it’s Spring…but the Catskills felt differently. It snowed today. April in New York – and it snowed. I guess our team wasn’t prepared for the snow as the communication transfer included two phrases, “It’s snowing” and “I just fell again.” But we carried on and completed today’s mission. Two targets: Catskill Fly Fishing Museum and the Sullivan County Historical Museum.

My team and I woke at sunrise and started the journey to Livingston Manor. We forged streams, slipped on rocks and trekked through snow. We made it on time for the first cast event. We learned a lot from the local folk like how to tie a fly. This is an art in itself and will stay with us forever. We also joined the other die hard sportsmen for the annual first cast event. They were searching for fish with precision and patience as we were searching for the perfect shots of them with creativity and clarity. They were mostly kids, but skilled sportsmen nonetheless…just like us. First cast scored a huge marlin for one 8 year old. Second cast brought in a great white shark to a deserving teen. We’re told that’s common in these parts of the Valley…or so the tale goes.

On to the next target: Hurleyville. A small town with a huge museum. As we entered the massive museum we stood in wonderment of its beauty. It’s here that we learned everything there is to know about Sullivan County’s rich history. This beautiful museum houses a detailed timeline starting from the original Native American settlers all the way up to today’s history makers. All of the memorabilia are original artifacts from Civil War times to farm life in the 18th century. It took everything in us not to touch…but rules are rules.

Today’s Mission: debunk fish tales and figure out a way to get on the Sullivan County Historical Museum’s timeline.

Hear ye, hear ye. Ellenbogen Creative Media has embarked on the PATH Through History! Follow our crew as we gather assets highlighting 49 historic landmarks throughout Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Sullivan counties. As our journey progresses through 2015, our travel log will be updated. Don’t fret if you don’t see an entry till warmer weather breaks…our crew is just fine, they are simply battling the snow and ice for now.

Travel Log: Day 1
Our fearless crew set out at dawn armed with all the necessary gear to shoot the intended targets: Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie which was the home of Samuel Morse inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code, Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh the very spot where General George Washington helped shape the American republic by rejecting the idea he should be king after the war and The Senate House in Kingston which was used as the permanent meeting space for the Senate after the New York Constitution was ratified in 1777, right here in Kingston, NY.

With camera in hand and lights in the ‘on’ position…day one has begun.

Today’s Mission: don’t touch anything! As a creative team, we always look for the best angles, unique prop placement and perfect light. Telling our director of photography he can’t move anything is like holding a new shiny toy in front of a child and telling them they can’t play with it! But we know our limits and respect the historical boundaries we are tied to. The temptation only makes us stronger!

One of the areas that Ellenbogen Creative Media focuses on is the dental industry thanks to a great partnership with Dr. Michael Tischler and the Prettau Implant Bridge. Since it’s been introduced to patients in the United States, we’ve been helping Dr. Tischler promote and market the up and coming brand to dentists across the country. One of those dentists is Dr. Glen Goldstein of Randolph Dental in Randolph, New Jersey.

Dr. Goldstein attended one of Dr. Tischler’s Prettau seminars and said, “They helped build a very successful practice for Dr. Tischler. After seeing their work and what they did promoting the Prettau bridge for him I knew that working with them would be a perfect fit for our practice.”

Through the use of patient testimonials, on camera interviews and scripted informational videos, we were able to provide Randolph Dental with marketing ammunition aimed to attract new patients to a higher profit product which ultimately yields growth for his practice. We produced a television commercial which will run on Cablevision in Northern New Jersey, and also shot still photos for use in print and the website. Jeremy Ellenbogen couldn’t be happier with the results, “Dr. Goldstein did everything exactly as we planned. He picked fantastic case studies for the testimonial videos, stuck to the planned schedule and had his office prepped to look beautiful on the day of the shoot. We love when clients are as excited as we are to create! It makes the end product look that much better!”

In post production, our editor and motion graphics designer, Andy Pidanick, brought out the creativity with a unique graphics treatment. “Motion tracking adds a different approach to most dental commercials. It’s always a fun thing to do.” That combined with beautiful HD visuals, we produced very effective videos.

Ellenbogen Production Manager, Amanda Popovich, was on set for the two-day shoot and appreciated the enthusiasm. “Dr. Goldstein and his team were great! They loved seeing the behind the scenes action and were always ready to help us move things, jump on camera for b-roll shots and make our time there a lot of fun! We send a big ‘thank you’ to Randolph Dental for the warm hospitality!”

If Dr. Goldstein could think of one word to describe his video shoot experience it would be: “Outstanding! The final productions were outstanding! Needless to say I am very impressed with every facet of their work. If you want to promote yourself and your services Ellenbogen is the go-to company.” You can see all of Randolph Dental’s videos on their website: www.RandolphDental.com

Randolph Dental 30 second Prettau from Ellenbogen Creative Media on Vimeo.

The gavel has come down on another year of meetings of the Ulster County Legislature. As we sit here making a DVD of the thirteen meetings (twelve monthly and one special meeting in October) we can’t help but reflect on some of the highlights of the year.
The Ulster County Legislature was busy. They passed a $334.5 million budget while voting on over 450 resolutions. They fine-tuned a dog tethering law and voted to suspend Common Core educational standards. They also listened to the year long public comments on the Railroad vs. Rail Trail debate. Minority Leader Kenneth J. Ronk Jr. even attended the November 18th meeting via Skype from a cruise ship in the Caribbean. We were there to witness all of it. You could have seen all the meetings too, but unlike us you never had to leave your home. We Livestreamed every one of them.
What is Livestream you ask? Livestream is a program that let’s us webcast the Legislative meetings in real time over the internet. To Livestream the meeting we set up two cameras in the Legislative chamber. One camera faces Chairman John R. Parete and the other one faces the legislators. Those cameras are connected to our Blackmagic switcher rack along with an audio feed of all the microphones in the room. A Mac laptop is used to control the switcher and a Livestream box is connected to the internet to webcast in HD quality video.
The Ulster County Legislature isn’t the only place we webcasted from this year. We webcasted from two of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world as well as the Culinary Institute of America (C.I.A). We also webcasted a Hudson Valley American Cancer Society event as well as a kids TV show.
So as the ink dries on the DVD of another year’s worth of meetings we can’t help but look forward to seeing what 2015 will bring to the Ulster County legislature. By the way, if you want to watch the Livestream webcast of the Legislature meetings on your computer or smartphone go to ulstercountyny.gov/legislature and click on the Meeting Webcast page. If you actually want to see a meeting live come by and say hi. One of us will be behind a camera and the other will be in the back of the room behind the monitor in the Ellenbogen shirt wearing headphones.

…to go with the fancy label holders we recently created promotional videos for! Well not so much fancy as efficient, economical and a necessity for organizing everything from shelving units to entire warehouses! Aigner Label Holder was in need of product videos to supply their vendors with to promote the various products they offer. These videos will live on the websites of national office supply giants such as Grainger, Uline and Fastenal.

Although simple in concept, the Aigner line of label holders is vast and serves a variety of needs, especially when it comes to warehouse and distribution. Our job at Ellenbogen Creative Media was to showcase the ease of use, proper use and possible uses of the top ten holders that Aigner manufactures; a project we had to interview and bid for. Marketing Manager for Aigner, Denise Ferro, headed the project, “We interviewed a few production companies to work on these videos and were completely impressed with the quality of work Ellenbogen presented. We made the right decision to go with them!” Ellenbogen Producer, Amanda Popovich, worked directly with Denise to make sure all of Aigner’s needs were met, “There were some intricacies to the project that made this one interesting. Being Aigner is not a direct sale business, we had to create two versions of each video – one for their own website and trade show marketing complete with Aigner branding, and one for suppliers of the Aigner products eliminating all Aigner branding.”

Aigner utilized our green screen studio at Seven21 Media Center to capture all of the video. We covered the green with white seamless to create a simple, crisp background that would show off the product rather than the environment. Aigner brought in racks and shelving units for the displays and Denise even stepped in as hand model during the shoot!

As for post production, Ellenbogen editor, Andy Pidanick, says, “This turned out to be one of my favorite edits. The challenge of creating interesting video from a simple product line was fun! Denise was great to work with, she was open to our creativity and offered some really good input!”

Ellenbogen Creative Media CEO, Jeremy Ellenbogen, speaks to how effective these videos will be, “Having individual product videos is a smart move on Aigner’s part. There are so many uses from websites and tradeshows to social media and email. This was a smart investment on behalf of Aigner.”

Aigner Label Holder, out of Orange County, New York, provides a complete line of labeling needs to companies spanning the globe. Ellenbogen Creative Media is proud to have partnered with them for this project!

Aigner Labels Reel from Ellenbogen Creative Media on Vimeo.

It’s not everyday we get to show off our skills to a worldwide audience…but this
weekend was one of them! The Trends Research Institute collaborated with
Ellenbogen Creative Media to provide audio and video coverage of the 2015 Trends
Forecast conference. Thoughtful leaders from around the globe follow ‘Trends’
founder, Gerald Celente, but don’t always get the opportunity to attend his quarterly
conferences. We helped make it possible by capturing the event with a three-
camera live switch set-up. Having the conference covered from arrival to final
goodbyes gives his worldwide subscriber following an inside look at what’s going
on at the Trends Research Institute.

Covering the 2015 Forecast event was no small task. Our on-set team of four
provided three cameras, two display monitors, video projection system, house
audio, event lighting, and a live switch system. We captured over six hours of video,
which was then edited into four downloadable videos placed on the Trends
Research Institute website. Subscribers from around the world will be able to view
the conference at their leisure beginning December 10th. Being able to provide this
kind of coverage was a first for ‘Trends’ and a very important step in satisfying the
subscriber base request.

Derek Osenenko, Trends Institute CEO, organized the entire conference. “It was a
massive undertaking preparing for such an event, where we not only want the
participants to have an informative, engaging time, but to also have a ‘Gerald Celente
experience’ as well. It’s exciting to know that the atmosphere of the day was not
lost…we had The Ellenbogen Group on hand to capture it! We can now use this
footage to help promote future conferences and really show followers what we are
all about! They’ve done a great job with all of our projects…there was no question
to bring them on for this one!”

Ellenbogen CEO, Jeremy Ellenbogen, was part of the crew for the event. “I couldn’t
be happier with how it all came out. The crew and equipment were flawless. We
used some new HDMI gear to help with audio issues in the room and everything
went just as planned. As always, our team worked well together and the event was
seamless! As an added bonus, I learned a lot and got to spend the day with a great
group of people!”

The 2015 Forecast covered the top trending topics impacting 2015, offered
attendees a chance to meet and mingle with Gerald over fine food and live jazz
music as well as tour the Trends Research Institute campus in Kingston, NY. The
conference can be viewed online through the Trends Research Institute website, Trendsresearch.com.