To be completely open and honest with my audience, I am a nerd. I have grown up watching marathons of Star Wars films, climbing my towering bedroom furniture as Spider-Man, and envying the kid across the street because he had the most extensive collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures. However, there is no question that I am a far bigger nerd today than I was when that bedroom dresser fell on top of me when I was five. Spider-Man needed more practice. The point I am attempting to make here is I embrace this subculture that I am a part of with a passion.
So when riding down East Carson Street one Saturday afternoon my eyes lit up as I noticed a new store had just opened on the 1800 block. The yellow logo almost glowed like a cliché out of a comedy. It was the logo to a comic shop. Sure enough my nerdy senses were tingling and I had to investigate. When I finally had the chance to stop in and check the place out, I didn't want to leave. I now pop my head in at least once a week to pick up a few issues and chat pop-culutre with the owner, Dan Degnan. There is even a comfortable lounge area where I can lose myself in the comic book movies that play on the wall-mounted TV. The welcoming atmosphere feels like a second home to me now.
South Side Comics has now been opened for almost 3 months and business is doing very well for Dan. Through my chats with him I know that he is eager to expand his customer base and spread the word of the shops existence. As a big supporter of the business, I thought that I could show that support by utilizing my various creative skills to produce what I believe is a strong marketing component. Dan was all for it, so we got started.
FIRST PAGE TO THE STORY BOARD
From the get-go I knew that I wanted the video to capture that welcoming atmosphere I felt when first walking through the store. The laid back body language accompanied my an immersive tour of the store were key elements that had to be included. I chose shots that were close-ups and detailed yet gave enough context for the viewer to understand where they were and what was happening on screen.
The comic book movie is its own genre in todays blockbusters. There is a general knowledge of characters and stories because of the epic scale of these film adaptations. For someone who may have never stepped foot in a comic shop, I wanted to capture that same appeal they would get from an Iron Man or Star Wars trailer. The editing and music choice were key in recreating that experience. For example, the music track that I chose did not have any percussion. That was added in conjunction with fading to and from black to create a pace similar to these blockbuster trailers.
One of the most valuable tools that helped this all work was a slider system that made the smooth camera movements possible. It added an extra level of dimension to the shots and created a pace that was perfect to edit to. It is quite a process to set up and an even harder process to construct the actual shots, but well worth it as you can see from the end result. The time-laps of shoppers wasn't originally planned for the video, but I realized that I needed an interior establishing shot that all of these close-ups were building up to. It ended up being a nice reveal. The sounds of pages turning was definitely the most time consuming and frustrating part of this whole shoot. All of the ambient sounds in the video were recorded separately. The door knob was the sound of my door knob and the squeaking of the metal rack was the sound my basement door makes when you open it. The pages however, are standard comic book pages. I wanted to make sure sound was true to the weight and texture of comic paper which is thin with a slight gloss. I had to have recorded myself turning pages a hundred times or more to get the right movements down. There is a certain flow that just sounds more natural than others.
The end result is better than what I had envisioned for the shoot. I can't help but be extremely happy with the finished product. I have to give a very special thank you to my brother Nathan and my buddy Vince Kelly who were the arms and legs for all of the close-ups. Most importantly I have to thank Dan Degnan of South Side Comics for entrusting me with properly representing his shop. South Side Comics is located at 1819 East Carson Street on the South Side of Pittsburgh, PA. The next time you are in the area I recommend you stop in and check it out!
You can also go to www.southsidecomicspgh.com for more info on the store.