Modern Mix Marketing was hired by Six Flags to shoot footage around the park located in Queensbury, New York (the park was formerly called The Great Escape) for a day and create promotional spots that will appear on facebook. The raw footage will also be given to employees of Six Flags so that they have it for any commericals they make, or hire others to make.
I woke up at at around 5:30 AM to get to Saratoga Springs by 7:00 AM to meet up with everyone, so that we could all get to Six Flags by 8:00 AM. A group of eight went, and we were each assigned duties for the day. Mine were to assist whoever needed anything, to be in charge of finding a battery recharge station and recharging the batteries throughout the day. There was also a group of around thirty ‘models’ who signed up over Facebook to be the actors in the footage. Basically, they came to the park for free and would ride in the rides we told them to ride over and over again. That day the staff that was working with us arrived an hour early and stayed an hour later.
Six Flags was specific on what rides they wanted featured, so throughout the day the group of us usually stayed together, while one of us had free range over the park. While at specific rides, usually two or three videographers taped. The models were sometimes fed lines and were sometimes interviewed.
A very interesting note to everyone reading this (and possibly something that could save you in a huge bind) – cameras dropped in a tank of water can be saved! A GoPro camera was given to a diver with a waterproof case on it, and he jumped into the pool. However, it wasn’t the waterproof case – in was a protective case that looked almost identical to the waterproof case. I thought the camera was done for, and I thought Dave, co-owner of Modern Mix Marketing, was crazy when he assigned me to find a bag of rice somewhere in the park, claiming that the rice would save it. By luck the park had rice, and lo and behold the next day the camera worked just like new (and the footage was still on the memory card). So, if any of you are working near water, bring a bad of rice and an airtight bag. If your boss drops a camera in the water, you may be a hero!
The shoot lasted the whole day, and we stayed after the park closed to continue filming with the models. Hours later, (after being treated to Johnny Rocket’s after a successful day and driving back to Saratoga Springs to drop off equipment, and then to Niskayuna), I arrived home after midnight and could finally sleep. Short promotional spots focusing on different themes (such as children rides or teenage rides) will be created by the master editor at Modern Mix, and one will be released every couple months for two years on Facebook.
