EIGHTY/55

The concept

STUDiiO was brought in to make a video for a family event, a birthday and an anniversary. The whole brief, honestly, was make something. So we found the only format that could do the story justice: a documentary. Not a slideshow, not a highlight reel, something people could actually feel and be enveloped in. We planned to sit down with each of Dennis David's children and let them tell it.

The production

This was a tight, time boxed project. We scheduled all the children across two days, three in person on day one, two more over Zoom on day two, then edited overnight to hit the event deadline. The challenge was that we had not seen the spaces before shooting, so most of the prep went into the questions. On the day, we had limited time in each space: set lighting, work through the questions, give people room to feel it without letting any one answer run forever. Hard balance, but we got real depth out of everyone.

Going further is just how STUDiiO works. We love being different, taking the extra step, giving people more than they came for. While planning, we decided to do exactly that. We uncovered a stash of old VHS tapes, home footage one of the children, Dan, shot decades back, some going back to the late 70s and 80s, stuff most of the family had forgotten or never seen. We found them, digitized them, and worked them into the film as a surprise at the end.

The post

Overnight edit, delivered in time for the event. The response was overwhelming, heartfelt message after heartfelt message about how much it meant to see it all pieced together. The old tapes hit hardest, and they brought a lot of people to tears. Someone said it was a blessing to have this on camera to keep for generations. That is the kind of thing we take the extra step for. We would rather take the inconvenience onto ourselves than pass it to the people we are working for.