American Royal
Year in Review Videos
A COLLECTION OF WORK (2018-2021)
American Royal
For the American Royal, annual meetings are a place to tout each year’s accomplishments, thank supporters and volunteers, and conduct a little business. When I first started working on this project, the primary goal was to produce an entertaining video for the client to share within their organization. The video was shown one time at this annual meeting.
But that’s a lot of work for one viewing. And it was a missed opportunity. By broadening our audience and pushing the creative direction, we turned these annual videos into something more valuable: original content that reinforces the brand message, “This is who we are, this is what we do and this is how we impact agriculture and the community.”
Piecing it all together.
In March of 2020, workplaces were going remote and into Covid quarantine. We would not be going on shoots. Nor meeting in person. That year, like everything else, the annual meeting went virtual.
Using what was available to us, primarily existing event photos and stock photography, I created a collage-style world for the American Royal, taking the viewer on a journey from the past into a wildly imagined future. Each detail was carefully considered–incorporating art from previous campaigns, a picture of a friend’s daughter I serendipitously found from the client archive, people I had photographed at events. A labor and time-intensive passion project, this was also my first attempt at stop animation, created entirely in Photoshop.
AWARDS
• Silver Telly, 2021
MY ROLE » CREATIVE DIRECTION / ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / ANIMATION
Video Editing :: Bob Hess
“BIG”
Inspired by sports hype videos, I designed a fast-paced, high-energy concept with gritty imagery, a limited, but vibrant color palette and large onscreen animated typography.
AWARDS
• Bronze Telly, 2020
MY ROLE » ART DIRECTION / DESIGN / PRODUCTION COORDINATION
Copy: Lajean Rau-Keene
Video Production: Bob Hess
What do you think of the American Royal?
This is one of the first videos I worked on. The concept starred local elementary school children as participants in a focus group. From here, we were able to ask agriculture and American Royal-related questions to push brand messaging. Although the video has aged quite a bit in three years and shows what little I started out knowing, the kids made this project very special for me. They were so charming and naturally funny in front of the camera. The biggest lesson I learned: keep the chocolate milk cold and be prepared to entertain and provide snacks for the talent, especially with first-and-second graders.
MY ROLE: ART DIRECTION / PRODUCTION COORDINATION
Copywriter: Lajean Rau-Keen
Videography: Ron Berg
Video Editing: Bob Hess