Total Media Group 2009 June

Making Data Engaging

Genentech, Inc / June 6th, 2009

- Patrick Roche

How do you make forty-plus minutes of educational video content engaging? That was the challenge we were faced with recently while planning a project for Genentech.

The training video is designed to educate Genentech’s field representatives on the company’s reimbursement program, which assists patients in gaining access to medications.

While designing the piece, we wanted to find creative ways to get a lot of text information across to the audience, while keeping the piece visually interesting.

We designed a graphic template that we could easily modify for the required text. This would give the piece a unified look throughout the piece, while allowing us to streamline our post-production workflow to meet the tight deadline.

Since the majority of the piece was shot documentary style using a hand held camera, we also decided to shoot our host segments against pure white. This gave us flexibility in post to add additional graphics over the host’s shoulder.

After 9 days of post with both an editor and graphic designer, we finally had a piece that accomplished our goals and worked really well. More importantly, we had a very happy client!

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Sdan Francisco Video Production

Total Media Group Creates Participatory Universe Within Neil Young Archives Vol. 1

Total Media Group completes work on the Neil Young Archives / June 4th, 2009

For Immediate Release

Contact: Megan McKenna

megan@totalmediagroup.com

650-583-8236

Neil Young’s Life “Outside the Box”

Total Media Group creates truly participatory user

universe within Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972

South San Francisco, CA - June 4, 2009 — Total Media Group (TMG) today announced and detailed their creative services and technical involvement in the recently released and groundbreaking Neil Young Archives. Previously untapped, TMG pushed the creative edges of the Blu-ray and BD Live technology revealing an unprecedented participatory user experience that “will change how bands present their history and how fans experience art.”

Unparalleled to date, TMG’s creative interface design and architectural structure is a completely fresh approach. This creative work brings new levels of interactivity and a one-on-one experience that was essential to capture the depth, breadth and vision of Neil Young and his life.

“People have spoken about the scope of this Archives as literally putting Neil Young’s life in a box” said Toshi Onuki, Creative Director, Total Media Group. “But, in truth, we bring Neil’s life out of the box, and allow the listener to explore and experience it. We pushed the creative boundaries in hardware and software in new ways to capture the essence and detail of the expansive universe of Neil’s life and work.”

Neil Young and Archives Producer, L.A. Johnson of Shakey Pictures engaged TMG for this project over 4 years ago. Handing them a wealth of music, manuscripts, never before seen sketches and clippings, they challenged Toshi Onuki and TMG to design, manage and organize an outside the box absorptive and interactive interface that would showcase the amazing content, and leverage Blu-ray technology.

Utilizing a myriad of tools TMG designed the entire look of the Archives to compliment the dynamic demands of the long-awaited project. By using an old style file cabinet as the main concept, TMG designed an interface that is artistic and functional, invites participation, encourages exploration, and even creates a sense of discovery.

In all, the Archives have over 13 hours of video content and more than 3000 menus – carefully crafted by Total Media Group using original elements from Young’s personal collection.

Through the design, TMG was able to fundamentally affect how users interact with the Archive. It is this functionality, created specifically for the Neil Young Archives, which has met with universal acclaim and broken new ground. With the deepest creative implementation to date on these platforms, TMG has created a new and unique archival organization, architecture and navigation for Neil Young that has set a “…precedent that may be impossible to top.”

About Total Media Group

Total Media Group is a creative management and media communications company utilizing state-of-the-art technology, proven best practices and cutting edge innovation. TMG produces mission critical marketing, entertainment, music, documentary, training, commercial, and multi-media and event experiences innovating with the latest technology while relying on over 30-years of expertise and excellence.

Total Media Group provides inception to delivery support with a full compliment of in-house production, design and post-production capabilities. The staff consists of creative development experts, writers, designers, production, post-production, and administrative teams.

www.totalmediagroup.com

About the Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972

The Neil Young Archives Vol.1 is the first in a series of archives produced by Neil Young himself. The Blu-ray and DVD editions are sold in a durable custom display box that houses a lavish 236-page full-color hardbound book that features additional archival materials, tapes database, and detailed descriptions of the music and artwork; a foldout Archives poster, a custom keeper for the 10 sleeved discs, and more.

The archives have been long awaited by fans. Neil Young has delayed the release for decades while waiting for the technology to catch up with his vision. “Previously, there was no way to browse archival material on a Disc and listen to a song in high resolution at the same time,” said Young. “It is important for me that the user experience the high resolution music along with the archival visual material. Previous technology required unacceptable compromises in quality and access. I am glad we waited and got it right.”

Audio in the Blu-ray edition is presented in 24-bit/192 kHz stereo PCM, the highest available resolution today, while audio in the DVD edition is presented in 24-bit / 96 kHz stereo PCM audiophile quality sound. Each of the 10 Blu-ray discs feature 1920×1080 high definition picture quality while the 10 DVD discs have 720×480 standard definition picture quality. The CD edition is sold in a custom disc keeper for the 8 sleeved discs and descriptive booklet. Blu-ray offers BD-Live and the highest quality audio. It is the preferred format for the Neil Young Archive.

http://www.neilyoung.com/archives/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgSpVU50-m4

Production Credits:

Directed by Bernard Shakey

Executive Producer: Elliot Roberts

Producer: L.A. Johnson

Associate Producer: Will Mitchell

DVD & Blu-ray Art Direction: Toshi Onuki

Graphic Design and Post Production by Total Media Group

Edited by Toshi Onuki

Poster design: Toshi Onuki

Archivist: Joel Bernstein

DVD Author: Rich Winter

Blu-ray author: MX Entertainment

http://www.mx-production.com/

Designing Video to Accompany Hi-Resolution Audio

Creating Visual Furniture / June 4th, 2009

-Toshi Onuki

Neil Young takes great care and is very involved in all the work Total Media Group does for him. One of the big points for Neil is the audio quality. This is number 1 for him, and takes precedent over everything else.

One advantage of Blu-ray is the ability to play high-resolution audio and also have high quality video at the same time while also navigating through different menu spaces, and accessing notes etc…(This is not possible with DVD specifications). All of these features are available only on Blu-ray and thanks to BD-J and BD Live.

So Neil wanted the pristine audio, and we also wanted to really leverage this wonderful new technology.

For the Neil Young Archives Vol. 1, we included a “Main Program” which allows the user to play the high-resolution audio with visuals.

The idea for the main program was developed with Neil when we worked on Greatest Hits album CD/DVD in 2004. We came up with the idea of video as “furniture” because visual footage for the recording did not exist. I thought of each scene as a diorama like you would see in a science museum.

We set up the original player for when the song was recorded - reel-to-reel, vinyl, cassette, and set up surrounding memorabilia and photos that were carefully picked by Neil. We taped the diorama in HD here at Total Media Group. I believe each visual scene has significance to Neil Young specific to each song.

I think the video of moving turntable is really seductive and it feels like looking at fireplace to me. The quality of the Blue-ray disc is phenomenal. I can see Neil’s fingerprints and dust flying around in the space. Neil Young’s studio also made a replica of the original tape, re-spliced and put on the original reel. That’s why you can see VU meter moving in sync with Music.

A lot of care and attention was put forward by everyone for this project.

You can check out the interface on this online tutorial:

http://www.neilyoungarchives.com/tutorial/tutorial.html

Designing the Neil Young Archives

Finding the perfect design to create an experience for the users / June 4th, 2009

-Toshi Onuki

I think part of my inspiration came when I was first introduced to the project. There was a sense of obsession.

In 2004, I had a meeting with producer L.A. Johnson and archivist / photographer, Joel Bernstein (who has managed Neil Young’s archives for decades). Joel handed me a binder as thick as a yellow phone book labeled “NYA Vol. 1 Disc 1” and explained about the project and his existing database. The conversation and descriptions went on and on for few hours I remember. It was just exhausting and overwhelming.

If the Blu-ray viewer can get the similar sensation like I had on that day, I think the Neil Young Archives are working the way they should be. Interactivity was the most important aspect in the design because we want the viewers to explore, learn and investigate without getting lost. I also wanted this to be as organic and realistic as possible. From the beginning, I was opposed to graphic treatments because I wanted to create a photo realistic environment with a sense of space so that you will feel the archives as they exist in front of you.

I really like the idea of the file cabinet with the exaggerated cabinet drawer (it opens about 5 feet out) because we can throw anything inside and maintain the integrity of the purpose of the file cabinet: organization.

To me, the Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 exists in a black box and we are opening only a potion of an endless expanding drawer. I like the humor and the idea of turning an ordinary object to an extreme object. I did not want to create anything new, I wanted to preserve the way things are.

That was my basic design concept.

I visited many museums to learn how documents and artifact are shown there. For the assets gallery pages, I used similar black fabric and placed the items on top because that’s what the museums use to display precious objects.

The song selection menu is an opened drawer with bunch of folders. On the tabs, you can find the collections of song titles, with Neil’s handwriting, taken from original manuscripts. This is my tribute to Joel’s collections.

The Art of Creating Design

Working with Neil Young / June 4th, 2009

-Toshi Onuki

It has been important for me to learn and understand the culture and philosophy of Neil Young since I started working for him with not much knowledge about his work. He has been working with Total Media Group and myself for 8 years now, and I now know how he thinks and I‘m familiar with his process. I try to be in sync with his vision so that I can predict what works for him and then I can bring out the best of what I can do.

It doesn’t always work out - but that is part of the process.

In the recent CD / DVD project Fork In The Road, I was involved in the cover art design, however, I totally failed on this one. He wasn’t happy with the design, and ended up picking something else by himself, a heavily compressed video still from homemade Web video. It made it into the cover. It was quite shocking because it was the last image we might even consider to pick. (See below for a link to the album cover).

I personally love his decision like this. He is unpredictable and makes twisted decision with a reason behind them. It is like a peculiar piece of puzzle and I enjoy being a part of this.

I’m discovering him not only as a musician but also as a talented visual artist. He always has strong visions, image and clear statements. He also brings vague and unresolved ideas for us to develop and to experiment. This continues to push myself and Total Media Group to places we’ve never been.

I often try to think like Neil Young and come up with something he never expected. It is fun when I can surprise him.

There was a perfect combination of both in the Neil Young Archives project, and there were a lot of room for me to play. Stay tuned for more!

http://www.neilyoung.com/forkintheroad/forkintheroadpage.html

NY Archives - Behind the Scenes of the Technology

A look at Blu-ray and DVD / June 4th, 2009

- Kris Kunz

Hello, my name is Kris Kunz and I have been part of the Total Media Group team for almost 5 years in a variety of capacities, most recently creative and editorial. In early 2008, not long after the end of the high definition format wars¹ (see wiki link at bottom) the Blu-ray version of Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 was finally green lit and I was given what has to date been the most rewarding experience in my career. I was brought on to Total’s design team to help create the Blu-ray discs.

My role was under production for the 3000+ menu designs and as a line producer. I got to work under TMG Creative Director Toshi Onuki and the Shakey Pictures team. It was not only an honor but also an amazing learning experience to work with the myriad of talented people who had been brought together to create the Archives.

Relative to a 20+ year long project, my role was comparatively minor, and I worked only on the Blu-ray portion of the job. However, I was able to learn a lot during my work on this project and I would like to share what I can and hopefully satisfy some curiosities of anyone who is interested in the Blu-ray volume’s creation.

Over the next few weeks I plan to post entries giving a behind the scenes description of the design process, what some of the major challenges were and how were they met. Stay tuned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_definition_optical_disc_format_war

Neil Young Archives - Behind the scenes of the Technology Pt. 2

From Back to Front / June 2nd, 2009

- Kris Kunz

Most design workflows would insist on designing the Blu-ray (HD) version first and then simplify what you have to create the DVD (SD) version, but when design for the Blu-ray version of the Neil Young Archives Vol.1 began, the DVD version was almost complete.

The reason why it had been done in the reverse order was out of necessity not negligence. We were pioneers often operating in the dark working to create something that had no precedent.

From the beginning of the Archive’s design Neil Young and Shakey Pictures had always intended on releasing the set on an HD optical disc format. When design began, both Blu-Ray and HD DVD had already completed and released their respective specifications and both claimed playback ability of two channel 24-bit/192 kHz audio. All of the other benefits of the two formats were of course beneficial in their various ways, but audio was the primary concern for Neil Young. Once the possibility of having such high quality audio accessibel from a disc looked to be near, the choice was obvious for them.

But it was yet unknown which format, HD DVD or Blu-ray would be accepted as the consumer standard.

(Part 1 can be found here)

http://totalmediagroup.com/2009/06/ny-archives-behind-the-scenes-of-the-technology/

Stryker Corporate Branding Video – June 2009

Total Media Group Produces New Corporate Branding Video for Stryker Corporation. / June 2nd, 2009

Total Media Group is wrapping production of a corporate brand identity video for the Stryker Corporation, headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The video introduces the new brand identity to Stryker employees and customers worldwide and will be distributed in multiple formats and featured on the company website.

Shot entirely in HD (High Definition) in Hong Kong, London, New Jersey and California over two weeks in April, the video features several stories of actual Stryker employees and customers, highlighting Stryker’s focus on patient care, customer relations and support of its employees.

Stryker Corporation is the worlds leading manufacturer and seller of medical devices, with offices globally.

With all post-production conducted at Total Media Group’s South San Francisco, Ca studios, the video was produced by Jonathon Gruber and directed and edited by Atticus Culver-Reese.

Salix Video Game – June 2009

Total Media Group Completes Development of an Original Video Game. / June 2nd, 2009

Total Media Group just finished development and production of an original video game for Salix Pharmaceuticals.

The game, designed in the Nintendo Wii style, is a baseball Home Run Derby, where the player swings the controller at pitches, trying to hit a home run, with the number and distance of hits recorded as the score.

Salix Pharmaceuticals commissioned Total Media Group to develop the game to attract visitors to it’s booth at national tradeshows. The game environment features Salix’s product logos and branding. Salix is one of the leading gastro-intestinal drug manufacturing and sales companies in the United States.

Kris Kunz was creative director and producer of the project for Total Media Group.

Archive for June, 2009

Making Data Engaging

Total Media Group Creates Participatory Universe Within Neil Young Archives Vol. 1

Designing Video to Accompany Hi-Resolution Audio

Designing the Neil Young Archives

The Art of Creating Design

NY Archives - Behind the Scenes of the Technology

Neil Young Archives - Behind the scenes of the Technology Pt. 2

Stryker Corporate Branding Video – June 2009

Salix Video Game – June 2009

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