2018 CHOC Children's Charley Awards

On June 22, 2018 the CHOC Children's Foundation held their annual Charley Awards Luncheon. The Charley Awards, which is named in remembrance of Charles W. Hester, a beloved former board chairman at CHOC, recognizes seven honorees who exemplify his ideals of philanthropy and volunteerism in the CHOC Children's community. 

Through the months of May and June ESI Video worked closely with the CHOC Children's Foundation to plan, film, and edit individual videos about the seven honorees and the generous work they put in to helping the children receiving outstanding care at CHOC Children's Hospital. In each video the honoree was introduced by a colleague or a CHOC Children's Foundation board member. This introduction was followed by a grateful family who told their story about their time at CHOC and how that honoree helped provide some of the best medical care available though volunteering or generous donations. 

To film these videos ESI Video worked with the busy schedules of medical staff members, board members, music therapists, and the grateful families. The ESI team also adapted to a variety of locations across the CHOC facilities, creating light and camera set ups in playrooms, libraries, hallways, and examination rooms. Some interviews were also shot on green screen.

In editing, ESI worked diligently to create a clear and meaningful story for each two minute honoree video. Gerald Cromwell, ESI's head editor, promptly accomplished this creative challenge, sifting through interviews, footage, and still images to find the best soundbites and visuals. Using Adobe After Affects Gerald also created custom graphics and animations for the Charley Awards. The editing process and graphics were completed on schedule to allow for the CHOC Foundation to review the project before the event and to suggest any minor changes before finalizing the videos. 

Space X launch of Iridium Next Satellites

On May 22, 2018 Iridium Communications completed their sixth successful launch after safely sending five communication satellites into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket look off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 12:47 PDT and in addition to the five Iridium Next satellites, carried twin NASA satellites into orbit as well.

NASA's satellites, known as the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On or GRACE-FO Mission, were deployed by the Falcon 9 Rocket in a near polar orbit where they will study the changing distribution of water around the world, tracking changes in sea levels, glaciers, and polar ice caps. 

After successfully deploying NASA's satellite mission, the Falcon 9 ascended to a higher orbit to launch the Iridium Next satellites. These five communication satellites will join 50 other Iridium satellites already in orbit as Iridium moves closer to achieving it's planned 75 satellite constellation. These satellites are designed to facilitate the first global broadband service for aviation and maritime industries as well as for first responders and other safety services. This ambitious launch program, which will be achieved after two more launches of 10 satellites each, is set to be one of the largest technological upgrades ever completed in space.

Granbery Studios brought ESI Video on board to assist in capturing B-Roll of the anticipation at the Iridium launch party held at Foley Estate Vineyards and conduct interviews with key members of the Iridium launch such as Iridium Communications CEO Matthew Desch. 

"It was super exciting to work at Vandenberg Air Force Base with Jeff Granbery on this project for Iridium.  A real thrill since I grew up in the area and my grandfather helped build the base in the early 1960's. A real chance of a lifetime!" - Jimm Vest

Check out the highlight video Iridium Communications created for their 6th launch here!

USC Commencement

On May 11th The University of Southern California held it's Commencement Ceremony for the class of 2018 at Alumni Park. The main USC Commencement celebrated the 135th anniversary of the ceremony on USC's campus and the graduation of more than 5,000 undergraduates and 10,000 graduate students. Renowned physician and author Siddhartha Mukherjee served at the key note speaker for the event. Mukherjee is known for his work redefining the public discourse around human health and for his Pulitzer Prize winning book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. 

Following the main commencement, USC's individual schools held their own ceremonies to recognize their outstanding graduates including the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. The Viterbi School of Engineering held their Commencement on the new USC Village Great Lawn which is part of an expansion to USC's residential life that opened in August of 2017 and boasts 15 acres of an immersive learning environment. This provided the perfect backdrop as the Viterbi School awarded degrees to it's students majoring in engineering fields from Electrical and Aerospace Engineering to Green Technology and Architecture students. 

The Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC also celebrated their commencement on the USC Village Great Lawn. The combined undergraduate and graduate ceremony welcomed key note speaker, Dr. Michael R. Cousineau, Professor of Clinical and Preventative Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Working with Take One Digital who were responsible for capturing the many commencement events held at USC, ESI Video was on hand to enhance the ceremonies for both the School of Engineering and School of Dentistry. With a multi-camera set-up using Panasonic's DVX200 4K cameras, ESI streamed the two events across the world and provided monitors for those sitting far from the stage to see their loved ones receive their hard earned degrees. 

The show was live switched using the Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio and recorded and monitored on the Atomos Sumo 19 Monitor and Recorder. Afterwards all the commencement ceremonies were available to purchase on DVD from Take One Digital.

OneOC Spirit of Volunteerism Awards

On April 26, 2018, OneOC held their Spirit of Volunteerism Awards at the Disneyland Hotel Grand Ballroom. This event honors the outstanding volunteer work completed by organizations, businesses, and families in Orange County and this year marked the 60th Anniversary of OneOC. 359 volunteers from 95 non-profits and 30 companies were recognized. 

The Community Action Partnership of Orange County OC Food Bank and the PIMCO Foundation were among those honored for their service to the community, receiving the prestigious 2018 Giving is Living Award . The two organizations were recognized for their joint work in feeding and helping those in need during the holiday season. 

The Disneyland Resort was also recognized as OneOC's Diamond Anniversary Sponsor and Mickey Mouse joined in on the festivities, traveling all the way from Toon Town to give thanks to these giving organizations.

ESI Video produced and directed the live show and edited honoree videos that featured the honoree's name and picture. ESI collaborated closely with Disneyland Cast Members to dial in lighting and music cues as well as projecting the speaker on the big screens or IMAG, throughout the ballroom.

In addition to directing the show ESI Video was also on site to capture the event and edit a highlight video which was featured on OneOC's website and Facebook page. You can check it out here!          

Kobe Bryant at USC

On April 2, 2018, Kobe Bryant brought some of his "Mamba Mentality" to an event hosted by the USC Performance Science Institute and USC's Marshall School of Business. The former Lakers player and 18-time All-Star spoke to students about his mindset while playing basketball, his experience finding new talents and passions after completing his career as a professional athlete, and about the necessity of protecting your dreams and imagination. 

The event was held soon after Bryant won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 2018 Academy Awards for his short "Dear Basketball", which was played for students before Bryant's talk.

Bryant took questions from USC students and even one from former USC football head coach and current Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll. Students asked Bryant a variety of questions such as how his competitive nature translates to his new career and his views on mental health in professional athletes. 

President and controlling owner of the Lakers Jeanie Buss also made a special appearance, praising Bryant for his leadership and dedication to the Lakers even when the organization was not of the same caliber as Bryant.  Bryant took the opportunity to speak to the students about the value he places on commitment when working with a team.

At the end of the night current USC football head coach, Clay Helton, presented Bryant with a USC jersey personalized with Bryant's name and number. 

The event was held at USC's Bovard Auditorium and was captured with multiple cameras. ESI Video primarily captures live events with the Panasonic DVX200 4K Camera. 

You can check out Bryant's full talk on YouTube.

Rock climber Alex Honnold at USC

On January 31, 2018, the USC Performance Science Institute and USC's Marshall School of Business welcomed Alex Honnold, acclaimed free solo rock climber known for climbing the sheer face of Yosemite's El Capitán without the use of ropes or safety equipment. He spoke with Dr. Michael Gervais, a high performance sports psychologist and host of the podcast Finding Mastery, about mindset and relying on your skillsets when your life depends on it.

Dr. Glenn R. Fox, Head of Program Design, Strategy and Outreach, at the Performance Science Institute began the talk by introducing Alex Honnold and breaking down the science of emotion and what's unique about Alex Honnold's brain.

The event was held at USC's Bovard Auditorium, ESI Video captured and streamed live on Facebook and Periscope. Utilizing the ATEM Television Studio to switch between 3 cameras and graphics, as well as OBS an open source streaming software to encode and distribute to multiple platforms. 

The full talk is available to watch on the USC Marshall Facebook page, check it out!

Arianna Huffington at USC

On Friday, January 26, 2018, Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post, sat down with students at the University of Southern California to discuss how to thrive in a digital world. The USC Marshall School of Business and the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies hosted the event at Town & Gown in USC.

Professor and Executive Director of the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, David Belasco, moderated the event with intriguing questions about Arianna Huffington's career, their shared philosophy on mindset, the future of the Huffington Post, and Arianna's next venture Thrive Global.

ESI Video helped produce the event by supplying audio and visual services to USC Marshall. The event was streamed live via Facebook Live and Periscope, generating thousands of views for the Business School on social media. 

The event consisted of audio support inside the ballroom with video monitoring and audio into overflow rooms in the foyer and patio. The event was captured with two Panasonic DVX200 4K Cameras and switched with a Black Magic Design ATEM Television Switcher. 

You can check out the full video on USC Marshall's Facebook page.

Welcome to our new Website!

2018 is here and it's time to revamp the website. If you have a few minutes to spare, come back to our site and check out our latest blog entry. We will keep you up to date with our current video projects and productions, as well as industry insights into everything from how to light for video to building an animated graphic in Adobe After Effects. 

ESI Video is a full service video production company located in Orange County, California. Our services include video production, video editing, camera operations, motion graphics, forensic video, video transcoding and conversions, DVD duplications, live web streaming, and A/V support for your next event.