Production Craft

PRODUCTION CRAFT, INC., DISPLAY GOES HIGH TECH FOR NEW TECH CHICAGO--Production Craft, Inc., created a video display that captured the attention of LaSalle Street traders. The display was actually a massive (12 foot by 22 foot) wall built around a state-of-the art video presentation that utilized four plasma screens -- the new "flat screen" technology -- to market client "YesTrader's" new software trading systems. The display was set up in the lobby of the Chicago Board of Trade. The project presented PCI with a number of challenges -- chief among them its very scope.

"In our 16-year history we have created video for displays, but this is the first time we have created both the video and the display," said Project Manager Jim Skvaril. "In addition, we faced a time frame of less than two months to complete the entire project. On the marketing end, we were working with a very new product and a moving audience -- potential viewers were walking through the lobby." Other hurdles included working with existing hallway space that consisted of high glass panels and ensuring that the display fit aesthetically into the lobby-- a building management concern. To grab the attention of information-hungry potential customers, PCI incorporated an electronic ticker for price quotes into the display.

Included in the quotes stream was the YesTrader logo to build name recognition. The communication challenge was to produce a program that would grab the target audience's attention as they walked by and relate a complex marketing message.
PCI Video Segment Producer/Director Dawn Arnold accomplished this by producing a fast-paced mix of video and computer graphic images. PCI opted for a presentation of the video that would, in itself, "wow" viewers. "The idea was for the four plasma screens to capitalize on the public interest in High Definition television as the wave of the future -- further associating viewers perception of YesTrader's product with new technology," said Dawn Arnold. The video technology used in the program presented a challenge to PCI in terms of image size and resolution for the graphics. The new flat screen technology used a 16 x 9 aspect ratio, versus the 4 x 3.

Sean McMenemy, lead designer and animator, created the animation sequences in AM2000, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects, in a 16 x 9 aspect ratio. The images were then transferred to 4 x 3 for video and formatted for 16 x 9 playback on DVD, at NuWorld in Chicago. In addition, video segments of the city of Chicago and a "green screen" shot of a trader using the YesTrader software were shot on PCI's DVW-D600 WS (wide screen) for 16 x 9 aspect ratio. "We felt that the challenge of using these four screens, and their combined size, was worth it in that the display would grab viewers attention and multiply the impact that could be imparted by just a single screen production," said Skvaril.