The Project
An inside glimpse at how companies are using science and technology to transform their business.
+ About Fast Company
Fast Company is the world’s leading business media brand, with an editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, world changing ideas, creativity, and design. Written for and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company inspires readers to think expansively, lead with purpose, embrace change, and shape the future of business.
OBJECTIVE
When Microsoft commissioned Fast Company to go behind the scenes at some of the world’s most cutting edge innovation labs, they turned to VR to showcase the places where the magic happens and the teams behind the innovation.
VR is the most appropriate medium for comprehensively showcasing a space, but how can we leverage 360 video for effective storytelling.
PUTTING THE PUZZLE TOGETHER
Fast Company had limited experience working in virtual reality. My guidance enabled a better understanding of how to use immersive media as a language for telling compelling stories that satisfied the supervising editorial team and our project sponsor, Microsoft.
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Our 360 VR branded content video series takes a behind the scenes peak at Adidas, Gatorade, Lockheed Martin, Specialized Bicycle and Modern Meadow (like Impossible Burger, but for leather). The pieces also feature conversations with the folks leading the charge.
Highlights included a robo-legged soccer ball kicker with an Adidas shoe on it, a machine that 3D prints strips of fabric that’s molecularly the same as leather, but without harming any animals in the process, trying on a “Gatorade sweat patch” and seeing real-time bio-feedback, experiencing the force of 70mph gusts inside a futuristic wind tunnel and being gifted a secret society medallion from one of the most relied upon defense contractors in the US.
Priorities for Fast Company included quick-cutting and camera movement. These editing techniques are seen more often in 2D video than in 360, but because the series was intended for a mobile audience first – we needed to make this hybrid approach a serious priority. In order to provide lots of options in the edit, we maximized coverage of each location and scene. To borrow from traditional cinema terminology that’s not completely analogous in the 360 frame, our shot list included wide, medium and “closeup” shots. We captured the same items and actions both static and with movement and from both low and high vantage points.
With this, we developed a template for cohesive style, structure and division of responsibility. Each episode begins with an establishing shot (in a couple instance this is an aerial shot captured with a 360 camera mounted to a drone), some intro conversation with a host and company’s innovation leader, an intro montage of what’s to come and then 3 to 4 vignettes exploring different aspects of innovation at the company. Finally, we conclude each branded content video episode with take-away remarks from the company’s innovation leader.
FINISHED PRODUCT
Our 360 VR branded content video series takes a behind the scenes peak at Adidas, Gatorade, Lockheed Martin, Specialized Bicycle and Modern Meadow (like Impossible Burger, but for leather). The pieces also feature conversations with the folks leading the charge.
+ Continue Reading
Highlights included a robo-legged soccer ball kicker with an Adidas shoe on it, a machine that 3D prints strips of fabric that’s molecularly the same as leather, but without harming any animals in the process, trying on a “Gatorade sweat patch” and seeing real-time bio-feedback, experiencing the force of 70mph gusts inside a futuristic wind tunnel and being gifted a secret society medallion from one of the most relied upon defense contractors in the US.
Adidas Innovation Lab
To stay ahead of the curve, Adidas built its own innovation lab, which it named Future Lab. There, the company simulates all aspects of athleticism. We traveled to Germany to see the Adidas Future Lab in action.- Fast Company
Modern Meadow
It’s quite likely that something you’re wearing right now is made of leather. That leather came from a now-deceased animal, and the process to make the piece of tanned hide had a large environmental footprint. In fact, the production and livestock behind the leather we wear produces more than half of the global greenhouse emissions.
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Bio-fabrication company Modern Meadow, however, has developed an alternative to leather–and it requires a lot of very technical finesse. Using science, the company grows collagen cells to make a new material–one that looks, feels, and acts like leather, yet is much more eco-friendly. The process of making the company’s materials is fascinating. – Fast Company
Specialized Bicycles
Written along the walls of Specialized Bicycles’ Silicon Valley-based innovation lab are the words “innovate or die.” It makes sense when you see what the company does in that building.
This hub is where the bike manufacturer’s designers and engineers dream up tomorrow’s human-powered vehicles. If you think designing and building a bike is easy, this tour will set you straight. – Fast Company
Gatorade Sport Science Institute
We all think of Gatorade as a sports beverage, right? Well, the company is becoming much more than that with the help of technology. At the Gatorade Sports Science Institute in Florida, the company tests out new product ideas and analyzes performance data in real time. – Fast Company
Lockheed Martin Center for Innovation
The Lockheed Martin Center for Innovation in Virginia integrates big ideas for the military, space and navy to create real-life scenarios for large-scale defense technology. – Fast Company
CLIENT FEEDBACK
Sam was flexible with scheduling the productions and sensitive to the needs of our talent and clients while on set. He reliably delivered VR videos of high quality on time and within budget, exceeding our expectations. If you want to get it done and get it done right, I recommend hiring Sam.
Vanessa Singh | Supervising Producer at Fast Company and Inc
TRIVIA
Adidas is named after Adolf “Adi” Dasler, a German cobbler and founder of Adidas. He was the younger brother of Rudolph Dasler, founder of Puma. Gatorade was founded at the University of Florida and named after its mascot, the gator. Modern Meadow has manufactured its synthetic leather to still smell like leather. Specialized was founded in 1974 by Mike Sinyard,[2] a cycling enthusiast who sold his Volkswagen Bus for $1,500 to fund a cycle tour of Europe where he bought bike parts to take back to the US. Allan Loughead and his brother Malcolm founded Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company in 1912 operating sightseeing tours in California.