With the holiday season behind us, and with hope for a bright and prosperous 2011, it’s time to start thinking about your media needs for the upcoming year.

One of the technologies that is really getting traction right now is 3D.  Such technology has improved greatly since its inception in the 1950’s and can yield big returns for filmmakers who, by spending minimally more to produce, and by charging a couple of extra bucks per ticket, end up receiving dividends that greatly outweigh their initial time and money investments.

Unfortunately, 3D technology is not without problems.  Some people still report getting queasy after extended viewing.  Others who have recently purchased 3D televisions for their homes have said that they must keep their head in a specific position in order to get the full effect, and to reduce “ghost” images — it doesn’t sound that enjoyable, does it?  From our standpoint, 3D really isn’t suitable for corporate marketing and educational videos because the return on investment just isn’t there.  After all, companies are not selling tickets to their employees, students and/or clients.  Besides, can you just imagine a boardroom full of execs donning the required glasses?!

The power of the visual is all around us this time of year.  Decorations and baubles.  Holiday-themed commercials with joyous music and heartwarming pictures abound.  Life-sized print ads announce this year’s favorite gift ideas.  And, of course, there are the requisite feel good Christmas movies that always happily end with peace and goodwill toward all.  The effect on our mood, whether positive or negative, is undeniable.

We all know that the holiday season is supposed to have a higher meaning, but we are well-aware too that retailers depend heavily on the holiday season to make up for lost revenue during slower periods.  For retailers and advertisers, the holiday season is a celebration of Capitalism!  And for this reason they will pull out all of the stops to grab your attention in an effort to savor a slice of their seasonal pie.  It is during this time of year that we often begin to begrudge media overload.

Thus, once the shopping is done, the meal enjoyed, and another year draws to a close, it is quite okay to sit back and take a break from all things media, including us!  So for now, we’ll put our business on the back burner and just wish Happy Holidays to All!

As we’ve talked a lot about this past year, video is an experiential medium. To get the most out of it, you’ll want to look for interesting activities to capture and share.  What better time to do this than over the Christmas holidays (or any holiday for that matter)?

Holiday celebrations provide a great way to display the team spirit at your company, show off the camaraderie among employees, or just reveal a glimpse of the holiday festivities around your office. Holidays are the perfect time to thank clients for their support throughout the year, and to leave a great impression.

Enjoy an example of a “Happy Holidays” video shot on behalf of The Hoffman Agency. It should put a smile on your face.  (Note to women over 40: Gotta love the ending – listen closely!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIEKXw9PXls

Here’s our brand new commercial for San Pedro Square. Enjoy the extraordinary!

San Jose Jazz is a 22 year old public benefit corporation dedicated to promoting jazz music and jazz education through performance and education to enrich the lives of the people in our community. San Jose Jazz is renowned for producing one of the finest jazz festivals in the U.S. which drew over 100,000 in 2008. To help promote the festival, WMS teamed up with San Jose Jazz to produce five fund raising and promotional videos about the organization. Enjoy!

May is here and we have a special treat for fans of our web series, Bay Area Mysteries! Historian Rich Stiller takes the stage at San Pedro Square to reveal some hidden San Jose historical gems.

If you’re getting your scandals confused these days, boy do we have the show for you! The Silicon Valley Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors spoke to Prosecuting Attorney Nancy Fineman in a three part series exposing the who, what, why, when and how of the Bernie Madoff Fraud. WMS got a very intriguing inside look into what actually happened and we want to share that with you all:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

If you’ve been on YouTube recently, you might notice some pretty drastic UI changes. After years of star ratings and complex discover bars, the site recently went “back to basics.”

Since Google bought YouTube in 2006, the video site has been in a constant state of development and transition. We’ve seen the addition of close captions, the syndication of TV shows, video responses, friend/buddy lists, instant video sharing, and even annotations. Some might consider these additions improvements, but it looks like far more consider them clutter.

What does this say about the way we watch videos online? With the explosion of streamlined sites like Hulu and the UK’s channel4.com, video content is slowly reclaiming its position as the main focal point of the classic video website. The YouTube team says it wants to make “the video the star” by creating a more “subdued, stripped down and simple” user experience. The goal? When you get rid of the distraction, your video gets the attention it deserves. The result? Videos have a more impactful presence on the web which will most likely lead to better results (which is something we love here at WMS).

According to YouTube’s official blog, the change is based on “eight months’ worth of user research, feedback and data analysis.” Here are their official improvement specs:

Overall look and functionality
- It’s cleaner, simpler and easier to use.
- Information about a video is now grouped together in one place and there’s a consistent way to get more detail when you need it. This way, unless something’s truly useful to you, it doesn’t clutter up your page.
- We’ve cleaned up the actions bar; you’ll see a streamlined presentation for sharing, flagging, and embedding controls.

Discovery
- The right-hand side of the page is devoted to the next video to watch. We’re smarter about suggesting the next videos to watch based on how you found the video you’re watching in the first place.
- The channel name and subscribe button are now both on top of the video. We found that you prefer having a quick peek at more videos uploaders have created before deciding whether to subscribe to their channels.

Playlists
- There’s a new playlist interface, with the next video in the list appearing consistently in the top right. You can easily expand that list or skip ahead using a new next button in the player controls.
- Saving to playlists is easier, and we’ve made Favorites the default option.

Ratings
- We’ve replaced the five-star ratings system with a simpler “likes / dislikes” model and introduced a new “Videos I Liked” list.

Comments
- Comments have a new highlights view which summarizes the best discussions and celebrates when creators communicate with their audiences.

Along the lines of simplification, all users can now add and remove modules from their front page, which is strikingly similar to the add/remove feature from every users’ iGoogle homepage. It looks like Google, the ultimate minimalistic search engine, is having a big stylistic influence on its sister site. Not only is this change putting the web video back in the spotlight, it’s giving users the ability to customize their experience.

With YouTube’s trendsetting influence on the web, expect to see more sites trimming down their excess features and creating a simpler, more streamlined viewing experience. With limited distractions, we predict that viewers will now be more likely to watch the entirety of a video without giving in to a variety of diversions. This new interface means video is making a comeback, and to that we say “Bravo”!

YouTube’s official blog entries on the change:

http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-page-gets-makeover.html

http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-video-page-launches-for-all-users.html

It’s April 1st, and while the rest of the world plays practical jokes, The Hoffman Agency of San Jose, California serves up a treat for their employees. As a gesture of appreciation for the staffs’ hard work throughout the year, senior management stepped up to the griddle flipping berry, chocolate, and buttermilk pancakes for hungry employees! WMS was there to celebrate with Hoffman and capture the moment. Enjoy reliving the fun and sharing the laughs with friends and family. See Hoffman’s coverage here.

There’s a recent trend for many companies to go it alone when it comes to planning and recording client testimonials. While on the surface it may seem like a cost effective benefit, the results can be less than satisfying. Without the help of a professional team you can expect choppy footage, weak sound, and misaligned shots.

What do you do with a motley collection of material that was hardly usable? If it’s too late to re-shoot, WMS can still save the day. WMS media successfully re-packages the interviews into something more watchable. Thanks to After Effects and some clever graphic treatments we are able to retain the essence of the positive testimonials.

Shooting it yourself may sound like a good idea but watch out. Bad footage up front means more expense later in the form of time consuming post production. The question to ask is just how much value does the company place on a good testimonial? You don’t get many chances at creating a second impression. If the company wants to present a superior impression, then it helps to call in the professionals ahead of time.