New Breed Logistics (now XPO Supply Chain) called me with an urgent request: Could a photographer and I get to New Jersey on short notice to capture video of an unusual event?
New Breed provides manufacturing support for Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters and had arranged for one to land at their facility outside Philadelphia, where employees and families could tour the aircraft and see the product of their hard work. The head of the Chinook program for the US Army would be at the controls, tour the facility and offer a few words to the assembled employees.
I quickly lined up a local shooter whose primary work is shooting sidelines footage for the NFL Network, then got on a plane to New Jersey. After landing I had an afternoon to scout locations and develop a preliminary shot list. With one photographer working the event, I planned to supplement his footage with stills that I would capture throughout the day.
Run-and-gun was the order of the day. From touchdown to liftoff later that day we were in constant motion, shooting Army, Boeing and New Breed staff, interviewing employees, and looking for opportunities for b-roll that would tell the story of an unusual day at the facility.
Back in North Carolina, I received the second part of the assignment: Create a show that focuses attention on employee’s involvement in the manufacturing of the Chinook. Those employees would be the primary audience.
A day long edit and a few revisions later, this was the final product.
