General Wesley Clark!

WHO

We recently had the opportunity to produce a two camera video shoot with four star General Wesley Clark for Sparq.

WHAT

We filmed his speaking event as well as his interview on the subject of cybersecurity.

WHEN

Feb 6, 2019

WHERE

Hampton Inn & Suites

1201 Convention Center Blvd

New Orleans, LA 70130

HOW

We shot on the Canon C200 and the Sony FS7. We recorded his interview audio with the Sony UWP lav.

WHY

It's General F-ing Clark...

Behind the scenes with General Wesley Clark.

"YOUR BUSINESS HAS EITHER BEEN HACKED OR WILL BE HACKED." - General Wesley Clark

In the interview, The General expounded on the idea of data security, and how we are vulnerable, especially in the commercial sector. His advice? "You have to be aware of what the threat is out there, and then you have to take sensible and economical measures to try to deal with the threat." He understands that business people can't spend all their time on data security, but that it's vital to do the "right amount" of work to maintain security. Dedicating resources to cybersecurity is simply "the cost of doing business."

He also talked about the need for the government and business to work more closely together to confront the cyber threat. We businesses have to look to government for support, and for intelligence. He commends the utility sector on their cybersecurity upgrades, particularly since the strike on Ukraine's generation assets in 2015. "The utility sector is on guard, but we're not there yet." The solution is better training, upgraded inspection systems, and more control of the attack services that are at the edge of the enterprises.

WE'RE ALL WARDROBE DEPARTMENT

It's good to reflect on what went right and what went wrong in any given shoot so that strengths are recognized and weaknesses are strengthened. So here's what I learned.

SHOOT STRENGTH: The General was well-lit for his interview, sound was crisp and clear, and I believe we did a good job keeping him comfortable through the process.

SHOOT WEAKNESS: The good General told me before we began shooting that I should watch his tie and such and make sure that everything is straight (My first order from a former NATO commander!) About half way through the first take, I realized that he had a tiny (normal) amount of lint on his jacket that I hadn't noticed when I was putting his lapel microphone on. In an everyday situation, that might go unnoticed, but framed in 4k ultra high definition video through a cinema camera, I could see it, and I'd been given my order. When he was finished answering the question, I had to call "Cut", and inform his assistant about what I had noticed. She went over and fixed the situation, but we had to redo the question. It wasn't a huge deal, but I think the lesson here is that since we don't always have the luxury of a wardrobe department, I'd do best to really pay attention more to clothing before getting started.

OVERALL: A successful shoot. Client is happy. And we got to work with General Wesley Clark!

#videoproductionneworleans #videotips #behindthescenes