Never Was a Cloudy Day

COMPOSE: Never Was a Cloudy Day

“Sunshine and Sizzle: Producing Unforgettable Event Production Content”

PRE-PRODUCTION

I love producing sizzle videos. I’ve spent so many years creating sizzles for Orlando’s tourist meccas that a colleague once called me the “Sizzle Queen”.  A great song elevated with good visuals and a solid edit is my natural high.  Sizzles are known in production as a reel that showcases our work.  The term is widely used to define a creative video that promotes, celebrates, or recaps an event or celebration.  When you watch my sizzles, I want you to take away that I love what I do, and I love telling your story in a way that’s creative, inspirational, and fun!

ACTION

Caribe Royale Orlando Resort has transformed over the last two years into a AAA Four Star Diamond all-suite meetings resort.  Many of our projects together have promoted their new elevated experiences.  Recently, they hosted an exclusive event for ALHI- a luxury global sales organization responsible for generating millions of dollars in revenue for Caribe.  Talk about Elevated!  Let’s just say, in my next life I want to come back as a meeting planner- I was blown away by the experiences laid out for these attendees…truly luxurious.

My mission- should I choose to accept and I DID – was to create a big visual moment for the first night of the conference. The client wanted to show the attendees that Caribe Royale has been re-imagined..or “Remixed”, offering an elevated destination experience.  Just as the resort has transformed, so has Orlando over the decades- from swampy orange groves to the number one travel destination in the US.  The concept was to blend both Orlando and Caribe Royale’s story, from the old to the new, with the remixed sound of a well-loved song as the driving energy over visuals.  My team had six surfaces – four screens, a floor wrap, and an entire wall to project an animation sequence.  Again, talk about Elevated!  It’s a producer’s dream to have such a playground.

As the senior arts producer for Orlando’s local arts channel back in the day, one of my shows was about the region’s history.  I was so passionate about “Scrapbook”.  It was my little CBS Sunday Morning. This project gave me the opportunity to dust off that creative toolbox to create black & white walk-in looks for the screens, and storyboard the animation. The latter traced Orlando’s history which then transformed or “remixed” into the sizzle moment.  I can’t brag ENOUGH about my partners on this.  The animation is so next level brilliant and the edit on the sizzle is pure entertainment.

For the song, the client chose “September” by Earth Wind and Fire.  Only my favorite band of ALL TIME!  I located an acoustic version for the animated sequence and a remixed version for the sizzle.  As I listened to the remix, the theme came to life.  The words in the chorus, “never was a cloudy day” is how I imagine a visitor to Orlando feels about their vacation. With that image in mind, I cut the track for the together repeating that part of the chorus.  Yes, I created my first ear worm!  Even the client said they couldn’t get that phrase out of their head for days.

During the pandemic, I watched hours of DJ sets on Youtube.  Filmed in exotic locations using various camera setups, these videos were visually refreshing during lockdown.  This inspiration created the most unique part of the sizzle, showcasing a DJ at Caribe Royale atop their gorgeous poolside waterfall.  A music video within the sizzle, maximizing all the screens.. I think this is a first!  Pulsing audio sound bars for the stage wrap and the wall made the whole room feel like a dance party.

WRAP

Like the song, this project was sun-kissed with the joy of visiting Orlando, and enjoying a resort experience like Caribe Royale.  It now holds the top spot as my favorite sizzle project. Due to the copyright nature of this private event, it has to remain behind the curtain. I’ve created a private portfolio to share with potential clients; shoot me a message if you want to see it and put the Sizzle Queen to work on your next project!