The Playland of Aiken commercial shoot was a great experience for everyone involved. Thankfully, it isn't too difficult to find willing kids to volunteer and "act" in a commercial for an indoor playground in the heat of summer. The parents weren't a hard sell either. This was truly a fun video production experience!

On the day of the shoot the kids were ready to tear into that playground. They couldn't wait for us to start filming. And when we did, they were naturals, as you would imagine. Not once did I have to remind a kid to smile or act like they were having a good time. Because they already were, of course. Our planned shots turned out great, but the best footage came from allowing the kids to simply be themselves.

With so many awesome shots and footage, it was tough to cut the commercial down to one minute. So many great shots had to unfortunately be left on the cutting room floor. But, in many ways that's a good thing. Thankfully, not a single kid was left out of the commercial when the entire edit was complete.

Working with the family of owners was a breeze. If I ever needed anything during filming, they were right there to assist. From shot to shot we knew we had to keep the film rolling. With the business opening to the public soon, we had no time to waste. And, when a business like Playland of Aiken has so many awesome offerings for kids and families, highlighting all of them was no easy task.

With only minutes to spare, I knew I had to get an amazing 360 shot with my 360 camera. I knew the commercial wouldn't be viewed with a virtual reality headset, so keeping the footage in full 360 wasn't going to work. So, I did the next best thing. At the beginning of the commercial you see a "tiny planet" view of the action taking place all around the indoor playground of Playland of Aiken. With a smooth glide of the 360 view, the video takes you from an overhead view, to right smack dab in the middle of the ball pit. I call that making an entrance.