Monthly Archives: December 2018

Surgery Support Part One

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The concept of creating surgery support video and audio programs had been in Elizabeth Hepburn’s mind for a decade or more before we were enabled by Eric Brown to begin the process of actually making them in 2003.

Married to a Video Maker

When Elizabeth first mentioned the idea to me (Ben Bryant) I knew that in order to produce a project of this magnitude, with the quality it deserved, a significant amount of money would be required. About ten years later I directed and edited a documentary that Eric financed. While we were in the middle of the production of Nyack to Ninth Avenue he mentioned that he wanted to learn more about producing video and asked how I had learned. I told him my story about being “thrown into the deep end of the pool” by my mentor Jack Tellander pointing out that the best way to learn was to just do it.

Creating a Producer

Eric asked if I had any ideas for projects and I whipped out the one-page description of Elizabeth’s surgery support concept. He liked it and when he met Elizabeth it was (mutual) love at first sight and we were on our way.

Here’s a short sample of our Pre-surgery support video for the Patient. (There is also a version for the Caregiver.)

Click here for downloads of Elizabeth Hepburn’s Better & Better Series. Once on the page, put your cursor over an image to Id. the program and click for more info and a sample. If you prefer discs click here.

By the way, I wrote a book – Waiting for Elizabeth – about our relationship and it includes the entire creation story of Elizabeth Hepburn’s Better & Better Series.

Love Heals: Introducing Elizabeth a Vlog

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As I have written before and will no doubt write again, Love Heals, is the idea behind all of Elizabeth Hepburn’s work.

This video needs no additional introduction in that it is, itself, an introduction by Elizabeth to her Better & Better Series. All more that need be said is that I, Ben Bryant, was blessed with the joyful task of directing and editing the entire project.

Enjoy.

Click here for downloads of Elizabeth Hepburn’s Better & Better Series. Once on the page, put your cursor over an image to Id. the program and click for more info and a sample. If you prefer discs click here.

By the way, I wrote a book – Waiting for Elizabeth – about our relationship and it includes the entire creation story of Elizabeth Hepburn’s Better & Better Series.

Love Heals and Leaves You “Feelin’ Good” a Vlog

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“Love heals” is the concept behind all of Elizabeth’s work.

The creation of Elizabeth Hepburn’s Better & Better Series was the consummation of a dream for both my wife Elizabeth and me, Ben Bryant, director and editor. We will always be grateful to our Producer and friend, Eric Brown, for enabling it to happen.

Elizabeth is living proof that love heals.

In the Lap of Luxury, the third program in the Better & Better Series, was shot at New York State’s spectacular Lake George in the Adirondack mountains.

The Boat Shoot

One portion of the shoot began at Yankee Boating Center. We hired a sailboat for Elizabeth’s photography and a second boat for camera. Riding out of sight in the cabin were Melinda (wardrobe), Michina (makeup) and Richard (a very capable production assistant) who handled the playback boom box and walkie-talkie for my direction from the camera boat. The picture boat had an outboard motor which was fortuitous since there was very little breeze that day. The camera boat was a kind of floating flatbed that comfortably accommodated both camera crews, our gaffer plus me and Eric.

We motored into the lake until we were out of sight of buildings and began to shoot.

All the video and audio programs in Elizabeth Hepburn’s Better & Better Series are available for download here. Once on the page, put your cursor over an image to Id. the program and click for more info and a sample. If you prefer discs, click here.

You will find many more video production and editing tales, including the full story of the making of Elizabeth Hepburn’s Better & Better Series and all the other productions Eric and I did together when you click here and get my third memoir book Waiting for Elizabeth.

Love Heals: Video Production Without a Net

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“Love Heals” is the central concept of Elizabeth Hepburn’s Better & Better Series.

The series contains five, twenty-five minute video (and audio) programs – written and performed by my wife Elizabeth – designed to aid both patients and caregivers in preparation for and recovery from surgery. The principal photography of our first production, Post-Surgery, was shot at Pearson’s Falls, North Carolina.

I (Ben Bryant) got to direct and edit the entire series, one of the great blessings of my life.

As always in video production, there were “bumps in the road”. A potentially big one happened the day before the first shoot.

Production insurance is considerably more costly than regular business insurance. It was the only instance in this entire project where our producer, Eric Brown, tried to save money. Everything else Elizabeth or I asked for was okay with him. Eric opined that his broker, from whom he’d been getting business insurance for years, could provide an appropriate policy. He got one for about 15% the $3,000 cost of a production insurance package. I continued to advise against it but Eric is a smart guy and a lawyer so I figured he knew something I didn’t about his insurance guy, the vaunted Joe Q.

On the day before the shoot in North Carolina we were having lunch with Elizabeth and Peter Longauer (Nature Cameraman) when Eric got a call. He started outside and waved me to follow. The call was from Joe Q. Once it had become clear to the underwriter exactly what Joe was insuring they had declined. So we had no insurance and were going to shoot the next day at a location where a young crew would be carrying heavy, expensive equipment over terrain covered with slippery rocks, streams and a big waterfall. The certificate of insurance – now null and void – had already been filed with the location owner.

The choices were to proceed uninsured – not mentioning this unfortunate turn of events to anyone – or to reschedule the shoot after getting proper coverage. This would not only have been very expensive but probably impossible. We chose to keep the conversation to ourselves and proceed. As soon as we got home an appropriate production insurance package was procured for the remainder of the shoots.

(PS: There were no accidents or equipment losses.)

As you’ll see in the video below, I wrote a book – Waiting for Elizabeth – about our relationship and it includes the entire story about the creation of Elizabeth Hepburn’s Better & Better Series.

Click here for downloads of Elizabeth Hepburn’s Better & Better Series. Once on the page, put your cursor over an image to Id. the program and click for more info and a sample. If you prefer discs click here.