1Please give us a brief bio of yourself and your background.
My name is Doug Fidler, I’m the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of three award-winning agencies in DFW and London, producing experiential attractions, global & national advertising campaigns, activations for events, TV commercials, product launches, trade shows, conferences, sales tool development and aerospace design.
My personal skillset, drawn from over 20 years’ experience, is based on an understanding of all types of production, hardware platforms, software platforms, emerging technologies, design and production pipelines.
2What led you to become a videography professional?
I studied video production, 3D animation and special effects at The London Institute of Art & Design. From there I started my own small production company back in 1995 specializing in corporate communications, and after that I never looked back!
3What is your role in the agency, and what traits should a videography professional possess to be successful in their role?
As Chief Creative Officer, I oversee all types of production, from VR/AR and web, to video, animation and special effects. I think a fundamental understanding of the total pipeline makes for the greatest videographers. Editing is key - I used to say “even if the content is ‘OK’ a good editor can make it sing”!
4Tell us more about your agency / company.
Sector 5 Digital works every aspect of marketing with a concentrated blend of master creative, strategic insight, and ludicrous technology. We leverage economic efficiency to deliver the extraordinary. Our joint team of brilliant creative and production minds work directly with our clients to create award-winning work that spans from conventional to radical.
Our production capabilities include:
- Virtual Reality (VR)
- Augmented Reality
- Brand Activations
- Online and Mobile apps
- Conferences and Events
- Film & Video Production
- Photography
- Photo-realistic 3D Animation
- TV Commercials
5What is your own definition of great videography?
Impactful, unexpected, epic. Those are my watchwords. Establish an emotional connection - if we make our clients cry (and we have, many times) then we know we’re onto something!
6Describe your videography style/flair and its main characteristics
We try to avoid doing more traditional video production. We’re always thinking about how to create truly inspirational pieces that use technology, 3D animation and special effects to really immerse people into the story. We always want to push the ‘wow’ factor whenever we produce anything for clients. The antithesis of ‘Death by PowerPoint’.
7Tell us more about your ideation process.
Our pub (seriously)! I lived in the UK for 42 years, and always had my best ideas in the local pub. Then I moved to Dallas where pubs are very scarce, so we actually built one inside our agency, where our creative team can grab a sofa and a beer and ideate crazy solutions. But our pub-based creation process only starts after in-depth discovery sessions with our clients and listening to their challenges and objectives. Then and only then do we grab an adult beverage and distill their challenges into viable marketing ideas.
8Congratulations! As the winner of the NYX Video Awards, what does it mean for you and your team to receive this distinction?
It’s a very proud moment whenever we win prestigious awards such as this one. It validates our creativity and gives us all a well-deserved boost to our confidence, proving that our work is very well received not only by our clients (along with the success it brings them), but also within the industry. It’s always great to get recognition from a wider audience.
9 How has winning an international award help to promote your agency and works?
Many of our clients are global, iconic brands, so an international award helps both them and us receive wider recognition. Winning awards always helps us market our services – it's external validation that we do great work and it shows the world we’re not just drinking our own Kool-Aid!
10 What are the challenges of your winning entry(ies)?
The vision for this trilogy of ultra high-definition videos was very ambitious to say the least. All the videos were 3D animated, and used a combination of Unreal-Engine, Maya, After Effects and Premiere to create entire microscopic worlds beneath the skin, along with whimsical yet beautiful animations to represent aesthetic products. The time frame was aggressive and it took a village to achieve the 20 mins+ of content by the client’s conference date.
11How has the country, you are based in, helped during your ideation process?
Simply having the talent available was paramount to meet the aggressive deadline. In fact, artists from the UK helped our Dallas-based team to achieve the wonderful results!
12What are the current trends in the videography industry that you are most excited about?
Using real-time engines to render 3D worlds and create special effects has helped us accelerate production timelines. Only a few years ago we were rendering frames using our 120-server render-farm, which on average took around two hours a frame (and days to create shots) to render. Now, using real-time technologies, we’re rendering longer scenes in hours on one single PC using powerful NVIDIA graphics cards.
13What resources would you recommend to someone who is searching to improve their videography ideas and skills?
Access to 3D Artists and motion graphics software helps get you to the next level. Beautiful composition and an understanding of cinematography, lighting, movement, etc. is a must, but when you mix that with new technologies, that’s when it gets crazy cool.
14Where do you see the evolution of the videography in the next 5-10 years?
Further integration with real-time technologies is exciting for me. The ability to shoot scenes on a green-screen and see the composition in real-time helps us get better results instantly.
I think even holograms like Iron Man movies can be developed.
15Who inspired you in your life, and why?
Our more innovative clients inspire me to do better work, pushing the boundaries even further and challenging us to create something that’s either never been done before or is at least on the leading edge. Without those visionary clients we wouldn’t be creating the work we are today. We like to help our clients dream the impossible and then make it happen.
16What is your key to success? Any parting words of wisdom?
Never be satisfied with your first idea, always think about the next two levels above, the ultimate incarnation of the idea, and then take it further. You can’t always achieve the ultimate incarnation, but at least start there before all the inevitable compromises are tackled!
17Which THREE (3) marketing communications professionals / peers would you nominate to participate in the NYX Video Awards?
I would nominate my fellow creatives, Shawn, Alyssa, and Nel.
18Do you have anything else you would like to add for the interview?
