Stories to tell…? Here are the latest.

June 2, 2015

248 Pencils at work:

We’d prefer to keep our pencils working on new stories rather than tweaking our website.

So, look for our recently completed work here, where we can update it more frequently with:

  • a brief description of the project
  • any special circumstances or challenges encountered
  • details of possible interest regarding the shoot
  • a link to the video
Your comments are encouraged.

Interviewed by FaceTime

November 25, 2019

The Rare Books Collection at the WSU Library

SHOOT: Rare Books Room – Law Library, Wayne State University – November 21, 2019

Peter Blackmer, from the RiseUp: Detroit project arranged an interview with Rev. William Moldwin; however, Junius Williams who conducted this project’s other interviews was in Newark, NJ. A FaceTime hook-up, courtesy of my iPhone’s HotSpot, allowed Dr. Williams to conduct the interview remotely.

“Everybody has something to give…”

September 13, 2019

SHOOT: U-M Depression Center and U-M Biosciences Research Building, Ann Arbor, MI – September, 2019
DURATION: 3:17

The Tam Foundation’s gift to University of Michgan Precision Health is the nonprofit’s most recent gift to the University’s research into bipolar disorder. 248 Pencils interviewed faculty members and Judith Tam, president of the Richard C.Tam Foundation to create this video to accompany the U-M press release.

Commitment to Action

February 10, 2015

SHOOT: Locations in Chicago Area, Benton Harbor and Detroit, MI – May, 2014
DURATION: 2:00

This 2-minute video was ed2go’s submission for the Clinton Global Initiative’s CGI America annual conference, June 8-10, 2014 in Denver. Hosted by President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton, this annual event is designed to be a working meeting that promotes collaboration and actionable ideas. This Progress Report on the Career Online High School was one of six videos selected to be screened at the event’s banquet.

Satori Shorts – Precious Moments between Storytellers

June 6, 2014

SHOOT: 3 Cameras – April 18, 2014
DURATION: 7:15

248 pencils has captured and produced video for the Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers since September, 2012. The humorous, captivating and compelling real-life stories from this unique Detroit-based series have been viewed by thousands in performance and on YouTube. It occurred to us that viewers who missed the live events were also missing the short, hilarious bits between storytellers provided by the masterful Satori Shakoor. In April, 2014, we introduced a new feature to the Twisted Storytellers channel – “Satori Story Shorts.” [See other stories as well as music and dance performances: www.secretstorytellers.com]

Video on Demand – New Service responds to Academic Trends

June 6, 2014

SHOOT: Interviews (10-11-2013) plus Archival Video Footage
DURATION: 2:07

Responding to the burgeoning demand for video to support academic research and coursework, information publisher ProQuest has developed a service that spans the needs of media archives in colleges and universities around the world. Interviews conducted during the Consortium of College and University Media Centers [CCUMC] were intercut with archival video footage and product features to create a 2-minute introduction to the service. Collections will benefit from preservation through digitization, searchability and hosting.

Back to School – Award Winners make a great TEAM

November 27, 2013

LOCATION SHOOT: Oct. 21, Oct. 28, Nov. 1, 2013
AWARD PRESENTATION: Nov. 14, 2013
DURATION: 7:46

As the principal producer for the TEAMS Award videos – sponsored by Gale and Library Media Connection – from 2005-2009, it was an honor to be picked to produce this year’s winners.  A teacher-media specialist team are picked from an elementary, middle and high school and hosted at an Awards Banquet held during the American Association of School Librarians. One of my favorite subjects to document, the challenge of this project was shooting at locations in North Carolina, British Columbia and Connecticut, then turning the entire project around in three weeks’ time. Canadian winner is featured above; other winners can be found at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pADsrUZA-rg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RprG9IqU0Bc

TWISTED HIGH – Scholars & Storytellers in a Detroit high school

August 13, 2013

SCENES SHOT: September, 2012 – July, 2013
PRODUCTION: Documentary In progress
DURATION: 4:41

248 Pencils has captured every performance of the Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers since September, 2012. Now, we’re following the Society’s creator, curator and host, Satori Shakoor, as she brings her passion for storytelling to students in Detroit high schools through a series of workshops. “Twisted High – Scholars & Storytellers” will document the workshops, the students, their stories and their final performances in front of a live audience.

Making History in Frankenmuth, Michigan

April 16, 2013

SHOT: December, 2012-January, 2013
FIRST SCREENING: March 7, 2013

To commemorate the 125th anniversary of Frankenmuth’s Bavarian Inn (formerly The Union House, and later Fischer’s Hotel), we recorded two dozen interviews – more than 10 hours of footage. The resulting video was shown at the annual meeting/banquet of the Frankenmuth Historical Association. The completed work was distributed on DVD.

New Features: Double Feature

April 16, 2013

Edited: February, 2013
Ready for Client Conference: March 1, 2013

Cengage Learning was seeking visual engagement and rapid-action text delivery to introduce new features for SAM – an interactive testing and training tool for Microsoft Office. Screen captures demonstrated each point as it was introduced. The first of two videos focused on Course Management features.

See a second version that focused on new content available