Green Lens Media

Tag: environmental

  • Green Lens Media Produces Videos for ELM’s 2020 Commonwealth Environmental Leadership Awards

    Green Lens Media Produces Videos for ELM’s 2020 Commonwealth Environmental Leadership Awards

    The Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM) signed Green Lens Media onboard to create videos for their 2020 Commonwealth Environmental Leadership Awards. This year’s awards go to Secretary John Kerry (Dec. 8), Biogen (Dec. 10), the League of Conservation Voters (Dec. 15), and the organizers of the Boston Climate Strike (Dec. 17).

    You can read more about the upcoming CELA event below, and register for all four presentations (free) here: http://bit.ly/CELAS2020

    But first, some history about our projects with this terrific organization…

    Our history with ELM…

    GLM was proud to first begin working with ELM in 2017 during their efforts to increase public awareness and support for funding state park projects. As a company founded on the mission of providing top shelf video production services to green and eco-conscious organizations, businesses, institutions and advocates, ELM is exactly the type of client for which we aspire to fill our production schedules.

    Green Lens Media founder Adam Greene captures a foggy scene at Belle Isle Marsh Reservation in Boston, MA.
    GLM Script Supervisor and Camera Assistant Viktor Herrmann discusses shoot agenda with ELM’s Legislative Director Erica Mattison and the rest of the on-camera talent.

    Our film shoots for that first project took us to the hidden gem of Belle Isle Marsh right near Logan Airport, which the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs refers to as a Reservation that “includes the last remnant within Boston of the salt marshes that were once prevalent along the Massachusetts Bay shoreline.” If you haven’t been, put it on your list–it’s an incredible to have in the backyard of Boston. You can check out that production here: 

    ELM also had GLM produce in that campaign a video drawing awareness to the importance of Lobby Day(s), since potential environmental policies are more likely to get attention and become law and real projects the more the public is in favor of those measures. Our Lobby Day video can be viewed here:

    Events: From In-Person to Online

    Since this year’s CELA event is occurring during the pandemic we’ve all been dealing with, ELM was faced with the same predicament many organizations and businesses have been challenged with: how do you create a completely online experience for a normally in-person event? 

    The process of creating such a presentation began with ELM sending GLM photos, zoom interviews they conducted, some graphic layers they’d been using in their marketing and wanted either animated or replicated for brand consistency, and a foundational outline for suggested spoken content that would help drive the narrative. After using that as a guide and putting our own filmmaker-touch on the editing, we then supplemented this with video media of several variations.

    First and foremost, we turned to the archival media from our previous project with ELM 3 years prior. By working with us again, ELM was able to tap the benefits of all the production work done with GLM before, using previously unseen footage, recycling a project with no new cost implication, allowing us to move faster in editing due to our prior organization and familiarity with the footage, and the added benefit of it being customized content for ELM in the first place.

    Next, we turned to select other environmental clientele we felt may have footage in their archives befitting of the project, and after gaining their blessing we were able to showcase some of those clips as well throughout the storytelling.

    We then turned to the GLM archive. We’ve accumulated hundreds of hours of original and personal projects over the years. We combed through our library, picking out moments that could work well for the CELA videos, with the added benefit of not needing to obtain any further releases. Lastly, we looked to round out some of the more global and “climate change in-the-flesh” moments from world events and the news by sourcing from licensable clip vendors. We always turn to this last in order to keep videos as fresh and original as possible. 

    We are greatly looking forward to the Commonwealth Environmental Leadership Awards being shown over the next 2 weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and do hope you can check out the event, whether your looking for information on who’s doing what on climate change in our communities, the state of environmental goals and policy in MA and America, or you’d simply like to see what does one approach to adapting an in-person event to a virtual experience look like. These local leaders are inspiring, and we hope it contributes to even more attention to the most important issue of our time. When it comes to the video work, our philosophy on this is the same regarding any video content shown online—it should be as engaging and entertaining as possible, should feel authentic and memorable, should be designed as much as possible for a specific audience, and should touch viewers on an emotional level.

    Keep up the great work ELM!

    ELM’s Original Post

    ELM has written on their site the following about Tuesday’s Awardee, Secretary John Kerry:

    Secretary John Kerry has dedicated his life to public service. He served the Commonwealth in a number of roles – as District Attorney for Middlesex County, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, U.S. Senator for Massachusetts, and U.S. Secretary of State. Throughout his tenure, he tackled issues like combating acid rain as Lieutenant Governor, bringing attention to the warming planet to the U.N. as a Senator, and working with foreign governments to spearhead numerous efforts to combat climate change as Secretary of State. Notably, Secretary Kerry was a key architect of the Paris Climate Accord, signing the historic agreement to reduce carbon emissions in 2016.

    In 2019, Secretary Kerry launched World War Zero, a coalition of unlikely allies joining a global mobilization against the climate crisis. This group includes scientists, CEOs, military leaders, activists, artists, entertainers, political leaders from both sides of the aisle, business and industry leaders, and many more want to tackle this crisis. The coalition focuses on public education and community engagement to activate climate action at the massive and urgent scale necessary to win this war. Bringing together influencers like celebrities and politicians will help this message reach a broad, global audience. Messengers will make connections between climate change and the economy, jobs, and national security.

    ELM is pleased to award Secretary John Kerry a Commonwealth Environmental Leadership Award in recognition of his exemplary work in our community.

    For original post, please visit: https://www.environmentalleague.org/event/cela-2020/

  • Culture, Cheeseburgers, and Sustainable Fashion: Combating Our Disposable Mentality

    Osmium FashionWe live in a time of constant upgrades. That brand new smartphone? Replaced by the latest model in a matter of months. That top-of-the-line gaming rig? Obsolete by the end of the year. That hip new fashion trend? Only hip until the newest “latest and greatest” trend takes over. We buy things, use them until they break or go out of style, then we replace them, and the whole cycle begins again. To Mark Paigen of Osmium Apparel, this disposable mentality is not the answer.

    On one of the first truly beautiful days of the year, we sat down with Paigen to discuss his life, his company, and just why buying the same disposable products everyone else is buying is hurting us not only as consumers, but as a culture.

    “Increasingly,” Paigen said, “fashion and our preferences have become global. The same H&M store you see in Boston, you’ll see in Hong Kong and Berlin and Paris, and they’ll be selling the same styles across the continents.”

    To him, this homogony of fashion accomplishes little more than taking away what makes cultures unique. “When I go to Italy, I don’t want to eat a hamburger. I want to eat great Italian food. And I think the same should be true of style, and the things we buy. They should reflect our local culture, our communities. That’s what Osmium is about. Buy things that will last a long time; that will become your favorites and won’t be obsolete in six months.”

    Of course, even the highest quality items will eventually break, and Paigen acknowledges that. “I love fixing things,” he said, “I have a ski-jacket that I’ve had for a dozen years, the draw string blew out on it and I got it fixed. I really like that mentality of buying really good stuff, taking really good care of it, repairing it when it breaks.”

    Not just content with fixing things, Paigen also has a drive towards creating, which undoubtedly stems from his love of nature. We talked about his time as an organic farmer, the “Long Distance Running and Bread Baking” class he took in college, and other experiences which left us with the distinct impression that this is a man who loves being outside, loves working with his hands, and loves to take a unique approach to his work. He couldn’t help a sly smile as he told us about the history of Osmium’s distinct Mobius belt.

    “I had the idea [for the belt], the concept, and I sketched it out, went to a product development firm, and they gave me a price of $18,000 to prototype the buckle. So, I went to Home Depot, I bought a piece of aluminum, and some threaded parts, got my drill out and I prototyped one-half of this buckle. I tried the concept, and the concept worked.”

    Though perhaps what intrigued us most about Paigen was not his creative approach to problem solving nor his love for nature. Rather, it was his sincerity. When it came to his own shortcomings, Paigen was perfectly candid.

    “I consider myself an environmentalist, but I don’t do everything I could possibly do. I could ride my bike to work every day. I don’t. I could have bought a car with better mileage, but I needed more room. I’m painfully aware of all the choices I have made that are not perfect.”

    Just as with repairing items instead of replacing them, Paigen is a man who practices what he preaches. “When I look at someone else and they seem perhaps less perfect [in their care for the environment] than I am, it’s easy to judge. But who am I to judge? All of us could do better, and there has to be a way to reach out to people in a non-judgmental way.” One such way Osmium is giving back is through its membership in 1% For The Planet, a pledge which gives 1% of sales to deserving environmental organizations.

    The point is, like the clothing he designs, Mark Paigen is a distinct man with a distinct view. His and Osmium’s mission is to bring the local focus back to fashion. Green Lens feels in sync with Mark on his perspectives and his intentions; plus, we genuinely liked his style, too. And even if his products aren’t right for you, his philosophy is certainly something we can all strive to implement a little more.

    You can learn more about Mark and Osmium’s Made in the USA clothing line at his website, www.osmium.com.