Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School video students were excited when Sara Miura showed up last Thursday. Miura, the marketing arm of M. Miura Store, was on hand to announce that the CKMS video team would be working on Deja Vu’s holiday
Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School video students were excited when Sara Miura showed up last Thursday.
Miura, the marketing arm of M. Miura Store, was on hand to announce that the CKMS video team would be working on Deja Vu’s holiday and 2007 television ad campaigns.
Kevin Matsunaga, the CKMS video class instructor, had his students assembled so they could listen to Miura’s requirements for the 30-second television spot.
“Young people are very important to us,” Miura said, reiterating the theme in the Miura’s current spot produced by local videographer Bruce Smalling.
But Deja Vu is an inter-generational store, Miura said, offering something from infants to grandparents, surprising students who thought the store was only for young people.
Smalling’s techniques were analyzed by the class as they viewed the spot repeatedly, noting little techniques and other points that make up the commercial.
“I used to work there when I was younger,” Matsunaga told his class, adding a few more anecdotes the students could use in creating the new ad.
The students lost little time pouring out ideas for footage once the viewing was done. Much like the world of professional advertising, they were saddled with a looming deadline: Miura said the ad would air in time for the holiday shopping season, which starts in November, and carry through 2007.
One of the students offered her brother’s footage, noting he is a surfer. But the generosity opened up areas of discussion as Matsunaga talked about the need for clearances from sponsors and other legal obligations and ramifications that are otherwise unseen by the normal television viewer.
“Air time is expensive,” Matsunaga said. “We need to get as much as we can in 30 seconds.”
Additionally, he touched on the finer points of the retailer’s needs, one being the generous use of its logo almost throughout the footage.
As little fingers poked in bits of information into a Palm data manager, Matsunaga said the next step would be the students’ visit to the Deja Vu store in Kukui Grove to get a better idea of what camera angles and techniques would work.
Internally, Matsunaga told the students they would need to seek out a person who would do the voice-overs — someone who could speak clearly and get the message delivered within the 30-second time limit.
CKMS video students are no strangers to producing quality tapes — they have won numerous awards both in Hawai‘i and on the Mainland for their film work.
They have also been working with Kaua‘i film commissioner Art Umezu in documenting some of his events, as well as the county government’s programs.
