Midtown Athletic Club recently renovated and reopened their signature club in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. With this new renovation came the need to hire a slew of new energetic associates to staff the sports resort. To that end, Motion Source was hired to help achieve this goal through video.

Video is uniquely equipped to achieve this goal because it offers a better platform than just an email or a welcome letter from the CEO. The video introduces new hires to some of the friendly faces at Midtown and also showcases the sheer scope of the facility and the types of services the club provides. It was also important that the  video illustrate the company culture. This is perhaps an impossible task for a simple written message, but an achievable goal with the use of video.

Over the course of three production days, we were tasked with not only conducting multiple employee interviewees, but also capturing b-roll of the the vast facility. Because the Midtown operation is so very expansive and with so much content to pull in, we decided on an approach utilizing two teams working in close communication, but each focusing on a different aspect of the project.

The teams worked simultaneously: one team conducted and captured interviews in multiple setups per day; while simultaneously, the other team captured b-roll footage of the sprawling club. All the while, an on-site producer, floated between the two teams to make sure we didn't get in each others way!

BTS: Steadicam was used heavily to capture b-roll. Steadicam operator, Sam Ott, is pictured here flying a SonyFS7 system.

The facility is incredible, spanning over 575,000 square feet. Midtown has everything you could possible need to achieve your health goals. It’s more than just a health club, it’s a lifestyle. And the folks we meet in the video exude that lifestyle!

Check out the final full-length video “Welcome to Midtown” below: