I have traveled throughout the Midwest recounting remarkable stories about farmers, bankers, and how important both our to the growth of a small community. I always enjoy visiting these smaller banks and farmers, as well as experiencing small town life. Every time I visit a small town, I am so grateful to connect with all these open and friendly people. It is refreshing to see a community closely bonded, as well as open to “outsiders,” such as myself.
This past summer videographer Brian Shipman and I decided to create several multimedia stories about the small Midwestern town Ellinwood, Kansas. Every year, Ellinwood, has a 3-day celebration called the After Harvest Festival, and this is a wonderful opportunity to capture the community, their enthusiasm and pride.
We set out to create three stories. One about a local bank, another about the the people that love Ellinwood, and then one about the After Harvest Festival. Our goal was to capture the spirit of the town, and the people, that make the Ellinwood community so connected. We made several additional video pieces focusing on other aspects of the Ellinwood community as well. For example, one was a short television commercial for Community Bank of the Midwest, two longer videos about the festival and Ellinwood so the town can use them to promote themselves and their festival.
With the banking video, we wanted a mix of the banker and their customers talking about how wonderful the bank is in order to show how connected Community Bank of the Midwest is with their community. Our objective was to create a story that will engage the viewers, highlighting the bank from the community’s perspective as well as the bank’s connection with Ellinwood’s people.
The I Love Ellinwood video was set out to tell the story about the town and it’s people, with the festival being the primary focus. We wanted to capture the enthusiasm and pride that truly defines Ellinwood, Kansas.
With the After Harvest Festival video, we wanted to break the celebrations down into events, thus allowing the Chamber of Commerce to share with the public what this festival is made up of
Videos are also available on YouTube – Community Bank, Love Ellinwood, After Harvest.
What a wonderful series of stories…you feel like you know the community so well, almost like you were there experiencing the festival! Great narrative!
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