20 Days... 38,000 Miles!

With cameras and equipment in tow, Greg Marten, head of the Silver Oaks Video Department, and his entourage recently had the opportunity to travel around the globe, documenting Alcoa facilities actively making use of the Alcoa Business Systems (ABS). Alcoa has been a valued client of Silver Oaks for many years, entrusting our team with comprehensive projects, including productions like this one, which uses animation techniques in combination with high-definition video to create a dynamic communications presentation for their employees.

Budapest, Hungary:

Departing from Chicago, the trip took off without much of a hitch, although a minor reshuffling of luggage was necessary to comply with the airline's weight restrictions. Not surprising, given the amount of equipment Greg was charged with wrangling for this project. In addition to suitcases packed for a 20-day tour around the globe, some of the items checked and carried on included the ever-important HD camera, lights, microphones, and numerous cords and power converters to keep it all running in various countries.

Traveling eight hours to Germany with one transfer in Frankfurt for a short flight to Budapest, Greg arrived early the following day to begin documenting how workers at the Alcoa-Köfém location employ the ABS stability tools. Through multiple interviews and footage shot throughout the plant, Greg captured how ABS is used in an international setting to conduct day-to-day business operations.

Belaya Kalitva (BK) & Samara, Russia:

After five days in Hungary, Greg hopped another plane, this time for a relatively short three-hour journey to Belaya Kalitva, Russia or, as the locals call it, BK. A majority of the Russian working class lives in multi-story concrete apartment buildings, which appear to have been built in the late '50s or early '60s. It appears that many of these buildings have not seen any maintenance since they were built, so for Greg, visiting Russia was like stepping back in time.

The most rigorous portion of the trip, however, came four days later when, after shooting all day in BK, Greg and his entourage boarded a 7:00 p.m. flight to Samara for another full day of shooting. Arriving at 5:30 a.m. the following day, they drove an hour to their hotel, where they quickly ate breakfast and caught a taxi to the next plant location. Unfortunately, here they found the plant spread out like a college campus, with only manual labor available to help them transport equipment.

Sydney, Australia:

Greg made his final stop on the trip with a certain level of excitement due to the similarities he found between Sydney and home, comparing the city to an LA suburb, full of buildings and people lining the streets. One difference he noted while shooting in the plant, however, was that no bottled water or other beverage containers were allowed outside of designated rest and office areas. “ For safety reasons,” he was told.

Greg also came to discover another drink-related anomaly - Fosters is NOT, in fact, Australian for beer. And although lessons like these added new dimensions to his travels, after 20 days abroad, Greg was ready to head home. Flying from Sydney to LA and back to Chicago, he arrived with equipment still in tow, but this time carrying a new understanding of Alcoa's worldwide impact and an experience to remember.