A perspective in partnering with a local non-profit as a production team.
Stepping With the Mission
Step one as a production team, is to get the step-by-step understanding of our partnered company’s daily operations, and where their sights are set for the long-term future. In this case it is our dear and local non-profit organization, Next Step West Michigan (NSWM). Their day-to-day ops range from teen and adult woodworking classes (separate courses), pre-apprenticeship carpentry training, construction, manufacturing, and city service clean up. They are not only taking foundational steps, but stride to raise the quality of life of our city Grand Rapids, Michigan at the roots, and our team VNTG. integrated with the blueprints of their mission: Hope Through Work. Here’s how.
Segmenting the Blueprint
Teen and Adult woodworking was not our linear beginning point of shoot days, but for the sequencing of this case we start here, at the point of raising individuals skills. NSWM opens the doors to those with growth-mindset, from the youth to the old, and not just opening the doors to the community, but measuring with them in their woodworking training. Laying the foundation with the basics of building a vision, paving the way for empowerment and opportunity.
With that being said, it was our goal with producing our portion of the blueprint via video and photo. We dove into the classroom / woodshop, getting to uncover the visual dialogue, so that we may bring awareness to the community. What we captured—well we recommend you just watch the videos on the website, but we digress—it was a full wood-workshop for students to gain skills and understanding of practice of technique and machinery. Accompanied by passionate teachers guiding students on the hands-on work, but also on vision design through CAD, and we were there to stem footage from the roots of the program. The great part about all of this was that the road doesn’t end in the classroom, the ascension keeps going.
Pre-apprenticeship carpentry training is the trajectory continued for the heart and minds yearning to grow on the crafty path. However this time, it’s the next level of practice and learning. Whether bringing skills from the shop or a new curious mind. The program teaches the student-hearted how to bring a house from start to finish through the sherpaship of the construction team. As the theme goes on, what we found through our viewfinders was a lively, and powerful group of trainees united with professionals to bring the collective dream to life. The building does not stop here.
Construction is where NSWM transcends non-profit and takes on a non-dual walk with the business, and personally I think the construction team kick’s ass. The videos will convey the story the best where my words may fail. If you haven’t caught the motif yet, the creation continues. What our team learned on our mission of production was, a construction of essentially a small village of houses for those in need, and constructed standard high quality houses. Not only constructing houses, but integrating their org vertically by manufacturing living space assets.
Manufacturing is another vein stemming from the roots of NSWM. Broadening the wings of capabilities integrated with its local community, taking the fundamental skills of woodworking to flight with precision. Like mentioned above, producing living space assets, by the hard and skilled working hands of their team. Bringing to its respected exposure, we found well-crafted woodwork. Cutting boards, bird houses, chairs, counters, tables, bed frames, cabinets, and more. The manufacturing team is the real deal, using their experience with C&C machinery, assembly, and smoothing the edges with their hands to bring forth quality craftsmanship.
At the end of our on-foot and in-air production road, we found it’s time for a clean up, but ironically it was actually at the beginning of our journey.City services go far beyond the surface of everyday life for most people. Getting down to the nitty-gritty of our stomping grounds, and simply cleaning it up in the most literal sense. Cleaning properties by de-trashing, lawncare, and trimming. Going to easily neglected public areas, cleaning up trash, de-contaminating, and providing safe space. No, not the most glamorous work, but at the end of the day, everyone needs a caring clean up, and so do our personal and communal environments.
Cutting, Compositing, and Refining
Working with the NSWM team was an inspiring journey for our team, and because we had diligently collaborated, we had collected our key segments for the blueprint we were tasked to initiate. The post-production process was similar to the body of this study and perspective in arrangement. Each edit was a sub-motif of the whole theme, each visual composition webbing together the collective heart of NSWM.
The collection we banded together were a total of 14 videos. 7 showcase videos, and 7 website header videos; the showcases we of teen woodworking, adult woodworking, pre-apprenticeship carpentry training, construction, manufacturing, city services (clean up), and a collective mold of what NSWM integrates within the Grand Rapids community. The header videos reflected the same pattern, but specifically designed for website optimization. If you are a Grand Rapids local we hope you check out Next Step West Michigan, our production with them, and consider spreading the awareness.
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