Julian Rajchel
Skills: Creative Leadership, Project Management, Content Strategy, Video Production, Communication, Directing, Filming 4K and HD content, Producing, Post-Production, Motion Graphics, Set Design, Photography and Audio Production.
Throughout my career in production, I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in some really fun and unique projects. I’ve served the following roles; Production Coordinator, Director, Producer, Editor, Motion Graphics Artist, Camera Operator, Set Designer and Audio mixer. Some projects I’ve worn all the hats, while others the roles have been less. Above is a compilation of some of those projects I’ve had a hand in.
Motion GFX Animation/Typography/Design
During my time at Amazon, I worked on the marketing team as a producer and video editor. I collaborated with many talented stakeholders from technical writers, UX designers, the art director, legal, audio engineers, and software developers to create a teaser to introduce, “Buy with Prime” to the world in April 2022. There were a handful of challenges to overcome for this to be created, which required creative thinking and design prototyping. First, we did not have a budget for this video. This required keeping everything in-house, including auditioning internal voiceover actors and actresses from Amazon’s volunteer voiceover community as well as partnering with internal audio engineers and providing both with a clear direction despite ambiguity throughout. The ambiguity was the second challenge, as the “site” that is being walked through in the video had not actually been created yet. Because of this, I needed to replicate the screens with the help of UX designers and an internal recorded video of how it should look. This required pixel perfect attention to detail. I then storyboarded and animated the video, working closely with branding to ensure all colors and text were on brand, despite the fact the brand was also still being finalized. This ended with an exciting promo video that was included in the original launch invitation, as seen on https://buywithprime.amazon.com/
Concept / Editing / Directing / Script Writing
The Video Process
As a new member of the Learning Experience team at the University of Washington, I was tasked with partnering with the Instructor Development team to create a video outlining the video process for instructors to set expectations on what all goes into creating a video with the media team.
I scripted and storyboarded this video and introduced the concept to the team, who were receptive and let me run with it! I partnered with the student worker who had created the initial “Process” illustrator file and broke that down into a 16:9 resolution that could be animating, isolating each part in the process to tell the story. The result was approved with little to no revisions and has proved to be a valuable piece for welcoming new instructors and setting expectations on the recording process.
Concept / Editing
Apollo House
A few years back at Apollo Education Group (AEG) our creative department was approached by our PR and brand strategy team to come up with a video concept to showcase for the upcoming Super Bowl in Arizona.
The goal: to create a short :60 video to be placed in a book invitation to all guests. Something high energy that would capture the excitement of Apollo Education Group’s involvement in the Super Bowl. I also produced and edited a series of videos highlighting AEG’s subsidiaries, which would be played throughout a restaurant the company had rented out in the heart of Super Bowl central in downtown Phoenix. I worked closely with this team, local artists, and the media team at University of Phoenix stadium over the duration of several months to gather footage; including a voiceover from Arizona Cardinals wide receiver, Larry Fitzgerald. I then licensed and mixed a high-energy sound bed and edited several pieces.
Concept/Director/Motion GFX
AEG Strategic Objectives, Whitepaper and Responsible Borrowing
(click on the right arrow on the thumbnail to see other videos)
While working at Apollo Education Group, our creative department was approached to create a videos ranging from ads to show at national events to internal strategic objectives for our staff to informational spots for students on responsible borrowing . I worked with our strategic and internal communications teams to script, conceptualize, commission and direct voice-over talent for many of these. I then animated them After Effects based on storyboards I had created. Time frames ranged anywhere from 1 1/2 weeks to a few months. The result is where we landed with three of those types of videos, each received with some nice praise.
Producer/Editor
:30 Spots
Here are a few :30 spots I’ve worked on. The first was to showcase a partnership between Cherylstyle (a lifestyle home and entertainment company headed by Cheryl Najafi) and grocery chain Fry’s food and drug. The aim was to personalize some of Fry’s products through Cheryl’s lens. I worked with the director on the concept, filming and edit you see here. The second spot is for The Epilepsy Foundation in an effort to reach future campers and obtain funding. I was given a hard drive with footage and edited and produced the piece you see there in conjunction to a larger, 3 1/2 minute piece shown at their annual fundraiser.
Producer/Editor
AEG History Campaign
During my role as Sr. Video Director/Producer at Apollo Education Group, I worked with our internal communications team to develop videos for their history campaign; which highlighted the rise of The University of Phoenix through its founder Dr. John Sperling. I pulled from hours of logged footage and graphics to create a series for each decade since the companies start in 1973. Each decade had anywhere from 7-12 videos no longer than 3 1/2 minutes in duration that unfolded the events from that particular time period in a documentary-style format. The above is the opening piece and accompanying graphics I conceptualized and animated along with the first video in the series, edited in Premiere Pro.
Concept/Director/Producer/Editor
The Foundation for Exceptional Kids: Camp Runamuk
A few years ago, my now wife was involved with a very special nonprofit organization that helped families with kids who have autism. Each year, this foundation puts on a camp inviting families to come and enjoy a camp experience in an environment specifically catered towards serving those with special needs. I accompanied her to their annual camp in 2014 and photographed stills, shot video and conducted a series of interviews in an effort to provide the camp with some footage and material to help spread the word and receive funding to help them. The following is what I captured and produced to help them showcase what they do and how to get involved.
Concept/Director/Producer/Editor
IT Recruitment
During my time at Apollo, I worked with our talent services and IT team to concept, shoot, and produce a short video highlighting the benefits of working for Apollo Education Group; specifically within the IT realm. The following is what we shot and acquired through existing footage on the campus. This project took about a week or two to film and a week and a half to edit. We had a lot of fun with this one!
Director/Producer/Editor
You’re So Invited Book Release
Several years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to accompany Cherylstyle CEO Cheryl Najafi on her national book tour and capture footage of her speaking and book signing parties across the east coast. We didn’t aim to produce a promotional piece with this, but I found myself with tons of footage and a new book that it only seemed natural to put something together highlighting her book. The following is what I produced after we got back from the eastern leg of the tour. I worked with our internal graphics team who provided the graphics you see in the video.