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The mission of the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission, a division of the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise, is to promote the Buffalo Niagara region in the development of film, video and multimedia production; act as liaison between local governments and communities with production entities; and to proportionally increase the economic impact of the industry throughout the region.
The Buffalo Niagara Film Commission issued a request for proposal outlining the required deliverables and scope of work for the newly formed Film Commission's web site. In response, Graphicon Services prepared a detailed project proposal to address the objectives and technical requirements. After several rounds of interviews, Graphicon Services was selected to develop the site for the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission.
The development process provided for appropriate levels of input from the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission on appearance, content structure and organization, while allowing Graphicon Services the freedom to develop the ideal web site "atmosphere." The process involved first brainstorming all marketing strategy and vision into a document called the Creative Brief. Graphicon Services then developed several potential web site layouts based on the Creative Brief (figures 1 and 2). These layouts were then taken to the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission for approval and feedback. It was through these feedback sessions and rough drafts that a final design concept was chosen, incorporating elements from alternate designs.
The project called for a complete Macromedia Flash picture gallery to display 50 initial location pictures, with the ability to scale to meet future additions (figure 3). By placing the images in Flash, Graphicon Services could make the experience more interactive and pull the visitor in. For older computers with Flash turned off, a regular web page with pictures was included.
The Film Commission also required a custom database application to be developed to allow web site visitors to search for crewmembers and support services companies (figure 4). Employees of the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission maintain the database from a password-protected area on their web site.
In addition to developing the layout & design, Graphicon Services helped develop the copy for the web site. This involved a continuous process of refining, questioning, and refining each page's content until it reached several web usability criteria. The Buffalo Niagara Film Commission provided the outlines & themes of the content and worked with Graphicon Services in tweaking the copy.
During the development phase, Graphicon Services adhered to strict quality assurance standards which it confirmed by having the web site officially tested to meet with three vital standards: W3C HTML 4.01, for web page coding; W3C CSS 2.0 for presentation coding; and Bobby 508 Approved for compatibility with Internet devices designed for peoples with disabilities. Additionally, Graphicon Services performed a comprehensive assessment to verify that the site complied with rigorous internal quality standards. These standards ranged from grammar & spelling to verifying all page & email links.
Now the web site is delivering up-to-date news & events, commonly requested document forms for download and communicating a professional image to the public that is aiding in strengthening Buffalo Niagara's national presence.
Feedback on the site has been great - and to quote Mark Stricklin, Film Commissioner, "In the fast paced, media-savvy production world that we are a part of, we needed a web design team that could meet all our specific expectations as well as provide a film-friendly product. Graphicon Services delivered the creative, technical, and organizational solutions we desired...plus, a whole lot more."
Visit: http://www.filmbuffaloniagara.org/ to check out the site!
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