Before he ever set foot on a National Football League field, Kirk Cousins knew he needed to train his mind and body to handle the intense pressure of the quarterback position. When he was still the starting quarterback at Michigan State University, he turned to Neuropeak Pro for professional guidance and training. Ten years later, when he had just a couple of hours to help Neuropeak Pro, the company turned to Capture to breathe life into his story.
Neuropeak Pro is a leading mental performance training company for collegiate and professional athletes. The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company works with collegiate and professional athletes in numerous sports to optimize their performance through precision breathing, heart rate variability (HRV) and brain performance training.
Neuropeak Pro invented the NTEL BELT, a training device that helps unlock peak performance through better, more intentional breathing. The NTEL BELT is for everyone, from NFL Pro Bowl quarterbacks like Cousins to golfers who want to improve their game for the weekend league to employees who want to perform better and more consistently in stressful situations at work.
The first thing the company’s experts told Cousins was that he needed to take a breath. More specifically, Neuropeak Pro helped the quarterback master performance breathing so he could remain calm and focused under pressure. And for an NFL quarterback, the pressure is always coming, on and off the field.
The results are hard to argue.
The starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings is a three-time Pro Bowl selection who last year led his team to the greatest comeback in league history. He also was the 2023 selection for the Bart Starr Award, which recognizes “...the NFL player who best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community.”
Another thing about NFL quarterbacks is that, much like highly accomplished people in almost every profession, their time is precious.
Cousins was more than happy to work with Neuropeak Pro and Capture to create the testimonial-style videos the company wanted for advertisements and social media posts, but he only had two hours to spare.
One might think that would add a lot of pressure to the video shoot, but in as much as every client and every shoot is special to Capture, the Cousins shoot was just like any other.
Why? Because, as it is in professional sports, so it is in professional video: performance is in the preparation, and great teams trump individuals.
Regardless of who we’re filming – a happy customer, frontline worker, corporate executive or a celebrity like Cousins – we prepare the same way and go through the same processes.
We spent time thinking through the key messages we needed to convey and the various types of shots we wanted in terms of angles, styles, formats, platforms and purposes – and pulled together a quality crew to ensure everything would go smoothly. We showed up four hours before Cousins was scheduled to arrive and set up the primary interview and various scenes around the filming location to ensure everything was ready to go the moment Cousins stepped on the turf.
One thing that could have heightened the pressure a bit was that we only had one shot at it. If we didn’t get what Neuropeak Pro needed out of the two hours with Cousins, there wouldn’t be a second chance.
But when you think about it, the situation is the same whenever we conduct interviews and shoot B-roll with any of our client’s customers, regardless of how everyman or famous they might be. Our clients certainly do not want to go back to a customer after they’ve already given their time for a video shoot and ask them to do it all again. Not only would it be annoying to the customer, but it would be harmful to our client’s brand image.
With Capture, that’s not a concern.
In two hours we shot enough interview-style, tip-and-trick and B-roll to edit and create 20 videos with customized graphics for Neuropeak Pro advertisements and social media posts.
“Rob and his team do fantastic work.”
Neuropeak Pro Vice President of Performance Programs Nick Bolhuis said. “They are very thorough and professional, and the quality of their work is first class. Rob has a great eye for how the production should go, but is very collaborative and easy to work with. I would recommend him to anyone.”
In the Neuropeak Pro videos, Cousins says, “Precision breathing has helped me to unlock my best when the lights get brightest.”
Same goes for Capture. Any time we illuminate the bright lights for your corporate videos, even when there’s a time crunch, we give you our best, too.
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