Capture Video was once again excited to work with the Public Risk Manager’s Association (PRIMA) on their annual PRIMY Award’s video. This is our fourth year producing the Public Risk Manager of the Year Award video.
Congratulations to this year’s winner, Tony Harris. Here is the video we produced that was recently shown at PRIMA’s annual conference and award’s program.
Including video in a a live program has a lot of great benefits. First of all, it’s the best way to take the audience with you, outside of the room. In other words, if you want to show your audience anything that isn’t right there in the room with you, a video can do that for you. Read the rest of this entry »
Video is very different from print. That seems like an obvious comment, but when you’re transitioning from your traditional print media to video, your marketing department is going to need a whole new skill set.
Writing marketing copy is a matter of assembling the important points, putting them in a good example, and arranging the examples in a logical progression. That isn’t going to transition clearly to a video. A good video needs to tell a story. Not just a logical progression but a beginning, a middle, and an end that sums up your points without being obvious. Information needs to be gotten across quickly because motion pictures are fast.
The biggest challenge is to strike the right balance between voice and video, or between ‘telling’ and ‘showing’. What can be implied through dramatization and what needs to be explicitly stated in the audio or highlighted through text?
This Capture Video production shows a mix of text, voice over and video.
Text is paced by the reading speed of the audience and by the concentration of details per segment. How much information can you pack in to 10 seconds of video? How many pages or paragraphs does that translate into? Did you know that if it takes the average reader 10 seconds to read your title, then it should remain on the screen for 15 seconds?
When it’s time to take your marketing to the next level for use in social media, your website, and for demonstrations of all kinds, make sure you have access to the skills and experience it takes to make your video really work.
Have you ever watched a video and been completely distracted by the appearance of the actors? Or wondered why one person seems to be wavering when everyone else looks fine? That’s because the camera can’t balance things as well as our eyes. Here are some suggestions for dressing in ways to work with the camera, instead of against it.
Don’t wear:
High contrast outfits. Black and white is the most obvious, but also not dark blue and white or anything similar. The camera just doesn’t handle the extreme range very well and it can make the finished product look odd. Really fine lines and patterns also don’t pick up well.
Instead:
Choose colors and use color blocking, meaning one solid on the top and a solid on the bottom. Or choose big florals, thick stripes, or even plaid.
Don’t wear:
A short skirt if you’re going to be seated for your interview. A chair compresses your body and can make you look wider. Bare legs enhance that effect and contrasted with the color of a skirt can make you look blocky.
Instead:
Wear slacks if you’re going to be seated. Or choose a longer skirt that will cover your legs. If you must be seated, a high stool can give you a less squat look, or you can ask the camera person to frame out your legs, if that’s possible.
This video Capture Video produced for the ICF has some great clothing examples. The subjects are also seated, but framed for upper body only. Read the rest of this entry »
And by magic, I mean where we take a bunch of disconnected shots of completely unrelated people with little or no experience and make a video that is coherent, compelling, and makes sense. Something you can be proud and excited to share with your sponsors, employees, or target demographic.
Will there be graphics? Those are magic too. Building a graphic that will enhance the live action, without jarring your audience takes practice, and time. How about animation? That’s definitely magic. It takes a great deal longer than you’d think to create great animation that builds on your professional story and adds to it, instead of making your whole presentation look like it should be for first graders. Pixar has taken animation to a whole new level and they make it look easy. You have to be that good to make it look that easy, because it really isn’t.
The magic is also happening when your experienced videographer catches that gaff, that mistake, that ‘oh dear did he really say that’ comment that really and truly should not be put out for public consumption. Having someone with lots of experience, who understands public opinion and marketing, on the job in the editing room can save you a lot of money by avoiding post-production clean ups. Not to mention avoiding embarrassment.
Did he really say that? No one will ever know.
Here’s a video that took us two days to shoot, several days to edit, and a little time to work in that extra video magic.
Capture Video expresses your brand and supports your goals. Our video services cover every aspect of new media production, from concept to final cut on DVD, Blu-Ray or the Web.
We provide video productions services for Northern Virginia and the entire DC Metro area.
The first type is to simply tape a training session in progress. Your trainer doing what they always do, with or without an audience. These are generally straightforward and they are already scripted. Your trainer already has her presentation created and perfected, that’s her script. The camera won’t really change how the training proceeds.
The second type is when you want or need to show something more to get your point across. This can sometimes be in the form of graphics, B-Roll footage, or dramatization. Graphics can include text or 2D or 3D animations. B-Roll can be showing footage of what your trainer is discussing as it happens in a live situation, or equipment being assembled, and a dramatization is often showing situations, sometimes with professional actors, that the person being educated may find himself in – and how to handle that situation or how not to handle that situation.
You’re ready to put together a concept video to convince your board to approve a new project, or a promo video for a new service you are launching, or a training video for new hires. You know you need to hire a video company, but what else do you need to know in order to plan your video production?
Pre-production is when you take a general idea and build it into a plan, complete with scripts, outlines, and schedules. What are you really hoping to achieve with this project? This part of the planning process is very helpful for setting proper expectations for the production process. It also makes certain that the plans that are developed will deliver the product you truly need, not something that was ‘recommended’ from outside, or higher up.
Where will your video take place? If it’s in your own offices, do the people who usually use the space need to be reassigned? If it is off site, does your proposed location need permits before you can shoot there? How many people will we be videotaping? How many of those could be taped concurrently to free up the space more quickly? How many cameras and how much other equipment will get the job done most efficiently? What is your budget? How does that money need to be allocated to get you the best result?
In order to save on costs, clients often want to skip pre-production planning. They prefer to either handle it themselves or let the chips fall where they may. Having a professional video producer walk you through possible outcomes, possible schedules, possible alternatives can, in the long run, save you time and money. Spending just a few hours in the pre-production planning process may increase your ROI and create a product that better meets your original objective.
Capture Video offers pre-production services such as concept development, script writing, casting, location scouting and scheduling.
I’m glad that the fad for requesting a ‘viral’ video is passing. In theory, all you have to do is create a good video, put it online, and then people will spread it for you. It would be like free marketing, and who doesn’t want that?
It isn’t quite that easy. The number one thing to know about viral videos is that what people will find amusing enough to spread virally is very random. Take a look at any three current high traffic ‘viral’ videos and you’ll find that if you wrote the idea down on paper you wouldn’t see whatever it is that the millions of viewers found worth spreading.
What doesn’t work is a little more clear. Sale pitches don’t work. If it says anything explicit about your company, it probably won’t go viral. People are very wary of anything that looks like free advertising unless you have a really spectacular gimmick. There have been some very successful videos sponsored by big powerful companies, but the sponsorship is something you don’t even see until the end. If your sponsorship is an afterthought at the end, how effective will it be for your marketing? Read the rest of this entry »
Did you know that YouTube is the second most popular search engine after Google? That means not only are people going there to watch cute cat videos, people are going there to find information and learn.
Did you also know that Google owns YouTube? They have a complicated marriage where YouTube talks to Google, but Google doesn’t really affect YouTube. So having an active page and presence on YouTube can strongly affect your Google ranking. How important is search engine optimization (SEO) to your business marketing strategy? If it is a major concern, then YouTube is an opportunity to both share your message and make sure your customers can find it. Read the rest of this entry »
If you’ve been blogging for a while, it can be easy to get stuck in a rut and develop writer’s block. Coming up with new topics all the time – that is hard! To jump-start your creative juices, I’ve put on my thinking cap and done some research to present you with new ideas. Here is the first of two blog posts that will help reinvigorate your blog:
1. Designate days or weeks for certain topics
Depending on how often you blog, you could choose a specific subject for each day of the week, or, if you blog once a week, each week of the month.By giving yourself more structure around topics, it might be easier to come up with blog posts ideas.
2. Let Google Analytics be your guide
Look at the traffic on your website to see what pages web visitors are not only visiting, but spending the most time on, and write blog posts based on your findings.
The following is a blog by Kate Tallent, of KTD Creative.
Have you ever had a run-in with Godzilla? This has happened to me on occasion. Recently I was meeting with a client, asking questions that would form the basis for a new web site design. An hour into the discussion the client stated that the questions seemed tedious and that he did not know why his project would entail so much research and preparation for what was merely a “site refreshment.”
I replied that he had contracted my firm to produce a new site, not a “refreshment,” at which point the client became Godzilla. He roared. He got angry. According to Wikipedia, “the most notable of Godzilla’s … abilities is his atomic breath: a powerful heat ray of fire from his mouth.” Cue special effects. I was feeling the heat ray. Ouch.
Frustrated, Godzilla jumped up and ran to his computer, where he tried to find emails about a “web site refreshment.” Instead he found a proposal, contract and questionnaires his staff had completed that were used to form a creative brief — also among the emails.
illustration by Val Bochkov
The paper trail was there. Godzilla backed down. Returned to his human form, the client and I resumed a discussion about the new site. We reviewed the creative brief together.
I should mention that I like this smart, committed client a great deal. But he juggles many projects and manages a large staff. The afternoon of the meeting, he was having a terrible day. Having them myself, I can relate. But the paper trail saved designer face. Had I not had the creative brief, as well as the contract and proposal, this busy CEO might have dismissed my firm. As it was, he and I reviewed the creative brief, and he added items for consideration. The project could get started.
The creative brief has that power. It ensures that you and the client are on the same page — and therefore stops any Godzilla eruptions in their tracks. So what is a creative brief, and why do you need one after you have the necessary proposal and contract?
