Media Creation
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what might a 30 second video be worth? Video has a real impact at the moment with YouTube often the preferred way that people find out information. It is a great medium for introducing your product, service or mission on multiple platforms to a targeted audience and lead them to make a purchase or complete an action on your website.
1. Use an external microphone rather than one built into your device. Recording quality audio is essential and is challenging to clean up in post. You are aiming to pickup the sound your want and no more. In an interview, a lapel microphone is ideal. You want to minimise background sound - low frequencies from traffic or high frequencies from electrical appliances like fridges. Watch out for large spaces with hard surfaces as this will give you echo.
2. Lighting. After sound, lighting is the next most important aspect to get right. An overcast daylight is brilliant. If indoor, set up at least three lights (the key, fill and backlight).
3. Cameras. The minimum is one, but it is useful to have a secondary "B-Roll" camera to create an establishing shot.
4. A tripod. Unless you have a sophisticated body and lens stabilisation or a gimble you probably want your camera very still, on a tripod.
5. Professional editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut for colour grading, enhancing audio and for adding effects and titles.
If you're not ready to bring us in to shoot your next video, we can train you to shoot it yourself using mobile phones.
If you can see the value of creating marketing video for your organisation, the next step is identifying the type of video that will be most effective. Here's the top types of video.
The 30 second spot, named from booking a spot in a TV schedule break is the dominant form of marketing video. Whilst you're unlikely to be showing your video on prime-time TV, these videos can be used on YouTube or LinkedIn advertising or simply shared on social media. They need to grab people's attention, generate interest in your product or service, create desire or a positive reaction and tell people to act - what do to next. Out of all the list here, the production values (usually) need to be high.
A video explaining what your product or service does and why people should take notice. We often see this video as an animation with voice-over and backing track (too often an ukulele for some reason). It is important to match your brand, be authentic and accurate. These videos allow you to explain your business in simple to understand chunks.
Rather than explaining, show your product or service being used. It is a chance to go much deeper into how your product can be used and even how you compare to the competition. This video is useful for people who are further along in their buying process. If things are really complex, then make a video for each feature. This can be presented by your own team, but a positive review by an influencer will be more trusted and have a much larger audience.
We see this used a lot on shopping sites. Imagine choosing a toy for your nephew, watch a video of a child the same age playing with it and you are already picturing how your family member might have a similar experience. This is also known as social proof, where we copy the actions of others so that we may too have the same experience. In business to business marketing, this can often take the form of a case study where a customer discusses the experience of working with you and the impact your service made on their business.
This is perfect for your about us page. Everybody loves hearing what made you start your business and what are the struggles and victories along the way. It is the reason why shows like How I Built This with Guy Raz podcast are so popular. It is a great way to tell people about you. People love listening to stories and if we can get behind your mission, we will be more likely to support your brand, volunteer or become employees. This kind of video will often include cutaways to help visualise the story being told.
We have an interest in how things are made and the labour of love that is behind making a finished product. We want to know the secret behind the magic trick. A food photo is followed up by a video of how it was made, showing the lighting and cameras. Businesses can show inside their factories, employees can share their joys of their job and the value they bring.
An interview between two people from complementary businesses is a great way to chat about your industry, new products and how your customers are using them. Interviewing experts
Business to business customers
This may be less of a marketing video, but training for existing customers or for training your team.
Creating the right mood with lighting and music
Soft lighting is similar to what is seen outside on a overcast day. This can be achieved indoors by using overhead light with a large diffuser to scatter the light or a reflective material to bounce light towards the subject. We still want shadows to sculpt the face and create depth - this is achieved by increasing contrast slightly more on one side of the face.
Music greatly tells a story and stirs the emotions. How do you find licensed music that you have permission to use? How do you add a layer of meaning to the video without it feeling over produced or manipulative? Music genre is important and different types of video will naturally gravitate towards one type or another. Try to avoid cliches though - folksy explainer videos don't always have to have ukuleles playing in the background!
Your branding should always play some part of a video whether it is in the lower thirds text boxes which introduce a speaker and their company or a concluding animation containing your logo. Make sure the colours, typography and style all reflect your brand. Parasola use Premiere Pro to create motion graphics to enhance videos.
We have the capability to produce your next video, visit our products page to learn how affordable it is to work with us.
