Todd Corbett over at Xceluss Studios has a great 3 part series on corporate video prices and how to come up with a budget for your next project. I liked it so much as it lines up perfectly with our philosophy on the subject that I wanted to take what he has written and expand it even further. In his second article, he lists a whole bunch of questions the video producer would normally ask a potential client to help define both a scope and budget for a particular video project. The only thing missing? What questions should the client be asking the producer?
How do you know if he/she is treating you fairly? What can you expect? Will you be paying for a Spielberg-like project but get a home movie?
Trust is a big thing in any industry and in the Corporate Video world, it can mean the difference in overpaying by thousands for something you didn't want and getting exactly what you wanted for the price you agreed to. So how do you know if you can trust your video producer? Ask them these questions and see how they react. Remember, how they answer you is much more important than what their answer is. You'll see what I mean in the list of questions.
How many projects are you currently working on? How busy are you?
The busier the better! But how busy is busy? It depends on the type of production company you've contacted. Some higher end companies couldn't handle more than 1-3 a month as the work is so long and demanding, it wouldn't allow it. On the other hand, a smaller operation that focuses on projects only lasting a day or two should be able to handle much more, but keep in mind, the actual number they give you is far less important than how they react to the question. If you get the sense the production company has a lot of time on their hands, look out! This could mean they aren't that good and therefore not very busy. Most good production companies are always busy and may even give you the impression of blowing you off but don't be discouraged. They may not have a slot open for at least a month, but trust me! You'd rather wait on a good production company to work on your project that hire a bad production company and end up with poor results, often taking more time anyway!
Have you ever had problems on a project? How did you solve them?
The answer you might be looking for here, may be the wrong one. If your production company tells you they've never had a problem, find another company! The fact is, almost every project will have a problem arise at some point. It's the nature of the business. Actors come in late, cameras malfunction, the catering truck gets lost on the way (this one can really put a dent in a crew member's day). No matter how much one plans, something out of your control will happen. The key is having a production company that is not only creative in their craft, but just as creative in solving problems. Asking this question can also give you insight into what the personality of your producer is. Can he perform under pressure? Does he blame things on other people (the client)? Pay attention to how your producer answers this question - it could save a lot of headaches.
To save money, we'd like to write the script. Is this okay?
The answer you're looking for is "maybe". If the producer says yes right away, this is a big red flag! Most quality producers would never agree to a script they've never seen. This doesn't mean they wouldn't use it once they've had a chance to make sure it will communicate the message you want in a creative way and make adjustments to it if it doesn't. Good producers know what works and what doesn't. Also, the overall cost of having a script written for you is often far less costly (and time consuming) than what you may think. A professional script writer will add tremendous value to your project and should be used whenever possible!
These 3 questions aren't the only ones you should be asking your potential video producer, but they will go a long way in helping you determine if the conversation should even continue. Don't be afraid to make a decision based on your impression of a producer. You will be working closely with this person for a while and paying a little more for someone who plays nice is usually well worth it.
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This is a promotional piece for the wonderful speaker, Michelle Armstrong made from pre-existing footage (NTSC). Michelle wanted to freshen up her last promo video (made in 2006) by shortening it, giving it a more modern motion graphics treatment, making it more fast paced and tweaking the message of the video.
She loved the final outcome and we loved working with her. You can check out more of Michelle at MichelleSpeaks.com.
If you haven't seen the great movie Inception, go see it right now. No, really. Go see it now! Not only because of it's incredible story, amazing visual FX, stunning soundtrack and emotional landscapes, but also for the fact that this post may spoil some things...
That's right, SPOILER ALERT!
I want to talk about something that most people, when creating a corporate video, leave till the end of the process as if it were an afterthought, and it shows. The music. In the movie Inception, The characters are plunged down into dreams within dreams and are (most of the time) completely aware of the fact that they are sleeping. Despite being alert in the dream, the characters cannot wake themselves up from it. Someone on the outside of the dream needs to do that for them in the form of a "kick". In the film, a kick is simply something you would do to wake someone up. A slap on the face or pushing them off of a chair usually does the trick. As you can imagine, this type of scenario can get a bit confusing. Also, it would be difficult to synchronize when you would be woken up unless you had some type of signal. This problem is solved in the movie by use of musical cues. Simply put headphones on and time the kick to correspond with the end of the song. Simple, right?
Well for all of you who believe Leonardo DiCaprio's Character, Mr. Cobb is awake at the end of the film, check this out:
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You see? They used music to tell a story that most people would just overlook. The same can be done (or not done) in corporate videos. Sometimes individuals in my industry fail to remember that the best way to connect with the audience and capture their attention is to tell them a story. Music is an emotional connection with the soul, and we use it everyday to tell stories. We can convey all sorts of emotions and even garner specific reactions with the types of music we choose. It really isn't as simple as picking some generic "corporate" royalty free music track. So in your next corporate, training or sales video, make sure you let your producer or director know that you expect music to be a central part of your project.
When it comes to production value, you can't beat a good tracking shot, jib or crane move or just putting the whole camera on a glide-cam. It makes the job of the cinematographer so much easier. Dull setups and subjects suddenly pop out at you, lackluster lighting isn't quite so bad anymore and framing problems can all but be eliminated. So why don't all videos call for these types of camera moves? Besides the embedded emotional and psychological aspects each of these types of camera moves have taken on, there's one reason that's more practical but very important. If you are planning on distributing your video online, beware of the moving camera!
Although compression technologies have come a long way in the past few years (even months), most online streaming services like YouTube and others still have trouble dealing with a moving camera. To understand why, we must first look at how video compression works. Don't worry, I'll be gentle.
The way a video is compressed is pretty ingenious and I want to make clear that this is an incredibly oversimplified explanation of the process, but it will suffice for the non-video professional. In most videos, there are thirty different pictures per second that are displayed one after the other in order to give the illusion of the images "moving". Each of these pictures are called "frames". In uncompressed videos, each of these frames is an independent image. In compressed video, there are certain frames that appear every certain number of frames (usually 30) that are independent, but the frames between these "key frames" are completely dependent on whatever "keyframe" came before it. Here's another way to explain it:
Frame 1 is a full image
Frames 2-30 only have the parts of the image that are different than frame 1
Frame 31 is a full image
Frames 32-60 only have the parts of the image that are different than frame 31
And so on, and so on.
Because video is compressed like this, it makes it very difficult for videos made with moving cameras to look good when compressed at a high level like you would find on modt online streaming services.
If you've ever noticed the difference between how a DVD looks on yourTV when fast forwarding versus rewinding, this is caused by the same compression problem. When fast forwarding, the DVD player still reads all of the frames from the DVD in order. When rewinding, the DVD player sees frame 61 (a key frame) then 60, 59, 58...(frames based on key frame 31) then key frame 31. As long as the DVD player hasn't seen the keyframe for each individual frame, it cannot "draw" any of thos frames because it doesn't know what to base them off of.
So if you have a video made with a stationary camera of a person being interviewed against a wall, frame 1 would include the whole image but frames 2-30 would only include the person (or more accurately their mouth, hands or anything else that moved since frame 1) and just copy the wall, chair, lights, etc., from frame 1. If we shot that same scene with a moving camera, frame 1 would include everything in the shot, but so would frame 2, 3, 4, etc., because everything in the shot is now moving.
You can see how this type of shot can very quickly start to hinder a video compressor's ability to keep file sizes low yet keep images sharp. None of this means that you can't use a moving camera shot in your productions now and then, but just know that in the end, too much movement in a video meant to be streamed online, can come back to bite you. We at Factor 3 Productions usually have a rule of no more than 30-40% moving camera shots for a video that is going to be streamed online. For traditional DVDs, we suggest a limit of 60-70%. Of course we know rules were meant to be broken, and with the advent of H.264 compression standards and the constant evolution of technology, these rules will probably become extinct. Keep in mind those other reasons why we do and don't use moving cameras in productions (emotional and psychological) trust your production company to help you make these types of decisions and your video projects will be successful.
For more information on how moving camera shot can spice up your next video project, contact us today.
As most of us know, YouTube is still the king of online video. The sheer volume of videos, the affiliate programs, advertising, featured content and just the fact that if you're looking for the intro to The Hogan Family (or was it Valerie's Family?...), the first place you look is YouTube are certainly good reasons why the mammoth video sharing site deserves such acclaim. After all, any of us could sit, mindlessly clicking the related videos feed for hours being entertained by the multicolored moving pixels that make up the most recent incarnation of our love affair with watching all things moving.
But what about if your needs aren't being met? What if you don't really like being a small fish in a pond the size of the Atlantic? What if you absolutely dispise the constant negative comments from angst-ridden pre-teens with dirtier mouths than a longshore fisherman facing a perfect storm? What if quality is a bigger issue to you than the YouTube brand?
May I introduce Vimeo. What can I say? they had HD video capability months before Youtube, their quality blows the behemoth out of the water and the community is far more polite, professional and overall committed to the art, science and magic that is video. Also the layout is far less cluttered and isn't constantly having everything on the page compete for your attention. Of course, in terms of SEO and other web centric topics the black art "gurus" talk of, Vimeo is of course a little lacking. But when you look at the advantages, Vimeo is a winner in my book (you could probably already tell from the hosted videos on this site). Check them out and have fun looking at all of the great albums, groups and channels some people have created.
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