The Ultimate Pre-Production Checklist for Your Videos

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If you’re not using video as part of your business’s marketing strategy, now is the time to start. Ninety percent of consumers say that video marketing helped to directly inform their purchase, and 95 percent of consumers retained information about a product or service that they gathered from a video. Yes, video marketing is a great tool for businesses that want to increase brand awareness and conversions. In order to see great results, though, you need to make sure you’re putting out high-quality videos. Keep in mind, too, that the process of making a great video starts before your filming date. Read on for a pre-production checklist that will help you make sure you’re ready to go on filming day! Define Your Objectives Before you start to fret about what you should wear on camera or where you should shoot…

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The Impact of Social Media Video Marketing

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YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, with almost two billion active users every month. B2B video marketing is also on the rise, as 75 percent of executives watch work-related videos every week. As a B2B business owner, you want to reach more decision-makers in your target demographic. You’re also looking to build connections that will establish your brand’s online reputation — and turn those impressions into conversions. Given its high ROI, video content deserves to be the cornerstone of your social media marketing strategy. But what is the impact of video marketing and how can you craft a well-planned strategy that will get you conversions? We’re going to show you four powerful reasons to invest in a smart social media video marketing strategy — and how you can make it work for you. 1. Video Marketing Is Great for SEO Is content king for SEO? Yes,…

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Going On Camera Corporate Video

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Lights, Camera, Relax! So you get that email or phone message.  You’re going On Camera Corporate Video!  You’ve been selected to speak for your company and the video crew is coming.  Maybe you’re the type that instantly faces rising blood pressure.  Nerves start setting in.   Here’s what can really help you.  First of all, relax.  No really, relax.  If you’re not used to being on camera, it literally puts a spotlight right on you.  You’ll be self-conscious. Try not to be.  But How Can I Relax? Go to a mirror and practice answering some questions while you watch yourself.  May sound silly, but it will help.  The more self-conscious you are, the more nervous you’ll be—it’s a vicious cycle.  The camera crew is there to capture you in the best way possible—no need to fear them; they’re hired by the corporation…

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Is Thumbtack Any Good?

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The Beginning of Thumbtack SFilms was one of the first companies on Thumbtack.  I remember this new startup listings/lead service app that looked interesting.  I signed us up as a vendor.  But as I looked at it, it seemed more focused on B2C– plumbers, electricians and such.  Even though we had an account, I never really used it. Then one day I was talking to another video professional in a different city and he told me he was getting a lot of leads through thumbtack.  I was puzzled– the only leads I seem to ever see were for people wanting a music video for $250.  He said that while yes, the majority of the bids were micro budget, by getting his foot in the door, he was able to find some good customers.  Okay, I decided, I’ll have to take…

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What is the Best Length for Your Marketing Video?

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What’s the Best Length for a Web & Social Media Marketing Video? “How long should my marketing video be?” Clients ask this a lot.  Some think their marketing video needs to be in the “ten to fifteen” minute range.  Others say five minutes.  A few think less than sixty seconds.  Typically, companies that are just getting into making marketing videos tend to think too long.  But what is the answer? Less is more? A good, general rule to follow is “the shorter the video, the better.” The quicker you can get to the core message of your video, the easier it is for your audience to digest and understand. For example: two minutes is a great place to start.  But before we enter that two minute dictate into our rulebook, there are variables, rules and types of marketing videos that…

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The Technique for Slating on a Corporate Video Production

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Today, our guest instructor is Alicia Pascual who provides tips and techniques for the proper way to slate.  For many that are trying to break in to filmmaking, especially in the camera department, this is must-have information.  Your first job on the set could very well be slating. It’s broken into two parts below.  Enjoy!  For more info from the SFilms165 lessons, click here.

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What to Wear on Camera

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What to Wear on Camera for your Corporate Video So you’re going to be on camera for your company’s video.  Most of the time an employee is on camera for their employer, it’s for an interview.  There are some simple guidelines to follow to make sure you know what to wear on camera.  If this is your first time to go on camera, check out this article.  To hear Kara talk about Hair and Makeup, click here. First, here’s what you can expect for the interview– the crew will come in and setup the lighting, camera and sound.  They might put a lavelier microphone on you, which might be as simple as just clipping it on, or it might be hidden under your clothing by a sound professional.  Setup will probably take longer than your actual interview. Clothing Style If…

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Using Hedge for File Management

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Hedge Software for File Management Hedge is a great tool for video production file management.  The biggest advantage is that the file transfer from your card to the harddrive is faster through Hedge versus file manager.  Because Hedge bypasses the bus on your computer.  It also is able to verify the transfer, whereas File Manager doesn’t do that. This short blog is to show you how to use the software.  For learning about file management, visit our other instructionals: The File Management Intro File Management for Small Crews File Management for Large Crews Step 1 To begin, open Hedge.  You will have the Connected Discs window, which shows you which hard drives you have connected.  Make sure your primary and secondary harddrives are connected and show up in the center.  Then connect the card you want to transfer.  It will…

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Taking the Video Studio On Location

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The Portable Video Studio This summer, we were fortunate enough to go shoot a commercial for Mattress Firm in San Diego.  We produced this spot through our partners Encore Live and Top Pup Media.  Stage Works in Fort Worth provided the sets.  We had a crew of about a dozen and used a very talented Mattress Firm employee as our actor.  Often, especially in commercial production, you have call to bring studio-like production value out onto location. The Scope We needed to do a live comparison video, showing a new Mattress Firm offering opposite a leading industry mattress.  The turn around was the extremely difficult factor in this spot.  From the two days we shot this, the first draft needed to be completed by the evening of the second day of shooting and the final had to be sent to…

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File Management for Large Video Production Crews

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Large Video Production Crew File Management We started this SFilms165 series on File Management for video production crews to do our part to stamp out horror stories of lost/missing footage from the video and film sets.  Yes, it’s happened to us.  In several different ways with different results.  Make sure you watch/read the Intro to File Management before watching this one.  Also, you can read Small Crew File Management here.   The Large Video Production Crews First let’s define large crew: Greater than 4 crew people.  This is a set that has many moving pieces and many crew people doing very specific tasked jobs.  In corporate video, it’s a little more rare to see large crews, but in commercial production, feature film making, and television, you can very easily have large crews.  Commercials can have 30 or more depending on…

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