The camera development has been in a state of flux for the ten to fifteen years. For decades, it remained essentially the same. But now, not only new models of cameras are coming out, but radically different ways of capturing footage is being created. Depending on the type of film or video production, you might use totally different cameras. For instance, our films might call for a Red Epic, or a 35mm Arri 535, or even a Alexis. But for corporate video production, there are several different tools in the toolbox. So here are my top five cameras for use in corporate video productions. I don’t rank them in order because the different corporate or industrial video shoots require different technology. A hammer is great if you need to drive a nail, but if you’re turning a screw, doesn’t work…
I had a potential client call me to ask about producing an infomercial for her company. In my mind, I was picturing a peppy pitchman, showing off a product to a live audience, in a 30 minute format, ready to broadcast. What she meant, was a short, 2 to 3 minute web video… an “informative commercial” or infomercial. With the advent of YouTube and Vimeo, anyone can broadcast their story quite easily. No need to buy airtime, just click and upload. In ever increasing amount, we are being called upon to create this new breed of “infomercial” — the short web video. The most common request is for a “documentary” style. Interviews supported by “B-Roll.” But as marketing directors try to differentiate themselves, we do some more creative video and film formats. The “narrative” is like a mini-movie or feature…
Dallas / Fort Worth Aerial Photography & Aerial Video Production Services The 8 rotor helicopter can handle cameras up to 18 pounds, which makes it great for anything from a GoPro to DSLR’s to even a Red Epic. RC Helicopters and small high quality cameras have opened giant doors for getting shots that before only very expensive cranes could do. The advantage is that in the past, for aerials, you had to rent a real helicopter with an expensive gyro mount, that could cost well over $1000/hour and most of the time more expensive than that. And the manned helicopters usually can’t fly under 500 feet for safety considerations. The remote controlled helicopters are able to get those aerial shots in the sweet zone– 60 to 200 feet, where the dramatic sweeps make much more impact. In this YouTube video,…
Hollywood has movies. New York has television. For many years, Dallas has been known for national commercial spots, but also rising is the corporate and industrial video market. Being centrally located in the middle of the country, Dallas has proven over the last few decades to be ideal for major corporations to plant their headquarters. And corporations need videos: marketing videos, instructional videos, educational videos, commercials, and web videos. To be sure, Dallas also has a film and television market, but one of the fastest-growing sectors has been the corporate and industrial video industry. At Serendipitous Films, we have produced five feature films, and several TV shows, but our biggest growth has been in producing corporate and industrial videos. Our clients have come to enjoy our big production-value look, with affordable pricing. If your business, corporation, or industry needs…
I’m editing a series of videos for a Fortune 500 global company. They had crews from around the world shoot these. I’ve seen some really good stuff, and some not so good. So in today’s blog, here’s some problems to avoid. Shooting subject against a window might look good to your eye, but is a very tricky lighting situation. There can be a difference of 5 or more stops between the ambient light on your subject and what’s outside that window. So if you expose for the subject, the window is blown out. If you expose for the window, your subject is dark. With good lighting, you can get the exposure of your subject even with the outside exposure. With this big editing job, I had about ten interviews sent in against windows. One was lit nicely. Half weren’t lit…
