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video production Archives - Page 2 of 4 - S-Films

Sep 08
Love1

History of the Camera Part 2

By For the Crew, Uncategorized

History of the Camera Part 2 For part 1, click here.  The importance of this information is in giving you, the new camera production person, background into why things are the way that they are.  We discussed progressive film rate and interlace film rate in part 1. The 1990’s The call was out for quality.  For decades, the television signals and standards stayed exactly the same.  But technology was starting to improve and though the television industry resisted change, eventually it to caved.  Why did they resist?  They have millions of dollars invested in equipment.  You change to HD and all that expensive gear would become garage sale material. But eventually, the call for quality started to overcome the call for everything to stay the same.  Everyone agreed it would be called “High Definition” or HD, compared to Standard Definition…

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Sep 06
Love1

History of the Camera, Part 1

By Corporate Video Production, For the Crew, Tips/Techniques, Video Production

Intro to the Camera For incoming interns and new students of corporate film and video, we cover the basics of the camera and answer questions such as “what is progressive scanning?” and “what’s the difference between component and composite video?” and more. Brief History of the Camera Cameras were created in the 19th Century by utilizing glass to focus light onto a chemically treated surface.  As technology improved, glass got better and the chemically treated surfaces were improved.  By the early 20th Century, the cameras had become somewhat standardized.    Then motion picture cameras came along.  Same principle- but instead of taking one frame or picture, now a motor was created to speed the chemically treated surface (film) through the housing to enable taking many pictures each second.  This started by hand cranking the film through (resulting in variable speed– notice…

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Aug 30
Love2

Shooting Video at Tradeshows

By Corporate Video Production, Tips/Techniques, Uncategorized, Video Production

Video Tradeshows One of the calls we get a lot, is to see if we can shoot video at tradeshows.  Because companies and corporations drop a serious investment in tradeshows.  The cost of attending, with travel. The exhibitor fees.  And the booth construction.  With all this investment, businesses want to make sure the marketing pays off.  And that’s the bottom line: Sales. So video at the tradeshow extends the reach of that investment.  Whether video is used to grab the attention of potential customers walking by or used as a broadcaster on social media, video at the tradeshow can magnify the marketing and multiply the results. Tradeshow Video’s 4 Components Usually this has four components: Pre-shot and edited content to be displayed at tradeshow Video coverage of the tradeshow, both the booth and the tradeshow itself Interviews and testimonials with clients…

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Aug 28
Love3

The Corporate Video Documentary

By Corporate Video Production, Tips/Techniques, Video Production

The Corporate Video Documentary There are many different styles to use when crafting a corporate video.  Some might be news-style– a “reporter” or spokesperson talking directly to camera.  Others might be conceptual– recreating scenes out in the sales environment or such.  But out of all the video styles in use in corporate America, the documentary is probably the most common.  The Documentary Style This is the video that is interview driven, what people call talking heads.  Some might view this style as boring or flat.  But it all depends on how you approach it. The talking head, documentary-style video can be highly effective.  There’s a reason it’s the most common style of corporate video out there. The Power of BRoll To make it more engaging, the key is to cover the interviews with footage about what they’re talking about.  This…

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Aug 21
Love3

Top 4 Tips for Freelancers in Video Production

By Corporate Video Production, For the Crew, Tips/Techniques, Video Production

The Top 4 things every Freelancer needs to know about Video Production History of the Freelancer The word freelancer comes from medieval times– when a fiefdom needed an extra lance or two for the defense of their city or for the attack on someone else’s city, the would hire an extra knight or two to bring their sword and lance along.  A “free lancer” did not belong to anyone or any fiefdom.  Today, a freelancer is usually not employed, but works job to job, gig to gig.  And they usually make more money for working less days than someone employed. And it’s easy to start a freelancing career in corporate video.  You can begin at the entry level– a production assistant.  And this goes all the way up to directors and producers.  How you set yourself apart will determine how…

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Jul 21
Love1

Hot Corporate Filming

By Uncategorized

Corporate filming in the summer!  And down here in Dallas, Texas, that means things are heating up this time of year.  For the corporate film set, this can have some major impact.  So in today’s blog, let’s talk about temperature and it’s effect on shooting industrial and corporate video. Hot Corporate Filming When shooting in a hot environment (July in Texas certainly qualifies), you can expect production to slow down.  If you’re shooting indoors, it’s not as big a deal.  But if you’re shoot is taking place outdoors, this can lead to a huge time delay.  With the heat, the crew starts to move slower.  People need more breaks.  When you schedule the shoot, make sure you allow for these delays. Logistically, try to avoid parking the base camp in unprotected hot areas.  Look for shade and areas that people can take…

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Jul 19
Love0

The Corporate Video Spokesperson

By Corporate Video Production, Seminars, Tips/Techniques, Video Production

The Corporate Video Spokesperson In corporate video, sometimes it’s beneficial to have a person talk directly to the audience.  They look right at the lens to tell the story.  This is called being a corporate video spokesperson.  In today’s article, we talk about the skills necessary for a spokesperson on camera for your corporate video.  In decades past, most people were unaccustomed to performing in front of the camera, looking directly at the camera.  But thanks to today’s selfie culture, there’s quite a few budding “spokespeople” at every company. The Non-Professional and the Professional Actor However, this article is not limited to just non-professional actors (company employees).  The professional actor can benefit from a review of proper tips and techniques of being a spokesperson.  The non-professional actor is one defined as working for the company, has not had acting lessons,…

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Jul 17
Love1

Video Production – What are Apple Boxes?

By Corporate Video Production, Info, Tips/Techniques, Video Production

Video Production Apple Boxes For you new to video production, or maybe you’re a corporate client on the set of a video being produced for you, you might hear the Cinematographer or someone else call for a “half apple.”  Well, he’s not asking for a previously bitten into piece of fruit.  Apple Boxes have been around in the movie and film business for almost a hundred years.  The history is a bit cloudy, but it’s reasonable to assume that early film crews saw a box sitting there and put it to good use.  And maybe it had some apples in it.  Or just looked like an apple box.  Either way, the term was adopted and stuck. Where Do You Find the Apple Boxes? Apple boxes are usually part of the grip equipment.  They are used for just about anything on…

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Jul 14
Love1
Shared Storage Review

Shared Storage Review Small Tree Titanium Z5

By Reviews, Tips/Techniques, Video Production

Here’s our shared storage review of the Small Tree Titanium Z5 portable system.  We are not quick to review products– too often, product reviews are written right after receiving the product new and before there’s been time to work through bugs and get the product up and running.  So we are writing this review of the Titanium Z5 (TZ5) after we dragged the box through a heavy duty 8 day, on-location conference where we had four computers plugged in.  An important note– looks like Small Tree has renamed this product to ZenStor.  But I’m not sure at time of this review. Our Need We are a video production company located in Dallas and Fort Worth.  We have clients who want us on site to video capture their events– conferences and seminars in many different cities.  Often, we need to edit onsite…

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Jul 12
Love0

5 Worst Actor Auditions

By Corporate Video Production, Seminars, Tips/Techniques, Video Production

Actor Auditions from the Director’s POV As a director, I have sat through some really powerful actor auditions.  And we’ve discussed important things to do when auditioning, whether for a feature film, corporate video or a commercial.  But today, I’m going to mention five things you should never do when auditioning.  I could play you some pretty incredible audition videos, but I don’t think I could ever get the talent releases. 5 Worst Actor Auditions Face Covered By Sides – I have one audition tape where the whole time, the actor is covering up.  I don’t know if it was his first time, but I hope so.  An egregious error like this from someone with any kind of training is a hope killer for new work. Trouble Reading – A real painful to watch audition, is the one where the…

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