Hiring "Professionals"

What does it mean to hire a "professional"?

Would you trust the guy next door to re-wire your house because he owns a drill and pliers? I have a tool chest chock full of different gadgets from the typical hammer and screwdriver to a stud finder, laser level and chalk line..among many other things that I may have used once or twice (you're impressed, I know). Even though I may own an impressive array of tools, I can guarantee that you would NOT want me over your house to work on, well, anything.

While I am adept at certain tasks...say hanging a picture on the 2nd try, or even doing a passable job at framing a room, I would never presume to force my questionable skills as a handyman on anyone else because, while I've taken care of my share of in-home emergencies and small projects, I'm just not that good as a handyman. While I may get the job done, it takes me much (much) longer than it would if I hired a true professional because I am usually learning as I go (and the results are sometimes questionable at best).

As the owner of a video production company I am amazed when I get calls from other "professionals" (sometimes direct competitors!!) who sell themselves to clients as someone with skill yet they couldn't tell you the difference between a video codec and a video file (a question I get with some consistency). Sure they may have bought a camera that looks more impressive than your iPhone camera, and they probably bought the latest version of Final Cut Pro because it is affordable, but that doesn't make them "professional".

Clients will never know, nor do they need to know, about the back end of video production. To the client you shoot, you edit. Nowadays there are so many "flavors" of video, 1080i, 1080p, 60i, 30p, 24p, etc, etc. Then there are even more options to output, what resolution, codec, compression rate etc, etc. Do we want to make it for Blu-Ray and DVD? Broadcast? Honestly it used to be easier to be in this business 15 years ago when you had three choices VHS, Beta or this crazy new thing called a DVD. Any professional HAS to keep up with the ever changing standards and technology.

I am getting more and more calls from other "professionals" recently who seemingly have no knowledge about video aside from the basics; you shoot, you edit. We all know that video has become democratized in recent years with better cameras coming out at cheaper prices, (although the RED EPIC will still set you back 6 figures!) but, like my impressive collection of wrenches and sockets, having the tools doesn't mean you know how to use them...or even have all the right tools to do the job (I could write a book on that alone).

I am all for helping people and I am proud that people see me as someone with some knowledge about my chosen field, but this is knowledge that I have acquired over *gulp* 20 years of working in this business. Even with all that time in the industry, I know I am just scratching the surface in what can be learned. I follow people on Twitter and Facebook that I consider 'guru's' in the field, these guys blow me away with what they know and humble me with what I have yet to learn.

There is no shortage of people who own a camera and a laptop and will sell themselves as a professional. These same people have called me not only asking about some of the more technical back-end questions but they also ask about more straightforward topics as to what lights we own, or even how to light because they have landed a job where the client expects a certain level of quality and these people get a quick dose of reality when they realize they cannot deliver with a camera and laptop alone.

I love where video is going. There are so many more outlets and potential for clients to reach their target audience with their message. Quality is still king and I think will always separate the professional from the non-professional. If you are in the market for a video to be produced, do your research, make sure you are hiring a true professional. And if you need any work done on your house or car do NOT call me.

Thanks for Reading,

-Chris

http://www.take2vm.com

How much does a video cost?

It's a long-running joke in the video production industry as we get this question more often than you might think. A potential (or even long standing) client will call or see us at a business event and say something like, "I'd like to get a video produced...how much does it cost?"

There are so many variables that there is no easy way to answer that without having a discussion about the details of the video. It's akin to asking how much does it cost to build house. How big is the house? Is it a small ranch or a two story colonial? Do you want tile or linoleum? Carpet or hardwood?

In the video world we would need to determine if there are actors, locations, and props among other things. Are we writing a script or is it to be just a simple shoot of a CEO being interviewed? These details determine the size of the crew needed and thus the cost.

On the post-production side it's the same thing. How intense are the graphics? Are we creating animations? 3D? What's the final output...Blu-Ray? Web? DVD? Broadcast? a combination of all? You can see how the initial question "how much does a video cost?" is not an easy one to answer without at least some base knowledge of the project.

We realize at times that it is not always possible to have all the information for a video project at the onset and that's ok. What we try to do is get at least a general idea of the video and then we can determine production needs and give a pretty accurate estimate of costs based on that.

Like most things in business and in life, preparation and good information is key. When working with a video production company be sure to allow for at least a short discussion of the project at even a base level and further discussion can evolve from there.

For more information find us at www.take2vm.com

The Lost Art of the Site Survey

In the world of video production, in recent years especially, the term "pre-production" seems to be a term we are hearing less and less of, and that is unfortunate.

Not too long ago, just before the social media rage and instant....everything, clients would call, we would meet (sometimes multiple times) about a project and then we would schedule a...wait for it...site survey. A site survey would allow us to get to a location well before a shoot and allow us to scout out the location to plan out things like camera placement, lighting, cable runs, etc.

Those days seem long gone. It is very rare, especially among agency clients, that we are able to schedule a site survey. Without this critical planning, precious time is lost on location on the shoot day trying to figure out the best angle for the shot, lights, etc. Even simple things like "where is the nearest power outlet" can eat up time. Taking time on shoot day to figure these things out eats up time and money. And the net result is that we don't always have time to set up track and dolly for moving camera shots, or a jib arm for dramatic sweeps if we are losing time deciding where to put the camera. It seems in this new age we live in, there is scarce time to plan between that initial call and the actual shoot day. It's not uncommon to get a call on Tuesday afternoon for a shoot Wednesday morning.

While it's true that not every production can allow for a site survey, some things really just happen fast and you have to shoot ASAP, if it is at all possible talk with your video production company about the possibility of scouting out a location before the shoot. A little bit of planning will result in a better video and a happy client.

Using video in your company's social media marketing

The great thing about producing a video as a part of your company's marketing plan in the modern age is that there are so many venues for you to showcase your video.

Back when I started in this business (waaayyyyy back in 1994) there was one outlet for a corporate video. After spending thousands of dollars, you got to walk away with....yes a VHS tape. Not only was the quality questionable but you would then have to make copies of that low quality VHS tape to send to potential clients.

In 2009, along with a physical DVD or Blu-Ray, video consumers have so many more options. It's a given that any video that is produced for your company should be on your website. But have you also considered uploading to Youtube, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc.? It's a no-brainer to upload a video to each of these services. Doing this also increases your company's searchable footprint on search engines like Google and Yahoo. Not to mention the ease of pointing potential clients, or employees (for training videos) to a website. You get much more bang for your buck for your video dollar in 2009 then you ever did in 1994 with the potential of millions of fews today versus dozens then.

There is of course still a use for physical media such as DVD or Blu-Ray, and we get requests for duplications on a regular basis. A client recently requested a number of Blu-Ray discs of an HD project because they go to conventions all over the world and utilize HD monitors and really wanted to show off their video in the best possible way.

These options offer the corporate consumer the most possible options that work for their specific needs. We can of course still offer VHS....we'd have to dust off the old VCR's though.

How your company comes across on video

I recently sat down at a meeting with a large company that produces a high-end product. The company wants to produce a video that will showcase the quality of their product while giving the viewer a behind the scenes look at what goes into making it.

As a producer, my job is to learn as much about a company and what it does as I can to develop a message that will translate to an interesting and entertaining video production. When considering a video for your business, be it a marketing video, training video, or a commercial make sure you know what you want to say and how you want the business represented. Also don't just hire a video production company and let them freely come up with the script and what needs to be shot. A lot of video production companies out there will offer to come to your facility and shoot for 5 hours...ok then what? Shoot what? What about a script? Editing?

The main thing I try to get out of my clients is "what makes you different from your competition". Customers are more educated now then ever. With the internet they have access to unlimited information and can research products and read about people that actually use their product. Think about what makes you different, then work with your production company to make that come to life visually on the screen.

You know your business better than anyone you hire to produce a video. Take the time to talk to the producer at length about what it is you do and how you want it represented on the video. A good producer will have ideas as to how to shoot and will give you things to think about that you may have not considered.

The great thing about being a video producer is that I get to, for a little while, live the life of whatever company I am working for. I find this useful because nearly every business uses their own language to describe themselves, that language is not how your customers necessarily talk about you or describe you. A good video producer acts as a third party and will be able to give you another angle to consider when producing a video for your business.

chris AT take2visualmedia DOT COM

Know your video format

I recently was on a production where the client wanted the shoot to be in 4:3 (more on that later) letterbox format. Consumers have become familiar with letterbox of course from DVD's and commercials that have the black bars on the top and bottom of the frame. This gives a commercial a more cinematic look. Also as more people are purchasing wide-screen TV's the letterboxing has become more familiar.

The shoot went well, footage looked great. We got to the edit a few days later and the client was having second thoughts about the letterbox. "I'm not sure I like the black lines on the top and bottom of the screen" he said. I gently reminded him that we discussed this prior to the shoot and he decided he liked the look at that time. His comment "But I'm paying for the entire screen, I want to use the entire screen". Now, I should point out, that most productions go very smooth without a hitch. Then you get clients like this. He wanted the black bars off the screen and wanted full video. There are options for this but none of which were economically viable. We compromised and he ended up, against my recommendation, to fill the top AND bottom of the screen with too much text, it made a classy commercial look cheap in my opinion.

The lesson to learn here is know what you want going in. Most video productions at this point should be shot widescreen. What will happen is that viewers that have a widescreen (16:9) TV will see the image full on their TV's. People that still have the older TV's (4:3) will see the image squeezed down with the black bars at top and bottom. Without getting too technical, you see the black bars because the image is being compressed or "squeezed" onto the screen so that you can see the whole image that was shot, if the image wasn't squeezed down, the left and right sides would be cut off because the shot is wider (16:9) than an old style TV (4:3). Now what are these numbers? they are simply ratios 16:9 (or 16 by 9) is the screen ratio for a widescreen TV while 4:3 (or 4 by 3) is the ratio for a older style "square" screen TV.

Now this is totally different from the "SD" or "HD" options. The details could fill a book but will keep it simple here. SD stands for "Standard Definition" think old style TV's while HD stands for "High Definition" think all the new Widescreen TV's you see at Wal•Mart. I would highly suggest that your productions be shot in HD. In some markets this costs more than standard SD. In my opinion this is a marketing ploy that video companies do because jsut a few years ago it did cost a great deal more to produce video in HD. In our case we don't charge a premium for HD over SD, all productions have the same price point.

Here's the bottom line to keep in mind: If you shoot HD your video will look good on all TV's, old and new. If you shoot SD, your video will look great on a old style 4:3 TV but will not look as good on a new 16:9 widescreen. If you own a widescreen and you've noticed some programs or commercials go from widescreen to a smaller square picture and they don't look as sharp, it is because it was shot in the older SD format.

chris AT take2visualmedia DOT COM

What to consider when producing a video or commercial

The world of video and film production has changed dramatically over the last few years. As little as five years ago if you wanted a quality video production to market your company, musical band or product you would have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a professional video then many thousands more to get that video in front of people.

That's all changed now. With the advent of digital video cameras and non-linear editing on computers, the costs of producing a video have come down dramatically. And with sites like YouTube you can be available to every computer in the world in a matter of seconds (with the right linking of course). In my career of over 13 years in the video business I've seen a room full of equipment that cost near $250,000 be reduced down to a computer with specialized software at 1/10th the cost.

What you, as a customer, need to consider in this brave new world is the ultimate quality of your production. As stated, equipment is less expensive which is a double-edged sword. What we've witnessed in the industry is an influx of would-be video producers that can afford the equipment but don't have the experience to know what goes into a production. What you end up with is a low end video that most likely won't get your message across and thus cheapens your image.

A good video production starts with a good script.  If you have a bad script you can have Steven Spielberg directing the video and, though it will look fantastic, your message still won't get across . The script then must be translated to compelling images for the camera (via a talented director of photography who knows lighting and composition) which in turn must be stylized by a talented editor.

Along with the script and technical side, there are other things to consider; actors, voice over, music, props, locations....all of these things should be provided by a competent producer. Bottom line, as with any major purchase you make, do your homework. Ask questions. When a production company offers you their demo reel make sure you know what they did on that demo reel (shoot, light, edit, all of the above?). Make sure that you know what you are getting for the money. Good actors cost good money, ever see a local car commercial with good acting?

Get your thoughts on paper (or Word document), outline what points you want your video to make, then work with a good producer that can make that outline even better.  A well produced video or commercial, in tandem with a solid marketing plan, will get you noticed.