Using stock video in your production.

We were commissioned recently to create a 30 second video for an exhibition and awards ceremony. The company already had a video that was on there site, and they wanted to incorporate certain elements of that video into the new one.

We created a concept for the new video which combined the existing video with new footage that we filmed against a green screen. The new footage was simply there to create a more interesting way of transitioning and moving between the different stock footage. The existing video contained stock footage which we had to re – purchase from a royalty free site, and then manipulate in post to fit in with the new footage that we had filmed. This is the result:

http://youtu.be/Zn4d4NMvnvI

The point of this is that stock footage can be used effectively, whether on its own or combined with new video footage, but there has to be a genuine reason to use it over filming something yourself.

1. Budget – If you want to create an animation that could take time and money, and this is beyond the budget, a solution may be to look at a royalty free site.

2. Location – If you need a shot of a busy street in (lets say) Japan and its one shot, then the majority of the time you will be able to find a stock example of this. Unless you have to show something specific and there is budget to do this, stock footage can often help you overcome this problem.

3. Historical events – We produced a documentary recently and used stock footage to show actual events, which worked very well, however, on our new documentary we are looking at ways of incorporating stock footage into re-enactment footage that will blend together by grading the stock footage and re-enactment footage to match up. This way the audience wont be aware of what is stock and what we filmed ourselves.

Although the above examples are useful ways of using stock, there is still one big problem with it; Its not original. It is still a generic video that you can see in any number of other productions and is not tailored or designed for any definite production.

Top reasons why exhibitors should use Video Production

If you are planning on exhibiting in the future and want a way to help draw potential customers to your stand, then video can be a very effective option.

So why use it?

1. The most obvious option is if you have a product or list of products that you want to promote and introduce to your customers. We recently created a video for a golf cart manufacturer. Obviously you cant demonstrate all that this can do in an exhibition hall so they used Dynomite Productions to create a 2 minute promo video that they can put on a TV screen on their stand that will play on a loop. The video showed a visual demonstration of the buggy being used, highlighting through HD footage and motion graphics the key selling points that they wanted to get across.

2. If you want to show your premises / process of manufacturing / equipment then a video can also be very useful. We created a video for a printing ink manufacturer to use on their exhibition stand. This allowed the sales team to give their customers a visual tour and demonstration of their facilities.

3. If you offer a service then video is a great way to demonstrate this. We are currently creating a 90 second promotional film to be used in a chain of shop windows that show a new type of waxing process. The video will encapsulate how the process works and the benefits of it.

4. The majority of videos used at exhibitions will not contain audio, as it is on a loop it could become distracting and frankly annoying very quickly. However, what this allows you to do is then add a voice over, presenter or talking head interviews that can then go on your website  on a CD-ROM / DVD to hand out to customers at the exhibitions or platforms such as youtube, which can be used to help generate new business.

If you are planning an exhibition and want to discuss how video can benefit you please call us on 0115 8292 999 or email via the form on the contact page.

To have a look at some of our commercial productions and videos that have been used on exhibition stands go to the Dynomite Productions Commercial productions page.