Following the success of their first single and video ‘Twist’ we were very pleased to be asked to make the 3rd video for sensational new duo Miss600.
The creative
The video needed to showcase a full band production and include scenarios that are mentioned in the lyrics. It was an exterior shoot in December and so we were limited to time because of the weather conditions. – Even though we rigged tarpaulin above the entire band and used continuous lighting there was always the worry of changing weather conditions that will affect the continuity. – Luckily everyone was willing to work flat out until we had worked our way through the storyboard of shots that we had created in pre production.
We knew that we wanted a very deliberate pace to the final edit and this was implemented during production by creating movement to the shots that matched the song.
In order to create the scenarios for the video and to make it stand out by adding a somewhat quirky element we decided to film Hannah, the lead singer, in front of a green screen, and then create an illustrated look to the image, an idea that we got from the brilliant opening credits to the film Juno. – By doing this is allowed us to create a look that contrasted with the black and white live action band shots and allows the viewer to concentrate on the performance.
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We were asked by a design agency to create a short promo video to show their clients range of cookers using only still images. This is what we created.
The pace of the edit needed to be fast and by using the images of the actors for the photo shoot we were able to create small personal moments within the video with the cooker as the backdrop, which helped emphasize the ‘life revolves around a rangemaster’ tagline at the end.
We have outlined some of the different types of services and productions that might help you when you are considering having a video made.
1. Promotional videos – These can be used to promote a company, product or service and are very effective as short (usually between 30seconds – 3 minutes) videos that sit on a web page, or a range of videos over different pages relating to the content. Also very good for exhibition stands and to give out at exhibitions, to integrate with youtube and social marketing, to promote an offer or new area of the business, to give a quick demonstration of a product.
2. Training videos – These can be very varied, from something with simple voice over and animation to filming a recreation of an event, to include interviews with people or animation, sometimes in part and other times fully animated. The main point with a training video is to get the companies message across in a way that is engaging, creative and relevant.
3. Live event filming – This could be a conference that wants a multi camera shoot and editing down to the individual speakers and a 2 minute highlight of the event to a live show, to an open day or product launch. We have the capabilities to run a feed from 1 camera to a TV screen and a converter to join up that screen to another one, which would mean that you could offer a live feed from the event to 2 screens. We also work with a company that has a full OB (outside broadcast) setup, which would mean that you could offer live streaming to an internet / TV channel, or up to 8 camera live edit that can be output to a screen.
4. Animation – This can be anything from CGI (computer generated animation), digital grading (manipulating the image in post production to give it a bespoke look), animating illustrations, logo animation, motion graphics or 3d modelling, and can be part of a filmed video to give it more visual presence or as your complete film.
5. Communication – This can be delivering an internal or external message to employees or clients, it could be used to deliver information, launch a campaign, give a notification or promotion or just as an update. The important point with a communication video is that it allows you to connect far better than an email or written document and it makes it more personal.
Just a short post today about using video production to promote your company, product or service.
Video can be used for virtually any company whether it be straightforward client testimonials, a 90 second promo, or a company overview. It can feature presenters, talking heads, motion graphics, animation, whatever is required to make your video stand out with original and creative content.
As a production company it is also important that we understand what you want to achieve from your video, who is the target audience, what do you want them to get from it, is there a call to action. Once we understand your company we are able to help advise you on the best way to structure your video to deliver the right message and develop creative ideas that are bespoke to your company.
We made our first feature film last year ‘Finding Fatima’ which was a drama documentary about the events in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. Once the film was made we then had the task of finding a distributor / distributors for it.
Here are some tips if you are looking to do the same.
1. Festivals – This can be a good way of introducing your film to a wide market that is full of people who are there to buy the rights to films. A few things that are worth considering are 1. decide on what festival you want to enter your film into, some have a disclaimer whereby you aren’t allowed to enter the film into any other festivals, they also have very strict guidelines with regards to entering the festival which is worth looking at before entering. Something else to look at is the type of film that you have made and which festivals would suit it. Is it a quirky indie film or a big budget looking blockbuster. There are a number of smaller festivals around the world which could also be good for your film and are often more tailored to the type of film that you have made. I should say that although these are often not the best places to find distributors, if you win awards or get critical acclaim it is a great way to help promote you film once you have a distributor, as you can add the ‘winner best ….’ title to your marketing, press release film cover.
2. Sending films to distributors – I’m going to take it for granted that you started a video production company that the film was made under, if you didn’t I would recommend creating one for sending screener copies of your film out to distributors. Now when you send the screener out one thing that I would recommend is to make it look good – If you can afford it have the DVD’s duplicated with labels on the disk in a DVD case with your proposed artwork on the cover. This way when the distributor receives the DVD they can see the exact product that they could acquire which will be a lot more exciting than a DVD in a plastic wallet with the film title scrawled on it. – When we sent the screener out we included a letter to each distributor, the DVD screener of the film and a CD-ROM that contained different pages linked, similar to a website, with the trailer on, short synopsis, film information (run length, main cast and crew, rights owned – 100% worldwide initially, and links to the films website.)
3. One thing that is important is to make sure that the film has a watermark (which can appear a few times during the playback) this just shows that it is a screener copy, I would also put a disclaimer at the beginning, explaining that it is a screener copy and not for re-sale etc..
4. Finding Distributors, when we were searching for distributors obviously the first thing that we did was go into Google and type ‘film distribution companies’. Which is fine and brings back a plethora of results. It is worth looking at films that are similar to yours and searching for their distributor, you can often get this from IMDB. There are also lists that you can buy and websites that contain external links to distributor websites. Once you have a full distributor list and you are ready to contact them, before you send your screener either phone or email the company and explain that you have just made a new film, include a short synopsis and links, and ask if you could have the name and address of the best person to send it too. – I would always recommend a phone call where you can and ask to speak to someone in new film acquisition.
5. Finally once you have a distributor interested in your film look at what they are offering, are they offering an advance and is that paid back out of your percentage or film revenue. Look at where your percentage comes from, is it from net or revenue, if net you need a breakdown of where the initial money will be spent and at what stage you will start receiving an income. Also speak to the distributor about what method they will take in the distribution of your film, cinema, local screenings, straight to DVD, will it be available for download or through film rental companies, will they eventually look for a TV deal. You will normally receive a different percentage for each of the above and these can be negotiated when signing the contract. Look at the territories that the distributor is offering, and if this would cause problems for other distributors – for example if they want all Portuguese speaking territories then this could stop you getting distribution in other countries, so offer them distribution rights for Portugal only, as there is one thing that you always want to be able to offer distributors and that is exclusivity for their proposed territory.
With Finding Fatima we now have distribution in N/America and Canada, UK and Ireland, exclusivity in Mexico and a sales agent in S/ America and France and Belgium. This is through 4 different distributors all on different deals and contracts.
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:
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.
Whether promoting a product, service or company video is an excellent way of doing this. We were asked to create a 30 second promo for Uniglobe travel that summarized what they do in a creative and visually exciting way, using the strap line ‘Around the corner around the globe’.
By using a combination of HD footage and animation this is what we came up with.
I don’t know about you but here at Dynomite Productions we dont particularly like the term ‘corporate video production’. It smacks of low end, cheesy videos that lack creativity and look dated.
What’s in a phrase?
Quite a lot actually. Corporate video has no definition, it is a broad phrase that covers a multitude of video production work, one company may require a number of different videos, for example, a promotional video, company overview, training video, viral ad, product launch internal communication etc and this is all classed under the corporate video name.
So, when looking for a video production company to create your next film, make sure that what you are getting is not just designed to deliver your message, but is done so in an engaging, original and creative way.
Presenters can be an excellent way to showcase and front your video. They are especially effective if the presenter is linked in some way to your product or company. For example we recently filmed a promotional video for a gallery in Stratford upon Avon and had Michael Portillo presenting the film, who is the chairman of the UK art Fund.
The reason that this was effective is that you have somebody who is talking directly to your audience, making it a more intimate experience for the viewer, as opposed to using a voice over. (Not that their is anything wrong with voice over, when used correctly).
Presenters allow you to add another layer to the video by bringing in their personality and, at times sense of humour, which allows you to tailor the script, in parts to suit them.
Having a representative of the company as a presenter can also work well, so long as they are comfortable and natural in front of the camera. If they aren’t then it is always worth looking at filming them as an interview, whereby you can plan questions and edit their answers with footage so that they supply the narrative to the film without the fear of looking down the camera lens.
Whatever type of video production work you are looking at undertaking it is always worth speaking with the production company, looking at examples of their work that are more specific to your video, and structuring the film in the pre production stage to ensure that you create an engaging and effective film that is targeted to your desired audience.
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.
