I belong to an excellent networking organization: LeTip, and am part of the West Orange County chapter. http://letipwoc.com/ or http://on.fb.me/1HzsLvm We meet every Thursday morning at 7:00 for breakfast and exchange of information about our businesses, and, of course tips (leads)! We currently have openings for business categories such as handyman, florist, dry cleaner, banker, and a few others. If you are in one of these categories and would like to grow your business, let me know, and come join us for breakfast!
Orange County Videography
All posts tagged Orange County Videography
Event Video has become standard for most conferences, seminars and workshops, and clients commonly opt for a highlights film or a recording of the presentations for on-demand viewing. In this blog I will address tips that will enable the best way to effectively—and efficiently—produce your event video for optimum results.
1. Think how you want to use the video
Will the video be an on-demand recording of the event? Will the client use the project to showcase their conference? Will it be used to recruit sponsors, delegates, presenters for next year? Is it a bit of everything?
These questions allow your videographer to ensure that the proper equipment is brought to the shoot. They will also be able to prioritize, for instance, to shoot and/or interview exhibitors before they pack up, often quite early in the day.
A good program brief for the video producer allows for capture of the footage that is relevant for all parties. Equally important is to decide on what doesn’t need to be filmed. For instance, if you decide that an entire session does not need to be recorded, the videographer can roam the location, capturing nice angles and audience shots, which will be more useful in a highlight film.
2. Provide your event video company with an agenda…PLEASE!
Having the final agenda as early as possible allows your video company to plan the day’s activities and to identify any points which might be tricky to capture. They will use the running order as a shoot list on the day.
3. Inform presenters and delegates that they will be filmed
Don’t “assume” on this one! Delegates may not want to appear in a film, however briefly and sometimes presenters might have copyrighted or confidential information which they will not want recorded and distributed. Let your production company know and they will make sure that these are not included in any recordings.
It’s also worth getting email acknowledgment — in advance — that the attendees and presenters are being filmed. If the 
finished product is going to be a highlight film, it might be worth telling speakers that their entire presentation will not be recorded and that any filming will only be for snippets in the finished film. This may help the presenters relax a bit when they see a camera in the room.
4. Schedule time for interviews and vox-pops
Interviews and vox-pops (shorter duration — 5 to 7 minutes — interviews or testimonials) often form the cornerstone of any event video and should not be an after-thought. For more formal interviews, give the interview subjects a time slot with a buffer for change-over
and possible over-runs, and a separate location should be considered. Make sure your videography team has time to get to where the interview recording is to take place and if lighting and mics have to be rigged, consider allowing for more crew to do this as your camera man might be busy filming sessions. If most interviews run over lunch time, make sure your film crew get fed as it’s often a long day, particularly if presentations are also recorded. If you use a “Single Person Crew” (or “SPC” for short), it is paramount to be aware of the timing and logistics of the overall program.
5. Lighting and Audio for Event Video
Often, the choice of venue for an event overlooks this important point. Although beautiful visually, many event venues have questionable lighting conditions—for video, which can be further exacerbated by large windows and even mirrors. Inconsistent lighting can wreak havoc with even the best video cameras!
Event audio can be just as challenging. “House sound” is difficult to control and the ability to “EQ” the sound is critical in capturing good audio, and most meeting rooms will not enable patching into the system for a direct feed into the camera(s).
Consulting with the venue’s event team, including their A/V tech beforehand can help generate ideas and solutions to produce an excellent event video. The best remedy is to think about video as part of the decision of what venue to select!
For more information and a chat about your next event video plans, please contact me at info@firstimpressionsvideo.com or call me at 714-979-3850
Video marketing is hardly new, but the last year has been bonkers. Courtesy of Google’s Video Ad Services, there has been an increase in video ads across social media networks — especially on Facebook and Instagram. One piece of research indicated that YouTube brand engagement was 20x greater than Facebook engagement. That is significant! Moreover, micro-video sites like Vine and Snapchat demonstrated just how creative marketers can be. To improve conversions, clever marketers began repurposing their blogs and other content into short, hard-hitting videos.
The results are clear: Video marketing translates to sales. According to a Brafton study, 44 percent of consumers said viewing a video encouraged them to convert, and Ice.com claims they saw a 400% increase in conversions when customers viewed video! Last year, six percent more marketers used video than social media, which is truly a testament to video’s popularity! Just this month, Google announced a new analytic tool that will tell advertisers if their videos have been viewed. By some estimates, 74 percent of all internet traffic will be video by 2017.
Got video?
Source attribution: Syndacast
Ahhh…Spring isn’t far away! In fact, we just shifted to Daylight Savings Time* this past weekend. And with Spring, it’s often time to freshen things up. When I started First Impressions Video, I used a graphic image as the company logo that was OK at the beginning, but in need of upgrading for better application in print, online, photos, wearing apparel, and, of course, video. With that in mind, I am pleased to introduce the new logo for First Impressions Video!
The designer provided me with three distinct looks and an additional set with fully transparent backgrounds to further extend the use into video and photography. I am pleased with his work and even my apparel embroiderer gave the new look a “thumbs up.”
I will be applying the new logo over the next few weeks, so watch for the change!
*Note: For my grammar conscious friends who would be quick to correct my reference to ‘daylight savings time,’ I have accepted the more commonly used term, though the proper spelling is to not use the second “s” in the word ‘savings.’
“Hey, Terry, I want to produce a [insert type here] video for my business…how long should it be?” Videos come in lots of “flavors, shapes and sizes,” and because of that, it’s probably best to answer a question with a question…or questions.
Below you can see an infographic that provides some norms, but they’re only that…norms. The aforementioned question(s) can help narrow the task down:
- What is the purpose of the video?
- Who is the target audience?
- Where will the finished video be shown? Online? In a convention hall? A boardroom? All of the above?
- What’s the budget (duuuuhhhhh!)?
- Is the information to be presented highly technical?
A key factor in play when contemplating any video is the “cultural ADD” that seems to affect us all these days. Statistics tell us that a video has about six seconds to grab the viewer, or they’re gone, so it has to be compelling, with a major point right up front. Once you’ve got ‘em, you can elaborate, but your video still can’t be long winded. Connect with your audience, get your point across and finish with a call to action—whatever it is you want the viewer to do next.
Be guided accordingly!
Source/attribution: One Productions, Dublin
This is an excellent question. I have reported in this blog—as have countless others—about the growing importance of video for businesses, but for the same reason companies use video to promote themselves, it can be a powerful medium in which you can present your talents, skills and capabilities.
Candidly, video resumes are not new…they’ve been around for a while. Many are hokey, some are just a “talking head” reading from a printed resume (or CV, in some other countries), but some are riveting and attention grabbing. Actors have show reels or “demos.” Films have trailers, so it’s not a foreign concept to present your “stuff.” And as a former human resources guy (old school, to boot), I’d find a resume video far more interesting than perusing a two or three page ‘dissertation.’ These days, it’s all about standing out. Many HR departments and recruiters (including “executive search” firms) use complex programs utilizing keyword search algorithms to sift through avalanches of paperwork, but a carefully crafted video might truly punch through the clutter and get you that in-person interview!
With that said, what’s the approach? What should this R.I.V. (Resume Introductory Video) contain? It should likely include a succinct overview of yourself detailing your skills and qualifications. An RIV should also be appropriate to the position and industry to which you’re applying. If you are applying for a job in any of the creative arts, an RIV may well be expected. This would include disciplines like PR, marketing and advertising, and sales would be an equally good business sector for an RIV.
One key factor in play for all video viewing: you have a very short time window in which to engage a viewer: you have about six seconds to grab a viewer, and the video must be compelling for its duration. Also, an RIV is not the place to wax poetic; it should be no longer than two minutes (think “teaser”).
But please, don’t do this on the cheap! Put your smartphone away and have someone with professional “chops” (and equipment) do this for you. You will want excellent cameras, audio and lighting or the resulting output won’t be taken seriously. Take a look at your favorite “talking head” commercials and ask yourself what draws you to them? That’s what you will want to replicate in your RIV!
If you Google “video resume,” you will get 185,000,000 results, so clearly people around the world are doing them. If you think you’re ready to create one for yourself, and it’s appropriate for your business, occupation or industry, give me a call. “Video Business Cards” are also becoming more common, as well, and First Impressions Video can help you with either – or both!
Best of luck in your next job search!
Drones are cool. A guy that’s in the local videographers’ network that I belong to owns one and he did a demo with his last year. I don’t own one yet and I now fear that with all the BONEHEADS out there that are just SCREWING IT UP FOR EVERYONE, I may never get that chance! I really want to thank the jackass that let his drone get away from him, only to crash on the White House grounds! Worse than that, because these things are affordable, my greater fear is that some jerkweasel will find a much more nefarious use of one of these things.
Shaking my head……….
…I have a question: Got video?
Let’s get something on the schedule this year!
~TRW
2014 was a great year for First Impressions Video and I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the clients that are also my friends. I value you and welcome the opportunity to serve in 2015.
Got video? Need video?
Warmest regards,
Terry
Producing good video is an exercise in mastering lots of “unknowns.” In my experience, the best way to tame the unknowns is to plan the project. And yes, if your budget is tight, this may be tough, but it’s still do-able. First, a “truth:” if you’re only going to spend $500 on a project that you know should cost $5,000, you should be prepared for an outcome that may disappoint. That said, there are things that can be done to conserve budget while keeping production values strong.
First determine your needs…your real needs! If you only have a thousand bucks to create that “Scorsese-looking” promo, and certainly before someone starts yelling “action,” make time for pre-production planning. Understand the plan, and then stick to it. Nothing will unravel a budget like indecision, which includes making lots of changes after production starts. That doesn’t mean being inflexible, but if the original commitment (and contract) was for a day of on-site production, stretching into another day on location should rightly require additional investment.
In my years in sales, marketing and advertising (before launching my video business) I probably heard the axiom “failure to plan is planning to fail” thousands of times. News flash: it’s still true! So there should be a reasonable amount of pre-production planning to determine equipment requirements, shooting location(s), shot list(s), participants (talent), and any other graphics, images and audio not captured during the shoot. The tighter the budget, the more precise the planning should be. Here’s another “truth:” I suck at storyboarding! My artistic talents are evident when looking through a viewfinder or out over a scene, but freehand art was something my dad passed on to my brother! Nevertheless, I can still map out a scene and stick figures will work! Armed with a map and a shot list, it’s almost—dare I say it—easy to work through the production and keep to the budget. Winging it will kill any project…no pro worth his or her salt would attempt it!
But here’s the good news: With a carefully laid out plan, you will know where there may be opportunities to experiment, flex a bit and have some fun! The finished product will reflect the effort of good planning and you will get the results you wanted for the money you spent.
Got video?
First Impressions Video 