Corporate Video production Guide

Everything Your Business Needs To Know About Making A Video

The Steps In How To Make A Corporate Video

The Video Production Process Made Simple --OR-- Everything Your Business Needs to Know About Video Production to Get Started

©2005-09 Andy Field www.MediaTraining1.com and
Alacer Video www.AlacerVideo.com

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Corporate Videos aren’t either. Anyone who’ve never produced a sales and marketing video often thinks: How hard can it be?

Many managers decide it’s time for a video and think – I can do it myself – Or hire Uncle Joe who videotaped Susie’s wedding.

Expensive mistake.

Others look for the lowest bidder production firm and expect a Hollywood quality production. Still others thinking, hey we’ve got a video camera. Thinking creating a “little corporate sales tape can’t be that difficult.” We’ve had clients who’ve tried that, often spend double what they’d paid if they did it right the first time.

The Three Phases of Video Production

(1) Pre-production: This is where good planning can save thousands of dollars. Pre-production includes choosing locations, talent, graphics, music, animation and creating a script. It is also the most important phase.
(2) Production: This is actually shooting the video. The video crew and producer travel to the selected locations and record your company’s video, narration, music as well as the creating any graphics or animation that helps tell your company’s story.
(3) Post-production: The “longer-than-you-think-it-takes” time in the edit room phase. Now is when the production team edits the video, mixes the audio and inserts titles and special effects. It’s where all elements come together to create a production that grabs your audience and keeps them glued to the screen

Before you begin
We recommend a company assign one person to “executive produce” the video. This person is the video production company’s main contact and approval manager – The “go to” leader who has the knowledge to insure the production team gets everything right, eases their way into every location, and has the power to approve each production phase.

PREPRODUCTION

Preliminary Budget Avoid video production services that offer a “one-price-fits-all” estimate: You’ve seen them –an invoice with as little detail as possible: “Your Company Video – $34,999.95. You are better off with professionals who explain exactly how you are investing your corporate video dollars. It’s better to understand the “real world” costs up front than to suffer sticker shock when the final bill arrives.

Many companies simply don’t realize what professional video costs to produce. There is a reason experienced, network quality directors of photography cost more and shoot video that looks lush and jumps off the screen. They know how to paint a scene with light. Their professional, broadcast quality cameras, lights, gobo’s, gels, screens and filters can take a plain bland office and make it look like Shangra-La -- They often transform tired, baggy eyed executives into Tom Cruise like stars. It ‘s what top corporations pay for…and it’s worth every penny.

Real World Budgeting A production company will outline an estimate that includes: The number of locations, travel time and tickets, production days, special effects, graphics, editing requirements, as well possible professional talent or narration. With all details in hand, producers can come very close to a final price. If the proposed project is very complex, requiring multiple locations, stand-by days and last minute travel, it may not be possible to submit a final budget until the actual script is complete. Some video production companies put a contingency fee in the final estimate. A contingency figure in the budget reflects the fact that even the most thoroughly pre-planned video production can fall prey to "Murphy's Law," with delays and problems that cannot be foreseen or controlled.

Scriptwriting Like blueprints for a homebuilder, or a CAT-scan for neurosurgeon, a detailed script helps insure a successful – on budget – production. Although it’s not brain surgery, video production is a highly skilled and detailed process. And without a carefully designed script, your project could cost far more than expected, and still not deliver a compelling message.

The script not only includes the talent's lines, it also plots all visuals (such as camera angles), and contains creative elements (like special effects) that will hold the audience's attention. The script is the master plan for the actual production work. Scriptwriting for video is different from other forms of writing. In video – less is more.

As opposed to an audiotape script, the video script message is carried through the visuals --not the words. And research studies have shown that people learn faster --and remember more of what they learned -- when the see rather than just hear the story.

Steps to developing a good script
A. Research: You can’t write what you don’t know! Collect all the information; interview your technical advisors, employees and customers. Discovery what’s essential to your video so you don’t waste times videotaping unnecessary details and boring your audience.
B. The Treatment: This is a condensed version of the script, describing, in a general way what will be seen and heard. It is written in paragraph rather then script format.
C. The Rough Script: Just as the name implies, the rough script is a draft, which will explain, in detail, the look and feel of the finished project.
D. The Shooting Script: Once all of the additions and/or revisions from the rough script have been approved, the result is the shooting script --and the production can begin!
E. The Final Script - Often you will discover better sound or find material you didn’t think about during the production shoot. The producer will re-work and re-write the script to accommodate the new, better material and conform it to the shooting script for the company’s approval.

PRODUCTION

Videotaping: Once the final script is approved, your production company will work help arrange the shooting schedule. Specific locations will need to be reserved, arrival times will be determined and needed resources will be set up. You may be surprised to see how much time is required to set up a and light a scene. A good production is the direct result of creativity and craftsmanship. Rushing the job will adversely affects the final results. Understanding this will help you bear with the video crew while they set up their equipment. They will also videotape a scene from several different angles.

POST PRODUCTION

Logging: During this first phase of the editing process all the videotapes will be logged (viewed and shots written down) and sound bites will be reviewed. After the tapes are logged, the next step is to create the video equivalent of a rough draft.

First Cut (Edit): By logging the videotapes your editor will be able to start on a first cut or rough-cut of the production. By transcribing the good video shots and listening to the sound bites, the editor can decide the video’s order and pacing in the rough-cut. Also during this first edit, the editor will start choosing any required music and graphics and make sure all copyrighted material is cleared or inform the company what license fees might be required (for music, stock video, etc) You will have the chance to approve the rough-cut edit of your production before the final edit. This could include several more rough edits that fine tune and polish the production.

Final Edit: After your rough-cut edit has been approved, it will serve as a guide to create your finished project. During this phase of editing is when final audio mixing, color correction of scenes, insertion of titles, graphics and animation, as well as special effects and transitions occur.

 Video production it's as simple as 1-2-3, pre-production production and post-production. It is a wonderful sales tool that can bring an extraordinary return on your investment. A corporate story told well on tape often reaps dividends for years to come.

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Production partners Andy Field and Alacer Video are standing by to do your companies next video- give them a call today. We would be happy to answer any questions you have about the video production process. e-mail us at AlacerVideo@aol.com
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© 2005-09 Andy Field and Alacer Video