PRE-PRODUCTION / PLANNING & QUOTING
- It's all about planning and preparation. The first stage will normally involve me visiting the site that will be filmed to determine exactly what you need, who and what will be filmed, who the target audience is and how you might wish to use the video(s). The visit will also help us decide the best locations to record audio as well as shots of the business in action. If needed, some of this can be done via video conferencing if desired and any site visits will be done by following all your visitor safety guidelines.
- What kind of video do you need? We produce video for a wide range of uses: Corporate, Advertising, Promotional, Social Media, Testimonial, Training, Case Study, Product Demonstration and more. Whatever you need, we can usually create it with you.
- Where will we film? The best place for the interview recording is a reasonably sized room, or at least any relatively quiet non-cramped environment. Noisy air conditioning or heaters will need to be turned off (if possible) during the actual interview as our microphones pick up everything. For the cut-away shots we will film wherever you would like at your business location to show off your business environment/activities, e.g. office, factory, workshop, depot, shop etc. Obviously, it should look relatively tidy on the day of filming. Again, we'll usually have selected the main locations during the planning stage where we'll have done a brief walk round with you.
- Will my other employees appear in the video? Generally yes, if you want, e.g. whilst they are in their workplace doing what they do (as that will make the film much more interesting to watch). You will need to ask everyone who is likely to be involved/in shot beforehand that they are happy about appearing in the business promo film. Sometimes people really don’t want to (and that needs to be respected) whilst others can’t wait to get in front of the camera. Anything involving the general public is much more complex to set up/needs extreme care and we would need to discuss this beforehand.
- What should I wear? Whatever you feel most comfortable in. It’s best to avoid any highly textured, fine patterned fabrics - but with the high resolution sensors used on our modern digital cinema cameras this is rarely an issue these days. Be aware that we will probably ask you to wear a clip-on microphone (onto e.g. a lapel, collar or tie) which has a thin lead and connects to a small radio transmitter unit (attaches to a belt or goes in a pocket). You'll most likely also have another very high quality microphone on a boom stand close to you too. We will use several lights, although bright these modern LED units throw out very little heat - gone are the days of cooking the talent under tungsten lights!
- Should I prepare a speech? It’s up to you - but generally no! Of course, think about some of the things you’ll wish to convey about your business when you talk but most people find it very difficult to deliver even a short a paragraph to camera word perfect. Most of the time, what we find works best is a relaxed, sit down TV news interview type scenario where I will ask open ended questions about your business and what makes it special. We may well go over the main points several times and I'll use the best take during the edit. These selected sound bites (i.e. where you make some great points in a relaxed manner) will be used, often with cut-away shots showing your business activities to strengthen the point. For example, if you talk about the highly skilled workforce you employ then I might be showing them on-screen as you say that particular line. For some types of videos, you talking directly to camera is best. This could be to deliver a very carefully crafted script that we've helped you create. Again, you can relax as the way we film and edit means you do not need to deliver this "word perfect" all in one go. As above, we'll work with you to film the best lines to camera, one by one. You'll have multiple chances to do each line and we'll simply use the very best take for each one when we do the magic in the edit. So relax! We'll discuss all these options for your particular video during the planning meeting.
- How long should the video be? A frequently asked question! I cover some aspects to consider in my Blog HERE.
- Can you film our factory from up high? I do a lot of filming for big companies within their factories from mobile platforms ("Cherry Pickers") - so if you have access to one of these and an operative that's all perfectly possible. If you want drone footage of the factory (inside is possible - but only after some careful risk assessment procedures) or outside then this can be included. The occasional drone shot (if sparingly used) can add some "wow" moments. I use a highly experienced, fully licensed professional sub-contractor for filming drone shots when these are desired to ensure the very best quality and keen pricing - see HERE.
- Can you include still pictures we already have of X, Y and Z? Usually, as long as they are of reasonable quality.
- Can we have our logo, website address and contact details in the film? Yes of course. Send us a relatively high resolution JPEG of your logo (or PDF) – we film in Full HD (1920 x 1080p) or often in the TV variant of 4K (UHD or QFHD, which is 3840 x 2160p resolution). Often we will "brand" the film using your logo in one corner and use your corporate colours and font for any on-screen text or watermark.
- Non-Disclosure Agreement required? No problem. I've been doing some video work on some very commercially sensitive projects for big multi-nationals for years and I'm well used working under NDAs - if required.
- Once we've established your specific needs I can quote. This is sometimes verbally at the end of our site visit and meeting and is then backed up on email with a short contract. Assuming you're happy, we can then proceed to the next stage and plan the FILMING.
