VIDEO FOR BUSINESS 1 HOW TO COMMISSION A VIDEO by Val Whitter Copyright V.J.Whitter 2011 Smashwords Edition Cover design by E.W.Whitter Smashwords Edition, License Notes Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided the book stays in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com, to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support. Table of Contents. Chapter 1 - Why this is the Book for you. Chapter 2 - Why Video for Marketing? Chapter 3 - Advantages of Commissioning Professional Video. Chapter 4 - Tips on Preparing your Video. Chapter 5 - Writing the Brief. Chapter 6 - A Bit About Budgets. Chapter 7 - Finding and Choosing a Business Film Maker. Chapter 8 - Who does what, Understanding the Roles. Chapter 9 - Checking the Draft. Chpater 10 - Ways of Delivering your Video. Chapter 11 - Maximising your Finished Film. Chapter 12 - Where to next. About the Author. ooOoo Chapter 1 Why This is the Book for You You need to keep reading this book if you are involved in a business or organisation that provides products or services and you need a professional video. Here are 12 reasons why you might need to know the inside secrets of how to commission a video. You have a product to sell You provide a service You are putting on an event You need to get a message over. You are a business start-up You are established but want to increase sales You don’t want an amateur video You don’t have time to spend on learning how to make a video yourself You are not sure how to go about getting a video You need to project an image suited to your brand You do not want to waste your budget You appreciate the value of video The worry about spending the precious budget on videos is that the business or organisation might not end up with what is wanted. Giving insufficient thought to commissioning a video frequently happens, and I wonder how often you hear people say things like:- “We spent a lot on a video but we have never used it/it didn’t come out how we wanted” Now there can be a lot of reasons for this happening, and here are a few – Customer didn’t really know what they wanted. The brief was poor/non-existent Customer hadn’t thought about how they would use it The content was dated almost as soon as it was finished They chose the wrong firm to make it They were trying to copy something else which didn’t suit their project They just wanted to see themselves on the screen(!) They chose the wrong participants. They fancied themselves as a script-writer but hadn’t got the skills They ignored the advice of the video firm Now you might think that this is a rather unlikely list of reasons for failure, but I am afraid I have to say that every point above has, to some degree, been based on the experience of myself or of colleagues. This is because we are often brought in to make a more appropriate video, or to re-edit one that has gone wrong. Professional integrity prevents me from going into detail but it may well be that you know someone else who has had this experience. Fortunately, the advice in this book can help you to avoid the same mistakes. ooOoo Chapter 2 Why video for marketing? There are a lot of reasons why a moving picture with sound can help to promote your business. Obviously it can show all kinds of aspects missed in one-dimensional media such as print. Research has clearly shown the advantages for online marketing. Here are commonly agreed facts. 40% more conversions to sales 53% increase in Google page rank 96% increase in email clickthrough Visitors stick on your site 2 minutes more on average In addition Edgar Dale’s research has shown some interesting finds about learning, as useful for marketing as they are for education. In his cone of learning, after 2 weeks we remember 10% of what we read. After two weeks we remember 20% of what we hear If we both see and hear we retain 50% Of course there are caveats with all this, which is why the video has to be done properly and used properly. It needs to be well made, effective in content and aimed at search engines if you are promoting online. The same applies if you are using video amongst a membership or staff body or sending it to selected clients. Professional quality and good content will get the message over and ensure an effective marketing tool is at your disposal. There are further cogent reasons to make use of video, if you are not already a convert. The reason I find most compelling is that you can show your product or service in the best possible light. If you have premises or any outdoor service, or involved in sports etc, then it is far better seen in full sunlight. If you manufacture or carry out repairs then your process can be clearly demonstrated. Best of all, if your business depends on your power of personality, reliability ,or your character, there is nothing more convincing than a piece to camera. There have been dramatic changes in marketing in the last decade. Which businesses have to respond to. Websites are now multimedia and have changed from the brochure style. Social media can account for a third of marketing activity and it is free. Much more communication takes place on the smart phone People expect to see products on screen ooOoo Chapter 3 Advantages of commissioning professional video. To value your brand You wish to project a professional image You are busy You need help to realise your ideas You wish to get effects not possible for an amateur You are uncertain about scripting You need to provide content for various media You do not have the necessary equipment and software You need a professional to help write and direct the video There is nothing wrong with making your own films for your business if you have the skills and if it would be appropriate. If you are a young indie band, a way-out designer, or if your business or other activity positively needs to project a non- commercial image then your personal touch might be very effective. This is often referred to as authenticity. Where all this can fall down, is if the authenticity tips over into an amateurish production, leaving prospects doubtful whether you have a sound and reliable business. Authenticity is a plumber showing what he does as a plumber. A video for business needs to be shown as well designed, planned and well executed, and that there is a message worth knowing; in summary if it needs to be credible then you do not want to have the kitchen cabinets in the background! ooOoo Chapter 4 Tips on Preparing your Video. This might seem an early stage to be making preparations, but this thinking time before you engage a firm to make your film is essential. I promise you that after 11 years of making video for business the worst customers are those who fail to end up with a good piece of work because they did not know what they wanted. Sometimes they know what it is they wanted when the video is finished, i.e. when it is too late. Of course I can’t know what as a reader you might have in mind but from experience certain things go together well - like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and some things don’t – like roast beef and custard. Put yourself and the video firm/scriptwriter together and come up with something really imaginative! There is no need to restrict yourself to one video – several can be made from one shoot. We will come to this later. Here are my prompts for finding a type of video to suit you. Please note that these are the bare bones only and at this stage will lack the creative touch. ESTABLISHED COMPANIES Full corporate video to introduce different aspects of the business or organisation and to give the impression of stability, reliability and to enhance the brand. Often done to update perceptions. Important to show satisfied consumers. ARTS AND BOOKS Writers – presentations to camera discussing their books and inspiration for writing them with illustrative cutaways. Artists – Demonstrations of their work with artists comments – craft demonstrations and instruction. Performers – fly on the wall of performer discussing their experiences with performance extracts PUBLIC SERVICE AND CHARITIES Similar to corporate with presentations to camera and feedback from clients etc. and fully scripted MARKETING, SOCIAL MEDIA AND LIFESTYLE EXPERTS. Here the important factor is usually to get the personality of the lead person over. People often fall into the trap of recording themselves on video but so often the technical quality is poor, even though consumer equipment these days is excellent. This needs to be a carefully planned presentation with thought provoking script to stand out from the competition. PRODUCT SALES High quality stills and moving pictures and voiceovers showing the product in use and its benefits, which sales teams can take with them on mobile or tablet. The famous one is the double glazing video shown in the customers lounge, now overtaken by web presentations and TV advertising. More frequently an innovation in action for say, developers in the construction industry. TRAINING Film of live events and training sessions with participant feedback, or alternatively videos of role-plays of sales techniques to spin out training. This list is by no means exhaustive, just the beginning. ooOoo Chapter 5 Writing the Brief. Essential to getting a successful video is a clearly defined brief. People who work in marketing are familiar with writing briefs but for those who are not, here are some suggested headings to work from. OBJECTIVE Everyone needs to know what the video is for and this could go as far as a working title. It might start like this ‘Blurb Marketing wishes to produce a series of videos entitled Blurb in Action for their website and social media which show their new marketing offers‘. ‘Jogs running shoes wishes to show their revolutionary new product in use in both gyms and the half marathon to use for email marketing’ CONTENT A rough guide here at this early stage might be something like:- ‘Jogs running shoes in action in test Gym in Blackburn, interview with the marketing manager and live footage from the Tiddlepuddle Marathon’. ‘MD speaks to camera. Shots of building site and some customer feedback’ ‘Conference presentations in Leeds and Liverpool to be filmed (two cameras) and edited for the web’ SCHEDULE This may seem obvious but can become very important to both parties if it is not agreed at an early stage. Here are a few examples: ‘To be shot at national conference on 23rd of June, edited by end of July’ Contract to be awarded at the end of May. LOGISTICS This practical stuff is important if you don’t want endless phone calls from bidders. It needs to cover things like this: Is this a broadcast-level project? Is it to be an event, web-video, documentary, or corporate style film? How many locations will there be and are they provided? Are transport costs included? What access is there for the crew (such as a balcony)? Will a separate sound recordist be needed? Or radio mikes? Is a green screen needed? Will animation be required (other than motion graphics)? If a presenter/voiceover artist is needed is this included in the cost? What is the final format – web, social media, DVD and is this to be included? How long will the final product/s be? The number of days’ editing Whether copyright free music will be needed or are clearances to be added to the price? Of course, only a few of these questions might apply to a single project, but this list is intended to create some thinking about what is really needed, and is essential in forming an idea about costs. This brings us to the last, but very important area of budgets. BUDGET Some are vague – e.g. £5000 ($8,000)- £7000 ($11,000) for a whole corporate, or very specific e.g. £400 ($600) per web video Some are pleading – ‘as a small charity we have £1000 for this project but this might lead to further work in the future’ This leads nicely into the next short, but sweet, chapter. ooOoo Chapter 6 A Bit about Budgets. I realise that this might be the chapter you fast-forwarded to! This is understandable. Budgets are of course variable and form part of the tango between the filmmaker trying to cover costs and make a profit, and the commissioning body trying to get value for money. A decade ago the pricing was simple but different, based on broadcast needs, namely £1000 ($,1500) per completed minute of the film and assuming a full crew including a director. Technology has moved on and now usually filming budgets are costed by the day. The exception would be broadcast commissions which are for the completed project where a documentary might be £80,000 ($110,00) at the lower end of the scale. Coming down to earth it might be helpful to see what the costs are for the firm making the film. Video firms have all the usual business overheads such as premises, business rent and rates (if there is a studio), a perplexing amount of insurance from equipment to employee to professional indemnity (in case your project is accidentally destroyed or commandeered by the police). Membership of professional bodies for customer arbitration, and of course marketing. Equipment – broadcast cameras come in at about £4,500,($7,000) upwards, other HD cameras at somewhat less, specialist cameras such as DSLRs for certain effects, tripods (not worth having under £1000/$1500) lighting of various kinds, perhaps about £1,500, a suitable vehicle, edit suites and extra hard drives for backing-up your project, monitor, decks, etc about £3000 ($4,700), software and subscription costs probably costing about £250 ($400) a month for updating, and media for recording on. If it is a full event multi camera shoot then you need a vision mixer and OB unit. Staff – professionally trained, may charge from £300 ($500) - £500 ($800) per day. There are costs of training and updating in a fast moving field. Those fresh from colleges have some skills but they are not always relevant. A full crew would include a camera operator, sound operator, production assistant, and a director. After that you are looking at a editor for vision and sound, trained or experienced in one of the big systems such as Final Cut, Avid, Premier, Adobe, and able to manage colour correction and motion graphics, requiring extra training. At the lower end of the budget is the single multitasking operator who will run around and do everything at the same time for about £400 ($600) a day and could well make a good job of it and edit it to boot. If you take the trouble to meet with them and find that they have a mass of experience – great! One problem area is about whether a project is finished or not. Often a client of ours will ask for numerous alterations to the finished version, which is why our agreement always mentions one batch of final changes to the draft copy. Beyond that, if you change your mind again, then there will be a further fee. No-one in business can give their services away for free. For clarity, I would expect the video firm to give more than a bald quote; you will need a full proposal including who will do what when and where, and with what equipment so that the costs are broken down. The issue for media budgets is pretty well the same as in every other field. You get what you pay for, which leads us nicely into the next chapter, which is just as important. ooOoo Chapter 7 Finding and Choosing a Business Video Firm. Actually locating a video firm will probably not be difficult. They are all over directories, they are up there in Google searches and they may even pop-up at your local networking meeting. Professional societies, such as the IOV and ICVA have membership lists which can indicate certification etc. First of all, be certain of what you want. Is it an economical set of simple videos for YouTube or your website, or a special recording of a new process for email marketing? Is it just yourself to camera? The best course for you in that case is probably is the sole operator. You can now hone your search but be warned. You need to know what kind of firm you are dealing with. Check the website carefully and if they only do weddings and dance shows, although these can be tricky to film, they may not have the experience to produce the right kind of film for business. Often people commission a relative, or son/daughter of a friend, just out of college. However their experience will be limited, so they need to be paired with someone of experience. If you see them flourishing a camera and not using headphones to monitor their sound, then be warned. If you are operating on a larger scale, perhaps needing conference coverage, then a larger established firm is appropriate. In all cases ask to see previous work and study their track record to see what they have done for well known firms and check their recommendations. So often company directors dispatch their PA to find a videographer, but you need to give this your personal attention. Don’t leave it until the last minute. So often we are called in to shoot something like a training presentation but no attention has been paid to planning or scripting, and although the event will have some useful material, it will not necessarily be the best way to market the product or service on video. ooOoo Chapter 8 Understanding the Roles. This is yet another bit which needs to be sorted at the beginning, and that is the obvious but often overlooked area of who does what. Being part of the communications industry I rather expect that firms will at least tell their staff to prepare and tell them that we are coming. Not so, or at least, not always so. It isn’t really the role of a camera operator to tell another firm’s employees what they ought to say, but it does happen. This is why clarity of roles is important. At the beginning it should be clear who is directing and producing the film. Who is lining up the participants so that time is not wasted, who is seeking permissions, and who is priming the staff about what will be expected. In this sense when I put in a proposal in response to the brief described in Chapter 5, I often describe the individual person responsible as the Executive Director, whilst on location we provide the on the ground director, coaxing the participants, setting up shots etc. (Of course I avoid the ED term too much in case it goes to someone’s head!) When the link person is identified then we forge a good working relationship. It doesn’t matter if they don’t have experience in commissioning a film; that is what we are there for, to help and to inform. Likewise in the edit suite I don’t expect any interference until there is a final draft for comment. Interference is a harsh word but it does happen. Likewise, clients (and there are many) who are relaxed about the progress and give us space to get on with it are likely to get the best creative results. They realise that there are only so many hours that an editor can sit in front of a screen and produce their best work. Why pay the piper and play the tune yourself. Also important to know is that live events can be unpredictable. Speakers can move about, visitors can turn off vital lighting and audiences can be too small. Outside the inevitable helicopter will arrive out of nowhere and create a racket above the interview. ooOoo Chapter 9 Checking your Draft. You should receive a draft your video to make one set of changes, if necessary. It is a good idea to play it in the same way it is intended to be used. If it’s a big conference opener then on a big system, if for web then in a web format. As we make a film we do understand that what is visualised at the beginning may not be the final result. Also video makers are not perfect and are often so closely involved in the edit that mistakes might not be spotted. (Although we do try to check everything, honest!). It is accepted that these changes would be quite minor, such as taking out someone who does not express themselves well, removing signs or inappropriate contributions from participants, and of course, the classic one of mis-spelling captions. You should not have to point out poor sound balancing or poorly lit interviews. Then you have a problem. Thanks to superb software most of these boobs can be rectified. Recently we actually changed a voiceover word uttered in error, and you can’t tell the difference! All that is OK. However when it comes to a complete re-edit, something is wrong, and provided the brief has been adhered to it is not reasonable to expect the video firm to do that without extra payment. This is really just a short re-emphasis on the importance of an accurate brief in the first place. The last word on this is to return the changes promptly. Firstly, the director and editor will have the project fresh on their minds and it will be readily available on the edit suite. Secondly, while most firms ask for 50% payment upfront after the shoot, they are at the mercy of the commissioning firm for the final payment and so you might receive an invoice after 30 days for work which is not finished. Most videographers are self employed and so prompt payments are not due to greed but a necessity to pay the mortgage. ooOoo Chapter 10 [...]...Ways of Delivering your Video The astonishing thing about technological change, is that it seems to accelerate exponentially VHS stuck around for a long time DVD, the digital format with so many advantages, seemed set to do the same However it has been overtaken by the web and now the Smartphone and the tablet, each one tumbling rapidly after the other Our clients who once took DVDs in large numbers... films can be a better marketing tool than one 12 minute one, however good Your firm will likely have delivered your final edit via a website such as YouTube or Vimeo For privacy it is probably best to use a platform such as Vimeo where your film can be password protected Here are a few marketing uses of video as of writing this: On your website YouTube Channel Smartphone As a marketing giveaway on a memory... makes sense to come to an arrangement with your video firm to provide regular content They will be happy to have the regular work and this will reflect in the price This is a better approach than a reactive one of running out of material Also your firm will be able to sift through your footage and maximise your existing content, another time and money saver If, after reading this and perhaps having the... illustrated Manufacturing has contracted dramatically, but it is still possible to get a thousand DVDs made for a knockdown price, including the onbody printing and printed sleeve insert If you have a reason to go down the DVD route, you will need to factor into the budget the costs of sleeve and body design as well as duplication (if less than 10 00) and replication (for 10 00 or more) Most video firms... it away empty?) Trade shows QR Codes In your reception area, Conference openers, Social and business media, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or as appropriate ooOoo Chapter 12 Where to Next? At the time of developing your brief, you may have been planning for the present I am suggesting that you plan for the future, now This is because marketing is moving increasingly to screen based media, as the... firms will arrange all this for you If you are planning web or social media video the encoding and uploading for this will take place between your video firm and your web designer/manager ooOoo Chapter 11 Maximising your Finished Film Assuming that DVD is the less likely route for delivery you will probably be thinking of how to maximise you finished videos You will now have realised that a lot of 3... i54newmedia, a professional video firm, for over eleven years, providing businesses of all sizes with commercial films Val has also had a varied career in the public and voluntary sector giving her a pool of knowledge and experience to draw on She lives in Kent with her music composer husband and business partner and loves comedy, cooking Mexican food and Skyping with her daughter in New York Val is happy to. .. could be saved on the cloud, and incidentally your video maker should keep the files on a hard drive for a reasonable time (the longest period a client has returned to us for an update was 9 years) But DVD is not just about keeping a handy copy A lot of people still like them, mostly because it is something to physically give someone and it carries some good print promotion on the sleeve, which can be... with a professional, you might come round to the notion of making your own video If you want to minimise the tears, then Video for Business 2 could be very helpful, giving insider tips on making your own video for business ooOoo About the Author Val Whitter Cert Ed., MA, is a writer, scriptwriter and technology blogger with years of practical experience in the field of video and music She has been a partner... the last chapter indicates Whether it is actual video or stills slideshows with captions or a whole web TV page hosted internally or externally, it is likely to end up on a touch screen handheld device, Smartphone or tablet Whatever the means of delivery ,continuous high quality content will be required, as these devices eat it up Part of your marketing plan is likely to include this; therefore it makes . putting on an event You need to get a message over. You are a business start-up You are established but want to increase sales You don’t want an amateur video. have some skills but they are not always relevant. A full crew would include a camera operator, sound operator, production assistant, and a director. After