In a never-ending quest to stay ahead of the curve, many companies are scrambling to catch up with video production. Often times, they will hire an outside video production company such as the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Dreamcity Cinema (that’s us!) to make their video. Or, they’ll work with an ad agency (who may be the ones to sub-contract a video production company.) The last option may be simply hiring one of your own employees to create the video.
Whether you’re working with a videographer, ad agency, or deciding to DIY it, it’s important to understand the basics of what goes in to making a solid video. With several years of video production experience under our belt, I’m going to distill the process down to the most important guidelines I can give you in a single article. Hopefully it’ll help. If not, reach out to us on Facebook or through our contact form and we’ll give you a free consultation.
5. BREVITY
Keep your videos short!
There was a study done awhile ago by a university I don’t feel like looking up (you’ll just have to trust me). It revealed that the size of the screen viewers use to watch a video on is positively correlated with the amount of time they are willing to commit to watching it. It make sense. If you’re in a movie theater, you’ll be ready for the long haul — a movie at least 90 minutes long. Even if you don’t enjoy it, you’ll be willing to at least see how it ends, right? Very rarely do audience members simply get up and leave a theater out of boredom. Which brings me to my point: would you actually do the same with a 90 minute video on your phone?
Probably not.
The best recommendation for online videos in general is from 30 seconds to 120 seconds. That’s not much, you might be thinking. In today’s world, audiences won’t even bother to watch a video if they can see it’s longer than a set amount of time.
Indeed, before even playing the video, if they can see that it’s longer than a few minutes, it will greatly determine whether they decide to click the “play” button.
Rather than thinking about a specific runtime, just try and get your video as short as possible. This will mean cutting information you may think is valuable. It will mean making your video seem far faster than you ever intended.
That’s how you know you’re doing it right.
4. AUDIO
Good audio is key!
This is another secret. In a world where camera manufacturers are tripping over themselves to sell you gadgets like drones, gimbals, 360 video, and 3D, you won’t “hear” this advice from most people. (Sorry for the pun.) It’s all about the audio.
Pretend you had to watch two videos and choose which one you thought was more professionally produced, overall. You were presented with a video featuring professionally recorded audio but the footage was in old-school standard-definition and with shots that were mostly shaky, dark, and grainy. Then, you were asked to compare it to a video shot in 4K resolution, with a professional lighting crew and footage that looked like it was shot by Pinterest photographers… but audio that sounded like it was recorded underwater.
Which video would you choose? It’s a tougher call than you might think and definitely depends on the type of video… but, audio is far more important than many people believe, according to this study.
Most people know about drones, GoPros, and gimbals, etc but they aren’t aware that there are some very basic, low-cost solutions you can use to instantly up the quality of your videos. Things like lav mics, for instance, can do WONDERS and don’t require a three-person audio crew to operate.
(They are easy to use, even if you’re shooting on a cellphone!)
3. SHOW AND TELL WITH B-ROLL
More footage is better!
If you’ve ever watched a customer testimonial or interview, you’ll know that sometimes they can be effective. We sometimes call these “talking head” videos. They consist of a person (or “subject”) being interviewed on-camera. They are a staple of many videos, but can often come off as boring if you do it wrong. As a viewer, after the first twenty seconds or so, you might find your attention wandering.
That’s why “showing” is better than “telling.” With video, however, you are afforded the ability of being able to do both. Showing *while* telling is the key to good video production.
First, let’s talk about b-roll.
B-Roll is an old TV-news term for any footage that does not have a person talking. “A-footage,” conversely, is footage of an interview, testimonial, or “sound bite.” Basically, a talking head.
Turn on the local news, and you’ll likely see A-footage. It can be the Cedar Rapids Mayor, for example, explaining a new recycling initiative. Meanwhile some B-roll of shots of trucks hauling garbage, workers sorting recyclables, or anything of substance that supports what the subject in the A-footage is saying will be playing over the A-roll.
I’ll summarize: use b-roll wherever possible.
Don’t make audiences spend too much time looking at a talking head. When you shoot or edit your testimonial, listen to the content and create a list of B-roll shots to film and edit over your A-footage.
2. APPEAL TO EMOTION
Make your audience feel something!
OK, not every video can make us laugh, cry, or shudder in fear, but there are ways to get to the heart of a story and what it means on a human-level. Does the product or service you’re trying to sell allow your customer to save time? Then talk about how valuable “time” can be. It can mean being available for your kids, working more efficiently, or just being able to relax and live a good life. Is your product kind of funny? Embrace it.
Ultimately, viewers are selfish when it comes to watching a video (and they should be!) They want to know what your content means for them. That is how you can truly appeal to emotion.
1. DON’T BE BORING
Ok, this is a loaded topic. One that will take years to understand, but I’m going to open your mind to it now with the hope that someday you’ll “get it.”
When I left Cedar Rapids and moved to college in my first year, I read a book about writing screenplays. Some of the most complex theory and storytelling philosophy I’ve ever read. I don’t remember any of it or even the name of the book, but there was one chapter that really stuck out to me. It was a single page with a single sentence printed on it. For several years I kept that chapter in my head, pondering its meaning, while forgetting literally everything else in the book. Only now do I really think I truly know what it means. So what was the advice?
Many rules can be broken when writing a screenplay or telling a story, but the number one rule you should always follow is this: don’t be boring for too long.
Unfortunately it’s impossible to write a blurb explaining what this means to me. It sounds devilishly simple, but it is so incredibly cerebral that it’s difficult to verbalize.
The only advice I can give you is to dwell on it. Decide what it means to you. It will someday reveal itself and when it does, everything will click. Good luck!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Adam Orton is the owner/operator of Dreamcity Cinema – an award-winning film, video and commercial production company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. With work from Ireland to LA, Dreamcity Cinema strives to make videos that capture audiences’ imaginations.