Continue reading »]]> Video programmes are often produced to a tight budgets. Scriptwriting, even as a critical component of the production, invariably takes place in-house. The approach may save money, but at what cost?

Small Economies

All too often, a good video programme could have been a truly excellent video programme if the script had been handed over to a writer, typically a communications professional, to review, edit and polish.  If needs be, a writer can to take the ‘clean sheet’ approach and compile a script from the very start of the production process. For a relatively small amount of additional investment, is it really worth cutting corners?

The Why?

Top of the writer’s list is to ensure that the script maintains complete objectivity and closely matches what you are looking for. From the outset – what is the programme’s purpose and what do you want to achieve from it. And why?

Little things add up to a great big lot in a script. The writer will ensure that the correct style is chosen to make necessary impact, with tone and accents, light and shade, and in the right places. Humour – in some cases, pinpoint accuracy may be especially important for some programmes . Individuality, to make a distinction from others, is generally a must-have.

In every script, flow is essential from the start, through the middle sections and onward to the ‘finale’. Each section must knit together as seamlessly as possible. Throughout the process, the writer will take care to ensure that the presenter has clear and concise narratives to deliver. And as for the words themselves, a writer will use the ‘goldilocks’ approach – not too many and not too few.

Engaging

Throughout the process, a writer will maintain an external viewpoint – your message must engage the audience and take their perspective. Above all,  the final programme must be enjoyable to listen to as well as to watch. And not be a turn off.

As with most pieces of communications, a video programme should generate an effect – help an audience on to making the next step, support or prompt a particular reaction or change.  The images created by the cameraman and director will achieve a lot. Put the visual material together with a professionally written script and the overall impact has every chance of hitting the target. Bang on.

That’s pretty much it. We look forward to working on your next programme.

Steve Johnson

Communications Consultant, Video Scriptwriter and Journalist

Continue reading »]]> I thought this was an interesting article by Rick Dearborn of MarketVid (April 13, 2012) as I have seen various situations of companies looking to save on budget by writing their own scripts and the results having something of a limiting impact on the final video.

Rick says ….

Most marketers are already good writers.  They’re involved in carefully choosing words and crafting marketing messages all day long.  But writing a script to be read on camera is a whole different experience that requires a few new skills.  Here are a few useful tips that will help you create scripts that area easier to read aloud:

Continue reading »]]> Sous Productions were commissioned by BG Group to produce a series of videos as part of an on-going employee engagement programme.

Watch Video.

The brief was for the creation of video stories and dialogues to be shown initially at an internal event but would have multiple uses across different media channels (conferences, external webpages/social media).

The video would cover topics such as:

• The BG Culture and characteristics
• Teamwork and networking
• Career and career development in BG Group

The request was to keep the video interviews “real” by being filmed in the workplace and not over produced with lights etc so we filmed all around the corporate head offices. Sometimes interviews were at the persons desk and others were shot in locations around the buildings but always done with the natural lighting of the environment.

Employee being filmed in offices on Canon 7D DSLR

The style needed to be a bit more dynamic rather than anything too staged so Sous Productions elected to film all the interviews shoulder mounted rather than from a static tripod to keep the content fluid. We also shot most of the interviews on a Canon 7D DSLR with a Sony Z7 as the 2^nd camera for change of shots in the edit.

It was also felt that we wanted to keep the interviews as non-invasive as possible for the staff so we decided to use a direction boom mic rather than clipping on lapel mics.

Continue reading »]]> A short video production designed to show the breadth of team resource and working environment available at Insight Medical Writing Ltd.

It was important to differentiate the client from the large number of one man organisations that are prevalent in the medical writing industry. Our client finds they are competing with these much smaller organisations who can offer lower prices but who cant necessarily offer the level of resource to comfortably undertake larger and more urgent projects so we wanted to show the substantive nature of the offices and the team within.

The video production will initially be shown as a sales tool at an exhibition but later it will be used within a new website currently being designed.

Close up filming on Canon 7D DSLR

The video production was filmed on 2 cameras. A canon 7D DSLR so that we could achieve close up shots with a shallow depth of field. We also used Sony Z7 for filming shots mounted on a mini Jib for the boardroom footage.

The voice-over was not provided by Sous Productions but we brought it in to our edit along with music “Good Morning” purchased from Audio Jungle.

Continue reading »]]> When we went along to film at the offices of our new client Wilson Partners it soon became very evident that this was a company with clear ambitions and a strong proposition strongly endorsed by their clients who took time out to come and say so on video.

It isn’t easy to come and be interviewed. All sorts of technology like lights, camera and mics all focused on you can be a bit daunting. Normally confident people can feel under quite a bit of pressure when put in this situation and as much as we are there to help relax them and ease them through the process, you really have to want to do it to put yourself through that scenario.

To me, thats why video tutorials work. They are real clients, using their own words and above all they are giving up their time to come and say great things about their service provider.

Each of the interviews were edited to stand on their own right as well as producing an overview version as a compilation of feedback. In each video we used footage shot around the offices of the team going about their normal day to day business (despite cameras pointing at them) to help add some visual context and interest to the video.

Interviews were filmed using 2 cameras. One as a close crop and the other slightly wider providing variety. One of the cameras was a Canon 7D which enabled us to film the interviews with part of the office in the background but in soft focus so that it added interest but wasn’t a distraction.

When filming around the offices we were conscious that for the most part, the team are busy sat at their PC’s so we used the track and dolly to run the camera along in a linear direction, providing a bit of motion and making the shots a little more dynamic.

The video was not a standalone project. Wilson Partners have now announced the unveiling of their new look website.  The aim of the website is simple – to engage with clients and to win new business through providing visitors with a real feel for what makes Wilson Partners different.  The compilation video we produced has pride of place on their home page. The other client testimonials are placed on a dedicated case study page as well as being dotted across the website, all contributing to providing that feel of being different.

Filming was great fun. Allan Wilson and the team are clearly professional people but they also have a sense for fun and know how to make the workplace enjoyable to be a part of. Behind the fun and smiles this is also a smart thinking, focused and well run business.

Here is the Compilation video.

If you are interested in having a client testimonial video produced for your organisation then please contact us for more information here.

Continue reading »]]> Example of recent production:

This company video was filmed on the client location over 1 day. The video is designed to highlight the services of Sunspeed and to be presented via large screens on their stand at an exhibition. “The video was fantastic. People would stop at the stand to watch the video. We had a lot of positive feedback” said Sunspeed.

The video will now go on to be hosted via the company website. The next stage might be to add in some client interview content.

The video was filmed using a 3 man crew and a combination of professional HD cameras. The internal close up work was all done on a Canon 7D so that we could obtain a very high quality look and a very shallow depth of focus to the shots.

The outside work was filmed on a Sony PDW 700 mounted on to a Jimmy Jib to provide an unusual and dynamic set of shots that we just would not have been able to achieve off a tripod.

The client feedback:

“When Sunspeed decided to venture into the unknown territory of video production we looked for someone who had a tried and tested portfolio but also a personable approach, vital to gain the best from the participants.

Sous Productions exceeded all our expectations and made the shoot day fun and interesting; the results speak for themselves.

We are confident in recommending Sous Productions to deliver results.”

Ann Jermy – Sunspeed

Continue reading »]]> One of the recent developments in the video production world has been the capacity of Digital Stills Cameras or Digital SLR’s like the Canon 7d to record stunning video as well do their day job of taking photographs.

Without going in to technical explanations that I dont understand, high end professional Digital SLR cameras, (and I am talking £800 for just the camera body and no lens) come with a full frame sensor which are the same size as the image area of 35mm film and as such can achieve high quality “film like” video acquisition for a fraction of the cost of an equivalent full frame sensor video camera.

The combination of this large sensor and being able to use interchangeable, lenses gives us control of how much of the image is in focus. The technical term for this is depth of field but use the images below to see how a shallow depth of field results in only a small area of the image to be in focus. This is nigh on impossible to achieve with a HD video camcorder of the same price range. They simply dont have the same size of sensor and you cant change the lens to something more suitable for the job.

This shallow depth of field is widely used to great effect in high end TV productions and in particular cinema films so that your eye is less easily distracted by irrelevant detail. Conversely it helps draw your attention to the important elements in the scene.

Next time you sit and watch the TV and / or a film, see how many times this is used to good effect.

Up until the last year or so this just wasn’t something you would see in budget conscious corporate video productions because the video cameras simply couldn’t achieve it. When vidoegraphers started to realise what full sensor stills cameras could achieve then things started to become more exciting and that is why we are telling you about it now.

Of course, it would be too good to be true. Well, actually it is true but it isn’t the full picture, if you will excuse the pun. At the end of the day the digital SLR is only a stills camera. It isn’t configured to act like a full video production camera so there are some important compromises we have to take in to consideration.

For a start, there is the issue of recording audio. For a lot of video productions audio is absolutely critical to get right, especially interviews, but this an area of real shortcomings with a stills camera like the Canon 7D. Sure it does do audio but it doesn’t do managed, professional audio. It has a small onboard microphone and a 1/8-inch microphone input which simply isnt good enough for professional interviews.

Sous Productions approach is to use an independent audio recording device. Either a dedicated audio recorder or possibly a 2nd video camera that handles professional audio and then sync the audio and video together at the edit stage. A bit of a faff but personally I think it’s worth it for the end results.

After audio we get down to what are mostly just inconveniences that we accept and find a way around. Remember, a digital stills camera is not a professional video camera and we shouldn’t expect it to perform entirely like one.

What we do get though is stunning video and that “film like” picture quality we long for. The results, if used in the right hands can add incredible video production values to what might otherwise look pretty unspectacular for that price bracket. The alternative is to invest in some very expensive video cameras that are not cost effective for a lot of the current swell in SME companies looking for an inexpensive video production.

My conclusion is that for a lot of jobs the Digital SLR is a very useful addition to the corporate video tool kit. You have to appreciate it’s limitations but must also sell it’s virtues. We love the results we can achieve for our clients and we would hope you love them too.

If you would like to know more about how we can incorporate the benefits of a camera like the Canon 7D Digital SLR in to your business video production then please get in touch.

As always, we look forward to being able to help you.

Continue reading »]]> Sous Productions were commissioned by The Rooflight Company to film a couple of interviews with Architect, Ian Hogarth and Architectural Designer, Charlie Luxton to explain why they chose to specify the conservation rooflight; neo for their respective projects.

Continue reading »]]> A great way to add impact to your video is to incorporate motion graphics or in fact add your video to motion graphics.

Make videos more dynamic with motion graphics

Using graphics, you can embed your video clips and images inside place-holders. The place-holder might for example be something like a screen or the side of a 3D cube.

The graphic can then be given a range of motions to make the video more dynamic. For example a 3D cube could rotate or spin. The screen could move around and hover in different locations.

In addition to the place-holder for the video or image, you could also have text on screen to highlight key information. Like the video place-holders the text can be animated to appear more dynamically.

See example below to get an idea of what can be achieved.

The cost of the motion graphics and animations will of course depend on your requirements. The example above is a template design meaning that once developed, it is much easier, quicker and less expensive to embed your video and text  and produce the video. Costs for using templates can be anything between £187 to £500 depending on their complexity and changes required.

Not all motion graphic templates will suit your needs in which case we can tailor make them for your video.