Whether you’re looking to boost sales, launch a new product or scale your business, video production can help you take your brand image to the next level.
Video is a flexible and creative way to establish yourself as a brand leader and grab your target viewer’s attention.
Producing great video can help you communicate your message at different stages in your customer journey and strengthen your content creation.
If you’re considering producing video for your business, we want to share a few helpful questions you should ask in the pre-production phase:
- What goals do you want to achieve with your video?
- What is your target audience and who do you want your video to reach?
- How will you be measuring your campaign success?
- What is the best way for you to meet your target audience?
- What is your planned budget?
Once you have these ideas in mind it will make approaching an agency a much smoother process, as it will be easier to communicate your ideas and the goals you have in mind for your video!
Having this knowledge prior to meeting with an agency will likely make the experience more efficient. A good agency will be able to help solve your problems, and work with you to achieve the goals you have set out to achieve, whether you’re aiming to gain more sales or improve your brand awareness.
Be clear about the type of video you’re after. Think about what you want the final video to look like, what tone it should have, and how it can work hard for you.
Do you have a script, or do you want them to help you write it? Do you want social media cut downs? This is something that you should decide early in the video production process to make sure that it’s built into the budget and timeline.
Understanding all available formats for the platform(s) on which your content is to be distributed is a must. These questions are short and concise and will form the foundation on which your project is rolled out.
Initial enquiry
Once you have this in mind, you can make your initial enquiry into the agencies of your choosing. Keep in mind to ask the agency the right questions when you enquire, to ensure that they are a right fit for you. See if they have worked on a video like this before, or if they are familiar with the industry you are from. Make sure to also establish the timeline and scope of work which you are looking at. This way you can see if the company can deliver quality content within a budget and time frame. One of the things that a video production company will need to know early on is the client’s budget. In video production, there is always a triangle of quality, time, and budget. A company that can afford to spend more may be able to have their video produced faster. If the company is on a tighter budget, it can be possible to do something amazing for them, but it may take a little longer to produce.
At Bold Content, quoting is something we do bespoke for every single client that we take on. Because of the number of variables involved in a corporate video production shoot, it is very difficult to do a one-price-fits-all. It is critical that the video production company understands the client’s aims and its brand positioning. If a company wants to market itself as high-quality, then the video needs to reflect this. An example of this would be a luxury company; this may involve budgeting to use the best-quality equipment and a larger crew.
After deciding on the perfect agency you can start the video production process.
At the beginning of a project, it’s important for your prospective video production company to understand what deliverables you require. Ask your company to describe how the delivery will be packaged i.e. main deliverables, source files etc. Including how you get the files and assets for the maximisation of the life-time of your product. Also discuss some time allocation at the end of a video project to ensure files are packaged neatly for another editor to open in the future.
Concept development
Following the initial enquiry, planning and concept development can begin. This will involve a dialogue between the video production company and the client. The audience that the client is trying to target and the best way of reaching them will be identified during these conversations.
Establishing the best way to reach that audience is critical. The audience will watch a video only if it delivers something of value to them, whether that is entertainment or education. The video production company will be able to guide the client towards a concept which will achieve this goal.
Scheduling and planning
Once the concept has been fully fleshed out, you can look into the scheduling and planning for the rest of the project – which is where the time allocation discussion from earlier was vital. This step should be much smoother having already discussed this. As deadlines for the video production will need to be organised. These will take into consideration the feedback that a client will give to the initial edited draft of the video, and the time necessary to incorporate them into the final version. At Bold Content, we use scheduling software to ensure that the video is produced according to the timeline established at the beginning of the project.
Site inspection
If the production agency will be required to film at a specific location, they will need to then conduct a site inspection (recce) in order to make sure that the best video is captured. Things they will watch out for include glare from the windows or background noise. The video production agency will need to consider the best way to hide their wires and whether cable trays will be necessary. Another consideration will be foot traffic coming through an office. This will involve selecting the best place to conduct an interview for example, so that it causes the minimum disruption to the office, while capturing the best quality film.
Video preparation
After the location has been appropriately looked at, video preparation can begin. Before the camera crew arrives at the client’s location, a guidance document will be sent out so that the client knows what to expect. In the case of an interview video, an example of the type of advice that would be included is: Include the question in your answer. For instance, if you are asking the interview subject what their favourite colour is, rather than just saying “yellow”, the subject will be coached to say “My favourite colour is yellow”.
On the day of the shoot, the camera crew will set up for filming before the client arrives. This is to minimise the amount of time the client needs to spend on-set. Setup will include pre-lighting the scene and identifying any potential sound problems; for example, a noisy air conditioner or telephones.
It is also important that when the video production company is setting up, that they are observing all of the proper health and safety parameters while being respectful of the clients workspace.
Filming
Now that all preparations are in place, the filming process can begin. Because of all of the previous planning, this process should be very smooth. Once the director is satisfied that they have the footage they require, the shoot ends with “That’s a wrap!”.
The footage is then taken back to the video production company’s office. The junior editor will make sure that the footage from the camera cards is moved to video drives. At Bold Content, the junior editor will also move the footage on to a backup drive and a cloud server. This ensures the safety of the footage, and allows the client to come back to us in the future if they require any changes.
Video drafts
After the first edit assembly is finished, it is sent out to the client. At this point, the client should provide as much feedback as possible. This is the time for the client to talk about everything they want changed with the video. These suggestions will be incorporated into the second draft of the edit. At this stage, there should only be very minor changes that need to be made to the video. Once the client is happy with the edit, the video is rendered in full master quality (Full HD 1920 x 1080 at high bit rate). The client will then be provided with the opportunity to view this final version of the video for their approval.
Video promotion
Finally, video promotion is something that we can offer at Bold Content. This means developing a strategy to ensure the video receives the maximum amount of exposure from its intended audience. This could involve targeting specific keywords (search phrases), or implementing an outreach or syndication strategy. This may also mean finding key influencers who will help to spread the video. Alternatively, you can get the final files delivered to you. Request project files are neatly organised in a clearly labelled folder structure allowing you to find necessary elements. As an example, with Bold Content Video, master files are usually delivered in ProRes and untitled versions with split audio tracks can also be supplied if necessary. They will supply high quality MP4 files in the master aspect ratio with lower resolution versions available to download from the same link. If multiple aspect ratios have been used e.g. HD & 1×1, they will deliver master MP4s for each file. It is key to follow a clearly labelled file structure so everything is neatly organised throughout.
Rushes are then delivered either via hard drive or Google Drive, depending on the client’s requirements. If you don’t know what you need, ask your video production team to give you a steer on what assets you might require.
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