Corporate videos have long been an  accepted medium for getting out a company's message, be it for introducing a new product, training the workforce, or for a video news release.

There are several reasons why modern businesses are turning to video for their communication needs. It's effective. It can compress time. It can place a viewer face-to-face with the facts and allows him or her to judge for themselves what would otherwise be a case of "take my word for it".

(a still from Real News for Kids)

The producer of your video is the person you will work closest with during the process. Choose someone you're comfortable working with; someone with good references or recommendations; someone with experience in your field (medical, petrochemical or financial services, for example); and someone who will devote the care and attention to your program as if it were his or her own production.

Issues to consider

Cost. Pricing depends on the sophistication of the video. A small-budget piece without an elaborate set, cast and crew may come in for as little as several thousand dollars; larger, more involved productions for as much as $50,000. In extreme cases, the budget may involve more or less than these figures.

Length. Opinions vary, but in general, a marketing video is pushing the limit at seven minutes.

If it's intended for a trade show, time restraints may be even tighter. You should say what you need to say and close, then repeat the video for the next prospect.

In the area of training, remember that adults have an attention span of approximately 20 minutes. After that, interest may wane.

Production time. This also varies. If the purpose of a video is to explain a process, then the length of time required to document that process will be the minimum. If this includes travel to a distant location, allow accordingly.

Actors. If you can afford them, use them. Non-professional talent, that is someone not trained in performing before a camera, will take longer to deliver the lines than a professional, and the results will show.

Here's another reason. If an employee that you've used in your video suddenly leaves your company and winds up working for a competitor, your competitor's employee will be on your video.

(A fire truck at Bush Airport demonstrates)

If a demonstration needs to be done by a qualified person, or if teaching the procedure to an actor would not be time efficient, then using in-house talent may be the way to go. If you go with in-house personnel, don't be alarmed if the director asks for many retakes. He or she isn't being needlessly fussy, but is fine tuning the presentation, which will be on your video or web site for all to see for some time.

Warning. Don't try to do too much in one program. If you're designing a marketing video to sell a new piece of equipment, provide instruction to the extent it will help someone choose the product you're offering.

Do a separate video to provide detailed instruction in the field operation of your gadget. That may become a selling point itself, and it may be possible to shoot the raw footage for both programs at the same time, saving production costs.

THE PROCESS

There are four steps to the process of making a video: pre-production, production, post-production and distribution.

Pre-production, or planning, is the stage that will tax your patience the most, but given the cost of correcting mistakes after the fact, it really pays to devote sufficient time to designing your video on paper first. Discuss the concept and content of your video with the producer.

Questions to answer are: Who is our intended audience? What attitudes or preconceptions do they have about us or our product? What response do we want the audience to have or what action do we want them to take after viewing the video? Who will act as content authority? What review procedures will be acceptable? What resources are available to assist us in this project? How will the message be delivered to the audience? If it is to be streamed on the internet, there are technical limitations that are best to consider prior to writing the script.

Your script must be prepared, reviewed and revised, possibly several times. Don't forget to include the policy makers and legal departments if necessary.

Once the script is approved, script breakdown will begin. This includes determining what props and graphics or visual aids must be acquired or created. Locations, including studios, must be scouted and scheduled. Cast, crew and equipment must be selected. Then it's time to bring together the elements.

Production. This is the process of recording events, either those staged for the camera and microphone or those documented in the normal course of action. Narration - words that are not spoken in front of the camera - must he recorded at  a later time. It is usually best to do this as the last step of production, in case errors are discovered or revisions decided upon during the lensing process. Production looks easy but it can be deceptive - if you think it will take 3 hours to shoot a scene or procedure, it may take 6.

Post-production. When all of the events created for the camera have been shot, narration recorded and visual aids created, the video is brought into an editing suite to be assembled.

Of all the aspects of video production, probably editing has changed the most in the last ten years. Editing used to be accomplished by electronically copying the raw footage in the proper order to create a program. No more. These days the raw footage is digitized, fed into a computer based editing machine, and placed on a timeline by drag and drop. Transitions between scenes, titles, and any additional effects are created in the computer, placed on the timeline, and modified according to the needs of the program. Additional graphics may be created in another program and imported. The final version is then reviewed and approved or corrections made. When finished, the program may be printed to a master tape or DVD, or compressed into a streaming format for web delivery.

Distribution. This is when you duplicate the master tape into as many copies as you require and ship them for viewing by the intended audience. Because VHS is so commonplace, it is a popular method of distribution. CD-ROM, DVD, and web streaming have become more common in recent years. As faster internet connections become available to a larger segment of the population, streaming video on the world wide web will continue to advance in popularity. Unlike hard copies, web videos do not require tape or postage to distribute, time to deliver and do not get lost or damaged in the mail. This results in reduced costs and increased speed in delivering the sales or corporate message.

                             

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