Imagery is a highly persuasive tool. A good video can tell a story, share a message, promote a service and demonstrate a product in ways the printed word…or still images…can’t. It grabs a viewer’s attention and creates an immediate bond, helping build relationships and create action.

To develop a quality video, start by answering the BIG questions:

The video production team you choose will need this information in order to move forward. All of these affect creative recommendations, the schedule and the cost — which are defined in the next phase.

Remember that video production professionals do the best work when they know what you are trying to achieve and are given freedom to use their creativity and experience to create a video that will accomplish your goals.

• Broadcast, cable or satellite television

• A DVD

• On the Web

• At an event

HOW will your video be seen?

WHY do you want to make a video?

• To convey an important message• To promote a product or service• To inspire an action• To share an experience/tell a story

WHAT is your message? What story are you sharing? What do you want your audience to think, feel, and do?

WHO is your audience? What is their role in relation to the topic (insiders, outsiders, stakeholders)? What is their age, gender, etc.? This affects how the message is shaped. You might choose to create several different customized videos from the same footage to meet the needs of multiple audiences.

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So You Want To

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MessageMakers producers of experiences that transform

Camera ACTION!Lights

Videographer

Lighting

Boom mic

You may also need:-A producer -Makeup-A stage or other raised platform- Some form of set design/direction-Other considerations for your vision

Important:• Show up on time.

• Know what you’ll be shooting.

• Have a backup plan. For example, what will you do if a scheduled interviewee doesn’t show, or it rains during an outdoor shoot? Without a plan, these snags can run up additional costs and delay schedules.

Picture this: Your video is almost ready, but—oh no!—the main spokesperson in your video has been fired and you need to re-shoot with someone new. It’s not a problem for your video team— just be prepared to incur extra costs and spend a bit more time re-finishing the work.

The production team will prepare documents to help frame your project and ensure everyone is on the same page about how the shoot will come together. These may include: √ Timeline or schedule √ Storyboards √ Initial visual treatments (sketches or mockups) √ An outline

√ A treatment √ A script

√ Location scouting and/or photos √ Casting headshots √ A running budget (key!)

Director ofphotography

Cameras

Audioengineer

You should have anyone who recognizably appears in your video

sign a release to give you permission to use footage of them in

your finished project and to protect you from liability.

Releases

If you know what you want (the answers to the big questions), your production team can help you achieve these outcomes. If some answers are unclear, the team should be adept at helping address gaps and proposing powerful creative approaches.

You will need to make important decisions about your video project management. Who needs to be involved in the project, providing input? Who will have authority to sign off, approving the work’s direction? How many production meetings do you anticipate (and where)?

Storyboard

After the shoots, your production team will review and log the footage—they will import it into their editing workstation and mark what action happens in which piece.

From there, they will combine the pieces into a rough edit. Music, narration, motion graphics, and sound effects are added at this point, but may evolve as the piece progresses. The rough edit gives a sense of the structure of the video but may not include final versions of elements that are time-intensive to create—for example, a still image may stand in for what will ultimately become a motion graphic.

As you consider distribution methods, remember your goals and target your audience. This is also an opportunity to measure results and see impact!

How you distribute your video is up to you.

• Distribute on DVD• Post to your website• Post to YouTube or Vimeo• Share a link via social media

such as Facebook and Twitter

© 2011 MessageMakers.com

• Present the video with a broadcast, cable, or satellite TV partner

• Hold a premiere• Unveil it at a special event

At this point, you’ll review the video in progress to approve the given direction and provide any changes you might desire. You have the option of doing a formative review, in which members of your audience watch the video in progress and share feedback.

With this feedback, the production team will develop a final edit, with all elements complete and polished.

Then, you will review again to provide final approval.

Change Orders

Some ABCs of Video Production: A Quick Glossary of Terms

Aspect Ratio – Quite simply, the shape of the video picture. It’s expressed as a ratio between an image’s height and width, one standard being 4:3 – 4 units wide and 3 units high (for example, 400x300 pixels). Aspect ratio is important when you’re changing from one display size to another, to ensure that the image isn’t distorted. A 16:9 aspect ratio is also known as widescreen.

Audio Description – Makes visuals in your video accessible to the visually impaired. A narrator describes the action taking place on screen. Sometimes known as “video description.”

Audio Engineer – This person records, edits, manipulates, mixes, and masters sound to create the video’s audio track.

Captioning – Makes audio in your video accessible to the hearing impaired. Text is displayed on screen transcribing what is heard. Captioning can be closed (only displayed when the feature is turned on in the playback device) or open (always a part of the picture). Captioning can also be used to provide translations to an audience who speaks another language. The word “captioning” is generally used in a broadcast context, while the synonym “subtitles” is generally used in a DVD context.

Change order – A supplemental contract to cover additional work/cost caused by changing approved direction.

Director – This person manages all of the creative direction of the video.

Director of Photography – Also known as a DP. This person is responsible for the look of the video, making decisions about such things as cameras, lenses, lighting, color scheme, and the composition of shots.

Flash – One format for incorporating video in websites, developed by the Macromedia Company. Files often have the .swf extension. Flash isn’t supported by some web devices.

Framing – The act of composing a shot for desired content, angle, and field of view; a shot’s overall composition.

High Definition – A group of video formats that offer higher image quality and resolution than standard definition. There are a variety of resolutions available, including 720p, 1080p, and 1080i. Most high-definition video is shot at a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Lower Thirds – Graphics and/or text placed in the lower area of the video image to share information. For example, you might have a lower third sharing the name and employer of a person currently speaking on screen.

Motion Graphics – A video effect animating still images or text.

Multi-Camera Shoot – A shoot utilizing multiple cameras in order to capture multiple perspectives on the action as it unfolds.

Music Licensing – Arranging for legal, licensed use of copyrighted music in a video production. The cost involved depends on the media and scope for delivery of the final video product.

Outline – A rough summary of a video’s contents, possibly in a list format.

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MessageMakers producers of experiences that transform

Podcast – A series of audio or video recording created on a regular basis and shared via the internet. iTunes keeps one of the largest directories of podcasts.

Post-Production – Any activity performed after video has been captured, typically involving editing and the addition of background music, narration, sound effects, titles, motion graphics and other visual effects.

Pre-Production – All the planning that takes place before any video is captured. Agreements are made in this phase about what the video will do, what resources will be involved, and what creative approach will be used.

Producer – This person oversees the whole process of making the video, including financial, staffing, and administrative matters.

Production – The time during which the video team is capturing video – the shoot(s).

Production Assistant – This person performs various odd jobs or errands to make the production run smoothly.

QuickTime – A cross-platform real-time or streaming video and multimedia data format developed by Apple Computer. QuickTime files can include text, sound, and video.

Remote – Video shoot performed on location, outside a controlled studio environment.

Script – Also known as a screenplay. Describes any dialogue, text on screen, and action taking place in the video. Actors and locations presented are carefully noted.

Section 508 – Federal regulation requiring federal agencies to provide captioning and audio description (and the ability to turn these on and off) in “all training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency’s mission.”

Single-Camera Shoot – A shoot conducted using only one camera. Different aspects of a scene can be captured sequentially, through multiple takes.

Storyboard – A series of sketches illustrating key visual parts (shots, scenes) of a planned production accompanied by audio information.

Treatment – A document providing a picture of the video. Treatments are much less detailed than scripts, but provide more detail than an outline. They aim to provide the essence of the story in a more “short story” format.

Video Compression – Process through which video files are reduced in size and quality for streaming on the Web and storage.

Webcast – A non-interactive, live broadcast over the Web or an online distribution of audio and/or video to multiple viewers or listeners at the same time.

Webinar – An interactive presentation or seminar shared over the Web. Webinars generally share video and audio.

Windows Media – One format for sharing video online, especially popular on Windows-based computers. Files often have the .wmv extension.

YouTube – One of the most popular video-sharing websites. Owned by Google. It is easy to set up a YouTube “channel” to display multiple video productions together.