Yes the iPhone is here! Yes it’s easier now than ever to take pictures and shoot video. The convenience and accessibility of today’s technology is incredible but with video growing at such rapid speeds and accelerating its presence on the Internet how will you differentiate yourself? How will you not look cheap? The key is to choose a video production company that has not only maintained a presence with the advancement of technology but works well to capture the essence of what clients and organizations are trying to illustrate.
In today’s shared economy it’s become more and more evident that people are carving out niches. It is vital when shooting video to represent the presence and perception your organization wants. It’s not as simple as turning on a camera and simply hitting the record button. It’s vital you work with someone who has the experience and the “eye” to encapsulate what you’re looking for and the presentation you are seeking to deliver
We have compiled a list of questions you should ask a video production company to ensure your organization is represented to the level you are seeking.
5. Do they travel?
It’s not always necessary that they travel for their clients – not all clients have multiple locations or a need to travel far to reach their customers. However, good production companies often have bigger clients and they often have the need to travel for producing videos. Does that client value the relationship enough that they want “their” production company to come with them? Is that production company a trusted partner? There are production companies all over the world. But if a company values and trusts their production company enough that it’s worth traveling with them, it says a lot for the production company.
6. What is the quality of their productions?
There are many different production company’s out there and many levels of quality. This feet’s back to looking at samples, or asking the company to provide a sample of a low budget and high budget production. I think it’s safe to say a low budget production would also constitute a lower quality production and a higher budget results in higher quality. (This is mostly true, but I can already think of exceptions to this statement. But that’s for another blog) A low budget production might have been created with a small one or two person crew, they might use more simple lighting techniques and there may be minimal graphics or less complex editing and compositing. But the low budget should still have characteristics similar to that of their high budget. The video image should still look just as good and the overall message should be easily conveyed.
7. What about cost?
There are many different levels of quality and, of course, varying levels of cost associated with them. I often tell clients to look at creating their video like building a house. You can build a 4 bedroom home for $150,000 or $1,500,000… the difference is what you put into it. That $150,000 might be a bit rough and not have the same level of details as the $1,500,000 home, but it might get the job done just the same. Some companies focus on high end videos – some companies focus on low end videos and some can do it all. Look at the videos for the number of shots they use, are they lit nicely? Do they use a professional narrator? Are the graphics simple or complex? There are many aspects that go into creating a video and just like building a home, the more you want and the higher the quality, the more it’s going to cost. Your production company should very easily help you determine the level of quality you’re looking for and from there, can estimate your projects cost.