Producing A First-Class Video For Your Business
Work With Professionals Or Do It Yourself
Whether you want to sell and demonstrate your product, build your corporate image, announce news items to the media, train employees, or educate the public about your cause, presenting your message on video may be the answer to you.
This Self-Counsel Press book explains everything you need to know about finding and working with a video production company, or doing it yourself and setting up your own production facility. It offers tips on everything from preparing your employees to appear on camera to making your office look good on video.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART ONE - PREPRODUCTION
1. THE BIG PICTURE - The magic of video - What type of video do you plan to produce? - Video formats - Interactive and desktop video - How long is a corporate video? - Pacing - How is a video shot?
2. PLANNING AND BUDGETING YOUR VIDEO - Why make a video? - Defining your needs - Budgeting - Alternatives to video
3. CHOOSING A PRODUCTION COMPANY - Starting your search - What does a video cost? - Looking at the production company's reel - Beware of lame production companies - Can you and the production company work together? - Up-front protection against cost overruns
4. GREAT IDEAS, TRIED AND TRUE TECHNIQUES - The three styles of video - Program formats - Newscasts - Slide show - Narrative - Drama - Comedy - Music-video - Demonstration/instruction - Magazine/talk show - News release
5. WRITING A SCRIPT - What is a script? - Think visually - Who should write your video script? - The structure of a script - Storyboarding - Getting the script approved
6. FINDING AND HIRING TALENT - What is talent? - Options for locating talent - How to screen for perfect talent - How and what to pay - Paperwork
PART TWO - PRODUCTION
7. SHOWTIME - What happens on a shoot, anyway? - What happens on a multicamera shoot?
8. DIRECTING AND TAKING DIRECTION - The director's role - Before the shoot - During the shoot - Taking direction - Being a good client - Using the interview
9. SHOOTING ON-LOCATION - Studio or location? - Locations can reveal what you wish - Dealing with sound problems - Dealing with lighting and color problems - The great outdoors - Conclusion
10. PROPS, COSTUMES, AND MAKEUP - Proper props - Care with costumes - Magical makeup
11. THE SHOT - Camera shots - Framing and composition - Camera movement - Lens movement - Planning shots
PART THREE - POSTPRODUCTION
12. A WORD ABOUT EDITING
13. CHOOSING AND USING MUSIC - The psychology of music - The right music for the images - Where can you get music? the suspense builds: sound effects - Special effects music
14. GRAPHICS, TITLES, AND SPECIAL EFFECTS - Titles: simplicity is the key - Computer graphics - Effects: what they are, how to use them
PART FOUR - DOING IT YOURSELF
15. BEING YOUR OWN PRODUCTION COMPANY - Will your studio be cost effective? - Who will run the equipment - What equipment will you need? - Sticking to your budget - Your studio space - Buying, leasing, or renting equipment - Maintaining your equipment
16. BASICS OF LIGHTING AND AUDIO - When do you need light? - Effective audio
17. TIPS FOR LOW-COST, HIGH-QUALITY PRODUCTION - Use stock footage - Stock animation and computer graphics - Plan your footage to have many uses - Inexpensive titles, graphics, and effects - Smart shooting tips - If you must shoot VHS - Non-profit organizations do it on the cheap
GLOSSARY
APPENDIXES - Formats and you - Meet the players - Getting on TV - Resources - Video production forms
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dell Dennison has over 20 years experience in advertising and corporate communications. She is also co-author of THE ADVERTISING HANDBOOK, another title in the Self-Counsel Series.
Don Doman first worked in television production over 30 years ago. He wrote the Self-Counsel Press book OUT OF WORK? GET INTO BUSINESS! and the PNW Production book REEL COMMENTS - QUOTABLE LINES FROM THE MOVIES. He's an on-call writer for Videomaker magazine. For the past seventeen years, he and Margaret Doman have owned a video production company (PNW VIDEO PRODUCTIONS)and have produced video for clients such as Group Health Cooperative, Weyerhaeuser and Amtrak. Margaret is an active marketing and public relations consultant.
This writing team also produced the popular Self-Counsel Press book LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP: MARKET RESEARCH MADE EASY.
ORDERING INFORMATION
To purchase your own copy of PRODUCING A FIRST-CLASS VIDEO FOR YOUR BUSINESS, please, visit your favorite fine bookstore in the United States or Canada and look for their Self-Counsel Press display. Or, you may send a check for $19.95 (U.S. funds) or $24.95 (Canadian funds), including shipping, to: PNW Productions, P. O. Box 191, Tacoma, WA 98401.
For more information contact video4u@msn.com.
