Filed under: Animation Projects, Commetric, Filming Tips, NC | Tags: Animation Projects, Chris Shaw, Commetric, corporate video, Help, pitch, Pitching, presentation
We got a call from Commetric asking for our help again. They were pitching to a client and wanted to show all the people from their offices across Europe, America and the Middle East, So we came up with a plan where each office got hold of a Flip camera, or similar. We gave them some spec tips, so knew which ones to buy. We then sent them a simple “how to film yourself” document, so they used basic lighting techniques to get a decent picture filming it themselves.
We took this short profile videos, and put them together in an animation showing where in the world they were based. We then made two title sequences, one specific to the client they were hoping to win, one generic one that they could use at any pitch. So they got a highly bespoke piece, a flexible video and great ROI.
Filed under: Filming Tips, InterHealth, NC | Tags: Animation Projects, corporate video, East London, Napoleon Creative, Video
We’ve just helped out newest client InterHealth edit a short piece on their MyHealth project.
They contacted us after they’d already shot some material on a Flip camera. We gave some guidance on how it was shot, suggested some cutaways, then brought the material together.
We’re finding more and more of our client are filming their own content. We can offer guidance on how to edit the material together, keep the branding clear and the message concise.
While the end film is maybe not as slick as those that we shoot, the clip feels real, accessible and of the moment, which is especially important when you’re dealing with someone’s health.
If you have a project you want us to help you bring together, just give us a call on 020 7729 6909.
Filed under: Filming Tips, Subtitling, Testimonials | Tags: corporate video, Napoleon Creative, solution, subtitles, subtitling, Testimonials, Video
Today we’ve done a subtitling job, adding English subtitles to an existing video that was filmed in French. Here are our tips for adding subtitles:
- Centre the text, it makes it easier to read
- Break sentences in phrases, rather than just when the text reaches the end of the screen
- Don’t leave ‘orphans’ ie single words left on a line. Always have at least two words.
- Make sure there’s sufficient contrast in your text. If necessary, put a background behind it, preferably a semi-transparent one
- Sans-Serif fonts work better on video footage, especially when encoded for internet use. This is because the serifs are more complicated, and the edges around the words become badly defined
- Ideally, each subtitle should be onscreen for twice the time it takes to read it. However, in reality, this isn’t always practical.
It’s often awkward to put subtitles in after a project is complete because it often takes longer to read the copy than hear it. There are times when ideally you’d stretch out some of the breaks in the film so the subtitles can hold longer. However, unless the film has no music, or you’ve got the audio split into dialogue, effects and music, that’s going to be hard.
But anyway, with a quick turn around we managed to get the video subtitled, a couple of rounds of changes and back to the client in a couple of hours. Problem solved! In fact their feedback was great:
“The Sales Lead said it is perfect! Thanks again for being so fast and helpful.”
Filed under: Filming Tips, Grayling | Tags: Corporate, corporate video, Grayling, London, Napoleon Creative, NapoleonCreative, Shoot
On Monday we got a job to create a video for a presentation for new client, Grayling. Simple interview set up, then cut it down to a 90 sec clip. Worked well, got the clip delivered in good time, nice HD encode, taking the speaker into the presentation virtually as they couldn’t make it in person.
Then we get a call from our client from the presentation. First fear, the clip wouldn’t work for some reason. No, all went fine – in fact, can we create an wmv for the people at the meeting to take away with them?
Sure! Within half an hour we’d re-encoded the clip so it was under 5mb, the size that usually gets emails sent to spam or blocked. The client received it on their BlackBerry, and forwarded it to everyone at the meeting. Easy solution, and meant the investment they made on the clip wasn’t just spent during the presentation, but can now be reviewed by all at any time.
Filed under: Filming Tips, NC | Tags: business, corporate video, NapoleonCreative, research, Video, web, Youtube
A recent study by Forbes and Google looked at 354 C-level and top executives at major US companies with annual sales in excess of $1B to “shed insight into how these executives discover and share business information.”
The statistic that caught my eye was that a third of under 50s watch business-related video every single day, with many turning directly to youtube to find information for business. We’re pleased our clients like Capgemini and IBM are posting the work we create for them there, as well as on their own sites.
Back in March we filmed at the All Together Now conference, where one programme maker described how their web strategy has moved on from trying to pull viewers to one central website. They now create spaces within sites like facebook and myspace, engaging audiences where they linger to socialise and start conversations and put content in those spaces.
Video is a great tool for this kind of strategy. Yes, create the video for your company’s home page, but then you have to seed it to youtube, Daily Motion, set up facebook and linked in groups to reach your audience. This takes time and energy, but is essential if you’re to reach your market. You can’t rely on them coming to your website, you have to broadcast in the places where your audience look for content.
Read more about the report here.
Filed under: Filming Tips, NC | Tags: Corporate, corporate video, Napoleon Creative, Video
Here’s an interesting piece of research by Marketing Charts. More than 80% of consumers want a companies to show a human face. I believe this applies in equal measure to business-to-business as it does to consumer products, especially as these sales tend to be on going.
In the last few months we’ve been putting together video clips for two different clients to show at pitch meetings and the feedback they’ve been getting has been really positive. Video really makes a huge impact on humanising the content they wanted to share with their potential new clients. Hearing and seeing someone giving a strong testimonial is so much more engaging than simply reading it, you hear the passion and conviction in their delivery.
If you want to know more about how we can help your company use video to increase sales, give us a call on 020 7193 5387.
Filed under: Filming Tips, NC | Tags: Corporate, Filming, London, marketing, mix, Napoleon Creative, online, Video
I was invited to contribute to Hannah McNamara’s great website/blog Marketing Career Zone, a resource for those wishing to progress in marketing.
I wrote a short introduction to the key reasons why online video should really be part of the marketing mix in any campaign now.
