First steps
Like any marketing or business activity, investing time in the planning phase will help set you up for a great final product that delivers results.
There are many similarities between planning a video shoot and planning a photo shoot. You want to:
- Define who you’re talking to (your target audience)
- Have a clear goal in mind
- Develop a detailed brief
- Scout the right location(s)
Selecting the right video length
Generally, the best length to aim for is:
Website or internal communications: 3-5 minutes
Ways to communicate your key messages
Sometimes, the footage does all the ‘talking’ you need, but when your message is more complex or your goal is to create a story around your brand, there are additional tools that we can use to help communicate the key messages.
Interview style videos
For businesses who who want their customers to know more them, interview style videos are often the first option we explore. They are a great way to connect a human face to your brand or message and are often used for testimonials, staff or customer profiles, and recruitment activities.
Massey University’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori video, which captured Vice Chancellor Jan Tomas’ journey learning te reo Māori, shows how effective first-hand storytelling can be.
If you think this approach might be right for your business, we’ve created a checklist for Preparing for an interview style video.
Jumping in front of the camera isn’t for everyone, or if you’re launching a new advertising campaign, then there are other communications tools we can explore…
Voiceovers
Graphic Overlays
Graphic overlays involve adding pop-up text or diagrams to your video. They can be an effective tool to use when:
- Creating videos for social media, as most people view videos without sound
- You want to reinforce key messages, like product features, pricing info or stats
- You need to keep your audience engaged while communicating complex information
- You have a lot to communicate in a short period of time – using both graphic overlays and a voice over can be a creative way around a tight timeframe
Creating a storyboard and/or shot list
A shot list is like a checklist for the video shoot. It will include:
- A description of each piece of footage required
- The location we’re filming each scene
- The types of shots (eg. Close ups or wide angle shots)
- A schedule for shooting– so that we know how much time we allocate to filming each scene
If your video includes people speaking to camera, the shot list will involve PTC (person to camera) and B-Roll footage. B-roll footage captures the scenic or action shots that we add into the video to keep it engaging and to help illustrate key messages.
A video can be a great opportunity to get creative in how you communicate with your target audience. We know all the ways for making it fun, straight forward and effective, and will work alongside you throughout the planning process. Call us to sit down and chat about how to share your brand’s story through video.