Video Production F.A.Q.

Why should I pay you to do a video for me when I have a video camera myself?

Sometimes a self-shot video is a great idea, but too often a self-shot video makes your business or organization look terribly amateur and can actually do more harm than good. We've seen a lot of bad self-produced video out there that suffers from various camera problems, bad lighting, poor audio, and amateur editing. You can't afford to harm your reputation by looking like you're not serious about your work, especially when viewers are increasingly expecting to see professional quality video on websites.

When is self-produced video for business a good choice?

"Quick and dirty" video blogging to provide short updates can be very effective, but you need to make sure the audio is clear and understandable and can't have any significant lighting issues. Keep these simple, short and to the point, and always use a tripod.

When is self-produced video for business a problem?

The primary video for your website needs to be as polished and professional as you are, so any production elements that might pose a challenge probably put the effort out of reach of most amateurs. Shots involving any camera movement, filming in areas that are not very brightly lit, and instances where the audio environment is not absolutely friendly post particularly difficult challenges for amateur videography. Also, if your video will require more than modest editing, that may put the production out of reach for in-house production.

If your website was designed by professionals, and professionals design your print advertising, chances are having professionals handle your video production needs is a smart choice.

Why do your videos look so much better than what I shoot?

It's pretty much the same reason why a professional photographer takes better family portraits than you do with your pocket camera, but with video we have even more elements in the mix. The quality of our visuals comes from talent behind the camera, the equipment we use to film, and the tools we employ after the production to make the footage look as good as possible. We've invested many tens of thousands of dollars in production and post-production equipment because we know it's awfully difficult to produce good work without the right equipment.

What about those slideshow videos I see everywhere?

There's been a surge in cheaply produced videos which consist of a slideshow of a handful of pictures along with voiceover and some stock music in recent years. We don't believe it works very well, and no one we've ever spoken with has been able to demonstrate any return on investment from these. They may be cheap, but when they're really cheap, and there will be thousands of others out there with content that will be virtually indistinguishable from yours. They're also an utter plague on YouTube, making searches for local content nearly useless as this video spam crowds out nearly all the local content that isn't mass-produced, low quality, mind-numbing drivel.

But you can try it if you really want to. Let us know how that goes.

What kind of video camera should I buy to shoot my own web videos?

One good all-around camera that will give you professional results is the Red Scarlet, which should be available soon. Rumor is that this will retail for under $10,000. Or you can buy a variety of cameras that are suited to the specific conditions you'll most likely encounter, spending between 2-5,000 for each one. Add in camera support (tripods, etc.), microphones and other sound gear, and a lighting kit that will suffice in most situations, and a software-based editing system that will provide quality results, and you should be able to outfit yourself for under $25,000. There is no inexpensive consumer-grade camera that is likely to give you consistently good results even in the conditions you will most likely encounter -- the typical badly lit indoor room that is itself an acoustically difficult sound environment.

I want to film an hour-long training seminar. Can I shoot that with my flipcam?

Sure, you could, but audio is going to present a challenge for you and the flipcam loses a lot of detail in low light. If you're going to film a presentation, make sure the lighting is strong and try to record the audio separately from the video and you can use the "secondary audio" as the sound in your editor. Matching the separate audio and video so it syncs up correctly may not be easy, but it's worth the effort. For something like this, plan on spending about four hours editing for each hour of source footage you have and rendering (building the final video on the computer) may take several hours to complete.

Didn't see your question here? Email us at media@jtcinc.biz and we'll answer it for you!