Promotional Videos For Charities
Working Wednesday: Promotional Videos For Charities
You're sat there, watching your shows and an advert break comes on. Then it hits you; the charity commercials. They make you sit up and pay attention by pulling on your heart strings.
As a filmmaker there are factors you need to take into consideration when producing promotional videos for charities:
Understand your audience:
You can't produce anything without getting to know your audience. So know your typical demographic and where the promo will be shown. Where is important as it will also determine the length of the production. For example, if you are showing the video online it can stand to be a little longer.
Have a strong narrative:
Don't just fill the video with all the information out there. Be brave, less is more. Make it as simple as possible so the audience focusses on the issue or message you are trying to put forward. The production needs to follow a strong storyline, to set out the reason and goals of the charity and the call to action.Make it emotional and shocking:
You want the audience's hair to stand up on the back of their neck. You want your video to be one of the most poignant things of their day, so much so that they can't stop thinking about it. Try and put your audience in the shoes of the people who need the charities support. A great example of this is the UNICEF advert:
Don't forget your facts:
Using the emotional and shock card is great, but you need to back it up with statistics in order to install the all important trust factor. For example the NSPCC advert below shares one facts, 1 child in 9 are abused, those figures are showing enough to stand alone.
Have a call to action
Make it clear what your viewers need to do now, have the number clearly displayed and often and make the call to action as easy as possible. Many use a text call to action as it's quicker and easier for the audience, but they also display a phone number. However, don't overload the viewer with all the contact details of the charity, you will only be masking the main contact channel.
DoP Tuesday: 26th April 2016
DoP Tuesday
Today we are introducing a new cinema camera to you. Lytro are officially showing off their new 755MP RAW Cinema Camera.
It has the highest resolution video sensor that has ever been designed. To bring it back to numbers, this camera can capture up to 755MP this is around 40K! Step aside 4 and 5K.
It's said to have the ability to shoot objects without a green screen. Then you can take the objects out, manipulate them to how you want and reinsert back into the picture. A camera like this can revolutionise the way filmmakers approach projects.
But don't take our word for it, watch the video below:
To read more about Lytro, check out these articles:
Studio Daily: Studio Daily
News Shooter: News Shooter
DP Review: DP Review
Friday Favourites: 22nd April 2016
Friday Favourites
This week we are all about the adverts!
1) This Advert: IKEA
2) This Advert: Dove
3) This Advert: Interac
Enjoy!
Pitching For Documentary
Working Wednesday: Pitching For Documentary
Many don't know what they need or where to start when looking to get their documentary ideas off the ground.
Your idea may be exactly what you want to show to the world, but don't get too caught up in the message. You need to make your story compelling, remember you're pitching for investment, the potential investors are going to want to back something that will make a profit. You need to think how you want your audience to feel when they watch it, so it's also a good idea to think about who your demographic may be, and where the documentary will be shown.
Assembling the team:
You have your show stopping idea, and now you need to get the ball rolling on getting financed. You need a good team around you. Gather a few people who will be enthusiastic and passionate about the documentary, some with good "business heads" to help with the pitching and others who are industry professionals to give you advice. If you can get someone with contacts in the area you are pitching on board, even better!
The power of Social Media:
Don't underestimate the power of social media. If you can gather hype about the documentary this will really help your fundraising case. You are showing there is already a demand for it, and if there is a demand for a product the sales will follow. It will be the shining point of your funding pitch. Plus you already have your audience lined up when you release the production.
Use your production skills:
'Death by powerpoint' is a well known thing, so don't commit it. It comes with serous consequences, it will put your financiers off backing your production. The chances are you are not the only one who is going to be pitching to them, so stand out from the crowd. You are a creative so use your skills. Make a trailer that is gripping and toe curling, and if you can't do that tell them a story that they can't wait to be a part of.
Experience:
Don't forget that your track record matters, no one will hand over big budgets to a novice, so make sure you have the right team on board to make up for your lack of experience. If you are a seasoned documentary filmmaker then remember to stay humble and stick to the story.
But the most important point is not to loose your fire. You wanted to make this documentary for a reason, and finding funding is a full time job. It can take months or even years. But don't loose sight of what you're trying to achieve, keep pushing and the right backing will come at the right time for your project.
Good luck.
Friday Favourites: 15th April
Friday Favourites
1) This, just this: Late for Meeting
2) This Online Publication: Digital Arts
Inspiration for you Digital Creatives
3) This Festival: Cannes
Along with the release of it's official selection, we thought it warrants being in our favourites!
Post Production Thursday: 14th April 2016
Post Production Thursday
We love this website on the history of animation!
Simple, clever and educational, so we thought it was more than appropriate for today's post.
http://history-of-animation.webflow.io
Simple, clever and educational, so we thought it was more than appropriate for today's post.
http://history-of-animation.webflow.io
Production Team vs Videographers
Working Wednesday: Production Team or Videographers
The age old question. I want to produce a video but do I go for the Videographer or the Production Company?
What's the difference?
A videographer, is typically a camera operator that is either part of a small team or works solo. You may also find that some production companies hire individual videographers to shoot as and when. Whereas a production company tends to come with a much larger crew consisting of Directors, Producers, DoPs, Gaffers, Focus Pullers and the list goes on.
When do I use a Videographer instead of a Production Company?
This question relies on two very important things. What is it that you want to see in your production, and what is your budget. A well set up production company should be able to handle most of their clients needs and delivering to when the clients deadlines. This is helped by the larger crew that is employed. However, this can also mean that as the overheads are larger, the price may be bigger too.
If you have a smaller budget and don't need much in terms of the shoot itself then a Videographer who can shoot and edit your video themselves may be best.
Will a Videographer have less experience than a Production Crew?
Not necessarily. When looking into who to use for your project, production company or Videographer you should always look into their previous works and experience. Sometimes a Videographer may have had a long career in a production company and has decided to take that experience into freelance work? Or maybe a company has been set up by Videographers.
To summarize, the Videographer will often do the work him/herself, whereas in a company you have tend to have a larger team. They are both great to work with, but it really depends on what you want to get out of the process and on what budget.
(Pictured: Zhenya Berline - shooting our backstage video for the Reckless Wolf fashion shoot with our BlackMagic Cinema Camera)
DoP Tuesdays: 12th April 2015
DoP Tuesday
We have a treat for you this week. The top 10 closing shots of all time.
Monday Motivation: 11th April 2016
Monday Motivation
Keep the fire and persist until you succeed.
Friday Favourites: 8th April 2016
Friday Favourites
WE have three great advertising campaigns for you to feast your eyes on this week. From the bright colours of Africa, to the subtle animation from Dominoes! We hope you enjoy!
1) This Advert: Alive Inside
2) This Advert: Old Spice
3) This Advert:
Post Production Thursdays: 6th April 2016
Post Production Thursdays
This Thursday we are showing our own post production work.
Polyna is a talent artist who approached us to edit her new music video Tiger.
The creative team stabilised shots, coloured it and put it all together to make one great, catchy and memorable video! We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Polyna's website: http://www.polyna.com
Promotional Videos For: Mobile Phones
Working Wednesday: Promotional Videos For: Mobile Phones
As is the way with many other promotional videos out there, mobile phone adverts are becoming more cinematic and stylistic. But is seems that there are two distinct groups, the apple crowd and the android crowd, both having two styles of promotion.
Starting with the iPhone 5 commercial below we can see their minimalist style, focussing on nothing else but the phone. Hinting that the phone itself is so innovative and great that it doesn't need anything extra to help promote it.
In contrast we have the Sony Experia Z3 advert that is much more colourful, vibrant and bright. It's almost showing a lifestyle that comes with the phone rather than the phone itself.
Both of these styles clearly work very well due to the success of the phones themselves, but it depends on what type of person, you the viewer, is. Are you a minimalist iPhone with a clean style and upfront, or a more creative android brightening your surroundings.
www.dragonsegg.tv
DoP Tuesdays: 5th April 2016
DoP Tuesdays
This week we are paying tribute to The Revenant with this "Director of Photography Featurette".
Emmanuel Lubezki himself talks through some of his works on the visually stunning production.
Monday Motivation: 4th April 2016
Monday Motivation
As we are the first Monday of April here is a little boost of motivation to keep yo guys going to summer!
Friday Favourites: 1st April 2016
Friday Favourites
It's April Fool! And also we are well into the spring weather, to help you ease into the weekend here are our Friday Favourites!
1) This Short: Hennesey
2)This Ad: Rio, Olympics
3) This Facebook Page: Sh*tty Rigs
With imaginative and DIY rigs, it's hard not to gasp at some of these! Like the pic below.
"When the D.O.P wants a topshot"
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