Today the world has its eyes glued to the glass screen and people want to get their content up onto these screens. Interesting content matched with creative and effective video production could help your company get there a little faster than most. Brands are increasingly turning to digital and social media to better establish their image to reach a wider range of the market.
Brand image and reputation must be perpetually promoted to remain in the public eye and in turn to generate sales. Social media platforms have transformed the manner in which content is viewed and generated, holding an audience with a limited attention span and one that scans through so much media. Brands have to focus on creating artful digital content in order to captivate their target market. Digital video content has a very captivating way of conveying information, but the content is just part of the story. Today’s audience is interested only in adaptable and crisp videos so here are some basic tips to help your organization make effective web video content.
Tips for Creating Engaging Video Content
Nurture that Creativity
Creative moments come from everywhere, keep yourself open and available to new ways to shoot a scene. Listen to suggestions from the people you work with as they might just have got a sense of what your story could use. Don’t be afraid to explore your own creative style because at the end of the day, that’s what makes your brand stand out from the hoard of content out there.
Remember to shoot more footage than you need, this may seem frustrating to follow all the time but goes a long way when you’re at the editing table and find a shot that hadn’t been planned but could definitely use.
Step by Step
Pace yourself while shooting a scene as this gives you the mental space and time to make decisions. Making a video can be very stressful as a million things have to work together but keeping yourself calm and taking your time to do things can make that process so much easier.
Gear
Always invest in equipment that your company can use in the long run because that’s some expensive stuff! Cameras are not your priority investments as they are always changing, instead, get yourself some good lights. They help you enhance almost any scene by creating depth and don’t even cost as much as cameras.
Lenses and filters are also a great investment as they are interchangeable as they can be used on different camera bodies.
Lights and Shadows
Lighting is the most significant thing in video production as it is essentially what helps create the mood and feel of the scene. Videos being primarily a visual medium makes what your audience can or cannot see very crucial and thus one should understand how to bring the correct exposure to the scenes.
Either play around with the big 3 of the camera settings; Aperture, ISO and shutter speed or just get some of those lights we talked about earlier. Discerning how and where to focus with the camera is also a big component of exposure as this helps sighting the important points of the frame as well as where the audience’s attention should divert to.
There’s always the option of using the natural light available as that is the most cost-effective as well as quite useful in many situations. Keep in mind to observe and analyze how the sunlight transforms at different points during the day and how it could influence the shot.
That Tasteful Cut
Editing is much more than being able to put different shots together and conveying a story, it’s about rhythm and flow and that could be achieved through various methods but most of all it’s about knowing what to keep and what to lose.
Fundamentally, to know where to cut you need to acquire a sense of what you have to work with. This can only be done if you go through your footage and familiarize yourself with the content and your company’s brand image.
Once you get a clear idea of your resources you need to start organizing the media. Clutter is an adversary to all editors if you’re always searching for what you need you will start to lose focus and eventually your mind!
While editing you want to keep it simple on some aspects, maintain the continuity at all times. Lose your continuity and get ready to lose your audience’s undivided attention as well. It’s fun to put on different filters and color grade your footage to make it more alluring but be mindful not to overdo it because that would just take the focus away from the content.
Here’s a rule that could save your life, always and perpetually back up your footage! Mysterious things happen all the time and sometimes that backed up footage on your hard drive comes so handy.
Music to My Ears
If the eyes take the lead in apprehending a video, the ears follow close behind. Sound is absolutely cardinal in a video as it helps your audience perceive the mood and emotion of the project and thereby the essence of your brand. Sound in way of background music or even just the volume or texture of a dialogue helps navigate the film from scene to scene and even emphasizes the emotions a scene holds.
Editing oftentimes goes along with the music used in the video as both share the rhythm that grabs the viewer’s attention. Although sound is an intrinsic factor in films, often silence speaks grand volumes in the right context.
Film and media have broken margins with the scale of technology that is made available in these times and one can gain insight and valuable knowledge through various online sources, it is just a matter of legitimacy and depth of the content. We should be able to differentiate between what is worthy of our consideration and filter out the rest.
Finally, nobody has made a good film in a day and that just means that it is alright if you’re not doing every little thing right straightaway. It is a matter of practice and passion and both require consistency. These tips are just a way to help you get to your goal a little faster and a lot more effectively.
Written By: Irene Mary Joseph