Video

We talk a lot about how to communicate what exactly is going on in our video departments, not only to promote transparency company-wide but also to help quantify the value that video brings. Below are some best practices for providing and communicating value with your team. Weekly newsletters- I cannot stress enough how powerful it can be to send out a simple schedule and priority list for what you’re doing with video. This helps put a quantifier on your work and also notify inter-departmentally that lots of people are working with you- so they should too. Use video to communicate- using a tool like Vidyard for quick, one-off thoughts isn’t only more engaging, but it’s more efficient and helps create a culture of video for even the most... See More

Either during a dinner conversation with your family or at some point while grabbing a drink with some friends, I'll bet that someone will tell you they're looking for a new job before the year ends.

They'll mention their frustrations. They'll mention their aspirations. They'll for sure mention their desired compensation.

But at some point in the conversation, they're going to stop talking.

How will you respond?

Will you be able to share the love of the work you're doing and the clear impact it's having on you and the people you work with? Or will you spend the evening swapping horror stories and trashing your teammates?

If you're in the first group of people that really dig the work they're doing or are so fresh in their jobs that moving... See More

I write here a lot about the fundamentals- using LUTs, hijacking Canva- just general stuff that we often forget about as we start talking about the strategy behind TAYA videography and creating content that moves people to action. One issue that plagues me as a videographer is shot composition. I get in the ZONE when I’m filming and will leave shoots over the moon- and then sit down to edit later and find myself cropping and altering way too much in post for it to be efficient. So here’s a handy checklist for you to keep in mind when heading to your next shoot!
Buffer space- shoot wider than you plan to need in post so your SME always has enough headroom and so you aren’t cutting off body parts in the final frame. Background noise-... See More

Videographers, you know the sale team is supposed to use your content in their assignment-selling messages; but if I asked you what is your role in assignment selling? What would you say?

The way I see it here's how a videographer's role in assignment selling breaks down: Content Creator: you're producing videos each week that sales can use in their process. Eyes and ears of the customer: you're not the expert, your sales team is. It's your job in your revenue team meetings and when you're talking to your sales team to ask them questions to make your content really align with what the buyer needs. Teacher: video is your area of expertise, not theirs. You need to show them how to make their videos better, consistently give them feedback... See More

We have started incorporating graphics into all of our videos and have seen a dramatic increase in sales right after the client watches the video. This video got this vendor to send multiple deals to him. What graphics are you guys including in your videos that have been helpful? See More

We've all been there- you've got a great talking head shot, but you've got to cut a portion out for whatever reason. Maybe they stumbled on a word, or they sneezed mid-sentence, maybe they were just talking for too long and you had to make a decision on what was important to include. Regardless of your reasoning, you now have a weird jump cut that you need to hide with footage of something else- so what do you do?

Enter your backlog of b-roll footage to the rescue!

One of the simplest and most effective things you can do to make your life easier and expedite your post-production process is to have ready-to-go, drag-and-drop clips to use in instances like this.

The first thing I want you to do is to go into whatever file structure you're... See More

You may not be in an industry that's naturally visually interesting. But you still have to make interesting videos. How do you do it? Here are questions any videographer in any industry should consider:

How am I optimizing sound in my video to draw the viewer in? How do my graphics assist the storytelling and educating? Could my graphics be more visually interesting? Could I add movement to them? Am I utilizing broll effectively? How could I get creative with my broll? CJ Boisvert Austin Lott Sami Ahmad in my mind, you're all pros at this! Is there any advice you have for others? See More

Hey everyone! I made a quick video in case anyone was interested in learning more about LUTs (Look-Up-Tables) to increase your efficiency in color grading. Check it out! See More

Today’s thought- we have to do better at measuring twice and cutting once in videography. It’s so easy to say “Oh I’ll just fix this in post” and every single videographer has a horror story of the trouble that got them into. So here’s my handy list of things we can do as video professionals to ensure that we are doing things correctly from the ground up!
Frame it correctly DURING the shoot. Check the white balance. Use kelvin. Don’t rely on the camera to do the thinking for you. Taking 5 minutes to do a test shot is not a waste of time- it’s essential to good filmmaking. Double check the audio levels and feedback. Yes you do need to check the gimbal in app- I know you’ve done it by hand a thousand times, but if you don’t check this... See More

Did you guys know that Canva has video motion graphics available now- and that they are free with your team's existing Canva subscription? And also that they aren’t even half as frustrating as trying to fight with After Effects or Motion Array? Anyway- here’s the scoop. See More

You're at the end of editing a project, you're about to export the video you've been working on for hours and the next step is to submit the video for approval to be published.

As a video trainer, the two most important questions I ask myself when I'm reviewing a video that's submitted to me are: Is this helpful and unbiased? Does itFULLYanswer the question being asked? If the answer is yes to both of those questions, the video (unless there are some outstanding production issues like bad sound) is ready to be published.

Will there be things you would do differently if you had the chance to go back in time and start the project over? Absolutely. Write down what those improvements or updates are and implement them on the next project.

For... See More

I was watching a customer journey video submitted by one of the videographers I'm working with and while the story of the video was great, I was missing the emotions that went along with that journey. I wanted to understand how this person felt along the journey and how they felt when they encountered the solution to their challenge, aka, the service being provided. So, how do you capture the emotion of the journey? Here are my go-to questions I ask when I'm looking to draw emotion out of an interviewee:

How did x make you feel? You mentioned x moment, what was going through your mind as that was happening? Talk me through your reaction when you realized...?
Using these 3 questions can take your story from good to great; it will bring... See More

Hi again gang.

Here are some more video from the last few months, have taken previous advice onboard and try to bring into new videos, have also been adding an element of animation, which I feel works well in the videos.

All feedback welcome.

Thanks and
Warmest regards
Justin See More

Hi gang,

Here are a couple of vids we have worked on the last few months any feedback appreciated.

Product promotional vid.

https://www.promohire.co.uk/vehicles/pop-up-vw-camper-bar

A couple of Customer journey vids

www.promohire.co.uk

promohire.co.uk

and one for raccoon

www.raccoon.co.uk

Thanks J See More

Hi,

We are going to start collecting video testimonials from customers. We have many great customers we can approach, which is excellent.

Curious - is there an interview template with questions available through Impact Plus?

Cheers
Chris See More

Many of us probably know chapters in YouTube videos, and we can now do it with Vidyard too!

This is an awesome opportunity to provide additional context on videos AND to make it easy for viewers to jump to the sections they're most interested in.

Above is an article about how to add and update chapters in your videos, check it out!

Has anyone been using this yet? Curious to hear your experiences as I just start diving in :) See More

I recently helped film a lesson for an upcoming course (ooo exciting!) and I had to get real creative to make it work from where I was. I know I can't be alone in using funky setups to make your recording space work, so share yours! In the thread below, drag and drop your best/favorite DIY video setups and show how creative you can get :)


My setup in this case was made up of: A dining chair A cardboard box x2 (great recommendation Renee Hernandez ) A laundry drying rack A very large book about the history of the Yankees (I promise I've also read it Kaitlyn Petro ) My computer stand Here's the setup and how it turned out!

Can't wait to check out how this group put together their setups! See More

We are employing a new videographer. Our last one was awesome and had all his own equipment. The new guy doesn't really have much because he is newly qualified. So we are looking to buy in the right kind of kit to get some awesome TAYA videos made See More

Hi! Just starting out with video doing case studies of financial advisors who use our start-up planning software in their offices and wondering what the minimum you all think I need is in terms of equipment. I like the idea of two cameras for different views, but also want to be cost conscious as we are just experimenting so far.

I've only ever used point-and-shoot digital cameras and phones in my personal video experience, but of course want this to be high enough quality to not look too amateur.

Also I'm not sure where to start with sound equipment, but I know it's important. See More

Is anyone willing to share a waiver agreement they ask people to sign when filming them in their videos? Pretty please. See More