How to find a suitable video production company for your needs.
(If you have any questions or would like to discuss a project in more detail then please call us on 0845 473 8553 or 07976 881196)
Growth in video
Things are changing - You have recognised from recent trade show events or browsing around on the web that more and more of your competitor companies are using video to promote their products and services.
Age of video communications - Your observations are right. People like watching video and it tells them about your business and products in an engaging and interesting way. Promotional video being presented on your website or for use in presentations and at trade shows is a huge growth area and is undoubtedly where the market is going.
Marketing opportunity - A corporate video is there to promote what you do. It’s an important marketing tool that will represent your company in front of prospective clients. Just like your product literature and presentations it has to represent you as a business, and provide you a return on your investment by encouraging prospects to do business with you.
We can help guide you - If you are now interested in having your own promotional video but have never commissioned one before and want to know how to go about it then please read on.....
Starting your search - What to look for
Example video work - Initialy your looking for a professional corporate video production company. You are looking for a company who can easily demonstrate their experience so start by taking a look on their web site as a good company will have a number of demonstration showreels as examples of their work.
What to focus on - When you are looking at samples of video productions, what you are looking for first and foremost is a professional production company not necessarily a demo of exactly the production you are after.
Please note when viewing their demonstration showreels that they may not be exactly how you see yours being produced. The example might not have used a voice over but that might be because of limited budget or because the client doesn’t like them. It doesn’t mean it couldn’t be produced for your video if that was what you wanted.
What your looking for primarily is that the video contains good quality videography, free from jerky camera movement, everything is in focus, picture is not grainy and the lighting good. The audio should be clear, titles free of errors and transitions that are clean and almost unnoticeable.
A professional video production company are likely to be capable of producing a range of different types of business video as the techniques and equipment maybe be much the same. Of course, if they also happen to have exactly what you’re looking for then all the better. You are going to be in pretty safe hands.
References - The web site should also contain references from companies who were satisfied with the work they did. A strong reference from a client is a great indication that the company knows what they are doing and that they can produce you an excellent product.
Confidence
Here is a tip - Chances are, by the time you have done all the above, you will already have reached that imperceptible decision on whether you feel comfortable with production company and if you can work with them but if the verdict is still open, here is a little tip for you to consider. Try finding information on the website, maybe in case studies about how they approach projects. If they are open about how they have approached various shoots then they are likely to be confident in what they do. That confidence is something you are going to be heavily relying on when it comes to fulfilling your own production.
How much will it cost?
Very few production companies will provide much in the way of pricing on their website. This isn’t because they are hiding something its just that costing for video production is complex and depends on many different aspects.
There tend to be two primary reasons you might want to know costs.
Getting an idea of the budget required – What can I afford to do?
Comparing quotes – Who is offering the best price / service ratio
Budget
Outline what you want from the video. Please understand that you are asking the production company for some help and advice free of charge. Be honest with the production company by letting them know it is early days and you are simply looking to settle on the likely and realistic budget. A production company should be happy to provide this estimation in return for being invited to quote when the time comes.
What you want to achieve here is to get an indication of the "probable" cost as well as an indication of other possible items to be budgeted for. An example might be accommodation if the shoot location is not yet known.
Budget Tip - Always allow some contingency to give you room to manouver should your requirements change.
As the production transforms from concept towards reality, it will invariably change and so an ideal budget will have enough flex to enable you to modify things without having to find new money but there does come a point where you have to accept, if you change the specification then you may have to change the budget.
Quotation.
If you are obliged to go out to multiple quotations then aim to do this with a single specification. Give the same specification to each of the production companies and ask them to quote a figure against your exact spec. This way you should be able to compare them all like for like.
When you get your quotes you will need to check the individual items. One company maybe offering a higher overall quote but they might be including additional items not included on other quotes. Its things like rates per day for crew and equipment you can directly compare. Some companies maybe including lots of additional items but the actual rates may be lower than the others. You can decide later if you want to use the additional items or not but you will at least have the best rates.
Agreeing your production
Once you have all this information and you are ready to select your production company it is time to determine how much you are really willing to spend on your trade show or corporate video, and what you expect in return. You can then engage with your preferred company to agree a production and pricing that is appropriate to your objectives. Compromises may need to be made.
Next stage...... Sous Productions will be adding some further tips about how to work with your selected production company to turn your concept in to reality.
(If you ahve any questions or would like to discuss a project in more detail then please call us on 0845 473 8553 or 07976 881196)