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Video Is Social

All brands should develop a video marketing strategy on every platform and channel that they have access to: Website, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, Amazon, blog posts, email campaigns, and the like.

Video is no longer an afterthought in one’s overall marketing plan. Video should be an integral part of any marketing campaign effort. And this includes any social media campaign.

HubSpot Research reports that four of the top five channels for video are social platforms.

So, if you are not creating, distributing and promoting video content, you are definitely losing out to your competitors.

Deploy video to promote and market your brand and your products or services. This will create a virtuous cycle by increasing engagement with your brand. And this can provide a positive feedback loop on your social channels, as you educate your customers about your company.

No one reads anymore! 50% of consumers want to learn about their favorite brands through video.

Landing pages that include video increase conversion rates by over 80%. If you include the word “video” in your email subject line, this will increase open rates by 20%. And 90% of customers also report that videos help them make buying decisions.

Video is also an essential tool for salespeople to help conversions throughout the entire customer buying journey.

Video comes in all colors and sizes — onboarding, knowledge-based, meet-the-team, support-call, and customer-story, product, service, testimonial, brand, sizzle, just-eye-candy. Video will generate a more personalized customer experience.

Who can help you generate this awesome content? Capitola Media can.

Video Marketing 101

Whether you’re a large business or a small business, video marketing should be an essential pillar supporting your overall marketing plan. We’re here to help.

By The Numbers

Video represents 80% of consumer Internet traffic. Let’s state that again. Video represents 80% of consumer Internet traffic! Further, a majority of viewers want more video content from the brands they love. Viewers also retain over 90% of the information delivered in a video. And video drives increased traffic to websites, and improves organic search. Google weighs relevant video content favorably in their search results. Compare that with the statistic that a mere 22% of Millennials want more emails from the brands they depend on. So, where do you think we recommend focusing your advertising efforts?

Let’s talk ROI.

Over half of marketers believe video has the best return on investment of any marketing content. Videos may cost more than other marketing assets, but they can be produced to be evergreen. Further, they can be distributed across your social network and on YouTube and Vimeo.

Social Media Sites Favor Video

Posts on Facebook that include video garner 1.4x the reach of posts without. And videos on social media generate 12x the number of shares that traditional text and image-based posts deliver. Every social media platform now includes the ability to upload video assets.

Content Ideas

Where to get started? Definitely include video on your website’s index page. Sadly, no one reads anymore. This anchor video can include messaging about your company’s mission, employees, past and present clients and, of course, your products and services. Include video links in the body of your traditional outbound emails. Again, no one reads any more. Integrate testimonials from your clients across your social media universe. Turn your site into a destination for information about a particular topic that is relevant to your business. This will drive a virtuous cycle of content, traffic and new business. Rinse and repeat!

Creating Effective Videos

Understand your audience. Do they just want product information? Create a series of simple product videos. Do they want to be reassured about the company’s owners? Interview your management team. Do they want to see prior work to better understand the nature and quality of your products and services. Testimonials work well if this is the demand. How will you best convert your viewers into customers? Are you targeting a YouTube audience with an attention span of less than 60 seconds? If so, then Instagram TV could be an ideal platform. Facebook Live can be a great venue for 1-2-1 selling. Profile your “buyer personas” and get rolling.

What Is Your CTA

Without a pre-defined Call To Action, your content make lack direction. Your entire video project’s purpose should be pointing toward that closing CTA. What do you want your viewers to do after they’ve watched your awesome content. Do you want to increase your social media engagement, accrue new signups on your mailing list, drive brand awareness, or simply increase sales.

How About SEO

In a word, yes. Video increases your organic search placement. Why? Because Google’s algorithm favors video content over plain text. Further, you’ll want to get your video indexed on YouTube. Why? Because YouTube is the #2 search engine and is owned by Google, the #1 search engine. Creating video content for SEO will also become a virtuous cycle.

Is Video Mobile?

We think so. Cinephiles used to mock watching movies and TV on mobile devices. Today it’s commonplace and even expected. Video is more easily consumed on mobile than is text. This is yet another reason to devote time and effort toward creating great video content.

Can I Just Make A Commercial

Yes! Commercials work well on any platform. And if done well, you will find an audience for your content, brand and messaging.

Need Help?

Reach out to Capitola Media today. We are a full-service video production company in San Francisco, and our agency is ready to help you produce compelling and cost-effective video content.

How To Use B-Roll In Post Production

So, your client wants the edit to have more energy. What’s an editor to do? You’ve painstakingly selected all of the best takes, added in your best music track, worked to make the pacing awesome, cut it down to the essential messaging, but the client’s still wanting more. The answer is often b-roll.

B-roll is an antiquated term from the linear editing days. A-roll was the footage acquired of the actual subject matter. Then you cut in your b-roll to support the story.

And that’s exactly what b-roll is meant to serve – supporting the a-roll story.

Where to begin? First take out a subscription with Getty Images, Istock Photo (owned by the same parent company) or Adobe Stock. Pricing packages vary. But you want “royalty free” content, so that you avoid having to repay the owner beyond the first licensing fee.

Next, consider the story and begin to put together a light-box of possible clips for your specific edit and theme. Then download the watermarked, low res, free versions of the clips you like, edit them into the video and share them with the client. That way, if your b-roll selects are rejected, you’ve lost nothing but some time.

Once your edit is approved, license the clips and download the high-res, non-watermarked versions for a final.

For all of your a- and b-roll video production needs, contact Capitola Media.

White Cyclorama Video Production

When the client says, we want it to look like an Apple commercial, what do you do?! First, you need to find and book a sound stage with a “cyclorama” curve to one, or preferably two, of its walls. You can put a “hold” on the stage until you are ready to “book” the space, or they “challenge” you with another client’s interest in that same calendar slot. Once you’ve decided on a date, tell the stage you want it painted white. It might be painted blue or green at the moment.

Next, scout the space to understand how you’re going to get lights, grip, crew and cast into and out of the stage, and where to hold your cast and crew during production.

Next, buy a bunch of painter “booties,” so that your crew members don’t scuff up the new white paint with their work boots.

Finally, hire an awesome Director of Photography to light the background evenly, so that you can’t tell the difference in the quality of the whites anywhere in frame. This will give you that even, white-world look the client is asking for when they say they want to it look like an Apple commercial.

For all of your high-end sound stage shoots, contact Capitola Media.

Animals On Set

W.C. Fields cautioned about shooting on set with children and … animals.

So, how do you shoot a commercial when the creative calls for animals in the script? First, you hire a professional “animal wrangler”. But animal wranglers typically specialize in a group or type of animal. You have the horse wranglers, the domesticated farmer animal wranglers, the insect wranglers, the reptile wranglers, the bird wranglers, the dog wranglers and, of course, the cat wranglers.

Next, you have to “cast” your animals. Animals typically come in “teams” of similar looking animals that can substitute for each other when one get tired or fails to perform. So, you’ll have 3 grey tabbys on set at the same time.

Next you’ll need to schedule your day around their availability. The wrangler will charge you a “portal-to-portal” day, which includes travel time to and from the set. And animals typically do not work an 8 hour day.

But having a professionally trained animal on set can also be a thing of beauty. Wrangler-trained dogs will impress the client and enable you to make your day.

For all of your mission-critical video productions that require animals on set, contact Capitola Media.

What Is a Script Supervisor

Script Supervisors ensure that the creative film-making process has continuity. They provide the principal means of communication between physical production and post production. Script Supervisors file formatted reports and photographic records of each day’s shoot. They also ensure that continuity is maintained: between takes, between camera moves, and even over time as the production is executed. Videos are rarely shot in script order. “Scripty”s closely monitor the written script to make certain that the actors are delivering the correct dialogue. They can even cue actors if necessary. They keep detailed continuity notes, photographs and even sketches of each actor and camera position. They also record shot timings, camera movements, and all camera-related details, like lenses and focal length.

Script Supervisors work closely with other departments. These departments can including the costume, hair, makeup, art, props and lighting. They also ensure that the details on the slates are correct for each and every take. Again, this is for communication with post production. They also detail the director’s preferences for any given take. These “circled takes” are the first piece of content an editor will select, as they assemble a rough cut. Sometimes Scriptys retype scripts to reflect real-time, on-set changes to the dialogue. They also work closely with the Director, the Assistant Directors and Director of Photography.

For all of your attention-to-detail video productions, contact Capitola Media.

Audio Is Just As Important As Video

The very first feature films that were produced were “silent” films. Think Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. When Chaplin and his “kid” discuss what meager meal they will have for dinner, their audio was a series of short title cards. These cards filled in in silent films for the, typically, minimal dialogue. When projected in a theatre, silent films were often accompanied by a live orchestra. Any synchronization of the picture and the sound was generated live and on the fly.

The first feature film to be released as a talking picture with synchronized sound to picture was The Jazz Singer. Warner Brothers released the film in 1927. It featured the music of the legendary Al Jolson. The film was a major hit and revolutionized the film industry. The Jazz Singer relied on a technology called Vitaphone, which was the leading brand of sound-on-disc audio technology. Talkies quickly became the standard for all motion pictures, leading up to today’s Dolby-enhanced, surround-sound blockbusters.

Since then most all video blends two components: picture and sound. When shooting any video, it is vital to give significant attention and resources to both the audio and visual aspects of your content. If your audience can only see your picture, they’re probably missing most of your messaging. Inexperienced video producers can make the mistake of focusing too much on picture. And when they end up in the edit suite, they realize how big a mistake they have made. With the incredible depth of the images coming out of the latest cameras, competent editors can do a lot to help picture these days, but they cannot fix audio that does not exist.

On a film set full crews include a Sound Engineer who usually has a mixing board to balance audio on the fly. A Boom Operator supports the Sound Engineer. He holds the boom which holds the microphone. The picture shows a mobile Audio Technician who is managing both of those tasks. The Sound Engineer’s job is to “mic up” the talent with lavaliere microphones that are typically hidden from camera. Often they are wireless, so the actor and the audio tech are not attached together by a wire. The boom microphone is a redundant means of recording. Often in post production, the audio engineer will pick one or the other for the best audio input. The boom microphone often includes a wind-screen, which dampens the audio effects of any wind blowing on set. Often wiring up the talent before rolling is the last step in a series of events before the Director yells “Action.”

Audio is also important for SEO purposes. If you post your video to YouTube with poor or missing audio, YouTube (and Google, which owns YouTube) will not be able to “read” your content. YouTube has a limited ability to understand picture without audio. In fact, SEO best practices recommend posting a written transcript of your video to YouTube. There a feature in your YouTube channel which guides you through this step. This will guarantee that YouTube and Google are indexing all of your written / spoken content for search.

When producing any video content, it’s often recommended that you start the creative process with a written script. What will your talent say? Either on screen or in voice over? Writing a script will force you to focus in on your messaging, story flow and keep you on track in terms of how long the final product will be. Typically a page of dialogue equals on minute of screen time. So, feature films run approximately 120 pages in length. And once you deliver the final product, the conformed script may only loosely resemble the original, but taking the step to write that first script is essential to producing a well organized, thoughtful, targeted message.

Producers neglect audio, because of the misconception that the success of any video production depends mostly upon the quality of video. In reality, even if the picture has issues (focus, eye line, exposure, etc.), but the audio is clear, recorded at the correct volume, and free of extraneous noise, then the project can still be a success and yield the desired goals.

Capitola Media will guarantee your audio messaging is recorded correctly.

Marketing Videos Defined

We breakdown the 10 essential types of videos you need to deploy from your marketing quiver to turbo-charge your business. Let’s shoot!

1. Live Action

Live action videos are mini-movies the speak to a firm’s core business. These videos rely on the complete skill set of your video production agency: scriptwriting, storyboarding, casting, location scouting, professional production and polished post production. These can be expensive, but are often the most engaging and engaged content a firm can create.

2. Branded Content

Brand videos highlight a firm’s mission statement, goals, raison d’être, and of course its products and services. This content can be released in the context of a larger branding or even re-branding effort that can include a change in the operating business, a brand refresh, a Website relaunch, or the introduction of a new product line or business.

3. Explainers

This type of content introduces your audience to a specific product or service. Often an explainer video will rely on a proto-typical customer and their journey toward discovering the features and benefits of your business offering. Typically the content is framed in a problem/solution storyline.

4. Event Sizzle Videos

If your business is devoting resources toward putting on a conference, add some additional resources to give life to your event after the fact. Create a sizzle video that features snippets of the event content, interviews and general ambiance. Deploy this content the following year to promote your next event.

5. Testimonials

Do you have great customers who might help tell your story. Consider reaching out to the most dynamic personalities on that list and ask them if you could take a part of their day to conduct a video interview. Repeat this with two other great customers, and then stitch those interviews together to tell a story, from a third party, that sings the praises of your services.

6. Product Demos

Product demo videos can help introduce, demonstrate and sell your company’s offerings. You can produce these with actors, customers or employees. And you can “demo” virtually anything you are selling. With green-screen compositing and animation, you can even present products and services that might not yet be fully launched.

7. Instructional Content

Instructional videos are a cottage industry into themselves. Entire business have been built around this concept. Think Lynda.com. But this content can also be used strategically to explain a complicated process to an existing customer, thereby reducing the need for person-to-person customer service. Apple ran circles around their competition launching iPhones with no manual and a series of how-to videos on how to use their new product. Or you can deploy this content to help your sales team better understand your own products and how best to sell them.

8. Go Live

Almost all video hosting platforms (Facebook, Youtube, Instagram) now support the ability for you to go live with your messaging. Engage your audience 1-2-1 or 1-2-Many. Users will spend 8x the amount of time on a live feed than they will consuming content that is pre-recorded.

9. Recruiting Videos

Are you looking to hire new talent. Recruiting videos feature employees to help do HR’s work. Often the talent includes a wide array of workers that span: age, ethnicity, sex, location, seniority, business unit. Cast for camera-friendly talent to ensure success.

10. Motion Graphics

Motion graphics-dependent content can be engaging as an event opener (live or virtual). This content is typically message-driven. After Effects artists crate moving text, and audio editors sync supporting voiceover. Editors also often integrate b-roll of imagery that relates to or simply supports your business. But remember, all good videos start with a solid script.

The video content above will help any organization compete in today’s global marketplace. For expert support in your video marketing efforts, contact Capitola Media, a San Francisco Bay Area video production company.

Art Department

The Art Department brings the visual aspects of filmmaking to life. Aside from talent, wardrobe, picture vehicles, scripted props and weapons, this includes everything else you see in a video.

The Production Designer heads up this department. Production Artists facilitate the production and application of sets, set dressing, furniture, and graphic materials, as seen here. These artists worked with an outside graphic designer to produce a decal to rename a boutique we shot in on Melrose Avenue, so we didn’t run into any brand and copyright issues during post production.

A/B Testing

Machine learning and A/B testing are all the rage. Split testing is a great way to compare different stories and to better understand your audiences’ preferences. Marketers are already testing landing pages, emails, products, headlines, pricing, and payment gateways. Video should be a part of that advertising mix.

Still frame from commercial spot for Visa.

You can produce two separate videos during production, or shoot one story and adapt it during post production by creating additional variations of the theme. So A vs B and then B vs C and so on.

Optimize and refine the form of your content to yield the best results. If your backend is powerful enough, you can pick and serve the winners automatically with the help of machine learning.

Variations on your video could include: length, new messaging, and/or different CTAs.

For all of your commercial content production needs, contact Capitola Media.

Resolve vs Premiere Pro

DaVinci has been well known as a robust color-grading and color-correction platform. While Premiere Pro is a highly respected, non linear-based picture editing platform. Premiere Pro is also fully integrated with Adobe’s other Creative Cloud software, including: Photoshop, Illustrator, SpeedGrade, Audition, and most powerfully, After Effects.

CC provides comprehensive video format support with mezzanine-level codecs, plus 8K and RAW file support. Users are reminded of Apple’s Final Cut Pro’s simple-to-use interface. Apple sadly discontinued support for all but the consumer-level X version of FCP. Premiere Pro includes multi-camera editing features, plus sophisticated color grading tools. Editors can easily import and export to Avid’s Media Composer. Premiere Pro also includes titling templates.

DaVinci on the other hand, offer superior color grading capabilities, but it has morphed into a full-fledged editing suite. Resolve supports mili-camera editing features and works well with dual processors. The latest version offers a playback engine that is up to 10 times faster than previous versions. DaVinci also features a full copy of Fairlight’s movie and TV audio postproduction software. Like Final Cut Pro X, editors can cut audio at sub-frame and sample levels. Resolve also supports robust collaboration tools, allowing two editors to work on the project simultaneously. DaVinci does not support dynamic links to After Effects, and it requires high-performance computing power to work efficiently. DaVinci is also limited in how many file format and codec specification options editors have for outputs. The price of Resolve now matches Final Cut Pro X at $299, significantly down from $999. And adding a complete NLE system to the word’s defacto color correction software is probably making some professional colorists, directors nervous.

All in all, Adobe’s Creative Cloud seems still have Blakmagic’s DaVinci Resolve beat for basic and advanced editing work flows. It is a practical solution. However, if you like a post production process with a track-based NLE, you should consider Resolve 14.

For all of your post video production needs in San Francisco, give us a shout at Capitola Media.

RED Epic Camera

The new RED Epic Weapon features a “Helium” 35.4 Megapixel CMOS sensor (29.90 mm x 15.77 mm, diagonal: 33.80 mm) with up to 8K in resolution (8K Full Format (8192 x 4320), 2:1, 2.4:1, 16:9, 14:9, 3:2, 6:5, 4:1, 8:1, and Anamorphic 2x, 1.3x, 1.25x). The camera combines advanced color science and incredible dynamic range, and offers many possibilities for reframing, VFX, motion stabilization, supersampling footage, and more. The Weapon can record REDCode RAW and proxy 4K Apple ProRes formats (422 HQ, 422 and 422 LT at 4K (4096 × 2160) up to 29.97 fps, or 4444 XQ and 4444 at 2K (2048 × 1080) up to 120 fps, or 422 HQ, 422 and 422 LT at 2K (2048 × 1080) up to 120 fps) — simultaneously.

The RED Epic Weapon features a 2.4:1 ratio resolution at up to 75 fps, 16.5+ stops of dynamic range, 300 MB/s data speeds (using a RED Mini-Mag), with up to 8192 x 4320 effective pixels, and an impressive 80 dB signal to noise ratio. The camera can also record up to 240 fps at 2K Full Format (2048 x 1080), or 300 fps at 2K 2.4:1 (2048 x 864).

RED’s non-linear editing application, REDCine-X PRO, allows for dailies, color corrections, and augmented postproduction workflow.

The DSMC2™ form factor is RED’s smallest and lightest BRAIN ever release. With features like cable-free peripherals, integrated side SSD, wireless control, the Weapon is their most powerful and intuitive camera to date. Combine it with interchangeable OLPFs and lens mounts, and Weapon gives DPs the ultimate control over their footage.

The construction materials include: Carbon Fiber, Magnesium, and Aluminum Alloy. The camera weighs a mere 3.3 lbs (BRAIN with Integrated Media Bay). Supported color science includes: 33×33×33, 32×32×32, 26×26×26, and 17×17×17 3D LUTs, variable number of 3D LUT outputs with DSMC2 expander module, user programmable shaper 1D LUTs, and tetrahedral interpolation, 16-bit processing.

This camera kicks it!

For all of your video production need in the San Francisco Bay Area or Los Angeles, contact Capitola Media.

The New MoVI Pro

Here we are shooting with the new MoVI Pro from Freefly Systems. This rig allows you to execute smooth handheld camera moves. The 360 degree gimbal allows you to compose, move and shoot seamlessly through an environment. We walked up and down stairs, passed through hallways, and rode in and out of elevators. This setup (plus the Easyrig you see our awesome Operator wearing) compares to a full-blown steadicam package.

For all of your smooth-operator video production needs in the San Francisco Bay Area or Los Angeles, contact Capitola Media.

Camera Department

The all-important Camera Department: Director of Photography, Camera Operator, Focus Puller / 1st Assistant Camera, 2nd Assistant Camera, Data Wrangler. The Director of Photography is the Department Head for all things videography. Though the Camera Department interfaces with almost every other department: Directors, Art, Grip, Lighting, Talent, Script, Hair, Makeup, Wardrobe, Visual Effects, Sound!

Directors of Photography, or DPs, bring the look of any film to life through lighting, framing and camera motion. They typically select the type of camera for the shoot and the lenses and filter for each shot.

Camera Operators literally do just that. They operate the camera from recording to motion. They work hand in hand with the Dolly Grip for dolly moves.

1st ACs mount lenses and pull focus for shots where the distance between the camera and the talent changes over the course of a give shot.

2nd ACs are responsible for additional, but essential aspects of camera operation, like maintaining and swapping batteries and data storage. They sometimes also manage the slates, in conjunction with the Sound Department and Script Supervisor.

There’s NO video without picture. You always need a great camera department for any shoot.

Production Design

Production Designers create the “look” of any video content. The look includes all of the visual elements of a film, or the “mise en scene.” Production designers literally set the scene. Their work spans form creating the initial moodboards, to building sets, and fashioning props like the one below.

Hair and Makeup

Pictured here is our go-to makeup artist in San Francisco, as she styles one of our talent for a product video production. Producing a video often requires a full crew. Positions can include: Line Producer, Production Manager, First Assistant Director, Second Assistant Director, Director of Photography, First Assistant Cameraman (or person), DIT, Audio Technician, Boom Operator Gaffer, Key Grip, Electricians, Production Designer, Art Director, Prop Master, Hair / Makeup Artist, Wardrobe Artist, Teleprompter, Script Supervisor, Set Dressers, Still Photographer, Production Assistants. And that doesn’t include cast members or any post production.

For all of your full-crew video production needs, contact Capitola Media.

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