Instead, focus on your viewer. We just discussed details about this in the previous article in this series, but it’s worth repeating. Keep thinking what you can do for your client, not what they can do for you.

Don’t fall in love with your video. Whether you do your video yourself or you hire a video production company, don’t fall in love with your video so much that you get lost. It becomes very easy to focus on the trees and forget to look at the forest. It’s an overused phrase, but for good reason.

This is why feature films have initial screenings for select people. Directors will show their films to other directors, producers and editors for their input. After all they’ve been working on this project for months (sometimes years) and have become so involved that they sometimes have a hard time looking at their own film objectively.

So do what they do and invite honest criticism from close friends that you trust. You don’t want comments like, “Oh, looks great! I like it.” You should be looking for things like, “Ok, I like the tempo of the video, but this one shot tends to contrast too much with the others. Also, the spectator’s reaction is great in this shot, but you have a ketchup stain on your tie.” Look for honesty and specifics.

With these general tips out of the way, let me get this off my chest:

The 10 most common mistakes novice editors and filmmakers make with their cuts:

1. Bad Audio – If I can’t hear you, you just wasted the audience’s time. After all, would YOU watch a movie if you couldn’t hear it?
2. Out of Focus – Believe it or not, I have seen way too many videos with shots that are out of focus or go in and out of focus due to ‘autofocus’.
3. Too Slow or Too Much Dead Time – Anything that doesn’t add to your story takes away from your story. ‘Nuff said.
4. The Shaky Cam – Ok, if your audience feels motion sickness watching your video, you’ve got a problem. Some new films like the shaky cam look, but really, use a tripod. Trust me.
5. Performer/Talent is Too Small – I hate it when I watch a video of a stage and I think that I see a tiny little performer. Wide shots are great. They help establish location and setting. But you’ve got to cut to a tighter shot right after the wide shot.
6. Too Many Crazy Edits – I know we are in the age of fast edits, but if you cut too fast, I can’t even tell what you’re doing. This is actually a problem many magicians have while on stage – rushing their tricks. But that is a different book
altogether!
7. No Target Audience – The video is too general. Each video should be designed to hit a specific target audience. I don’t want to see college show material on the same tape as a trade show gig. You lose credibility.
8. Poor Lighting – This will be discussed in great detail later in the series, but, like number 2, if I can’t see your video, how can I like your video?
9. Bad continuity - Make sure you have a unified story and theme and stick with it. Don’t jump around and show everything just because you can. Confusion is your worst enemy. After all, you know what you want to say, but your audience doesn’t know what you are thinking unless you edit the video just right.
10. They didn’t hire me! Okay, not what you were looking for, but I’m only half joking. At least check out my website, ReelsInMotion.com for details and tips on producing a video. And my shameless plug: I not only produce promotional videos and specialize in visual effects and video magic, but also critique existing videos you may have.

Your Storyboard

A storyboard is a graphical representation of what you plan to shoot, all drawn out on paper. It usually looks similar to a comic strip. In fact, each frame in your storyboard will represent a different shot.

There are several reasons for drawing out a storyboard this early in the process. It helps you visualize your video early on
Allows you to see how certain shots will relate to each other You’ll be able to anticipate mistakes before they happen
During the actual shoot, this visual guide will help dramatically If you are hiring a crew (professional or friends), it helps you convey your ideas

You don’t need to hire a professional artist to draw up your storyboard. You can do it yourself.

How to storyboard your video

First, get a blank piece of paper, turn it sideways (lengthwise) and make several squares in two rows. Leave some room between the rows. Everything you want to include in your video will be drawn out in this storyboard.

Million Dollar Tip: Go over to your DVD collection and pop in any movie. Go to the “Behind the Scenes” section and see if they have a storyboarding alternate angle. I know the following have this feature: Matrix Reloaded (2003), Matrix Revolutions (2001), Unbreakable (2000).

Watch and see how they show the storyboard and how it compares to the actual movie. By switching back and forth, you can get an idea of how to use the storyboard to help create your video.

You do NOT need to have perfect drawings either. You can draw stick figures. It really doesn’t matter how good the drawings are. The main point is that you want to show all the different shots. Show a wide show. Show a closeup. Show an audience reaction Just as long as you can tell what they are. Use the extra space under each drawing
to describe the action in more detail.

Now, while you still have those DVDs out, get ready to receive a multi-million dollar lesson in film, moviemaking, storytelling and graphic design, all at once.

Get a million dollar education in video for $3.99

Put in your favorite DVD. Go to the special features. Now pull up the theatrical trailer for the movie. The TV trailers are good too, but only last for 30 seconds most of the time. You want the theatrical trailers (the previews they show before another movie) since they will be closer in length to your promo video.

Hollywood production companies will spend fortunes just on this one part of the film. Think about it. The theatrical trailer is the film equivalent of an entertainer’s promotional video. It takes a longer show (usually a 90 minute show) and shows you the most interesting parts in a quick “promo video” for the movie.

And it does it in just such a way that makes you want to go out and see their “show.”

Please don’t take this to mean just go out and copy what they did in the latest action flick. You’ll learn more by watching how they used lighting, camera angles, music and even colors to create a “mood.”

For example, low camera angles make the subject look powerful. Higher angles make the subject look weaker. Orson Wells used both of these examples wonderfully in Citizen Kane (1941). I would highly recommend watching this classic. Even today it is still a great film.

Go through your video and performance in your mind and think like you are making a movie. How would you, as a director, film each portion of your act to make it as dramatic (or comedic) as possible?

Also, watch how the camera moves. You’ll notice in almost every movie you watch there is one something missing. The zoom. The guys in Hollywood will not use a zoom. In fact, film cameras have a fixed lens – they cannot zoom in. Instead they use what’s called a “dolly shot.” The entire camera is on a miniature train track and the entire unit is rolled towards or away from an actor.

By using this technique of moving the actual camera instead of just zooming in, you can create a more dynamic shot. There is more action and the viewer feels like they are moving towards the subject. You can tell the difference by watching the background image. Does it just “get bigger?” This is a zoom. Does the background move as the
subject grows? This is a dolly shot.

So get a feel for how the camera can be used. This will give you many ideas that can be directly applied to your video.

As you do this, brainstorm and make a list. Don’t limit yourself. Even if you get a crazy idea like doing a “bullet time” effect (that freeze frame three dimensional effect used in all the Matrix films), write it down. Try not to get in the habit of limiting yourself.

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Design your video for maximum impact
After you finish your list (from last week’s article), take those most recurring traits and place them at the top of your list to include in your video. This list can, by the way, include what not to include on a video.

As an example, suppose you are an entertainer trying to get booked on a cruise ship. You make your calls and you find two recurring comments: clean comedy and no fire. Now, if half your act is a fire act and/or you use a large amount of vulgar language, you might want to rethink your act before going any further. Assuming you have a clean act with a little fire (flash paper or fire eating in one portion), make a note to not include any fire in the video. Then make another BIG note to take out the fire in your show.

At this early stage of pre-production, you can also see exactly what portions of your act you want to feature. This is important to decide at this part of the process because later when we are filming, you can spend more time on those parts of your act.

Another detail on the list from your calls will be the length of the video. This is not a set in stone time, but if the average video they receive is three or four minutes, don’t send out a ten-minute video.

Now, for every rule, there is an exception. Some agents want an entire show, one shot and no edits. For other potential clients, a “typical” promo video will work. Begin with a montage of different shots, show some longer “personality” pieces and end with the most powerful item in your show.

But this is why you should just ask them what they want. Doing this research will pay off in the end.

Think of your video in the same way you think about your show. Structure it the same way, to elicit a strong emotional response. When you do this, you’ll have a “mini-show” that lasts just a few minutes.

Now when I say put in a shot, what specifically should be in that shot? Well, it depends on what your prospective clients are looking for. Are you delivering a comedy solution or an evening of mystery? These questions lead us into the next section.

What You Must Have to Get Hired
If you want a successful video, one that will get you hired time and time again, you MUST design your video to push the benefits. What do your potential clients want? How can you solve their problem? This is a huge change in the way you should think.

The popular method of thinking is to say, “Look how good I am,” or “Look how cool I am” and if your video sends
this message, you’re sending the wrong message. Your theme needs to be about your potential clients, not you.

When you ask your clients what they are looking for, you’ll notice a trend. We all like to think we are individuals, but we are all humans and have tendencies to think in similar ways. This is why demographic market research is so popular.

This is how we need to look at our prospective clients. Figure out what they are looking for. Ask your previous clients why they hired you over someone else. What is it about you that separates you from your competition?

When you start thinking “How can I provide you with a solution to your problem?” instead of “Look how good I am,” then you’ll start seeing the gigs roll in.

Think in terms of benefits, not features. This is covered in almost every marketing book out there. I don’t want to dive too much into this, because I want to keep the focus on the video aspect. Do yourself a favor, read as many marketing books as you can. Join online marketing groups.

One of my favorites is The Dean’s List. You can find this wonderful resource at www.TheDean.net and you’ll do yourself a favor by going there. The members at The Dean’s List are the nicest entertainers and they are also light years ahead of the herd
when it comes to marketing and improving your success.

Features, Benefits and Marketing
This little bit about benefits should not be taken lightly. In fact, re-read that last section and go out and pick up several marketing books. You must make a list of several things your prospect is looking for. The best way to find this information out is just to ask them. Give a few of your good clients a call and ask why they chose you over the competition. Ask what they would see as the perfect entertainer and why.

Make a list of the most important benefits. These will be the main points you’ll emphasize in your video (assuming you can provide these points!).

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Over the past several years I have spent a fortune on books specializing in marketing,
time-management and similar topics. While reading a book by corporate motivational
speaker Brian Tracy, I read of the “one minute, ten minute” rule. Tracy starts out by
citing a mock emergency situation. He says that most people will spend one minute
planning (if that much) and use the remaining nine minutes to take action. When NASA
astronauts were put in the same situation, they would spend the first nine minutes
planning and only then execute a well thought out course of action.

The “one minute, ten minute” rule states that for every minute spent planning, you save
ten minutes of work. This is true for astronauts. This is true for businessmen, salesmen
and entertainers. This is especially true when planning a video.

If you want to save time and money during your video shoot (and who doesn’t?) then the
best way to accomplish this is by spending more time planning during the pre-production.
I can hear some of you already saying:

But, Scott, why not just go out and shoot as much video as possible right now? Can’t I
just make it look good with edits?

Yes, sort of. With today’s technology you can take bad footage and make it look better.
Two points, though. Notice I said “better” and not “great.” You can only do so much.
For example, you’ve seen home videos with bright backgrounds (like windows) and the
person is just a dark silhouette? It’s possible in post-production to bring details out on the
subject and make their face visible. However, it will never look as good as if it were
exposed correctly. There will be additional noise in the face and have a ‘grainy’ look.
Plus, this type of editing can be expensive (in time and/or money).

There is a term in computer program that says Garbage In/Garbage Out. Essentially, it
means that if you start with garbage, you’re going to get garbage back out. Video is
similar. In fact, in some cases, it’s worse. For example, in the world of analog video
each copy (or generation) loses quality.

I’m sure you’ve seen this if you’ve tried to copy a VHS tape. The copy has some “snow”
or noise appear. If you make a copy of the copy, the loss of quality grows. With digital
video, this isn’t the case. You can make a 10th generation copy and it will look just as
good as the original.

However, the problem still remains. If the original is garbage, the copy will look like
garbage. If your video has poor audio, you can tweak, but you can only do so much.
And again, you’re going to be paying for it in post-production editing dollars.

So we need to determine how to get the best footage before we even shoot a single frame
of video. Our technique will depend largely on where you will be performing. You will
have different constraints in a hotel banquet room than in a thousand-seat theater.

Where do you want to work?

The first step to capturing the best footage for your video is capturing the right footage
for your video. Huh? You’re going to want to make sure what you are showing in your
video is appropriate for the audience watching your video.

If you were an event planner for corporate events and you saw a video of someone
performing at colleges, in front of a college audience and another video of someone
performing in a banquet room for well-dressed adults, which performer would you
choose? This is true for the college market as well. If you have two tapes and one shows
a corporate looking speaker, the other a hip, fast-paced comedian, which do you think
will get hired for the college show?

EXERCISE:
So decide on whom you want for your main clients and where you want to perform. Begin with a
blank piece of paper and list them. Spend as much time as you need and make your list as long as
possible. Look at your act, look at your prospects and determine exactly whom you want in front
of you when you walk out on stage.

Handpick your potential clients

You should have a long list of potential clients by now. We now have to look at
trimming the list to our “A” list of prospects. At this point look through the list and ask
yourself, “Can this prospects afford my services?”

Again, I come back to Brian Tracy. A common truism in marketing is the “80/20” rule. I
know, too many rules! But this one is really important. It says that 80% of your business
will come from 20% of your clients. So focus on the top 20% of that list.

These are your new favorite people. You are going to design your video for them. How
do you go about doing this? For starters, find out what they are looking for in an
entertainer. The best way to accomplish this is to simply ask them.

EXERCISE:
Make several calls to people who hire the entertainment and simply ask them what
they are looking for in an entertainer. Take detailed notes with each call and look for
recurring trends. Look for the most common traits that these prospects want. Also,
ask them how long a video are they expecting.

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Let’s start with the “how.” Many 3D programs will render out as an EXR format. We use modo for most of our virtual set design. In fact, we use modo pretty much for everything.

modo is an incredible program. It’s rendering engine is simple, powerful, fast and very realistic. This is a huge plus for us because we don’t have to worry about specific details. We set up a scene and render it.

Shown is a sample virtual set that I personally created from scratch in modo.

I created this prior to the greenscreen shoot so that during the shoot, we could mimic the lighting in the set. However, after the shoot, I go in and tweak the set. If we do a moving camera, I do a camera track so that the set and the talent move together.

Then the elements are ‘glued’ together in a compositing program. Apple’s Shake is used for most of the compositing at Reels in Motion. When the rendered EXR images of the set are loaded into Shake, I can tweak the exposure, making the set lighter and darker just by sliding a bar back and forth.

This way I can better match the talent with the set.

Additional elements can be saved in the OpenEXR file as well, such as alpha channels and shadow information. I normally save these out as separate files, though, as needed.

If you use modo like we do, it is fairly easy to render out the additional files. I’ll probably post a tutorial just on this in the future.

The other nice thing about EXR and 3D renders is it helps even going the other direction.

When on a shoot, I’ll grab my digital SLR camera and shoot several pictures of the set at a number of exposures. Then, in Photoshop, I’ll combine all these images into one panoramic image that contains all the exposure settings so the photograph itself can be ‘re-exposed.’ Normally, these are saved as what is called an HDR image. However, EXR works almost as well.

This image is then loaded into the virtual set’s environment and ‘wrapped’ around the set that you are about to render. This image is then set to be the actual light.

The result is that your render will have all the lights coming from the right direction, including even the minute colored light reflected from the ground, walls and any other subtle nuances.

The final rendered image will then blend with your talent much better and you’ll have a much more convincing image.

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Reels in Motion has been producing these types of videos for clients for quite some time and we’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. Here are some things we’d like to share:

Keep it Short
Our audio-only podcasts have been averaging around one hour. This is a happy medium for several reasons. However, when producing content that will be delivered as video, the best time we’ve found is around 3 to 5 minutes. And even 5 minutes is pushing it a bit too long.
People (myself included) can listen to longer form audio only forms while driving, jogging, biking, etc. These activities lend themselves to longer blocks of time. This is why talk radio and long form radio shows like NPR work.

Video is a different beast. We watch video in short pauses in our day. While waiting in lines, quick breaks at lunch at work, etc. This is why most popular YouTube videos are in this shorter time frame. Anything longer takes much more commitment of time and we begin to ask, “is this video worth my time?” At three minutes long, we don’t think about it. We watch it.

So when you decide to make a video, keep the show to around 3 minutes.

Flash Me!
I entirely Mac based. I edit all my videos in Final Cut Studio and everything is in the Quicktime format. It is a great format. However, not everyone has the H.264 “flavor” of Quicktime on their machine. They can download it for free, but that’s an extra step.

So I post my videos as Flash videos so anyone can watch them on the website. However, I also advocate encoding the videos as H.264 Quicktime files. These files end in .m4v and can be played on portable players like iPods and iPhones.

And the bonus? With Flash’s newest player (version 9), you can play H.264 Quicktime files INSIDE a Flash player. What does this mean?

From a web visitor’s point of view, they appear to be watching a Flash video. 99% of all machines will play it. On the backend, you’ve got one Quicktime file (H.264) that can be fed into that Flash video and also be fed into an RSS feed for iTunes, iPhones and other players.

So you get twice the market penetration. You are now catering to the PC world and the Mac world.

Conclusion
These are just a few suggestions from what we have learned when producing video for the Internet. Broadcasting video online can be tricky to do correctly.

We’ll be posting more tips in this series as well as launching our new show, “Angie’s Phalangies” in the coming weeks. Stay tuned! In the meantime, please have a very Merry Christmas!

Scott

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