If you’re 60 years or older, television has been part of your life for almost all of it. You may not watch that much of it, but we all have a pretty good idea of what is “good,” or “quality” television. It’s entertaining or interesting, depending upon whether you’re a prime-time slot junkie or more inclined to watch news and documentaries. We know what we like and it has to be fast-moving in order to keep our attention.

If you’re going to produce television for the corporate market, that’s the competition. In fact, that’s the competition no matter what your audience.

What do I mean by that? Well, if we watch a program, no matter its source or the environment we watch it in, we judge it based on our experience watching commercial television. We do the same thing with books. We know what we like and we’ll put it down if it doesn’t grab our attention.

The corporate audience is no different. They’re a sophisticated bunch. After all, they’re us. They’re people … and they’re intelligent people. If video isn’t well-produced, they’ll let you know. They may not tell you, but you can bet they’ll tune out as a form of protest.

That means your production must be well-written, well-lit, and the soundtrack (which is even more important than the visuals) has to be well recorded and mixed properly. The script must get to the point intelligently and to do that, it has to use sound and visuals to complement each other – to communicate with all the power that the medium brings to bear. To do this properly takes thought; it takes planning.

Novices to the world of production often start with a question like, “How much does it cost to produce a twenty minute video?” without having given any thought to the specific message or elements that have to be collected to fill that twenty minute void. That’s like asking the price of a house without specifying how big, the materials used, the design, etc.

The vast majority of programs produced for the corporate sector are under ten minutes, with an ideal time of five to seven minutes. In fact, it’s only in the area of training that we produce anything of a longer length (and they’re typically modular – each module under seven minutes, or so).

A rather disturbing trend over the past decade has been the proliferation of amateur footage shot in-house brought to a professional to be fashioned into a television program. Contrary to industry folk-lore, you cannot “fix it in the editing.” Without the upfront planning, the resulting product does not meet its intended objective and just becomes an exercise in frustration for both the client and the producer, director or editor.

The biggest challenge we all run into as professionals are the corporate scripts that read as a legal document. Would you watch a television program that made you work hard to decipher the message due to its use of unfamiliar words or stilted language that only belongs in an academic ivory tower? Not likely. Neither will your employees.

You are your audience. You must be treated with the respect that you deserve.

To create, produce and deliver a focussed, compelling, persuasive message using the most powerful medium known to mankind takes planning and a strong client/supplier working relationship (akin to a partnership). The most compelling programs begin with a written objective (that contains a description of the eventual desired effect on the audience), a script with compelling dialogue and careful attention to the role of both sound and visual elements – to create a message that is far more powerfully communicated that either medium on its own.

That is a rare achievement but when it happens, it trounces the competition.

I just finished a five hour talk about using digital video on the web. This was to a group of professional speakers who want to use the medium to get their message out there and connect internationally. They’re beginning to play with cameras.

One of the biggest challenges for any “newbie” is how to look more professional. Put another way – how to deliver a short two minute speech and be personable, not stumble, and look somewhat organized in your thoughts. More often than not, “teleprompters” come into the conversation. “How can I remember what I’m going to say without notes and how can I look into the lens if I’m trying to read notes?”

There’s a very simple technique that I show people that makes delivery in front of the camera so much simpler, less stressful and way more professional-looking than the alternative. It involves notes, but not a teleprompter, which can be very expensive.

So, where do you place the notes? And how do you make it look like you’re not reading notes?

Here’s the main secret. Write your notes on an index card or (depending how far away from the camera you are), a piece of 8X10 bond folded in half and turned vertically. Tape this or otherwise suspend it so that it is adjacent to the lens – even touching it on the side. Just write down key words that you need to stay on track. And then turn on the camera, look directly at your notes and deliver your message TO your notes – NOT the camera lens.

You’ll find that if you look directly at the notes (that are placed right beside the lens) and don’t look at the lens at all, it will appear that you’re looking directly in the lens. But if you glance across at the lens during your delivery, that will give it away and destroy the perception that you’re delivering directly to the lens.

We professionals use this technique all the time when we don’t have the budget for a teleprompter. And before teleprompters were invented, well … that was the way things were done.

Now, there are a couple of other techniques that will help with the perception that you’re delivering to camera without notes.

1. Pretend you are talking to a single person, one-on-one. That piece of paper is a person – a real, live person. Talk to it as you normally would your best friend.
2. Be charming. Think about being on a date with someone you’re enthralled with. Use that energy to make your performance that more compelling.
3. Move your head naturally as you would in a real conversation. If you actually read from that sheet of paper and keep your head still, you’ll start to look “wooden.”
4. Don’t read the words word-for-word. Put down key words to give you the ammunition to put together your thoughts in a conversational manner.
5. Be yourself.

And finally, don’t feel badly about doing take after take. As professionals, we do lots of takes until we’re happy. Making mistakes and flubbing lines is perfectly human … but not great television.

More and more today, entrepreneurs, executives and others are delivering messages via video, and in many cases, the web. Just today, I received a draft script from a client for a short video he was preparing to deliver.

There are two basic challenges that most people have with writing video scripts – structure and language. Although the message in the script I received was well thought-out, it was too wordy, used too many big words we wouldn’t use in one-on-one conversation, and it didn’t get to the point.

Messages for business need to be structured in a particular manner. In business, we speak and think in a very direct manner. We get to the point. In other words, “Tell me the problem, then give me the solution and then tell me why that’s the right solution.” That’s the way we think and so that’s the way the message should be delivered.

Don’t beat around the bush. This is business-to-business communication (or businessperson-to-businessperson, in fact). Time is of the essence. In fact, the beauty of video is that through the use of visuals and sound, we can communicate much more clearly and succinctly. That’s where a professional television writer comes in. We think visually, so the things we’ll suggest to cut down on the text and use the medium for its strengths are things we wouldn’t expect the layman to grasp right out of the gate. Leave that part to us.

But you can work on the structure. And typically, it flows like this:

• Problem or Opportunity
• Solution
• Why it’s the right solution (and background)
• Summary and ask for the order.

The second element that usually needs work is the language. Television is a “live” medium. You’re the live part if you’re the one delivering the message. It’s also a personal medium. What I mean by that is that you need to speak to the viewer as if you’re talking to them live right there in the room, face to face. Use the words you would use in that particular situation. This is not easy to do, but it’s critical to ending up with a powerful message. Television is expensive … still. Use it for its strengths. One of its strengths is the ability to deliver one-on-one, focussed, targeted messages.

I counsel my clients to read what they write, out loud to themselves. Then think, would I say that in a conversation with that person, face-to-face in my office? That’s the litmus test. If not, change it. You absolutely have to be sincere and you have to be you. Because television doesn’t lie. It knows when we’re not sincere. It’s one system you simply can’t beat!

If you’re new to corporate video, you likely have lots of questions – and with good reason.

Video production is expensive – there’s no two ways about it. It’s expensive because it’s labour intensive. Whether it’s writing, animation, shooting or editing, the hours rack up. So here are some things to be aware of, to help you stay in control of the budget.

Stage 1 – Identifying the Objective. While it might sound boring, this is without a doubt, the single most important step in the entire process (and the least expensive).

Ask yourself, “At the end of watching the video, what is it the audience is supposed to do … or know?” Answering that one question usually sets up the entire script. The objective needs to be written down, shared with all the stakeholders and analysed carefully to ensure it’s realistic.

There’s also a mini-step here, which consists of clearly identifying the audience. And hopefully, there’s only one. It’s difficult to write a script to more than one audience!

Step 2 – The script. This step ends the inexpensive part of the entire process. Again, one of the highest priorities. If you don’t have a good script, you don’t have a good video. I usually quote on 3 drafts. Here’s the hows and whys:

• Draft 1 – This is all about getting the content on paper with a basic flow. It’s important that you don’t worry about spelling and punctuation. That will come later. Let’s make sure we have the right content in the right order. Getting to draft one may entail sifting through reports, conducting and transcribing interviews, note taking, visits to company sites, etc. But if the objective is right, the first draft should give a good feel for the final program.
• Draft 2 – This draft focusses on flow and order (and adding and removing segments that don’t fit the objective or just aren’t right). It may involve more interviews and research, but by the end of this draft, you should be 80% of the way to the final product.
• Draft 3 – Polishing is what this draft is all about. If the feedback on draft 2 is comprehensive and complete, draft three should come back to us with only minor changes. It may still need some rewriting, but only a paragraph here and there.
  Where there are on-camera interviews to be done, there may only be “directional notation.” In other words, we might know what to expect the interview to say in the program, but we don’t obviously know what the words will be yet. Interviews typically mean re-writes of adjacent areas of the script once the interview has been shot and edited.

Step 3 – Production (Shooting). This is typically the most expensive part of the project. Interior shots must be lit. Sound is critical and so locations may have to be scouted. And the logistics of moving camera, lighting, and sound equipment from place to place has to be taken into account. A small crew will consist of two to three with lots of equipment to cart around. Any good production company will want to carefully plan with you getting in and out of locations, who’s going to be where at what time, and permissions (if required). I’ve spent many hours on idle due to company personnel not being where they were supposed to be at a particular time (or day!).

Crews are hired on a day or a half-day rate. Videographer rates typically include all the gear. Tape is cheap. But helicopter shooting – be prepared to “anti-up.” The result is as fabulous as it is expensive!

Step 4 – Post Production. This step includes a number of sub-steps. Here they are:

• Narration – Picking the right narrator is very important to any corporate project. Narration can happen before or during the editing. It depends on the project but usually has to do with efficiency. If the script is not going to change, typically the narration is married with music and then the visual editing begins. Sometimes a “scratch track” (a rough track by the editor or other non-professional) is recorded and a rough edit done to that track before the real narration is laid in.
• Editing – The old story of “We’ll fix it in the editing” is more of a joke in the production community than actual fact. If you haven’t done your homework up front, it shows in the editing (and the price goes up). A good director on the set will save the editor loads of time and produce a far superior and highly compelling product. Don’t skimp on the director! Go for experience.
• Music – Music has always been a hugely important aspect of any production I’ve done. The right music makes a segment very compelling. The wrong music creates a dismal product that often doesn’t meet the objective. Some music absolutely “fights” the narration. It has to have the right “feel,” tempo, instrumentation, and sound level. Music that is too loud can command more attention that anything else and distracts the viewer from the message. Great music is music you hardly notice.
• Animation – Here’s where you can really rack up the numbers. However, a good director can make maximum use of the simplest animated elements. Sometimes a background is needed with animated text developed as a separate item. Often bits and pieces of animation are produced and then manipulated during editing (as the synchronization to music doesn’t come into play until then).

Step 5 – Approvals and Packaging. The final steps are relatively inexpensive. they involve ordering copies on DVD or exporting copies in various formats for the web and other means of distribution. The great thing these days is that once you have a digital master, you can convert it into any other format quickly and easily. The secret behind replication is to get as many done as you can in one order. It’s like printing. After you set up the first one and test it, the machine just runs and runs until your copies are produced. There are two other sub-steps here:

• Artwork – Artwork will be required for the splash screen (the first screen the viewer sees on a DVD), the DVD label itself and packaging (if you’re doing anything other than a jewel case).
• Packaging – There are so many different choices for packaging these days that the mind boggles. Be sure to consider carefully where the final program will appear and how it will be used. Sometimes simpler is better.

That’s an overview of the production process on most corporate programs. We believe that the more our clients know, the better service we can provide and the more efficient we can be in production. And everyone benefits from that!

One of the first questions I often get is, “What does it cost to produce a video?” Now, that’s akin to asking, “What does it cost to build a house?”

The answer depends upon having a full description of what that house is going to look like and have in it. How many rooms? What level of finishing? How many square feet?

And so it is with video: “How long? How many days of shooting? Any actors? Voice-over on on-camera? How many graphics and how complicated? Any animation?” There are so many variables in producing a video, that it’s virtually impossible to determine a price until you have a script – a blueprint, if you will, of the final program.

Nonetheless, there are “rules of thumb.”

If I know the length of the final programming, the number of shooting days, whether there are actors or not (and how many), music and graphics requirements, and what level of quality is required (eg – high or standard definition – and where it is going to be played – broadcast or corporate environments), I can provide a rough estimate to within fifteen percent, or less.

Now, in many cases, this conversation can be a waste of time. If the price is used for any reason other than to provide an “order of magnitude,” it is the wrong place to start the process of developing a video. Because is it counter-productive to producing an effective program. The place the start is with the problem.

What is the problem in the first place? Why do you want to produce a video? And who is the audience? These are the two most important questions to answer on any communication project. And finally, what is the objective? In other words, what do we have to do to solve the problem? What argument does the video program have to counter in order for the audience to do whatever it is we want them to do? This is the correct place to start, because the answers to these questions tell you what the video is about.

Knowing what it is I have to get the audience to believe (or to do) after watching the video, leads directly to the content of the program and eventually … the script. Or, at least … an outline.

Even with a fairly specific outline, we can put together a budget that will be reasonably accurate. And the important thing is that, as producers, we will be fairly confident that the resulting program will meet the objective. What this means is that the process of developing a budget may not be a waste of time. It may actually be valuable in matching a price to a real solution.

Developing a budget without understanding the problem, the audience, and the solution (or objective) is an exercise in frustration. Every video is a different animal. There are no two videos exactly the same. I have never produced the video you want to have me produce, so coming up with a number without understanding what the final product looks like is virtually impossible.

Now, what I have to done on several occasions for larger projects is to break the project itself into two segments. The first segment is a budget to develop a script. Once the script is developed, then a budget can be struck to within 5 percent of the eventual cost. There’s a lot of comfort in that. And it’s a win-win situation both for the producer and the client. That’s not to say that the “order of magnitude” budget can’t be developed. It can. But it’s now in the proper context.

The question of what format to shoot in comes up in every production. Should we shoot SD … HD … and what format … 1080i …. 720p? And what frame rate?

The term “HD” (High Definition) is thrown around rather indiscriminately by laymen and video professionals alike. The problem lies in the fact that there are so many formats and resolutions, that even the most knowledgeable often get confused.

I’m going to try to simplify this for you but if you’d like all the information, you can source wikipedia.

True HD is a 16X9 format (all HD is 16X9) and 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels wide and can be a variety of frame speeds (up to 60 frames a second). Only some stations broadcast in HD (due to the cost and bandwidth requirements).

Enhanced HD is a slightly lower quality (most eyes won’t discern a difference), referred to often as 720p or 720i. The size of the frame is 1280X720 pixels. The format is 16X9 of course. While not “true HD,” this is what the bulk of programming is distributed in, unless it will be played on a true HD station. There are no True HD local Calgary stations.

There are many different flavours and frame speeds within the HD category, but 720i is the standard below true HD. There are also many different compression levels but you would want 720i uncompressed.

Enhanced HD is good enough from most corporate programming (1280X720p). The web version will still be 16X9 but will be highly compressed (so it plays back) and doesn’t fit into the category of HD.

If you’re looking for a definition of HD, it’s “any system of higher resolution than standard definition television (SD).” Standard television is in a 4X3 format, 30 frames per second interlaced (referred to as 480i).

Now, if you’re going to play your commercial nationally, there is an argument for going to true HD. If it’s just locally, no stations locally broadcast in true HD. With CTV in Canada, for example, only 30% of national programming is actually true HD.

The choice of what to shoot has to do with where you’re going to play it. In the corporate environment, SD is still shot quite often, particularly for video which is going to be projected onto to a screen. Most screens used in conventions and conferences are in the 4 X 3 format, so that shooting 9 X 16 will result in a letterbox projected image (a black strip horizontally on the top and bottom.

In terms of television, you need to make sure you know what format the stations you’re buying want the commercial in before beginning production. It would help to know where you plan on playing it – that would make the answer pretty easy.