Creating Video for the Web – Examples, Strategies, and Pitfalls

Great information!

On the contrary Craig, I find nothing wrong with the video. I achieves rnits goal and is perfectly structured for the medium.

Great article, I’m currently in talks with Video Production Philadelphia to help produce some video content for my new website this year, its really exciting coming up with fresh ideas but hard too.

In terms of doing “studio” work with your existing camera. Consider this. Buy an inexpensive digital audio recorder, a decent mic with appropriate adapters, and shoot “double system”- (film term) where you record audio and video separately. Roll both and clap your hands in front of the camera and close to the mic. This will be your slate allowing you to sync up audio/video. It’s a bit of a hassle come edit time, but will sound a lot better. As for under $350? not sure you’ll find much with external audio and 1080P

Hey Jim!nnThanks for making the time to go and watch the videos, and for your compliments!nnYep, we should have been mic’d. But we didn’t (and still don’t, actually) have a camera that has a mic-in that works at the same time as recording the video. I’ve got this Apitek HD1080P that works great for video, but is really lame for non-first person audio since they put the microphone in the top (rather than the front) of the camera.nnI’ll be getting something new when we’re back in the states at the end of April. I know you said you weren’t going to get into recommendations, but anything stand out in the under $350 range with a mic plug-in?nnOh, and the cuy was fine to try… once.nnThanks Jim!nnWarmest,nnJonathannhttp://www.CarrieAndJonathan.com

I definitely agree that it’s not easy. Generally speaking, the general population also expects a lot from video and people making videos. TV has taught us to expect a lot by investing at least 8 hours into every 30 seconds we watch.nnI do really like your point about choosing 2 of 3. I think if you’re a sole producer of content, and you’re working to produce daily content, sometimes it is possible to decide that the video is good enough. I know good is the enemy of great, but sometimes, especially if you’re starting out producing daily video, good enough has to do, at least for now.nnSome people I’ve talked with have a hard time understanding how I spent 5 hours of working on this one, but I decided it was good enough:nhttp://carrieandjonathan.com/weird-food-eating-cuy-guinea-pig-in-quito-ecuador/nnThis one, however, took 20+ hours and is one of my favorites I’ve ever done for our site:nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49PxpW2814QnnThanks for your tips. The resources here are GREAT!nnJonathannhttp://www.CarrieAndJonathan.comn

Really great post. I love the Chris Brogan video… have had some communication with him directly but had never seen that video, which is a really great example of authenticity in video.nnI’m working through your resources list now.nnWarmest,nnJonathannhttp://www.CarrieAndJonathan.comn

oh and nice use of graphics!

What I try to do, at least part of the time, is bring what I can of production values to shooting small pieces for non-profits and church. This one, done just with a Flip and Windows Movie Maker and a boom (Flip on a monopod), tries to say “our kids are doing something that matters.” nnI’d love to use a better camera, and i do sometimes. But sometimes done is better than perfect. nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6o_41Ns-Nw

I use a BSS Audio AR-133 Active D.I. box to mic students into an old Canon XM-1 and record while they’re underway in the back seats of cars. The D.I. box seems to limit engine hum.

Barb, We should talk. DM me on Twitter

Found this via Twitter (thx @sherylbreuker for RT @newmediajim!). Very timely and helpful, as I’m looking at how we can expand the use of video, audio, slide shows and other formats beyond text on the screen to tell stories about our campus people and programs. nnNone of us are pro (or amateur) videographers, I don’t have the budget for the pros (public institution w/budget freezes & cuts), yet I believe we need to bring our stories to life–without making more crappy videos.nn@BarbChamberlain

and from what I see from David’s blog, he does in fact, believe in production value. He’s pictured here with a Sony HDW F900R. http://kino-eye.com/about/nnThat's a lot of camera.nnThere seems to be a market for education.

Thanks. You are definitely more pragmatic than most production pros I’ve met. On thing I should have noted above is that we’re not trying to solve every video a business needs to make, we’re just trying to solve the simpler formats like event promotion, product demos, customer testimonials, etc. Many of our customers bring in a pro when they do their homepage video.

Just like anything you do for your business, it is important to have a goal when you make a video. In my work with many Emmy-winning producers, the point they often don’t get is that the video can be amazingly produced, have great sound, lighting, graphics, and talent, but if it doesn’t achieve the goal, it is a big waste of money. nnWe at VisibleGains believe that in this decade, business video will go through the same transformation that websites, email marketing, and B2B advertising went through in the 2000′s. 10 years ago, it was common to see companies spending over $1M to build out their website and to spend tens of thousands on every marketing email they send. They would even hire an agency to build their banner ads. We all know what happened to those big agencies in the early 2000′s. Companies like ConstantContact, Mailchimp, Eloqua, Marketo, Hubspot, WordPress, Google, etc all enabled many of these “black arts” to be done in a DIY mode by the marketer. They’re getting the same or better results with fractions of the cost.nnWith an education in best practices, some proven production templates, decent equipment, and coaching from an expert, I believe that most people can make an effective business video by themselves. Take a look at this video that was produced by a marketer who made this in her first coaching session with us. I’m sure you’ll find 10 things wrong with it but it enabled her to quadruple her webinar attendees, which is what really matters to her in the end. http://blog.visiblegains.com/index.php/2010/04/02/

Video marketing is great and for that you need to have good video and we should have professional skills to achieve that also

Very cool — been researching this morning! Thanks for the heads up. In regards to the Flip camera, the lack of image stabilization really hurts the quality of the video, especially for off-the-cuff interviews. That paired with the lack of good audio makes me want to find another solution for quick web video. Love the discussion here!

Love what you guys are doing!! but I do have to be a pill and say you rnshould’ve been mic’d on this video.rnrnhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49PxpW2814QrnrnYour narration track sounds much better than the back and forth on-camera stuff. Still, you make a good point. When you’re the sole producer, director, shooter, writer, editor, then yes “good” becomes the new “great” rnrnoh and the cuy looks NASTY! LOL

Chris shoots from the hip and knows how to work the camera. He makes it rnlook easy, but it’s not.

Jim, thank you. I love the way you phrased that – “working the strengths.” Sometimes workarounds force creativity in ways we don’t see until we are done with the project.

Jon, it doesn’t just TRY to say it. I shouts it loud an proud! This is an example of understanding the strengths and limitations of the tools available to you and obviously working the strengths. Well paced, thoughtfully crafted snack sized media. You have a good eye!

what kind of videos are you making?

I strip many of my videos down to the audio-only version because most of my students will take the content in their earbuds but they won’t open a laptop to watch the story on screen–until they get the audio tasters. Thankfully, smart manufacturers make audio-in options for the quality handheld video recorders.

Scott, I’m glad you’ve added your voice to this. You’re being generous in your criticisms. I’m astonished with some of the absolute crap out there. So astonished that I thought it would be mean to single out the worst of it.

In the old days there was a corporate communications department that made sure that all video messagegs that were produced were of a certain quality not just visually speaking but content wise. Showing a video of a presenter in a store meant that all background elements were stacked, blocked and displayed in the current corporate methods so that all employees watching would see the right examples and not be looking for flaws and gaffes in every corporate message, before the O/C talent was on the scene. Employees and customers alike can enjoy watching for continuity and message inconsistencies more that watching for the obvious message that the corporation wants to put out. nnWithout some very careful consideration the message is easily lost in the mire of slopiness, which executives don’t see at first, but experience on failed sales objectives. nnThis is end of the era of the in house corporate communications departments that understand and know how to put out the right messages with the right content delivered in the needed consistent restrictions. All ad agencies have rules with regards to how they treat corporate logos, type faces, styles etc, so why would cheap video cameras and cheap video production people change any of the basics of communication?