Video Depositions

We’d like to highlight a new service at Skillman Video Group, Video Depositions!  A “deposition” is defined as “The sworn testimony of a witness taken before trial held out of court with no judge present. The witness is placed under oath to tell the truth and lawyers for each party may ask questions. The questions and answers are recorded. When a person is unavailable to testify at trial, the deposition of that person may be used. This can also be part of the pre-trial discovery (fact-finding) process.”

Legal depositions are yet another area exponentially improved by the medium of video. Video provides the judge, insurance adjuster or jury, the ability to both see and hear your claimant tell their story in a controlled yet powerful format.   This can especially be relevant in personal injury cases.  For example, we recently completed a Video Deposition for the personal injury law firm of Parker Scheer LLP.  Our camera crew spent a half day with a team of lawyers from the firm, interviewing the claimant about the accident and its immediate and long term impact.   The video was later edited down to the most essential and meaningful facts of the case.  What are the important facts of the case?  How has his life changed since the accident?  Thanks in large part to the power of the claimant’s story, as told through the video legal deposition, the case was settled out of court just a week later.  Call us today about our Video Deposition Service and see how it can help your upcoming case!

The Importance of Closed Captioning in Professional Video Production

Skillman Video Group offers closed captioning services for both DVD and web based video formats.    Closed Captioning is a term describing several systems developed to display text on a television or computer/video screen to provide  interpretive information to viewers who wish to access it. Closed captions typically display a transcription of the audio portion of a program or video as it occurs, and can include non-speech elements such as music or background noise.

A lot of times we get asked what the difference is between “closed captioning” and “subtitles”.  The term “closed” in closed captioning indicates that not all viewers see the captions—only those who choose to decode or activate them (usually through your TV).    “Subtitles” assume the viewer can hear but cannot understand the language, accent, or  that the speech is not entirely clear, so they only transcribe dialogue and some on-screen text. “Captions” aim to describe to the hearing-impaired all significant audio content—spoken dialogue and non-speech information such as the identity of speakers and, occasionally, their manner of speaking—often along with music or sound effects.

However, the benefits of closed captioning extend far beyond the deaf or hard of hearing community. As time goes by, the general population is beginning to recognize its other useful applications.  For example, it is not uncommon to see closed captioned programming in noisy public environments such as airports, public lobbies, and sports bars.  It has also been said that Closed Captioning can aid those who are trying to learn English as their second language.

Closed Captioning is a great and very affordable “add on” for many of your live event, marketing or corporate video productions.  The power of video is that you audience can see AND hear what is being spoken.   For what equals out to be just a few dollars per minute, you would be widening the audience for your marketing, training, testimonial or social media video to include those who are hearing impaired.   Captioning is a service that betters our community and enhances the teaching power of media.  Contact Skillman Video Group today to see what we can do for your video production with our transcription, closed captioning and subtitling services today!

Grow your business in 2010 with a professional Internet marketing video!

This time of the year, there are lots of blog posts and articles about how you can “Grow your business in 2010″, but it can be difficult to sift through the plethora of information and find what really works for your type of business.  If you read our post on Professional Video in Social Media (scroll down), you will see that one of the biggest areas of growth in 2010 is Internet video marketing with over 40% growth projected for this genre in the coming year.  If these trends come to fruition, then a day is coming when businesses will no longer see web marketing videos as a luxury but a necessity and a key tool in their overall marketing strategy.     As we have stated before it is imperative in any marketing endeavor  to look and sound your best.  Using professionals to shoot and edit your videos will result in a better quality product and give you a much higher rate of return on your investment then if you tried to do it yourself without the proper equipment,  training or experience.  Quality does matter to your audience and our goal as professionals  is ultimately to translate those viewers – into clients!  A high-quality corporate or marketing video from Skillman Video Group can be the key to kick start your business in the new decade.

In researching some of the most popular ways video is going to expand over the next few years, we came across a couple blog postings listing and describing 42 different ways to use video on the Internet for your business (yes – 42 different ways).  They were rated by the authors by Popularity and Growth Potential.  A summary of all of these types can be found on Reel SEO and the original posting with descriptions can be found with One Market Media.  There are so many ways you can grow your business with a professional video, but to save you some time we thought that we would highlight some of the video categories that got the highest rating in both Popularity and Growth Potential, so you can start brainstorming now about what kind of video Skillman Video Group can do for you.

• Customer Testimonials/Success Stories
• Man-in-the-Street Interviews
• Product Presentations/Demonstrations/Reviews
• Visual Stories
• Corporate Overview
• Staff Presentations
• Training Video/Employee Orientation
• Just-in-time Learning
• Internal Communications
• Health, Legal, & Safety
• Internet Commercials/Viral Video/Email Video
• Content Marketing (Huge Growth Potential)
• Landing Pages/Microsites
• Video Press Release/Community Relations Video
• Event Presentation Video
• In-Store video
• Mobile Video

The producers at Skillman Video Group have years of experience helping businesses like yours see real growth in their market share through the use of web marketing videos.  We have the cutting edge, professional equipment needed to create your perfect corporate or marketing video, for either your web site, DVD distribution or e-mail marketing campaign.  The producers at Skillman Video Group also have experience in leveraging the power of social media sites (such as Youtube.com or FaceBook) and Search Engine Optimization techniques to attract new viewers to your site and increasing your overall  web presence on all major search engines.   2010 is here, start it off with a bang – Contact us today to learn how!

How to Prepare for Speaking on Camera

Skillman Video Group specializes in marketing videos for both large corporations and small businesses in the Boston area and all of New England.  As we have said in previous blog posts (feel free to scroll down and check them out) in this day and age of Internet social media, viral videos, and Internet (or “inbound”) Marketing, a great professional corporate video from Skillman Video Group is a great way to market your product or service, build brand awareness, and increase sales.  Creating repore with viewers who come to your site by adding the “human touch” through the use of the video medium, can not only help you reconnect you with former clients, but also open the door for new clients to feel instantly connected to what you and  your business stand for.

As you can see in our Portfolio page, many business leaders and employees have courageously stepped forward and placed themselves in front of the camera  to speak  about their company and the services they offer.  For some (and maybe for you), this is an entirely new experience and as we have said before, it is not as easy as it looks!  The professionals at Skillman Video Group recognize this and are ready and willing to help!  The whole experience of “lights, camera, action!” can be daunting (trust us when we say we’ve seen it before), but if the speaker is properly prepared for the shoot, it will go quickly and smoothly.  With this in mind, Christina Skillman, Sr. Producer and Principal at SVG and the production professionals at Skillman Video Group willingly stepped out from behind the camera and created a short “How To” video to highlight some of the pre-production work and planning that goes into creating the ideal “Talking Head”/interview video.  A marketing video can take many forms, but the simple interview or talking head format is one of the easiest and cost effective forms available.  From pre to post-production they can be completed in just a matter of days!

So there you have it!  There are so many factors that need to be taken into consideration when making a professional corporate video -from the room selection, to the clothes, to the microphone & lighting, to the on-screen mannerisms – it can seem overwhelming to the novice.  But with this kind of preparation, and with the skill and experience of the professionals at Skillman Video Group, it’ll be a breeze!  As a business owner it is in your best interest to look and sound your best in whatever marketing endeavor you pursue,  and we will be there to help you every step of the way.   Feel free to check out our previous work to get some ideas about what Skillman Video Group can do for your business!  Contact us today to set up a free consultation on what our video production and Internet Marketing services can do to help your business grow in 2010!

Using Video for Legal Marketing with Law Firms

Skillman Video Group has had the privilege of working with businesses and organizations of all shapes, sizes and industries. As we start editing the footage from our shoot last week with the Boston personal injury law firm  Parker | Scheer LLP, I thought I’d take a few minutes to talk about how law firms can use on-line video for legal marketing and to promote their expertise and grow their client base.

1. What is different about your Law Firm that you would want potential clients or the general public to know about? How do you provide better service to your clients from your competitors? Video is a simple yet powerful tool to communicate what you do, how you do it, and why businesses and/or consumers should come to you first. Let people see your passion and commitment to getting results first hand!

2. What is your expertise or practice area? Video is a great way for potential clients to see and hear what it is that you do and why YOU are the most qualified to help them with their legal needs.  If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, how much MORE is a moving/talking picture worth?  Don’t just rely on stale words on a page to communicate your qualifications!  The power of the visual medium to entertain, educate and persuade your viewers is unmeasurable.  When done properly, video can help you build trust and rapport with prospective clients – before they even pick up the phone!

3.  Who are your clients?  What are the unique challenges or obstacles they face on a daily basis?  Understanding what will resonate with your viewers will help us craft on on-line marketing strategy that will get you the legal marketing results you desire.  Working collaboratively we will create a video that is clear, concise, professional and one that will grab viewers and turn them into clients!

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