For the first time: SVG builds set for Brewster Home Fashions!

On Wednesday, Skillman Video Group built the set for our  shoot with Brewster Home Fashions, a prominent manufacturer of fine wall coverings, wallpapers, and home decor products. The shoot, coming up this Friday, will be a how-to video on proper wallpaper installation.

A how-to video like the one for Brewster Home Fashions will be a great viral marketing tool for the company.  Many people turn to the internet for tips on everything from making the perfect souffle to installing a car radio. Putting a video demonstrating  proper wallpaper installation on Brewster Home Fashions site will draw frustrated homeowners to their website, and when they see the professional demeanor of  the company, as well as the beautiful wallpaper they create,  the viewers will be more likely to use the company for their business in the future.

SVG worked closely with Brewster Home Fashions and Hollywood  set designer (and former Skillman Video intern) Chris Plummer to conceptualize the perfect set for their shoot. We put together a mock room made up of 6 drywall flats, including a door, light switch, and outlet to replicate all the challenges a homeowner comes across while their putting up their wallpaper. We painted the “walls”, and put together some furniture pieces so the video feels like a real room.

Skillman Video Group also shot some footage for a behind the scenes video of the set construction. Check in soon to see the process, and what the final set looks like when Brewster Home Fashions has installed the wallpaper!

SVG Produces Live Event Video for Abram Little-Gill Lobrefeld PC Conference and Newton Marriott

On Tuesday, Abram Little-Gill Loberfeld PC held a conference at the Boston Marriott Newton Hotel. Skillman Video Group was in attendance to capture the event. The event was not exclusive to Abram Little-Gill Loberfeld employees as many of their local partners were in attendance from business associates to bankers. The topic of the day was tax law. Multiple speakers shed light on the intricacies of the codes and regulations.

A very interesting point that was raised had to do with bank closings. During the recent financial crisis, only one bank in all of Massachusetts had to close its doors. This was due to a conservative community that did not invest in a lot of the toxic assets that lead to so many banks going under. Sometimes sticking with what works is the most innovative thing a person or organization can do. Skillman Video Group understands this and knows that quality video production is a tried and true method of spreading your message, be it tax law or anything else you care to share.  Have a live event coming up?  Call Skillman Video Group today to see how quickly and affordably you can video tape & edit your presentations, lectures or meetings!

Skillman Video Shoots Safety and Training Videos for Feeney Brothers Excavation Company

Last week, Skillman Video Group did a shoot for Feeney Brothers Excavation Corporation, located in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  FBEC is a contractor for the gas, electric, water and telecommunications industries. Skillman Video Group shot several types of videos, including truck safety, on-site procedures, and several instructional videos on the operation of various pieces of equipment. The shoot was done over two days, both on location and at the Feeney Brother’s headquarters. We used two cameras and the knowledgeable FBEC employees to walk us through the precise and often complicated steps of operating hydraulic machinery.

Feeney Brothers Excavation Company is dedicated to the safety of its employee’s, partners, and customers, and so their use of training videos will be helpful in the future success of their company. A Safety and Training video can be a great way to introduce new employees to the equipment and procedures of your company, or can give other members of your team a refresher course whenever they need it. While instructing your employees one-on-one can be tedious and somewhat overwhelming, a video insures that all of the information is covered in a succinct, understandable way. When working with dangerous or hazardous materials, it is very important for everyone in your company to be up to date and informed, and by having a safety and training video available as a resource, they can access this information at any point and keep your business running smoothly.

For several years, I worked at a company that built packaging for microwave and RF components that went to aerospace. Because we worked with such delicate, sensitive parts, every year we went through Electrostatic safety training, where we learned about the various equipment and procedures used to keep the parts safe from any errant electrostatic. Every year, my coworkers and I sat through a laughably out-dated PowerPoint slideshow, complete with corny sound effects and horrible clip art. The layout was hard to follow and the information was not easy to decipher, so at the end of the presentation every year, people had lots of questions.  I think if there was an updated video that had the same information but delivered it in a way that was easy to follow, it would have been much more effective, and the training could’ve been half as long.

Time is money, but making safety and training a priority should never be sacrificed.  By delivering all safety and training information in simple, understandable videos, you can be sure that everyone is informed and your company continues to work efficiently.

Behind the Scenes at SVG: Editing

“You make three films. There’s the film you write, the film you shoot, and the film you edit.”

-Ancient Filmmaking Proverb

Shooting a video or film is unglamorous. It is an inherently structered, regimented, slow, and tedious process. On set you aren’t creating, just following the instructions laid out in the script: a shot from this angle, a line from that actor. The real creative inspiration comes from the writers, while questions of structure, pace, and taste go to the editors.

Imagine: the writer finds the diamond, the director digs it up, and the editor cuts to find the natural beauty. It’s much the same for social video marketing as it is for film.

We shot our own video commercial a few weeks back. You can read about the shoot here. On set we worked to cover the angles and actions laid out in the script. Apart from lighting, however, there was very little creative energy. Putting the pieces of the puzzle we shot together in the editing room, however, proved to be great creative fun.

The first thing I noticed, after the painful transcoding and backing up process, is how many things we shot that didn’t work. Sometimes it’s continuity, sound, framing, performance, etc. Most of the time it’s pacing, especially in a marketing video. You only have a couple minutes to hook your viewer and tell a story; beyond that you bore them, especially in the age of countless kitten video distractions. I started with a three minute cut and struggled to trim it to a taught two minutes two seconds at a time. the cuts always seemed to be my favorite shots. They just didn’t fit when I reduced the piece to it’s essential parts.

Perhaps I’ll come up with a 3 minute “Directors Cut Special Edition.” Then again, the edited film is better than the ones I wrote and shot. The boundary of running time helped.

This is why SVG shoots so much footage for our clients. We want to bring many pieces to the editing room so we can use only the best and most essential ones in our final cut. We spent two days shooting at the Al Huda Society and boiled the footage down to two minutes. Don’t be surprised when something we shoot for your company doesn’t make the cut.

With Non-Linear Editing technology powerful enough to do almost anything, the artistic choices an editor has are nearly limitless. (If you want to see that power used poorly check out this behind the scenes video of the first Star Wars prequel.) Then there is sound editing, mixing, and visual effects. You can do anything you want nowadays, but it’s often best to stay within boundaries.

That’s why production companies like SVG exist: To collaborate with clients on branding and content, go through the process of shooting, and craft everything into a cohesive, snappy social video.  That’s in addition to technical editing expertise with encoding for the web, uploading with a CMS, printing DVD’s, and so on. We have the experience and expertise to quickly turnaround a final cut.

I’ve hardly scratched the surface here, but I thought I’d share some of our experience editing at SVG.

UPDATE: Watch our new Videomercial on Youtube.

On Writing Content

Stephen King said of writing, “The scariest moment is always just before you start.”

We think that is why many businesses don’t make marketing videos. They don’t know how to develop content. That’s our speciality. Skillman Video Group works with clients to develop content for social videos. We can do the writing and you can focus on your day-to-day business.

SVG starts with a dialogue about your organization. We ask lots of questions not just to get to know who you are and what you do, but also search for an angle for our script and find your audience. We take copious notes and eventually pitch some ideas to you. SVG comes back quickly with a script that focuses your ideas into a short, understandable, and effective video. Together your company and SVG edit the script into something we shoot.

But revisions don’t end there. There’s a saying in the business: “You make three films. The one you write, the one you shoot, and the one you edit.” Together with you we keep revising, editing, and improving your video throughout scripting, shooting, and post-production. Our work doesn’t end until you get the perfect marketing video.

This might sound like a lot of work, but it moves fast and we make it so easy. There’s nothing to be scared of call today.

SVG Video Of The Week: What is a Facebook Landing Page and How Do You Create One?

A landing page is the first webpage that someone will see when they click on the main link to a website. It is the first page that a user “lands” on, so to speak.  As a default, Facebook sets its landing page to the Facebook wall, so any account, whether for business or personal use will send people to the Facebook wall unless settings are otherwise changed. Now eventually you do want people to see your Facebook wall, but it can sometimes be a bit much with the pictures going across the top, and posts from others, as well as comments and advertisements. That’s why it is a good idea to consider creating a “Facebook Landing Page”.

Creating a landing page on a Facebook business page is a great way to make a positive first impression. Using images and text, the landing page can be seen as an advertisement to give viewers an idea about what your business does and why people should care. As with most social media, the more engaging landing pages will have the best success. The more a company connect with a viewer the better chance that someone will want to know more about the business and thus proceed on to look at the Facebook wall, photos, and discussions. Also, most standard landing pages will feature a “Like” button, so having a good landing page can help to generate more “likes” and better buzz for businesses! SVG is currently in the process of creating a unique landing page for our Facebook account so be on the lookout for that! http://www.facebook.com/BostonSocialVideoMarketing

Here is a link to an article showcasing well designed landing pages: http://bit.ly/ibGpGX

ALSO, here is a video on how to create a Facebook landing page:

Small Businesses and Social Media

On February 22, the Boston Globe’s Metro section featured an article about the impact social media is having with small businesses. The focus was how although some small business owners have not always been very tech-savvy in the past, they can no longer ignore the benefits provided by social media sites such as twitter, facebook, and even foursquare, which allows customers to “check in” wherever they are and send their location out to friends who also use the website. In turn they receive points and promotions for checking in.

The article highlights one company called “Mike’s Automotive Service”, located in Somerville, MA that has always prided itself for being on top of technological trends. They talk about using social media, saying,  “Twitter, Facebook, Groupon—the whole thing has gotten a lot more sophisticated. It’s kind of forcing my hand to get involved.” The point here is that in the next couple of years, small business will have to learn how to use social media to their advantage in order to stay ahead of their competitors. As the owner of Mike’s automotive put it, it will “force their hand”.

It’s also important to note that as these small businesses use social media to drive customers to their website, just getting them there will not be enough. Once more and more businesses discover the power of social media, the playing field will level out and their will need to be other ways to differentiate one company for another. This is where video pays a very important role in site visitor conversion into actual business prospects.  That is why at Skillman Video Group we believe that our service Social Video Marketing will go hand in hand with the rise of social media in the small business community.

Read the entire Boston Globe article here: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/02/22/small_businesses_learn_to_tweet_post_and_blog/

Different Uses for Product Videos in your Social Media & Video Marketing Campaigns

Testimonial Videos at HolliBalance Well-being Center

Skillman Video Group has just completed one day of filming for HolliBalance Well-being Center, an acupuncture treatment facility located in Downtown Boston. Skillman Video Group had previously met with HolliBalance’s owner, Dr. Song, to discuss how SVG could help create and execute effective marketing strategies, and decided that a marketing video and a few testimonial videos were the best approach.

The testimonial videos are going to be posted on HolliBalance’s website, and will help to improve Dr. Song’s credibility and give potential clients a clear image of how HolliBalance actually works. Skillman Video Group shot two separate testimonial videos, where patients of Dr. Song spoke honestly and admiringly of her techniques, demeanor, and skills. SVG also shot B-roll of HolliBalance’s two different treatment rooms, and captured Dr. Song speaking, working with, and treating her patients. Skillman Video Group will be meeting with HolliBalance again this Friday to complete the Marketing Video which will be posted on the company’s website and YouTube.

As always, Skillman Video Group fully planned for the shoot so that it ran as smoothly as possible for the client. Before filming began, Christina Skillman briefly coached the two participants, and after the camera started rolling, directed them when necessary. If you are interested in learning more about how Skillman Video Group can help your company to market or sell your product or service through the use of video, contact Skillman Video Group today!  Be sure to check out more photos from the shoot on our Face Book page.

Expert Videos Highlight a Company’s Expertise

Skillman Video Group, a Boston Video Production Company,  routinely works with clients to discover how they can grow their business or organization with video. SVG has produced many “expert videos” which work in multiple ways to benefit a company. Expert videos highlight a specific service or product in such a way as to make the seller seem an expert in their field. Expert videos can work as searchmercials, a term SVG examined in our last post, help brand a company or serve a niche.

Like other videos SVG produces, expert videos can be used on social media sites, your company website or as advertising on other sites. Expert videos focus on one idea, say social media marketing. Like a searchmercial, an expert video is founded on keywords. Searchmercials are short, specific videos designed to be found via search engines. An expert video can operate as a searchmercial. Both these forms of video can help identify and serve specific niche markets.

Expert videos, however, are less “trendy” than a searchmercial and are not necessarily a series of videos focused on different keywords. A slew of expert videos may focus on the same keyword/topic.

By centering on one topic over multiple videos, expert videos help brand a business. They show a business’ expertise and give them credibility in that field.

Expert videos are partially educational videos, informing viewers of your services. For this reason they can also be easily used on your website to explain a service or product, as well as a marketing video.

Expert videos are a simple idea that can serve many functions. If you are interested in having your own video produced, contact Skillman Video Group today!

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