SVG on Set: Sales Video for PerkinElmer

When it comes to any video production shoot, we take pride in building lasting relationships with a company, which is why Arrco Medical recruited SVG for the second time to create a sales video for PerkinElmer that will be shown to their sales staff and customers.

Last summer, SVG worked in conjunction with Arrco Medical to shoot a series of medical training videos for Visual Foot Care. This time, Arrco Medical brought the SVG crew on to do the sales project for PerkinElmer. Creating lasting relationships is always a priority for SVG and having Arrco Medical hire the team for a second time proves we are a trustworthy production company who works hard to reach our customers goals. However, what made this production video different from the one with Visual Foot Care was that we used a script and professional actors.

Scripts

Being prepared is nothing new for SVG, but PerkinElmer made our videographers‘ lives much easier on that cold morning by providing a detailed script with specifics on where they wanted each camera angle to be. We shot the video in one of the many PerkinElmer warehouses, which are located all over the world. The company wanted to create a dramatic feel while also using humor and staying upbeat. Shooting in a warehouse can have its difficulties, especially when it is just another Monday for the PerkinElmer staff. Yet, the video’s storyline revolved around a break in at the warehouse during after-hours. Making the video look as if it was shot after hours was dependent on lighting and camera angles, but creating the dramatic feel under such conditions shows SVG’s flexibility even during the regular day work hours.

It was easy to see how comfortable and knowledgeable the Arrco Medical and PerkinElmer staff were working with the our crew, knowing exactly what they wanted for each shot and how they wanted it to be lit.

Benefits of Using Professional Actors

Working with professional actors is very beneficial when using a scripted storyline or shooting a sales video such as this one. When a genuine story is not being told, like a companies testimonial video, paid actors are better for they have the ability to play off of one another and make things look more natural. Actors also understand the importance of facing the camera and hitting certain angles and spots for lighting purposes. However, unlike most shoots where the camera focuses on the faces of the actors, the SVG videographers had the difficult duty of doing the complete opposite. Instead, the videographer focused on the hands and feet during certain scenes and only focused close on the actors faces when they weren’t talking and only making expressions.

Syncing the Audio

Unlike most sales videos, PerkinElmer planned on displaying this one in many different languages, including German and Chinese. PerkinElmer is an international company; which is why focusing less on the actors lips would make the translated audio look natural when it is synced in later on. Scratch audio was taken from the actors during each scene, but separate recordings were taken after the shoot in a quiet room so it too could be synced with the video. The biggest challenge with the audio recordings was getting the actors to recreate the speed and emotion of each line from the video, which is where the scratch audio came in handy, as it allowed the actors to hear exactly how things were said.

Lighting

For the dramatic scenes, lighting would be one of the biggest challenges for our videographer. Also, instead of using 3-point lighting, two battery-powered LED lights were used. One was smaller and was anchored above the actors on a tripod, while the other was larger and constantly changed height and angles depending on the shot. Lighting can always cause problems on video shoots, but trying to make a warehouse look dark while also lighting up the actors enough to see what is happening is a challenge in itself. The PerkinElmer crew wanted to make the warehouse look as if it was after-hours and pitch black, so using minimum light would provide the dramatic look and feel while also illuminating the actors enough. Working in one section of a warehouse made it possible to turn off all lights in that section so that the only lights used were the LED, which created high contrast. Though working the lighting was tricky at times, using less light provided a distraction from the actor’s facial expressions.

The LED lights were very beneficial during a shoot such as this. Working in a fully operating warehouse can be hazardous, especially if there are extension and power cords all over the place. Using the battery powered LED lights are much lighter and easily portable making it possible to move things around in a confined area.

Working in a confined space can always make things more difficult for the videographers and the actors. Even though the video itself is only about a minute long a full day was needed to complete the entire shoot. When facing challenges like making a warehouse look like it is after-hours when it is in full working hours and having to shoot with little to no lighting while also not focusing on the actors’ faces; can be stressful for some but it’s never a problem for SVG, though. We always figure out a way to create a natural-looking video that is exactly what the company is looking for. Though SVG has provided video services for Arrco Medical before, the hope is to continually build lasting relationships and develop new ones.

Skillman Video Group LLC is a Boston video production company. Call us anytime at 1-800-784-0140.