Consumers love watching and sharing video content. The thing is, good video content is extremely hard to make, which is why a smart business will hire a professional video production company to help them create high quality, professionally made video content.
While there are lots of video production companies in NYC, they are not all able to create good video content. Why is this? Because many video production companies in NYC are committing one or more of the seven deadly sins of video production – and consumers are notoriously unforgiving when it comes to poor video content. The following are the seven deadly sins of video production that you should avoid at all costs:
1. Using a Bad Script
One of the most common sayings in the film industry is, “You can make a bad movie from a good script, but you can’t make a good movie from a bad script.” This means that if you start out with a bad script, you have no chance at making a good video. There are video production companies in NYC that are so focused on the technical aspects of video production that they don’t pay attention to what’s on the page.
2. Not Storyboarding
Storyboards display the shots that correspond with a script. While a storyboard isn’t always necessary, more elaborate productions can benefit greatly from a storyboard.
Storyboards help add an extra level of planning for productions that involve many shots, or actors, extras and props. They can also help structure the unfolding of the story you are telling with your video production.
3. Using Bad Sound
A common misconception that people have is that the visual element of a video is the single-most important aspect of video production. Not so! In video production, sound is just as critical as visuals, as it adds to the experience of how we take in information.
It doesn’t matter if your video looks like it was shot with a million dollar budget, if the sound is flat, hollow, distorted or difficult to hear then the impact and effect of your production will suffer greatly.
A good video production company will offer high-quality sound equipment, and understand the importance of good-quality sound capture, sound effects, music tracks and audio mixing.
4. Using Bad Lighting
Along with sound quality, lighting quality can help differentiate professional video production companies from amateurs. It doesn’t matter if the video production company is using the newest professional camera on the market; poor and improper lighting can spoil your footage.
For example, back-lighting a person can either turn them into a silhouette, or help them stand out against a dark background – it all depends on exactly how the lighting is done. Good video production companies in NYC should offer great lighting equipment and techniques.
5. Providing Poor Direction
There are some video production companies in NYC that can tell you everything about the equipment they’re using – from the camera to the lenses and more. But video production isn’t just technical, it’s also about working with the talent and subject matter being filmed.
People need to be directed, whether they are professional actors or not. Your video production company should provide good direction, clear communication as well as guidance for proper preparation of all actors or participants.
6. Making Videos That Are Too Long
This is the Internet we’re talking about here. When is the last time you landed on a company website and decided to have yourself a bowl of popcorn while you watched an hour-and-a-half-long video? Your video content has to be short and concise. If it’s too long, your viewers will become bored and bail without absorbing your message. Not to mention consumers are less likely to share longer video content.
The length of your video content depends on how long your script is and how the editor helps maintain good pacing throughout the piece. A good video production company will be able to film everything they might need (and then some!), but cut together the best, most concise edit using only what is needed to achieve the goal of the video while keeping your viewer engaged.
7. Mixing Messages
Videos are highly effective when they deliver a specific message for the intended viewer as well as a call to action. This effectiveness is enhanced by how the videos are framed up (on a website, in an email, in online ad space or on social media), and how they are monitored by any number of metrics – from number of views to engagement rate, to email opens or click-through rates.
While there are many important things you might want to express to your audience, and several goals you wish to achieve, it is best to not try to fit all of that content and expectation into one single video.
These strategic details should be extracted into various specific videos, and the monitoring of performance or expectations set based on each specific goal.
Video production companies in NYC that are experienced in developing strategic video marketing campaigns can help you break your content down into various pieces of content, or micro-content designed to help you get the results you are looking for.
