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From the lyrics of The Buggles one hit wonder ‘video killed the radio star’, the words; we can’t rewind, we’ve come too far have taken on a new poignancy.
Video has gone viral and now everyone can imitate Steven Spielberg by becoming a filmmaker themselves. YouTube and other sharing sites allow all of us to access video about every imaginable subject.
YouTube currently has a 63% market share, 12.5 million visitors a month who watch over 70 million videos a day.
There are about 40 million different videos on YouTube and sixty thousand new ones are loaded every 24 hours. USA Today describes the phenomenon as ‘the beginning of the age of personal media’.
And to start making films all you need is some video editing software and a digital camera. But don’t tell Steven Spielberg that!!
In some ways the whole phenomenon is reminiscent of the birth of desktop publishing. When Apple created a new generation of people, who even though they couldn’t even draw a matchstick man they suddenly became designers!! Without a doubt people power in design and video making has created millions of technology literates, many of whom will go on to hone their skills and eventually use them professionally in the workplace.
Video is all about communication. If you need to learn to play a particular piece of lead guitar or you want to see how to fix an office chair or learn to gut a fish, you can quickly access countless videos to show you what to do. There are millions of applications and search engines in the future will be far more intuitive and targeted in terms of identifying every imaginable niche market.
So, anyone can make a video. But here’s the thing! What about substandard video production values, distracting formats, cheap and cheerful filmmaking, poor sound quality and lack of real creativity. Is a generation of rank amateur filmmakers a cause for celebration or a cause for concern?
It’s simple; there are millions of ‘guitar pickers’ throughout the world. Players who achieve enormous enjoyment from their ability as a musician, but none of us would flock to the O2 Arena and pay good money to watch them perform. Because, we all recognise the difference between amateurs and professionals in every aspect of life. We all admire people who are at the top of their game and able to take our breath away and make us cry at the beauty and poignancy of their musical or filmmaking genius.
Video is here to stay and by 2012 nearly 80% of all website content will probably be film. Already one film production group claims that companies are up to 50 times more likely to be found by search engines if there is a video embedded on their website’s home page and that brands using online video have seen a 20-40% uplift in sales. We’ve all stopped caring about stills; we need it brought to life! Load your video onto YouTube and you are 100% certain to be indexed on Google’s search engine.
The drawback of course is that anyone who clicks on a YouTube result is taken to YouTube. If your goal is more about driving traffic than branding there are a whole set of ‘black magic’ techniques to achieve video Search Engine Optimisation. Just ask us at LAW Creative!
But video production values do matter. Creativity and brand consistency matter too, especially to companies battling in an ever more competitive world where customer engagement, quality, visibility and clarity of message are essential.
And there’s a place for us all. The ‘back bedroom director’ who makes homemade films for millions to learn from or just enjoy, and the professional scriptwriter, director and filmmakers that astound us all.
Not every piece of video needs a creative director, director, camera operator, focus puller, sound recordist, grip, gaffer and production assistant. Not every back bedroom contains Redone camera kit, jib and crane, steadicam, track and dolly, boom microphone, radio microphone, and Kinoflow, red Heat and Dedo lighting!
But that’s some of what it takes to produce professional and stunning video film that properly engages the viewer.
What ever the brief or objective I suspect that there will be an unstoppable, insatiable need by individuals and companies alike to see themselves, their products and their companies on the ‘silver screen’.
LAW Creative is creating and directing several client videos including the recently completed ‘David Lloyd Leisure Experience’. A piece of film that takes potential club members into Europe’s Premier Racquets, Health and Fitness Club for a ‘show round’. The much lower budget but effective video ‘how I cook my favourite dish’ by Leigh Starke, Executive Chef at Grosvenor’s Park Tower Casino as shown on G Casino’s Face Book Fan Page. A film, with men’s single’s champion Pat Cash extolling the virtues of shopping at Wigmore, Britain’s Best Racquets store! And film for InterContinental Hotels Group as part of their Building on Solid Foundations Conference.
To enquire about making your video with LAW Creative please email keith.sammels@lawcreative.co.uk
Budgets for film from £2000 to infinity… and beyond!!
Says Keith Sammels, Creative Director at LAW Creative, ‘The David Lloyd Leisure Experience video took two days to shoot and offers potential members a glimpse of the many benefits of family membership at Europe’s Premier Racquets Health and Fitness Club.’
LAW Creative is a marketing and advertising agency | Hertfordshire | London Address: 4 Waterside, Station Road, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 4US. Tel: 01582 469 300 | Fax: 01582 460 050. Leisure at Work Communications Ltd trading as LAW Creative. Registered in England 3690515. © 2009 LAW Creative. All Rights Reserve.