Product video production does not have to be difficult. However, you must take time out to plan the structure, message and main content of the video before you think about anything else.
First of all, look at what you want to achieve from the video. Most productions of this type are there to give potential customers an overview of what you can offer them pre-and-post sale, as well as key points about the product and/or service. This should include good quality product shots taken at your premises and maybe even a ‘case study’ shot at a customer’s site. If you can get their permission and get an interview, it can be a very powerful part of the footage to use. Some of your customers will be open to this if it means some publicity for them.
Remember to get a basic structure in place before you plan the script or voice over. Of course, there are many organisations (like us!) who can do all of the shooting and editing for you. This means that you don’t have to worry too much about putting your ‘production hat’ on, as a competent video company will organise you and your team -- this is where they get to play director! Of course, it is also very important for people to feel comfortable and to act as natural as possible. A nervous state of mind will show up on the final video and you need to get the best out of your people by creating a more informal environment. Even if you do want to include people in your product video there are a number of things to concentrate on before you start to think about your cast.
Here is a basic product/company video which included video, images, voice over and text effects. This video is around 2.30 long and is just about the ideal length for a video like this. Remember, people will sit through a video for just a little bit longer if they are genuinely interested in hearing more about your company.
One of the key tasks is to make a list of the products you want to push and some of the really positive points about them. Then ask your customers how they use them and if you can use their comments as a voice testimonial. Alternatively, add the testimonial in speech quotes as a text effect to offer a bit of variety. As we have said before, it is better to film your customers in their own surroundings if you can and then include it as a case study. You can do this as a separate video or part of the product version.
You should then decide if you’d like your products to be represented as simple images or as an animated video shot. To add high quality images is very easy and can be effective if used with soft music and/or a voice over. Alternatively, you can use powerpoint slides to talk about your product offerings and this can work well. Finally, you can shoot some footage of your products in action and then piece the whole thing together with good effects, backgrounds, music, fades, pan, zoom and much more.
Just make sure that your product video is between 1 minute and 4 minutes long as these productions should not go on for too long. Get to your selling points early and engage the viewer as soon as possible -- you only have a few seconds!
If you need help in this area, we can produce product videos for your range as an off-site or on-site service. Just ask us how we can help you.