Nothing makes your business pop like bright sights and beautiful sound. With today’s technology, a professional video is in the palm of your hands. That’s right. Your cell phone can get any message across with only a few key steps. Point Taken, a Jacksonville public relations, marketing and web design firm, explains how to use video to market a business or nonprofit:

• Shoot in landscape: Always shoot your video in landscape. Viewers are accustomed to watching landscape video on television. Shoot something in portrait and review. Looks like cell phone video, right? Now shoot in landscape and review. What you probably don’t know is that you see cell phone video on your local newscast almost every day and don’t even realize it. In the breaking news world we live in, reporters, as well as viewers, are shooting on cell phones and submitting to stations, but the resolution is so high, it all looks professional.
• Keep a steady hand: If you don’t feel comfortable with handheld video taping, there are cell phone tripods available. Another good trick is to put the camera in motion. Following a moving subject or rocking back and forth on a still subject will give the feeling of movement without a shaky video.
• Sound is key: A good rule to remember is people forgive what they see but not what they hear. Glitches in video can be mistaken as artistic. Sound is either good or it’s not. But with that said, you can get artistic with the sound to correct bad audio by adding music or sound effects. Get creative! It’s your video.
• Cue the timeline: Just like sound can set a mood, transitions move the story along. Understanding what each of them means is important. For example, fade to black signals a change in time or location. A flip of the screen is great to use for before and after promotional materials.
• Close the deal with editing: Determine how long or short shots need to be to keep the viewer’s interest. Mix wide shots with close-ups. Be sure to create continuity with any motion in the frame. (Unless using jump cuts for effect.) And make sure the story is told in the shortest way possible, since the viewer will only keep the timeline rolling as long as you hold their interest.

Want to create a video that drives business or donations? Point Taken can help. Contact us today to learn about our video production services.