Video Production Services

Why would anyone want to hire the services of a video production company, anyway? What’s the use of paying someone money to do something you could do yourself with a camcorder and some cheap editing software? The answer, of course, is that you’re paying someone to do something you can’t do yourself with a camcorder and some cheap editing software. All it takes is one look at the standard local, small station commercial to show you just how much local, homemade commercials differ in quality from professionally produced commercials – some of the Super Bowl or Olympics commercials rival full scale feature films in terms of cinematography and quality of film.

There are, of course, varying levels of quality when it comes to the video production services offered by different video production companies. As the old adage says, you get what you pay for – generally, the video production companies with the highest rates are those in the most demand, and the video production companies who are in the most demand are very often those who produce the highest quality of finished product. That’s the simple truth of the video production economy, and it is a good one to remember when you’re looking for video production services.

Generally, video production companies offer whatever video production services their client – you – needs. A good video production company should be capable of offering a number of different video production services, from short television commercials with actors and advanced camera equipment to fully computerized three dimensional animation such as the kind seen in many popular modern films.

Video production companies can focus on longer works, as well. Infomercials, for instance, are fairly easy to produce and are a bread and butter staple offered by many video production companies. Informational DVDs, such as those used in training by many companies, are another popular product, as are advanced audiovisual presentations prepared for lectures or nonprofit organizations. Generally, whatever you need as long as it’s in video format can and will be done for you, if you’ve got the money to pay for it.

The first thing to ask yourself, even before you begin to look for a video production company, is exactly what you need. First, look at the overall purpose you want to accomplish. What do you need to do? What is your goal in this process? If you’re working for a nonprofit organization, for example, with a mission to help relieve starvation in third world countries, nothing helps to bolster your cause better than the sort of video that can be shown at lectures, churches, seminars, and even on television as public service announcements.

If, on the other hand, you’re looking more for the economical side of things and simply wish to advertise a new product or service offered by your company, you can also hire a video production company to produce the commercial for you. Again, compare the quality of homemade local commercials with professional quality nationwide television spots. Imagine the kind of quality good commercials have – representing your company. Nothing can say you’re serious better than a serious, well-made commercial.

There are other reasons, too – maybe you need a video to show employees new to your company. Or, perhaps, your company has recently acquired a new piece of technology, and you need a quick and effective way of training them to use it. There’s nothing better for this purpose than a good, high quality training video.

Deciding on your overall goal, then, is your first priority. Education? Inspiration? Commercialization? Once you have that, you’re ready to move on to your next step.

When you know what you want and the best format to present it in, it’s time to start focusing on details. If you have some ideas, go ahead, and write them down – when you begin to work with a video production company, they’ll let you know just how good the idea is. Have an idea for a commercial, but lack the technical equipment to get it done? Write it down and prepare it for presentation to a video production company.

This stage of production can vary widely from person to person, company to company, and purpose to purpose. You can have nothing more than the most basic idea or you can have an entire script and shoot plan. It’s up to you – decide as you think fits best. If you haven’t had a lot of experience in writing or video production, you may want to just focus on the idea itself and let the video production company handle those things.

If, on the other hand, you’re used to writing and know how to write a good screenplay, go ahead and write a script yourself. Usually, you can tell the difference between a good commercial and an exceptional one – if you think you’ve got a really good idea, then by all means go ahead and write it up. A good commercial is one of the most powerful tools in the hands of any businessman or businesswoman.

When you’ve got a plan and a way of implementing it, it’s time to go out and start looking for a video production company. There are a few ways of going about this. One simple way that probably occurs to many people right away is also one of the easiest – just check your local yellow pages. If you’re in a larger city area, that’s going to be a fairly effective method, as large cities tend to offer more video production services than smaller towns or more rural areas do.

If, on the other hand, you’re in a setting where video production companies may not be so common – or just don’t feel like leaving your computer to check the yellow pages – there’s another method which is at least as easy as the yellow page listings in your phone book. That method is an Internet search. Simply log on to your favorite search engine and type in “video production company” and the name of your town or the nearest large metropolitan center – “video production company Chicago,” for example, will bring up a list of all the video production companies in the Chicago area.

Some search engines, such as Google’s GoogleMaps, even combine company searches, like the yellow pages in a phone book, with a map and standard Internet search capabilities. A search on such an engine will bring up an actual street map displaying all the video production companies in an area, their phone numbers and web sites, and, if you enter your own address, their distance from where you are and directions on how to get there.

Once you’ve begun the search for a video production company and narrowed your options down to a few different choices, it’s time to start comparing them in order to see which of them is going to best fit your vision for what you intend to produce. Fortunately, most video production companies make this part of the process fairly easy. By now, you should know what you need and vaguely how you want it to look – by going to the web site of the video production company now you can begin to compare features.

One very useful feature most video production companies offer on their web sites is called a demo reel. A demo reel, usually available for you to download and watch for free off the company web site, gives you some examples of the video production company’s capabilities. By doing this, you can compare the styles of the various producers and pick the one that best fits your vision for your own product. Remember, each cinematographer has a certain style, much the same way different authors have different methods of writing – demo reels help you compare those styles and pick the ones that fit your own needs best.

Another thing many video production companies, especially the more successful ones, will offer is a previous client list. Sometimes also called a case studies list, and usually displayed in its own page on the company web page, this list can show you what the company has done in the past, and the companies for which it’s worked before. Some may even offer examples and detailed descriptions of the job – a training video for a hardware company or a commercial for an insurance firm, for instance.

When you’ve found one or more video production companies that seem to fit your ideas for your video project, it’s time to start talking money. Obviously, everything – every item, every service, every little bit of time – in today’s world costs money. Video production services are no exception. If you still have a few different options that seem to fit your needs, cost may be the deciding factor. If not, you’ll still want to know it before you start working.

This is where the negotiations start. There are a few ways to begin these. If you’re using the yellow pages or a map listing, you can simply call for rates and get an estimate right on the phone. You’ll have to give your company name and contact information as well as an overview of the project and what you’re looking for. Different things will cost different amounts of money – live actors have to be paid, and 3D animators will charge just as much. A detailed project description will help the video production company give you an accurate estimate.

One easy way of contacting a video production company is through its web site. Once you’ve found a good video production company, all you have to do is go to its web site and hit the “contact us” link on its home page. There’s usually a form there that you can use to submit a project description – again, company, name, contact information, and project overview. Five minutes and you can have it sent for review.

So now you know how to go about producing a training video or a commercial or a twenty second inspirational television spot. What about some uncommon needs, though? Where do you turn if, for instance, you need viewing screens at a big event or want to document a concert or a rodeo? Fortunately, many video production companies offer services like this, as well, even though they’re not quite as common.

Suppose, for instance, you’re the manager of a large amphitheatre and you’re hosting a magic show. The magician is amazing, but some of his tricks require a subtlety that can be hard to pick up from far up in the auditorium. The solution? You could set up a video network, with large hanging screens managed by professional video crews.

In this case, you can find the right video production company by looking through the client list or the case studies on a web site and seeing what they’ve done in previous projects. If you can find one who’s done something similar in the past, get in touch with them – a video production company which has done that sort of thing is more likely to have the right equipment and the right training necessary to pull off a big event. Remember, the more experience they have, the more likely you are to look good.