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If a picture is worth a thousand
words...
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... then a video that captures the
moments of your special event could well be worth
millions! There is no doubt that video media is a huge part of
our lives today. And, what better way to re-experience your
most memorable events, and share them with others, than to watch
them on DVD?
Yet, the value of video does not
end with capturing personal events. Rather, it is quickly becoming known as must-have tool for
the sale of homes, commercial real estate, cars, boats, and as a
promotional device for a variety of performers, groups, and
service-offering businesses. And, with the advent of so many
free online video sharing platforms on the internet these days, it's
easy to use them to promote yourself or your business, provided you
have a suitable video for that purpose.
At Bad Dog Video, we're here to help you record
and make the most of capturing your special event on
video!
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Why Use Bad Dog Video's Services? |
With the market literally flooded
with consumer-grade video cameras these days, and some of them
capable of capturing fairly good quality video in the best of
circumstances, it is a valid question. But there may be
several reasons why you might need someone who is a
little more savvy and creative in producing the best results
on your video project.
Art &
Lighting - First of all, not everyone has the
required artistic skills needed to capture the right shots, or
to frame them properly to make the initial footage
interesting. Lighting is also a big issue. Is your
subject facing toward, or away, from the light source?
Will the resulting video reveal only dark figures, shadows,
silhouettes, and hard to see subject matter, or will it be
pleasant to view and easy on the eyes?
Low Light
- If you are shooting in low light
situations, as often occurs indoors, at concerts, in
nightclubs, or in a church or chapel, etc., many
consumer-grade cameras will only capture dark images,
silhouettes or poorly lit subjects. Do you want to take
that chance when many of these events only occur once?
Our two primary cameras are professional-grade to pro-sumer
grade, and are among the highest-rated video cameras for low
light filming.
Editing &
Computer Skills
- Next, editing (if required) is not only an
art form, but it is tedious, time-consuming, and requires lots
of patience. Add to that, the need for a high level of skill with
computers, and a good working knowledge of the editing and authoring
software tools, which are all necessary parts of producing a good
video. Aside from the obvious learning curves, the fact
is that not everyone has the time to develop all these
skills.
Knowing Your
Subject -
Over
the years I've worked for and with many different industries,
many of them in connection with a 31-and-a-half year career in
the telecommunications industry. As a technician in the
field, responsible for locating and repairing defective or
damaged equipment and restoring critical service to those in
need, I have a unique perspective and thousands of experiences
on what it takes to communicate and use tools, equipment, and
knowledge to get the job done. As an inside sales
representative, I understand the importance of selling a
service or product and collecting payment for them. As
one of the first male operators in the telecommunications
field, I understand first-hand what it takes to break through
traditional barriers and overcome social taboos and still
provide a high level of customer service. And, as a
former training and office supervisor I am aware of what it
takes to manage a job, and help others learn what needs to be
done to provide a service.
Changes In
Marketing Media
- Media has been undergoing tremendous change in recent years,
and is continuing to do so. Internet advertising and
sales are growing at an exponential rate, and while photos,
animations and Flash presentations are still being used to
market products and services, video is now beginning to play a
huge role in the marketing arena. Traditional still
photography and slideshow technologies are quickly taking a
back seat to sales in real estate.
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 An article on
multimedia marketing by Kimberly Blanton, of
The Boston
Globe
newspaper, reprinted in early fall of 2007 in the
Bakersfield
Californian
newspaper, drew some comparisons between the use of video and
an increase in the sales potential for both cars and homes.
Based, in part, on the experiences of Mary Canales, who
created a video to help sell her home in Windham, N.H., and
who had used video to improve the sales of cars (as an
automobile broker), the article points out some research that
appears to back up her experiences.
The article states
that coupled with exposure tools such as the streaming video
and the internet, the use of video to market properties is
increasing. Canales had noticed that when she
used video to promote the sale of cars, the cars sold better.
So, she used a video to help sell her home too.
Blanton reports that analysis by one real estate company
in the U.S. reveals that,
"listings with an
accompanying video were watched by five times more visitors
than those that didn't have video; and visitors watched the
videos for at least 20 minutes, compared with three-to-six
minute visits to listings with just static images."
"A virtual tour
just isn't doing it anymore,"
the real estate company's rep said.
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The Many Uses Of Video In Business
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The roles for video in today's
world are widely-varied and diverse. Though it has long
been known as a powerful presentation and sales tool for
television commercials, documentaries, and movies, many people
still don't realize the full range of potential uses that
video has for use in their own businesses or private lives.
However, video has the ability to reach out and grab people's
attention like no other known media.
Video can be used in many ways....
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to promote and sell services,
products, real estate (homes, land, & commercial), products,
vehicles (boats, cars, motorcycles & other craft), musical
equipment, or other personal items.
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to increase the visibility of a
product, item, vehicle, property, or project, etc., by
increasing interest.
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to demonstrate the capabilities of
various services, products, groups or individuals.
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to increase sales, garner
increased support, improve viewership, or focus more attention
on whatever is featured in your video.
And videos don't have to be long,
or contain lots of glitzy special effects, etc., to be
effective. A simple 2-3 minute video that points out key
elements, functions or services can improve the odds of your
connection with potential buyers, customers, or interested
groups.
In short, video has the potential
to make a product, service, piece of real estate, cause,
group, person, or item more appealing and focus more attention
on them than is typical using other forms of media, such as
still pictures, slideshows, newspaper or circular ads, or
other means.
So, feel free to ask me how video
can help you to achieve your goals.
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Featured Videos On
Our You Tube Channel
www.YouTube.com/BadDogVideos
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Check out some of our Sample Videos
on our Bad Dog Video You Tube channel at
www.YouTube.com/BadDogVideos. There you will see
some of the compressed versions (not the high-quality AVI
files we make our client DVDs from), which transmit and play
better over the internet.
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More On Sony DSR PD-170 Cameras
The August 2004 issue of DigitalTV
magazine, a publication targeting broadcasters of Digital
Television had this to say about Sony and the PD150-170
cameras:
Editor's introduction:
"DVCam is the most popular tape format of all time."
"You can use a Sony PD-150 and PD-170 DVCAM camcorder on a
network news show. . . regularly."
Article, " Analog rides the Digital Bus," is about the three
buses ABC has outfit to cover the election.
"Field production is conducted on DVCAM with two Sony
DSR-PD170 camcorders."
www.digitaltelevision.com
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Disappointed Performers
- For the performers out there, how
many times have you been disappointed by what was captured on
video by your non-performing friends or family members?
As a musician with over 38 years of live performance
experience, I have a first-hand perspective on
what performers want to see. For example, I know which
person is playing what instrument, who is taking a solo, and that
those special antics or moves on stage should be captured
whenever possible.
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The Benefits Of
Performance Video
- There are many
reasons you or your group can benefit from shooting video
during your performances. First, video can be used as a
learning tool. Find out what you look like on stage,
what you did that you shouldn't, what you didn't do that you
should have, or what you might do in the future. Next,
learn more about how you sound on stage from the audience's
point of view. Things don't always sound the same out
front as they do on stage. Watch and re-watch the
audience's reaction to your material, songs, or routines to
help you learn what works and what doesn't. And, the use
of a good quality video can be invaluable in promoting your
band or performing group on your web site, and on other sites
that will let you feature your videos, such as You Tube and
MySpace. Finally, a quality video speaks volumes to club
owners, booking agents, managers, and talent buyers when you
include one in your Press Kit, or Promo Package. They
don't just get to hear a tape or CD of your sound, they get to
see your how you look, how you perform, and how the audience
reacts to your performance.
Please contact us directly via phone or
email listed above on the left with any needs,
questions, needs, or suggestions. We look forward to working with you on
your video
projects.
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Performances
Recitals
Concerts
Dance
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Real Estate
Commercial
Speaking Events
Presentations
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Weddings
Sporting Events
Services Offered
Parades
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Boats
Watercraft
Automobiles
Motorcycles
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Performances on Video Versus Film
An expert posting on the Digital
Video Information Network recently summed up some basic
differences between shooting with film media, as opposed to
video tape, for various purposes. In relation to the
type of shooting we do, we're looking for the relevance and
value connected to shooting with video tape, and particularly
in relation to capturing live performances; "I can
completely understand why a budding filmmaker shooting on
video would like his project to end up looking more like film,
rather than the homogenized look that is characteristic of
video," Wayne Orr writes. He continues, "mind you, I am
not saying there are not situations where the look of video is
preferable to film. Most high-end music concerts shot on video
look great and immediate, whereas film concerts seem "cool"
and remote. IMHO. Someone once said, "Video is what the
eye sees, and film is what the imagination sees." Not bad."
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Capturing Audio
At Live Events
Performers... Need More Reasons To
Consider My Services? How about getting good
quality audio to go with your video? Live performances
are among the most difficult when it comes to capturing good
quality audio. And, there are several reasons for
this...
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Camera mics are
typically not good enough quality for live sound.
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Bad room acoustics.
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Poor quality sound system.
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Poorly adjusted or mixed sound
system.
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Noisy room or patrons.
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Bad room placement
for recording audio.
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and more.
Under the best of circumstances,
you will have every instrument in the band mic'd up and/or
running direct through the sound system. When done this
way, we can record a feed directly from your board, and
provided all the levels are set correctly, you will get a very
good audio recording. Be aware that this will not always
yield a good quality recording, though many people think it
will. The reason is that unless all the band members are
playing at the same level on-stage (which typically they are
not... i.e. often guitar & keyboard players are louder due to
their amplification coming off the stage). Thus, the mix
from the board may be vocal, drum, & bass rich, and guitar and
keyboard poor. The sound person will often adjust the
mix to bring out the lower volume instruments, etc., while
adjusting those things that are louder on stage to a lower
level.
Another solution, when it's not
practical or possible to mic everyone, is to place some good
quality microphones at some point in the room, using an X/Y
pattern to capture a good room sound. The down side of
this method is that you will also capture all the talk, noise
and chatter of the room, but if you're looking for that LIVE
sound, this works well in most applications.
Typically, when I do live sound,
I like to use multiple sound sources, as this gives you
options later. If I can get a direct feed off the sound
board, then great, but I don't rely only on that source.
I will also set up mics to capture your sound from other
locations... usually some directly into one of my cameras, and
others capturing to a digital recorder. Using this
technique, or combinations of them, I can record multiple
sound sources, which I can then work with later in my audio
editor to get the best possible sound, based on what was
available at the event.
However, all that
being said, & not wanting to get too set in my
ways, I'm always looking for better ways to capture live
audio, and if you have any suggestions I'm open to hearing
your ideas. :)
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