What video format should I use?
Now that you know what your video is about, it’s time to figure out your format. It is always time to figure out the level of production. You want to pick a format that matches up with the quality you can produce. You don’t want to use a handheld phone when trying to show how amazing your product or service is because that takes away from your message. You also want to keep your expectations in alignment with your purpose for the video. You want it to look great, but let’s be honest, it won’t look like a Hollywood produced film – and it doesn’t have to.
And don’t worry if you don’t have money to buy a $10,000 camera. In the next lesson I’ll walk through the steps to take to improve your production at any level. For now, let’s focus on the format you would like to create and we will go from there.
First Video Ideas
Docu-style:
This is the versatile video style that we’ve all seen in documentaries and news programs. Here, you can combine interviews, voice overs, visuals (b-roll) and music to fully reveal your video subject. You get to use personality and passion to connect with the audience. You can also cover up any mistakes with a variety of other visuals and voiceovers so you don’t have to be perfect. And if you’d like to include customers, this is a great format to illustrate through their words, who you are and how you are making a difference.
Great for: Mission: Your “Why”, personality of your employees and product/service explainers.
Interview:
This is very similar to the documentary style, just a little toned down. For example, Apple and others do this for product videos, with someone looking off camera giving all the needed information on the product.
Here’s a tip: Unless you are an on-camera professional don’t plan out every word you want to say. The best way to get everything you need is to set your topics ahead of the video shoot and then have someone ask them in a question. Your responses will come across in a more natural and authentic way that connects with your audience.
Great for: Mission: Your “Why,” Personality of your employees, product explainers, tutorials, company updates and, news internal/training videos.
Explainer:
So you want to explain your software product. You could do the classic recording screen, rambling explanation and mouse jumping around the screen. But there are better alternatives. Actually, it’s not a bad idea to start with that so you know what you want to explain. From there you can create a voice over and using screenshots create a more measured video moving a digital mouse around exactly where and when you want to show it. From, you can fold in some of the interview style and flip back and forth to get your perfect message across.
Great for: Product/service explainer, tutorial, internal/training.
Explainer alternative:
My favorite type of videos to create right now are animated explainer videos. Sometimes it is a lot easier to show someone how your product or service works with some clever images rather than actually showing the product. It is also a great way to add some personality and fun into the video.
We know how much personality matters to grabbing an audience. An interesting animation also holds someone’s attention better than other formats. I have found myself watching minutes on a topic I don’t care about because the animation held my attention. Animation can also work for almost any content. Keep in mind level of animation is also going to project your level of product or service.
Great for: Mission/Your why, product/service explainer, tutorial, company updates, news, internal/training.
Looking into the camera:
This is a tricky format because you want to make sure you are using it at the right time. I almost always default to looking right off camera. Bumbling around while looking off camera feels a lot more natural than when you are looking right into the lens so be careful.
My rule is if you are talking directly to the person watching than it is okay to look at the camera. So if you are giving a behind the scenes tour or updating your audience on what is going on this is a great format. It seems to work for things that are totally off the cuff. Anything that you are trying to say exactly right is very hard to pull off.
Great for: Company Update, Event Coverage, News, Behind the scenes, Internal/training, live/webinar.
All of these formats can also work together. So have fun figuring out what pieces work best for your goals. In the next lesson I am going to go over the actual tools and methods to create your amazing video.
If at any point you have questions or want some advice on how to get your message across please contact me at Patrick@trueeastmedia.com.
See you next time!
“Humans are incredibly visual and powerful, moving images help us find meaning… [and] video helps capture and contextualize the world around us.”
Dan Patterson
How can we help you?
info@trueeastmedia.com
847.372.6507
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