We get asked many questions here at Lush Digital around what the essential ingredients are to make a great video. We can probably give you a thousand different ‘ingredients,’ but we know that a well crafted video comes from years of experience & creative minds. So like every job we complete, we get the team involved to add their thoughts to the project and thus below is some of their essential ‘ingredients.’
1. “Preparation is the most important attribute in creating a successful video. The more time you spend in getting the right content on camera, the less time you waste in post production. Preparation is not just planning the content for the shoot, it’s planning the atheistic, the feel and ultimately what you envisage the final production to be. Productions are very malleable once they are in post, but it all hinges on getting the right content at the shoot. There’s always time to prep.”
- Gav, Creative Director
2. “Think outside the box - over 100 hours of video are uploaded to Youtube every minute, so your idea needs to stand out from the crowd. Be as creative as you can and think about how you are going to reach your audience once you’ve made your video.
These days you can’t just stick a video on Youtube and expect it to reach the people you want it to reach.
If you expect your video to go viral get ready for disappointment, and be cautious of anyone who claims they can make that happen for you!”
- Ian, Producer
3. “Start with the audience in mind by understanding who they are and what they like. Tell a story and create meaningful content rather and don’t sell them anything! People remember things a lot better when you tell them a story and will be more likely to share the video with their friends & colleagues if they connect with it.”
- Bren, Chief Operating Officer / Account Director
4. “Have an idea. No matter the budget, if you can think of a novel way to explain or demonstrate your message the final product will have a greater chance at engaging a wider audience. Coca Cola produced a 1-minute video about a perfectionist who restores vintage vending machines
“Can you draw a comparison between the values of your business and the values of an artist / sport / hobby / person?”
- Simon, Cameraman & Editor
5. “No one wants to sit through a boring 15-minute corporate video, it’s old-fashioned and ineffective. Stick to a short and punchy 2 – 3 minute video and you will keep the attention of your audience. Keep it simple with clear messaging that your audience can digest easily.”
- Lucy, Producer
6. Also…. a well fed crew is a happy crew, don’t skimp on the catering!!
- The Lush Digital team
image attribute - Liz West - https://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/
You have 15 seconds to grab your audience’s attention, make it count, you will either to tease the content of the video or use a “gap hook” to get them in, For gap theory read “Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath.
Make people feel some emotion, when we care we share.
Download the Creator Playbook and follow it! http://www.youtube.com/yt/playbook/en-GB/
Above all have fun! Your persona will show through your work, if you don’t love it you can’t expect anyone else to!