Without further ado, here are 5 most frequently asked questions about video production usually involved time, cost, sound, script and style.
It comes down to how much time people are willing to commit, which is a reflection of how much relevance they see in the content of your video production or animated explainer video.
And relevance is about context: as in, do they need or have to watch your video – is it a mandatory training video for example – and where will your video be seen? Will it be playing on social media where you’ll be competing for their attention among all the other posts – as in, all the other posts they actually wanted to see on social, rather than an ad.
Or will it be on your website, which your audience have deliberately set aside time to visit and find out more about you and your products? In that setting, there are no competitors as such. But showing them relevance is still critical. If they chose to visit your site, giving your their time and attention, then your video needs to be relevant to their needs, wants, hopes and desires.
If it isn’t, they’ll click off and potentially feel like their visit was a waste of their time – not good for your brand. Whereas, on social, if they do see your post, however fleetingly and they can’t see any relevance in it, they’ll probably just ignore it and not think you’ve wasted their time specifically.
Or maybe you have a captive audience, say in a sales meeting? As a rule of thumb, adverts work well at lengths of 30-60 seconds, whilst a good length for a conversion tool is 90 seconds.
A voiceover script is very different to how web or magazine copy would be written, and so we would always lead on script. The way people speak isn’t always grammatically correct and a script should be conversational. It’s also important to think about the visuals that could work alongside the script, so you’re not overloading the viewer. For example, if you want to convey “We work all over the world”. You don’t have to say that in the voiceover, you can show that visually instead.
For animated explainer videos, part of the video production process is creating design styles. These are usually one or two sections of the script brought to life. They aren’t rough guides, but instead a full visual representation of how the animation or video will look.
Once you’ve agreed a style, the creative team get to work on the visual storyboard. It’s important you see what the animation will look like before it’s set in motion, so any changes can be incorporated and you can gain buy-in internally. Film storyboards are a little different. We will provide you with sketches of scenes, so you can understand how the video will flow. Get our Video Guide to see what a visual storyboard for an animation looks like.
It comes down to context. For example, some videos work very well with music, especially more emotive pieces. Others work less well i.e. technical explainers which are trying to get across something difficult to understand. Voiceover brings another dimension and shapes how people perceive your brand personality. We will give the voiceover artist direction, like who they’re talking to and the feel of the company and you’ll be sent examples of them reading parts of the script to choose from. Sound effects usually add to an animation/film, although how they are used will change the feel of the video.
Many people worry that using voiceover will restrict their use, with office workers not able or willing to turn on the sound. Whether to use text or not, comes down to the subject and context. If you want to explain how quarks work, then visuals alone probably aren’t going to cut it. Although more simplistic animations, say poetic brand videos, can be beautifully executed using just visuals and text. With corporate video productions, sound does become integral because it’s formed around the passion of the speakers. The agency will discuss with you the advantages and disadvantages of going with or without sound before embarking on the creative. Remember that sub-titles can always be developed alongside the video.
Most common mistake
Crucially, the thing to avoid is trying to cram too much information in. The key to an effective video campaign is getting the viewer to understand enough to pique their interest and take action – be that a call to action or downloading a guide. By not putting everything in, viewers are left with questions, giving them a reason to engage further.
