The Difference Between Freelance and Video Production Companies

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In today’s ever-growing digital world, we are seeing more photographers and videographers make their way into the business arena. A lot of these photographers and videographers are freelancers, meaning they don’t work for a company and are available for hire. Usually, people choose to hire a freelancer for a one-time, shorter project. There are so many freelancers nowadays that are taking business away from video production companies. However, there are a few risks that come with hiring a freelancer. In this blog, we will take a look at the differences between freelance and video production companies.

One Man Show

When hiring a freelancer, you usually aren’t hiring a team, you are hiring just one or two individuals who do all the filming and editing themselves. When you hire a video production company, you are usually hiring a team that all has different strengths. When you hire a video production team, they are able to create many different types of videos and have a good amount of input on what looks good and what doesn’t. In addition, a team like this will make sure each area of your project is well-polished and your final product comes out magnificently.

The problem with hiring one freelancer is they usually only know how to make one or two different types of videos and might not have as wide of a skill set than a video production team. In addition, freelancers can take a long time to get your project back to you because they have to work on everything one-by-one. If you are on a time-crunch with your project, it might be in your best interest to go with a video production company.

Legally Binding Contract

By hiring a video production company you usually have a signed contract with them that says they will deliver on their product. When you hire a freelancer, the only thing you have to depend on is their word. By not having a binding contract, your final product may not be what you wanted, could be delivered late, or may not be fixed after you find errors.

When you have a written contract, there usually aren’t any hidden fees or surprises with your video hire. Video production companies like to package things for you, such as a custom graphics or script writing with your video production and editing. When you have a freelancer producing your video, they might add on extra costs, especially if you ask them to edit something again.

High-Quality Finished Product

There are a lot of talented freelancers out there who can deliver a great product on time. However, by hiring a video production company you ensure that you are getting the highest quality of product that is on brand. In addition, freelancers have their strengths and weaknesses, so if you are just hiring one person, then you might miss out on some crucial details that would make your video perfect. When you choose a video production team, there will still be strengths and weaknesses, but one individual’s weakness will be another team member’s strength. Every small detail of your final product will be paid attention to, giving you a perfect final product.

Although you can have a lot of success in hiring a freelancer, you won’t ever regret hiring a video production company to create quality products for your business. If you are looking for an award winning video production company, look no further than Fusion 360. Fusion 360 has an incredible video production team that can create any video for any brand. Give us a call today to get started on your next video!

The Perfect Length for Your Video Ads

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Perhaps one of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to video ads is what the perfect length is. How do video production companies know how long their ads should be in order to be effective? Is there a formula, a secret number? Well, it all comes down to your advertising goals. Different lengths are good for different ads, and you’ll have to determine what it is you’re trying to achieve in order to determine the perfect length for your project.

So, when deciding what the perfect length will be for your videos, you may want to inquire with local video production companies to see what they think about your campaign, and how they can help you narrow down what your ad should look like. Here are some tips on how long your video ads should be, and how video production companies have narrowed down time frames to a science.

Recognizing the Different Time Frames

There was a study done by IPG Media Lab and YuMe that measured the impact of the different video lengths on different consumer groups. Here are the findings from this study and how the groups react to various video ad lengths.

Short Ads (15 seconds): Shorter ads have a bigger impact when it comes to established brands, millennials and mobile platforms. It was found that longer ads shown to these age groups had very little impact on the brand in terms of favorability and purchase intent, clocking it at an underwhelming five percent.

Well established brands don’t need more than 15 seconds to push a product or service, as their impact in their respective industry has already built that trust and reputation with their consumer base. When it comes to short ads, there is a formula: short ads + short content + a small screen (mobile device) = a BIG impact. Long story short, mobile ads need to be kept short, as well as ads targeting millennials and ads that come from big brands.

Longer Video Ads (45 seconds): New brands benefit from longer ads because they still need to show any potential consumers what they can offer in terms of services and products. It was found by this study that these longer videos had a great impact on brand favorability and purchase intent by as much as 40 percent.

Video production companies also recommend using these longer ads if your brand has a complex message to convey to potential audiences. Just as shorter videos are effective on mobile devices, longer video ads are effective when it comes to desktop computers and television platforms.

Long and short video ads are effective ways of advertising, but the perfect length depends on what you’re trying to accomplish and who you’re trying to target. If you’re looking for a video production company to help you come up with the perfect video ad, contact us here at Fusion 360 Studios. We’re experts when it comes to video advertising, and we’re ready to help bring your perfect ad to life.

Sources:

https://www.balcomagency.com/blog/whats-best-length-video-ad

How to Increase Engagement with Your Videos

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Video content seems to have broken the internet for the past few years. If you are not creating and posting video content online for your brand, you have a smaller chance of getting noticed. Video production companies work to create entertaining and engaging videos for various brands to help them increase their awareness online. How do they do it exactly? Here are a few tips and tricks that video production companies use to increase engagement online with their videos.

Know Your Audience

This is probably the most important tip of them all. You have to know your brand’s audience so that you can create a video that is tailored to them and their interests. If you don’t produce a video that is interesting to them, they aren’t going to engage or even watch your video.

Video production companies do a lot of research to figure out who their audience is and what type of content they will be interested in seeing. When posting on social media platforms like Facebook, you can target your exact audience by using the “Preferred Audience” and “Restricted Audience” settings. These settings can sort your audience by interests and demographics.

Make Your Topic Engaging

Once you know your audience, you can come up with a video topic that is engaging and shareable. Your video should aim to entertain, inform or inspire your audience. Video production companies usually create a video around one key point or topic. Your video should be able to be summarized in one phrase. Narrowed down topics create great videos for social media because they are quick and to the point. When viewers understand the point of the video, they are more likely to engage with your content and share it with their friends.

Be Aware of Structure and Length

First impressions are important, so the first few seconds of your video need to “wow” your viewer in order to keep them watching. Make sure the first few frames of your video are bold and entertaining in order to grab people’s attention. In addition, make sure you optimize the thumbnail of your video to match the topic of your video. Having an engaging thumbnail will lead more people to click on your video. Think of your video thumbnail as “click bait.”

When editing your video, try to keep it as concise as possible so you don’t bore your audience or cause them to lose interest. Keep in mind that people have short attention spans. Considering that a lot of people will be watching your video without sound, it’s always a good idea to add captions or text overlay to videos you post on social media. Video production companies spend a lot of time editing their videos to make sure they are creating the best most engaging content possible.

Make Your Video Native

Videos are automatically going to get more engagement if they are posted natively. What this means is posting your content directly to multiple online platforms, rather than posting it in one spot and posting links to that content on the other platforms. This tip is especially important when posting to platforms like Facebook and Instagram because of the autoplay feature. In addition, by uploading your video natively, you can get stats on how many people watched and engaged with your video on each platform, which will be helpful in knowing how successful your video actually was.

Video content is powerful and can really transform your brand image. It has the ability to attract new customers and provide an increase in sales if done correctly. If your brand is needing help in creating video content, a video production company like Fusion 360 can help you create both brand and social videos. Fusion 360 has an award-winning video production team that can take on any task given to them. Contact Fusion 360 today to start working on some video content for your brand.

Different Video Ads for Different Platforms

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Video advertisements are always with new and entertaining ways to represent their brand, and as a result, we get some of some of the most powerful and appealing ads of the time. Even though the purpose of these ads are to promote s specific cause, brand or product, there are many that still are captivating even if you are not a target for the ad.

Watching these ads, you might also notice that depending on the platform, they may also be structured differently. This is because different platforms call for different ad styles, and it’s important for marketing companies to understand this so that they don’t create something that won’t perform on certain platforms. Here are the different types of video ads and what platforms they work on.

Out-stream Video Ads

We’ll begin by talking about out-steam video ads. These types of ads are generally used as stand-alone content, meaning that they can go out without being accompanied by any other sort of content. One of the biggest benefits of out-stream ads is the ability expand your company’s reach and build significant brand awareness. You’ll find that out-stream videos will drive online purchases and target key consumers as well. You’ll most likely find out-stream ads on TV, on companies’ personal webpages, or on different social media platforms (i.e. YouTube, Instagram and Twitter).

In-stream Video Ads

In-stream video ads are the most commonly seen advertisements today. These ads are described as linear because they run in line sequentially with content or material you are searching for. Marketing companies will usually divide these ads into pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll videos that play at the beginning, middle or end of a video you are trying to watch online. You’ll find these ads on video sharing platforms such as YouTube, and streaming platforms like Hulu and HBO ⎯ here are some explanations on these video ads:

Pre-roll ads are ran before a video starts. This can be beneficial to the marketing company because the ad is the first thing that the viewer will see: Although they can be skipped, if marketing companies craft an engaging ad from the beginning, you’ll likely reel in some potential consumers.

Mid-roll ads are played while the video is being viewed. These ads will most likely play in the middle of a video, and although they may be intrusive, it is unlikely that a viewer will click away due to the fact that they may want to finish their video.

Post-roll ads are amongst the most ineffective type of ads simply because they play after the content has finished and a viewer has no motivation to watch them. Marketing companies tend to avoid these types of ads and favor mid and pre-roll ads.

Some Guidelines for In-stream Video Ads:

Make these ads 15-30 seconds
Disable fast forward options
Use a 16:9 or 4:3 ratio (16:9 is the most commonly used)

In addition to YouTube, Hulu, Netflix and HBO, social media platform Facebook has also adopted in-stream ads.

Marketing companies have to know what kind of ads to use for each platform, because the right ad will lead to the desired results. If your brand needs help with advertising, don’t hesitate to contact us here at Fusion 360 Agency. Marketing is what we do best and we’re always ready to help your brand make its digital footprint in the industry.

Four Secrets to Online Success

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When you post any sort of content on the internet, it can go one of two ways: you can reach a good number of people and see a significant amount of interaction, or you can witness your post disappearing into the merciless void that is the internet. What it all comes down to is how much time you take to prepare your content; online success doesn’t come easy, and social media marketing companies know that it takes a lot of work to see good results.

It’s important for brands to prepare and optimize their content wisely if they hope to claim any online success, but we realize that there are some companies out there that may require the assistance of professional social media marketing companies. Here are four secrets to online success that will help your brand blossom and give you the results that you’re looking for.

Understand Your Own Vision

The first secret to online success is taking the time to understand your own vision. In order to achieve great online success, both the brand and the social media marketing company need to know what their goals are and how to accomplish them.

Know Where Your Customers Are

Online success also comes down to pinpointing where your customers are spending their time online. Of course, this depends on your services and or products. If your brand sells sporting goods and supplements, you’ll want to target other pages and users in the sports industry. Once you start to pick up steam, you can begin recruiting affiliates within that community to help advertise your brand; online success is all about branching out.

Come Up with an Endpoint

Aside from just understanding your vision and ensuring that your short-term goals are met, successful companies also need to have an end goal in mind. Without a specific long-term goal in mind, you’re going to find it harder to motivate your brand and create quality and optimized content. Long-term goals serve as guidelines for everything that is produced within your company.

Go All in with Your Time

Lastly, you can’t achieve online success without going all in with your efforts. One of the biggest mistakes that companies make is treating their online efforts as a part-time job. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your online presence won’t be either. The best way to achieve online success is to treat your social media like a full-time job ⎯ if you can do that, you should have no problem seeing positive results.

If you’re looking to achieve online success but don’t know where to start with these secrets, contact our talented social media marketing team at Fusion 360 Studios. We can help grow your brand to its full potential.

Three Common Flaws You Will See in Lower Quality Videos

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DIY video production has become more and more popular as we’ve been exposed to higher grade video equipment, editing software and production equipment. As a result, in an addition to seeing a significant increase in the amount of video content that goes out onto the internet, we also see more videos that should be high-quality but are not.

While it is true that anyone in the world can upload video content to the internet, it’s also worth noting that not every video online is going to be good or even decent. The fact of the matter is, the online videos you see that are truly high-quality are likely produced primarily by super talented professionals and video production companies.

You can’t deny that when you’re watching a poor-quality video that you just want scratch your eyes out or maybe even plug your ears. Unfortunately, in a time where we have fancy cell phone cameras and software available to create visual masterpieces, everyone becomes a self-proclaimed video expert, photographer or professional. We are here right now to help anyone to recognize common flaws and make sure they avoid making the same mistake themselves.

Not Using Proper Microphones

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in video production is poor audio recording. Just like you would invest in a good quality camera, you should always make sure to use a high-quality microphone when filming anything! Your audience doesn’t want to listen to static, poppy, unintelligible dialogue, and neither do your editors.

There are countless options when it comes to microphones; video production companies trust brands such as Rode, Audio Technica and Shure to capture crisp, clean and audible sounds.

Using Too Much Digital Zoom

Zooms and Close Up shots are crucial in video production, but there is a better way to get a closer look at that important object or person than always using the digital zoom on a camera. One other huge mistake that DIY video production individuals may make is not taking the time to physically get closer to a subject for zooms and close-ups. When you zoom in digitally, you’re basically taking the same image and stretching it out, which can lead to pixilation and a loss of quality.

Professional video production companies recommend that you get up close and personal to capture intense and beautiful close up shots; you won’t sacrifice quality and your video won’t look bad.

Editing Mishaps

This is probably one of the worst things you can do in the world of video production. Uploading footage with mistakes in the editing is probably the best way to ensure your video’s failure. You have to take all your clips and run them through an intensive editing team to clean them up; even the best video production companies have to edit their work together, and it is definitely nothing to be ashamed about. In fact, double checking your work in the editing process will not only ensure that your video comes out crisp, but also a second set of eyes on the work. This second set of eyes might provide some good feedback and thoughts on how to make the video look even better.

So, if you’re looking to create a successful visual masterpiece, you’ll want to make sure that you don’t make these three common mistakes. If you need help creating a high-end video for your brand, make sure to give us a call here at Fusion 360 Studios ⎯ video production is what we do best, and that will show in your next production.

How Movies from Before 1970 are now in HD

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You may have noticed that some of your favorite old movies are available to watch in high definition or HD formats. With HD media players like Blu Ray players and streaming boxes, more and more old movies have been available to watch in HD. Many people have wondered how this is possible since HD cameras have only been around for about 20 years. Well, converting these old movies to HD is not as complex of a process as you might think. Video production companies have done some research on this process as they have transitioned from using film to HD digital cameras to produce their own video content. Here is how the process of converting films into HD is done.

In the 20th century, most movies were shot on 35mm film; bigger budget films were shot on 65-70 mm film. What people don’t realize about film is that it actually has a very high “resolution.” Film doesn’t contain pixels, it contains grains. So it can be difficult to compare analog film to a number of pixels because there are no pixels. If you had to compare them, a 35mm film translates to about 16-20 megapixels but it depends on the quality of the film. Let’s say a film translates to about 16 megapixels. 16 megapixels equals 4920 x 3264. That means old 35 mm quality film can translate to a 5k resolution in digital video. Now that’s impressive!

It’s important to remember that film and digital video aren’t really equal mediums but can be compared to serve as a frame of reference. Most old movies aren’t even scaled up as big as 5k because they don’t need to be, but it’s worth noting that they probably wouldn’t look as good as a digital camera that has native 5k resolution.

So now that we understand how high the quality of old films actually are, it’s easy to see how video production companies can go back and re-master these films in HD. As long as the original negatives have been preserved properly, it is fairly simple to re-master these films to watch them on HD media players or streaming devices. Video production companies like Sony will use restoration specialists to make sure old films are restored as best as possible and to protect the original film negatives.

When scanning film, it takes about 2 days to scan a 90-minute movie shot on 35mm film in 2k. If you are wanting to scan it in 4k it can take almost four times as long. That would mean it would take about a week to scan a 90-minute film in 4k if the negatives are in good condition.

Thanks to video production companies and restoration specialists, these old movies can continue to be cherished for generations and can be just as beautiful as if you were watching the scene being shot live. The next time you watch an old film such as Gone With the Wind on your Blu Ray player, keep in mind the process that made it possible for you to watch the classic film right in such high definition.

Social Videos vs. Brand Videos

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Video content is one of the driving forces of today’s digital world, and with the ever-expanding video styles, it is confusing when you try to distinguish the difference between all the entangled video formats. You might feel confident in recognizing and defining a social video, but what about a brand video? And are you sure that brand videos are never used as a social video?

Well, if you are confident in answering that, then hats off to you but if you have any uncertainty, then let a video production company, like us, start unraveling for you.

Difference

As mentioned before, it’s not hard to recognize a social video, but that might be because you are likely seeing them as you are peruse through one of the many social media channels. Immediately, you’ll see that these videos are shorter in length — whether it be a 5-second ad on YouTube or a 10-15 second story on Instagram, the content is delivered quickly. These videos can be a little longer if they are making a formal post then they can run up to a minute or two depending on the type of post, but rarely will they ever exceed a two or three-minute mark.

These videos can be behind the scenes, short PR blips featuring something new, interviews, and videos that enclose some kind of question or giveaway. The majority of the content posted on various social channels by companies may not need a high-quality video from some video production company but occasionally it might be nice to promote something that requires a higher level of production. Typically, a higher-quality video like this would be a little longer and be used specifically for branding purposes, but usually social videos are just used for current consumers to interact with and stay engaged with the company; the brand videos purpose are a little different.

Brand videos are used to help potential client and customers to learn more about a company. Usually, a company that is making a brand video will reach out to professional video production companies to help them create the quality these videos need. Essentially, brand videos create a first impression; even when an individual or client may be familiar with the company before they see a brand video, the video will likely provide new information and therefore create an impression. These videos can be a little bit longer and usually feature the company as a whole or a specific product. While some brand videos are used as commercials on television, you’ll actually find brand videos on companies’ websites and being used in presentations with potential clients.

One Better Than Others?

To summarize, the main difference between a brand video and social video is their purpose. While there are obvious differences in length, quality and style, the social videos are used for engagement and navigating traffic to the company, and brand videos are used as a formal way to present valuable information about the company and/or product. It really is not a question of whether one is better than another, they are both different and should both be utilized. Creating the majority of social videos might be able to be taken care of in-house, but brand videos will have a lot more success (which is critical, obviously) if a video production company assists.

If you want to see some examples of brand videos, then check out this video from Smith or this one from Apple — they both explain who their companies are and a critical aspect about what makes them unique. If you want to see a social video, well, go to Instagram and look up a company of your choice and there you go! For any other video questions or inquires for a video production company, visit Fusion 360, today!