Bergey Creative Group

Tips for filming customer testimonial videos

2009-03-11T10:47:00.009-04:00

The advent of Web 2.0 has made it easier for people to create, edit, and upload their videos to the Internet. Uploading a personal video of your dancing cat is one thing, but what parameters should be considered when creating a video for your business' website? Is it acceptable to create content for professional use, even if you are not a professional videographer? It all depends. Generic answer, I know. Let's discuss.

If you are planning to film a customer testimonial (an excellent word-of-mouth resource, by the way), it is possible to do it yourself. If you are planning to create a corporate video, however, I suggest hiring a professional videographer. The complexities involved in creating a corporate video far outweigh the elements of shooting customer testimonials.

So, now that you know you can shoot a customer testimonial, let me equip you with some basic filming techniques to help create a great video.

1. Make sure you test your batteries and ensure that everything is working correctly on your camcorder before shooting the customer testimonial. You don't want to fiddle with this in front of your customer. It makes you look like you don't know what you are doing.

2. Clean your camcorder's lens. You will not be happy if you shoot the entire sequence, play it back and then notice a piece of fuzz on the lens. Here is a good tutorial on how to clean your lens.

3. Use a tripod. It is never a good idea to shoot an extended scene of a customer by hand-holding the camera. It will be too shaky and the result will look amateurish.

4. Use a wireless microphone. Also called a lavalier microphone, wireless microphones instantly add credibility and professionalism to your video. If you do not use a wireless microphone, your customer's voice will sound like it is coming from a tin can.

5. Go easy on the zoom. It is oftentimes a distraction to see a finished video with lots of zooming in and out. For best results, resist the zoom temptation.

6. Place your customers so that light is shining softly on their faces (either natural sunlight or an overhead light). It is not a good idea to place your customers in front of a window, where light will shine from behind. It will make them look too dark.

7. Go prepared with a list of questions. Your job is to elicit the feedback you need from your customers. To do so, you should go prepared with questions. When asking your questions, be sure to tell your customers to repeat the question back in the answer. This will help tremendously when you edit your footage. For example, Q: "What was your experience with XYZ Company?" A: "Our experience with XYZ Company was..."

8. Once you are ready to start filming, tell your customer that you are going to do one take so you can test the audio and video. Then ask your first question and let the customer answer. Once he or she is done, play back your first shot to ensure that the audio and video settings sound and look good. You don't want to get to the end of the shoot and realize that your customer's wireless microphone was not turned on.

So, you've shot a great video. Now what? Check back soon to learn about the next step in the process: editing your video.

A NEW WEBSITE & 1 YEAR OF HOSTING - ONLY $1,900!

2009-02-16T08:49:00.010-05:00

It couldn't be easier and more affordable to get into a beautiful, new website!

We have recently unveiled our new line of professionally designed template websites. For pennies on the dollar, you get a brand new website, AND an easy-to-use content management system, so you can edit your website.

Here's how the program works. Choose from one of our ten professionally designed web template. We'll add your logo and tagline and then provide a full training session so that you can add the rest of your content. And that's the best part about this program: you are in control of your website! Through our content management system, XChange 3.0, you can make edits to your website with ease, and you don't need to purchase any software. We have developed this system to be the simplest and most convenient way for our clients to manage their own websites and add their own content.

After the first year, you'll simply be charged a content management licensing and hosting fee of $89.00 per month for the duration of your website. This allows you to update your website as much as you want (add pages, upload photos, change the copy, etc.) and it provides exceptional hosting on Rackspace.

If you need help developing your own content, we have specialist who can help create the original content for your in terms of writing, photography and video, at very competitive hourly rates.

So here's a recap: You contact us and select the website template you want. We'll add your logo and tagline, give you a full training session, and you add the rest of the content. It's that easy!

Interested? Give us a call at 215.256.4512 to find out more. We'd be happy to schedule a meeting with you to find out how we might be able to help.

Video is King!

2008-10-07T16:57:00.001-04:00

At Bergey Creative Group, we can help you create a dynamic online video presence.

Give us a call at 215-256-4512 or visit our website at BergeyCreativeGroup.com.