Why Story Is the Most Important Part When Creating a Promotional Video

Shooting a video with a coherent story delivers a great response from the audience. Inherent in every story is the human condition: the longing, the emotion, that which captivates us and captures our yearning for meaning and purpose. Aesthetic value matters, in terms of how the video is shot. However, if we neglect the story, we'll end up with just a bunch of beautiful shots, but leave the audience feeling empty, confused or worse bored.

Connecting With Story Takes Foresight and a Deeper Consideration

When shooting video, I will admit that I'm often more focused on getting the shot, the right lighting, or implementing any other popular shooting technique. This is likely the case, for as a videographer, my primary role is to get the shot. Yet thinking like a producer, is what every promotional video needs. Shooting for the story takes foresight and more in-depth consideration. It takes planning. So I've been pushing myself not to miss the essential aspect, that is, shooting for the story.

Shooting for the story is often neglected because it is the most difficult and, in some respects, the most personal aspects of any video. The story strikes at the heart, not like any other aspect of videography. When done right, the story is the thread that follows a logical and coherent structure; great stories capture the human mind and heart.

Connect With Universal Archetypical Story

A great story is rooted in our DNA. It's the formula of how we understand and program our knowledge. Here I am thinking of the work of Joesph Campbell, as well as the psychologist Carl Yong and Jordan Peterson. There's a reason why stories have been passed down through centuries and are the primary way we as humans pass on essential information to the next generations.

From a psychological perspective, archetypical stories exist in our subconscious. They are most pronounced in dreams and perennial cultural stories. Therefore when telling better stories, think about those classic, universal, often mythic stories - ones which have captured us for centuries. As long as it communicates to the heart and mind, I think one is safe.

What Attracts Viewers

There's a reason why when the next Marvel movie comes out, people attend the theatre in droves. They want to see the latest superhero conquer the forces of wrongdoing or evil. More straightforward, but equally profound stories exist in every day. We just have to look for them. Sometimes the most honest stories are the ones that leave the most profound impact.

Lead With Emotion

It is no secret that we as human beings are driven largely by emotion. Sure we’re rational as well, but what I once read: customers need to hear the facts and figures up front and then once they’ve decide to buy your product, they form an emotional bond with a given product or service. So sure, you need to present your the statistics of your company or the given problem you are solving, but emotional led content is where you will hook your audience.

Think Like a Marketer When Designing An Engaging Story

In the book, Expert Secrets, the author Russell Brunson describes how through story, we should communicate not just an improvement, in terms of better, but rather an opportunity. The opportunity we offer should be about a status increase. What status increases does Brunson recommend we communicate? He talks about status increases we as humans almost all universally desire, increase in:

• intelligence
• power
• looks
• wealth
• health
• and style

So when creating your next promotional video, think stories that offer an opportunity for customers in terms of a status increase.

Conclusion

We are all attracted to stories. It's how we learn and code knowledge. So when selling to your audience online, communicating your brand's story, considering universal and classical themes. In terms of marketing, offer a story that provides an opportunity for a status increase.

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Why Blackmagic 6K Can Deliver Cinematic Quality for Your Business

I recently purchased the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema 6K Camera. What this camera allows, is for me to produce true cinematic quality for my clients and personal projects, be it for promotional or instructional commercials, high-end interviews or film features.

6K 12-Bit Raw: Cinematic Goodness

The Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema 6K Camera can shoot in 6K 12-Bit Raw. What does this mean? Well, for short, it means an overall better image. Mainly, shooting in 6K allows me to deliver a more pixel sharp image, as well as for the ability to ‘punch in’ or zoom in to the image if needed in post. Raw allows me to colour correct and grade with much more freedom, including adjusting aspects such as colour temperature, Exposure and ISO in post.

4K Deliverable: Increasing the Longevity & Sharpness of Your Video

Most clients now desire a 4K deliverable in 2020. Social Media sites such as YouTube are allowing the ability to upload to 4K and higher. New TVs are also now 4K and higher. So when I can deliver 4K footage for my clients, it’s providing for them the current standards needed in 2020 and moving forward into the decade. Furthermore, it allows for the future-proofing of archival footage, substantially increasing the longevity of the video delivered.

What Is 12-Bit?

A 12-bit space is essentially the degree of colour able to be included in the captured footage. Most DSLRs shoot in 8-bit, which means you’re gaining more colour when shooting 12-bit video with a cinema camera. When colour correcting/ grading 8-bit footage, a process that occurs when editing footage in post, colours I have found can quickly degrade. This is especially the case when shooting on the Sony A7RII. Specific colours get too pulled apart, i.e. many colour artifacts are introduced, meaning the image does not look great. The reason for this, is that there is only so much you can push colours, in terms of colour correcting, in an 8-bit colour space. However, a 12-bit is a significant step above what I used to with my DSLR. I can pretty much adjust an image to any individual style or design I want, which allows for greater creative freedom.

Shooting Raw Gives You the Best Image

The fact that I can shoot in Raw, as well as a 12-bit colour space, means I have a lot more room to push the image and colours in post. Raw is essentially the same as what you find if you were shooting a Raw image vs a JPG in photography. All the details are captured in the Raw image, as Blackmagic creates a ‘sidecar file’ which can be read and adjusted in post. It essentially allows for more flexibility to play with, as the video is closest to its original capture. In other words, as the image is less compressed, it allows for greater flexibility in grading and editing of the footage. For more details on what Blackmagic Raw (BRAW) is, see the following video by Blackmagic:

One Minor Downside of Shooting in 6K Raw

Yes, it’s impressive that you can shoot in such a high resolution, but the file sizes and the ability for your computer to process the video can be a bit more challenging. It certainly takes more planning to have an efficient workflow to grade and edit the footage. I’m currently working on ways to improve my video workflow, as when you have much larger file sizes, and your computer needs to process these larger files, it can take more time. I’m confident with my current testing and workflow that my editing will become much more efficient, so I can spend less time editing and more time shooting or enjoying the efforts of my labour.

Conclusion

6K 12-Bit Raw is a game gamer in terms of the cinematic quality I can deliver for clients. This means more professionally, and higher-end promotional commercials and films can be produced using my camera. Indeed it’s an exciting time to an independent filmmaker in 2020!

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Make Your Video Less Noisy | 7 Keys to Shooting Better Low Light Video With Your Sony Alpha Camera

Does your footage look extremely grainy and horrible when you shoot at night or in low light? The first probably most significant reason for this is you’re using your cell phone. I can’t help you with this.

Cell phone cameras have small sensors typically. Because of this, your footage is going to suffer in low light. Sure Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro has some impressive low light video using their ‘Night Mode’ features, but still, you’re going to need a camera with a larger sensor to get decent low light video performance. But even if you are an amateur with a professional camera, there are certain tips you should follow to get the best overall low light video quality. Here are my top 7 tips to get much better video in low light:

1. Shoot in A Picture Profile

As I mentioned, I'm a Sony Alpa shooter. Various cameras have different ‘picture profiles’ or ‘modes,’ you can shoot in. With the Sony A7RII, if I'm shooting at night or in low light conditions, I use the picture profile 2 (PP2). I once shot in S-log 2 at night (not to be confused with PP2), before I knew any better. I learned this process adds significantly more noise to an image degrading the quality.

PP2 compliments night time shooting as it helps get the best footage in the shadows and blacks. There’s an excellent video by the YouTube channel ‘Make. Art. Now.’ by independent filmmaker, Josh Yeo. He tests all the picture profiles in detail, ultimately setting on PP2 for the best low light performance. Josh recommends adjusting PP2 to get the best night-time results. The particular settings he uses to improve PP2 low-light performance is the following:

1. Menu - Picture profiles
2. PP2 - Right on dial
3. Black Level -2
4. Gamma Still
5. Black Gamma -2
6. Color Mode - Pro
7. Saturation -4
8. Detail -7 (Make sure to sharpen in post)

2. Use a Prime Lens With a Lower Aperture

If you shoot with a lens with a lower aperture, like a 1.8 or lower, you're able to allow more light into the lens, making for a better overall image in the dark, with less noise and grain. By keeping your aperture lower during a darker shoot, you're able to rely less on upping your ISO, making for a cleaner image. Consider buying a prime with a low aperture. I use the 55mm f/1.8 ZEISS Prime lens on my Sony A7 RII, which is my 'go-to' lens for shooting in darker conditions.

3. Prioritize Available Light

As mentioned, light is key, especially when shooting at night. By using available light, your lens will allow for a better overall image. Even with a powerful mirrorless camera such as the Sony Alpha series, which is great in low light, your image will degrade without available light. Introducing noise will make your image will look grainy with many ugly artifacts. ISO, higher than like 3200 ISO, will produce a weaker and grainer image. So use light which is around you. It could be a street light, a light from a business sign or bring your own mobile light. Either way think light, especially when shooting in low light. It’s the greatest variable to getting a cinematic image.

4. Shoot in 23 Frames Per Second (FPS) & Don’t Shoot Slow Motion

I also once shot slow motion at night. Bad idea. The reason that it's generally a bad idea to shoot slow motion with a camera such as the Sony A7RII in low light is that when you’re shooting in something like 60fps you have to adjust your shutter speed as well (to 1/120). This cause less light to hit the sensor thus making for an overall grainer image. Your best bet is to shoot in 23fps, as you then are shooting with a shutter of 1/50. This will allow your sensor to get the most light and you will have to rely less on your ISO to make up the difference.

5. Use a Denoiser in Post To Ensure Noise is Prevented

I use excellent software by Red Giant, Denoiser III. It allows you to, as the name implies, denoise your video in post. When you’re shooting at night or in low light, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll gather much more noise than if you were shooting in lighter conditions. I will usually denoise my footage in post if I’m shooting in low light. This isn’t always needed as much of our footage is being consumed on cellphones with a small screen. In other words, with smaller screens noise is harder to pick up. Nevertheless, in order to get the overall best image, I guggest using a denoise plugin.

After applying Denoiser III, I often turn to another Red Giant software, a plugin called ‘Renoiser,’ which, as you guessed it, allows you to create a layer of noise to the image. Denoising your footage often softens the image. You’re also getting a much more digital look, which isn’t always ideal. By adding some grain back to the video, you’re also adding some texture, a much-needed look for emulating a film or a cinematic look. I use the grain called ‘Compression Proofing’ in Renoiser, as it allows me to counter some of the compression which occurs on social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. According to Stu Maschwitz, using ‘Compression Proofing’ as part of the Renoiser plugin by Red Giant, allows for a much more favourable upload to sites like Instagram.

6. Shoot in 4K

Shooting video in 4K in darker conditions allows for more resolution and detail in the image. It is also going to allow you to punch into the picture (i.e. zoom into the image). When I shoot for Instagram, I’m often scaling my vertical footage 180%. By shooting 4K, the footage will have less overall noise, especially if I need to scale the footage in post. Take a look at the comparisons between 1080p footage and 4K footage in this YouTube video by Story & Heart.

7. Use 35mm APS-C mode

With the Sony Full Frame Alpha Series Cameras, you can shoot in APS-C/ Super 35mm crop mode. This allows you to get even better low light performance for your video, as demonstrated in this video by

My Low Light Settings:

Ideal Shooting Settings in Low Light:

• 1.8 aperture or lower
• 23 frames per second
• 4K
• APS-C/ Super 35mm crop mode
• 1/50 shutter speed
• ISO 1600 or lower
• Using available light or your own personal light

Tell a friend. Like or comment. Reach out to me for your next promotional or instructional video!

Lightroom On The IPad Now Has Full External Disk Access

Lightroom's external drive access (without copying the photos) is a game-changer in terms of photo editing on the iPad. It opens up mobile photo editing on the iPad in an accessible and ‘real-world’ way. When you're working with raw files, some 35MBs per photo or higher, the cloud doesn't cut it. I think this alone will make the cost the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription worth it! Check out: 'Adobe Previewing the Direct Photo Import From External Storage Coming to Lightroom for iPad' on MacStories here.

The New 16 Inch MacBook Pro Will Be A Killer Video Editing Machine

The new 16 inch MacBook Pro sports a new keyboard, a much needed change for those who have often complained of reliability and lack of travel issues with the last few years keyboard. Apple went back to a similar cisor design, when they redesigned the keyboards for the laptops in 2015. The laptop is prioritizing some weight for a bigger battery and a whopping 8TB of storage, which is superb for video editing. You can max out the laptop with 8 cores and a top of the line AMB graphic card. Check out this interview with Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Apple Inc., regarding the new laptops: https://www.cnet.com/news/apples-phil-schiller-on-reinventing-the-new-macbook-pro-keyboardE

Why Teal and Orange Are Two Popular Colours for Video

What is the Teal and Orange Look?

The Teal and Orange look is a popular colour science trend used in video and images. It has been a conventional trend in Hollywood movies and TV for at least a decade now and is still very much in vogue. It is often attributed to the cinematic look you see in Blockbuster movies.

But why is the Teal and Orange look such a popular colour schema to use in film? The main reason is that teal and orange are two complementary and contrasting colours. But what in particular makes these two colours such complimentary, as indeed there are other complementary colours? Well, teal is used in the shadows (the darker part of an image), while orange is used in the highlights (the brighter part of an image). Orange is a flattering colour for skin, as skin colours exist on the orange spectrum. So when the highlights are orange, it compliments and draws one's eyes to the subject's skin. It helps contrast the subject from the background. Thus, it is flattering for the talent, as it helps draw attention to the person speaking or acting. In short, it creates a flattering depth to the image focusing on the subject.

So next time you’re watching a popular Blockbuster film, see if you can spot this trend. For instance, I recently watched the TV series Westworld. In the HBO show, the Teal and Orange look is often used:

After you understand this popular look, it’s hard not to see Teal and Orange.

The Teal and Orange look can also be referred to the 'California look’. It’s no coincidence, as Hollywood is the leader in terms of defining this iconic look.

Overused Trend?

Some critics in the film industry will say that the Orange and Teal look is overused. This may be the case, but certainly, if you want to make your video more cinematic, you can't go wrong with this look popular colour scheme. YouTube creators I follow, also highlight this point.

Future Blog Post I’ll Show You

In a future blog post, I'll show you how I colour grade, to get the Teal and Orange look. This can be accomplished by either pulling the highlights to orange and dropping the shadows to teal or you can also add a LUT using the Orange and Teal look. Stay tuned, and I’ll show you how to do this in a future video!

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The 3 Applications I Use to Edit My Corporate and YouTube Videos

I use three primary video editing software when producing my corporate and YouTube videos. These apps allow me to unleash my visual creativity. There's a deep learning curve with them, but if you're patient, and take the time to learn, you'll be a master in no time. I'd suggest, if you want to learn about these video editing applications, to check out Lynda.com and sign up for a free 1 month trial. YouTube can also be a great resource as well if you want to go the free route.

I'm still learning about these applications; there's a lot of features and different workflows depending on what you're trying to accomplish. My next goal is that I want to learn more about the various keyboard shortcuts, to be more efficient with video editing.

Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is a non-linear program made by Apple on macOS. It's a powerful, intuitive video editing program. It has a drag and drop type interface, much like iMovie, but more advanced.

Final Cut Pro is my main driver in terms of video editing because I find it most intuitive. Whereas Adobe Premier, I find more technical. Final Cut Pro allows me to be more creative because I think the drag and drop interface, enables me to think less technically, but more intuitively. In other words, it helps me visualize the final video easier due to the nature of the editing system. It's almost as if Final Cut uses the right side of my brain, the more creative side, whereas Premier seems to be using the left side of my brain, the more logical side.

For some features I cannot do in Final Cut Pro, I turn to Adobe Premier.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro is a full-featured application and one of the leading video editing software out there. It comes with Adobe's Creative Cloud Suite, as a monthly or yearly subscription. What I like most about it, is it allows me to use Red Giant Software, a software specializing in motion design, visual effects and colour correction, much more efficiently on Premiere. I have found that Red Giant software will occasionally crash on Final Cut. The visual editor for Red Giant software works better in Premiere.

Premiere I find overall more technical. It gives the vibe that it's more professional and in many respects, is seen in the industry as such. Many creators on YouTube, advocate for Premier as the best video editor. Therefore, I'd say, consider it as staple software you should learn.

Adobe After Effects

After Effects is a sophisticated and fully functioned effect editor. I use it for keyframing and motion tracking. I need to learn a bunch more to take advantage of this application, but if you can stick with it, this application can open up several different creative outlets for you. I'd suggest checking out the many videos on Lyndia.com, to learn more about this program.

How to Use Sound Design to Enhance Your Videos

You can enhance your videos using sound design, by adding such stock sound effects as traffic noise, crowd ambiance and even a bartender shaking a martini shaker.

How to Treat Footage to Get a Vintage Look, Using Red Giant Universe

In this video, I show you how I stylize a vintage look using Red Giant Universe software in Final Cut. In this post-production how to video tutorial, I use Universe's transitions, Glitch effect and Over Light. To see the entire Palm Springs Travel Video, click here.

How to Create Cinematic Video Using Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Software

In this video, I walk you through my 5 steps when creating cinematic videos using Magic Bullet Software by Red Giant. For more information on tutorials of Red Giant software visit their website: