Screensaver Visual Production
following the London-based video production companyFollow us in Africa next week
Well, after the postponement of our first attempt during the ash cloud debacle, we’re now due to set off to Lusaka, Zambia this coming Monday from Heathrow. It should be an interesting trip, certainly new territory for us as a production company, with previous trips taking us as far afield as the Canary Isalnds and Jordan in the middle east.
We’ll be updating the blog daily, with comments and pictures, so make sure you keep up with our progress.
Wish us luck!
Steven
steven@screensaver.uk.com
screensaver.uk.com
A working weekend
Nothing like a group photo!
One of the things I love about my job is the flexibility – it is nice to break up the routine of work by working through the weekend then taking some time off in the week to balance it up later. Last weekend, Tim and I went to film a conference in Nottingham, so he’s off today and I have a long weekend coming up!
The filming was hard work but surprisingly fun because the things being discussed and addressed at this particular training event were quite interesting. It was largely about cross-cultural communication, but the issues involved in this apply to all sorts of communication, in business and in other relationships. It was inspiring to see the people on the course, too, who as refugees in this country, had set up charitable enterprises in their communities and were motivated by genuine altruism.
It was an interesting shoot as well because we jumped from filming group sessions to testimonials to two-way conversations, having to make quick decisions about how to position and frame people in the limited space. We also decided to take a second camera with us at no extra cost (except stock) because I felt that the end product would greatly benefit from us doing so. This is something we can do when clients have reached their budget limit as long as we have enough people available. This time we did and I’m sure the film will benefit hugely. It’s out of our hands now because they are doing the edit themselves but I look forward to seeing the end result!
Clemence
clemence@screensaver.uk.com
screensaver.uk.com
Easiest interview for the Lib Dems this week!
Yesterday I drove up to Rickmansworth with Tim and Olly (a regular freelancer with us) to film an interview with Ann Shaw – the Liberal Democrat Leader of Three Rivers District Council. After a blissful tour of the M25, we finally made it to the council house. We set up our interview shot in front of the window because the view was the most attractive I could find in an otherwise dull office. The difficulty with filming against windows is that the outside is much brighter than inside, so either your interviewee is too dark, or your outside is burnt out (white). With our new lighting kit, however, the problem is easily fixed. Using the light from the window as the backlight, I set my key light on the side of the interviewer and added a blue gel and a diffuser. The blue gel corrects the colour temperature of the tungsten bulb to match that of the outside i.e. daylight. The diffuser was to match the spread of light and reduce the intensity. We set up a fill light for extra lift with the same gels. Once this was set up, we did a double camera shoot, with a locked off DSR 570 while I manned the Sony Z5 on our Media Rig support which gives you more fluidity than a tripod but is less shaky than hand-held. Looks good, even though I do say so myself!
Clemence
clemence@screensaver.uk.com
screensaver.uk.com
“I’ve just started a new business, I need business cards, stationary, a website… and a video”
It may not be the first thing on your list when starting a new company, but for most types of business, a video shouldn’t be too low down on any startup’s to-do.
Many new businesses, particularly those offering something unique, or those selling a functional product, would be Ill advised not to consider video as a way of showing people what you do or how it works.
Furthermore, video works in conjunction with your current marketing efforts to boost your website listing in search engines, and costs comparatively with taking out an advert or investing on SEO (search engine optimisation). For many companies, the video comes first, and makes up the centerpiece of a marketing plan. Additional material such as online ad’s or leaflets would then point to this video as a source of more information.
Let’s say you’re launching a new service, maybe something that hasn’t been done before or is targeting a specialised group of people. A still image or text description is likely to not convey what you have acurately enough. What’s more, video will allow you to directly appeal to certain people by placing demonstrating your service in context.
A good example is the release of new technology. If something new enters the market, you will often see basic advertising point to a “see it in action” page containing video.
What if you have a product? Those entrepreneurs and inventors auditioning for shows such as Dragon’s Den often find it difficult to get their ideas across. Frequently the response from the panel is “why would I use this?” – which is the question most potential consumers are likely to ask before buying. Your video pre-empts this question by already showing how it works, what it looks like, where it can be used and why it’s good at what it does. Think of it as a moving brochure.
Don’t forget that a video also has multiple uses:
1. It can be sent out directly on disc to those who might be a serious enquirer.
2. It can be mass marketed through sharing web sites such as YouTube.
3. Expanding on social networking further, it can become part of a Facebook or Twitter campaign.
4. It can be displayed at events and trade shows, run from file or from disc.
5. It can sit on your web site.
So many uses can be created for little extra outlay, making the use of video very efficient and cost effective.
Steven
steven@screensaver.uk.com
screensaver.uk.com
How are you different?
One key question any company is asked: “why should I choose you? Why are you different?”
After spending years trying to find methods and services that differ from our competitors, I’ve realised one important thing: we offer video production, the same as any other video production company does. In the current market, there are fewer ways in which one company differs from another. So, what do you do? As a company how do you stand out, and as a consumer, how do you choose?
The economic problems faced by this country actually gave us a boost. Companies were spending less on advertising and marketing as budgets were cut, and so we benefitted by being affordable while retaining our high quality. We operate with low overheads, so we can offer more while keeping our prices low.
Screensaver has come along way in the last year, having taken on more work, with more clients, clients with bigger profiles and retaining more repeat business. It’s not because we offer anything different – we don’t focus on ‘unique selling points’. Our claim is that we work hard, we charge reasonable rates and we build positive relationships to ensure solid communication with a friendly service.
For us, it’s more important that our core values are always achieved, not focussing on out-doing our competition by offering different services.
Steven
steven@screensaver.uk.com
screensaver.uk.com
Travelling is part of what we do
Since our last update, we now have our project filming in Zambia rebooked, and have another arise in Capri in Italy. In addition to that, we’re going to be travelling the country over the next two months filming for the National Portrait Gallery.
Travelling has very quickly become a big factor in our work, and we like to think that the more we do the more our company grows and more opportunities open up with it.
Travelling does generate it’s own new set of challenges, from personal security, equipment safety, local issues such as permissions and energy usage. Certainly, our next trip will put most of our skills to the test.
A blog specific to our trip will start on the plane, so be sure to follow our next adventure!
Steven
steven@screensaver.uk.com
www.scrensaver.uk.com
Moving to the Cloud
Following a nasty experience last week with data loss in our office (still too painful to talk about!) I decided to act.
We moved to the Cloud…
For many businesses, this is not that revolutionary – companies have been storing their data outside of their offices for a while now, but for some, this blog post might trigger a spark of thought.
We’ve been pretty good at backups since day 1: we always have a master of every file, and a backup, ideally stored on a different drive or server. Being that most of our work occurs digitally, this is second nature to us, but might not be to all.
As of the beginning of this week, we decided to move ALL of our company data to secure locations on the web. Once you get your systems and workflows right, the benefits are very quickly quite obvious. It means that all of our staff can access all of our documents from any of our conputers, even laptops when logging in from outside. It means less fighting for certain workstations in the office, so this has also reduced bottlenecks in our procedures.
So how have we done it? Well, I’ve been raving for some time about our project management system called ProWorkflow which handles all of our contacts, projects, to-do and task lists and calendar. We can log in on multiple workstations and assign things to individual members of staff. Before I start sounding like an advert for them, I will say that I put this system through it’s paces this week and trialled it against numerous other offerings, and it came out tops. I even received a support response by phone here in the UK and hour after I’d sent an email – and they’re based in New Zealand.
But it takes more than a single solution for our business.
We’ve had the free version of Dropbox on the go for more than a year now. It effortlessly syncs with the desktop of our machines, but we’ve been using it as more of a quick transfer mechanism between our computers rather than for anything too serious. We can now access all of out documentation through a single location in the Windows taskbar, which is automatically backed up and saves multiple versions of our files. I had to plump for a paid subscription to get more than the free 2gbs on offer, but it’s a small price to pay for protection.
Lastly, we have two office servers: one handles our media projects which we can share across our three Avid editing systems, and the other handles our media backups. Both servers are mirrored to ensure safety, and protect us against single drive failure. To be absolutely sure, we also backup to disc – so we like to believe we’re covered for most instances! So far, I’d certainly recommend the new Netgear Stora as an easy to install data and media network drive.
I hope this has been useful to read for any business owner who still works locally. Regardless of what you do, the benefits of the Cloud and the small cost implications of storing your material online are clear. Feel free to drop me an email for expansion on anything mentioned here.
Steven
steven@screensaver.uk.com
www.screensaver.uk.com
Filming at Heathrow Terminal 5
We managed to pick a unique day to film at Britain’s newest and high profile airline terminal, on the day when British Airspace was closed due to volcanic ash in the air from the recent eruption in Iceland.
We must have been the ONLY people there that benefitted from the situation, as the whole departures board read ‘cancelled’ beside each and every flight.
Thankfully, we weren’t there to film any aircraft, nor did we need scores of people milling and hurrying to gates. Instead, we were there to record how Terminal 5′s 400-strong army of cleaners keep the place so spick and span. The interview with the services manager was smooth, and we had enough room for demonstrations without getting in everyone’s way.
Surprisingly, there were few irate non-flyers, but security had been stepped up as the day unfolded and many members of the media turned up unannounced. Our client had done their homework in advance, the crucial permissions slip needing to be waved at every member of security that passed us!
A good half-day’s filming, well prepared by Clemence at our end, and a very impressive operation.
Steven
steven@screensaver.uk.com
www.screensaver.uk.com
Its all in the image
As of today, our revamped digital photography web site goes live at stevenmayatt.co.uk
While not technically under the Screensaver brand, Steven Mayatt Photography is offered as an additional service, for offering promotional images that might compliment a video production. There is also proven experience in all aspects of social photography, theatre, events and travel.
We do so much travel with Screensaver, that travel photography makes up a good percentage of our portfolio. We have some great kit – capable of producing some very high quality images at a very reasonable rate. One of the main goals of this as a commercial prospect is being able to offer high quality photography achievable by almost any budget range.
Images will be regularly uploaded to Twitter for viewing, and a dedicated blog will go live in the near future so keep checking back!
Steven
steven@screensaver.uk.com
www.screensaver.uk.com
www.stevenmayatt.co.uk
To the heart of Africa
Our next adventure takes us deep into Africa, to Lusaka in Zambia. Freshly ‘jabbed’ by the travel clinic for the hepatitis’s and choleras, the prospect of a 10 hour flight to a new continent for us starts to become reality.
It’s just over a week until we travel, so for the time being we’re planning and plotting our trip and the logistics of the shoot. It looks like we’ll have 3 client interviews and a series of cutaway/establishing shots to gather in two days. We’re used to worse, but we haven’t factored in the jetlag or possible delays into the equasion, so much will be playing by ear.
I’ll keep you posted!
Steven
steven@screensaver.uk.com
www.screensaver.uk.com
