(I am making the assumption that we are preparing for a short video - thirty minutes or less. Your marketing people should be heavily involved in these steps. If you do not have marketing people, we can take as much control over this process as you like.)How to Choose a Video Production Company
The single, most important decision you will make, affecting the quality of your video production, is choosing your video producers.
Sure, you want a video production company with expertise in their field and top-of-the-line video and post-production equipment. But that's not all.
Ideally, you want a video production company that shot one of last year's Superbowl commercials.
Since you're on this website, we can safely assume your budget won't allow that. But what is it that makes those commercials so great? Creative writers? Sure. But more than that. They have marketing experts on their team with degrees in communication theory; sales and marketing and years of business experience.
The mistake that many companies make when choosing their video production company, is to look only at their experience in videography.
Sure, you want to view some of their work. But that won't tell you what they contributed to the script, whether they suggested clothing, colors and lighting to help set things up subconsciously for your viewers to be more receptive to your pitch, etc.
The best argument for choosing Castello Productions to produce your company's video is that we offer the right mix of experience and expertise to help you produce an effective video -
Expertise & Experience
- marketing
- script writing
- business experience
- video professional
- sound technician
- post production
Quality starts with the foundation. In video, that means the premise, outline, script and storyboard. Where others just come out with cameras and start shooting, we'll help you plan an effective video from the very start.
The other side of the equation, in choosing your video producers, is equipment. Videography equipment is very expensive, so budget-type video production companies (like ours) tend to not have either the quantity nor the quality of video equipment needed for a top-notch video production.
Take teleprompters for instance. Just this summer, we did a corporate video shoot where the company spokesperson said, that he'd done these video shoots before and preferred not to work with a teleprompter.
When pressed, he said that their previous videographers had told him they would make him sound stiff and unnatural. Then he admitted that it took them half a day to shoot five minutes of video because he'd flub a line or forget to include an important talking point. He told me that they nearly always ended up choosing a take that wasn't exactly what he wanted.
I suggested that we give the teleprompter a try and if he wasn't happy with the results, I wouldn't charge for the time we spent with it. Well, we did his five minute video in just two takes and he was thrilled. He admitted that he came across as very relaxed and gave a compelling on-camera pitch. He said that having the lines in front of him gave him confidence and allowed him to concentrate on his delivery instead of trying to memorize his lines.
So why did his previous video production people dissuade him from using a teleprompter? Because teleprompters are expensive and those video producers did not own one!
Here is a partial list-
Video production gear:
- 4 hi-def video cameras (Canon H1a; A1; Sony FX1)
- 6 standard video cameras (mostly Sony VX2100)
- wide and tele lenses + filters for above
- professional tripods for all cameras
- Steadicam gear (Glidecam with Smooth Shooter vest + Varizoom)
- 12' camera crane
- camera dolly
- teleprompter
- several sizes of greenscreens & bluescreens
- backdrop stands
- studio lighting sets
- 6 wireless microphone sets
- 4 shotgun mics
- 4 handheld mics
- makeup kit
- mobile production vehicle (rv)
- Adobe CS4 Master Collection
- Library of editable music
- Library of sound effects
- Library of animation backgrounds
- Special effects software
- Animated titling software
In addition to the expertise, experience and equipment above, we also have a web development company - CompuSolver.com. That means you can get all your video and web services from one place, deal with one person and have just one low price.
Way wait? Contact Oklahoma's premiere videographers now and let's get started!
About Us
At the tender age of twelve, Bill constructed his first darkroom and earned spending money doing photography work in rural New Jersey. By the age of fourteen he was editing 8mm movie film and directing film shorts. Bill Castello was photography editor of the Dominguez high school newspaper in South L.A. and took photography and cinematography courses in Los Angeles, California. His film career was cut short by a stint in Vietnam where he had volunteered to go.
After a career in finance and marketing, Mr. Castello started a video production company which produced corporate and instructional videos. He also did wedding videography and founded WeddingVideoDoneRight.com.
Jean Castello had a career in education while running a small business and pursuing her interest in photography.
Bill and Jean Castello started their videography partnership in 2002.
They own okVideoProductions.com, okVideoGuy.com, CompuSolver.com and two web-hosting businesses - SmBizHosting.com and OK-Joomla-Hosting.com and have interests in several other businesses.
