First corporate video I have shot in years, would love some input.

R

ReelFilmGeek

Well-known member
So For the past few years a majority of my work has been photo work rather than video but I recently shot a promo video for a local dealership and would love some input. Also would love input on what you think videos like this would be worth, as I am wondering if I am undervaluing my work.

https://vimeo.com/135000635

It was shot on the Nikon D750 with Nikon 80-200mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8, and the older nikon 28-70mm 3.5-4.5 lens. Also used the Ronin-M for the first time which was fun to operate with.
 
How much did you charge, and were they tripping over themselves to hire you? If they were overly interested in booking you, you might have undervalued the quote. Assuming they come back for more, you might suggest that the price was an introductory special rate to introduce them to your work. This risk would seem to be over and now you are proven to supply what they want.
 
What you charge will depend on the following including: Size of local market, how many service that market at the same level, length of the job i.e. how much pre / production / post, how much creative you bring to the table and how good you are as a salesperson (theres probably more), cast and crew required. Corporate comes in all shapes and sizes and there's corporates that see value in things and some that don't. As you can see there are many factors that will effect what you charge so there's never an easy answer. Then much of it comes down to how much do you value your self?

I know this doesn't give any hard numbers, but these are the questions to get you there.
 
Forgot to address your piece. This can be a little subjective as Im in Australia and Im generalising on some points.

As it is, I would like to see the shots align a little more to whats being discussed in the VO. In addition I saw some colour temp shifts shot to shot - you obviously had different areas being effected by different light sources etc but I'd want to tighten this up a lot. Didn't seem like a lot of introduced sources were used - mostly as it was. I understand there maybe limitations on that depending on budget restrictions etc however I would have pushed for more. The VO is fine, albeit a little dull.

The creative is a little disjointed - they're trying to answer the questions potential clients may have, but Id say the process thats been used doesn't really do it in a compelling way. It seems like they've simply created a script with words to answer those questions that give no emotive connection to anyone. How many people would watch this all the way through as a potential customer? I'd generalise that as less then 5%. Again, there maybe restriction due to budget, however Id say this to any client. The video you release could potentially have a great impact on your business. The three only possible outcomes - less sales / no change / more sales and heres how I'd apply the 2 choice paradigm here - Cheap / Fast / Good - Choose any two. In addition however this can be applied to their outcomes as well.

If they want Cheap and Fast - most likely will be of 0 benefit to them and in the end could have a real negative impact in growing the business.

If they just want Cheap - could result in less sales by affecting their brand. At best they may have to remove the video or not use it period in which case they paid money for nothing (not saying thats the case here, just an example). Best case scenario - no change.

If they just want Good - theres a great chance of success here improving their branding and sales. Good means the right creative process / the right production process / the right post production process.

If I were to create this video from the outset as the creative putting it together, I would ask first what my potential clients number one question they ask themselves before visiting a dealership like this, in addition whats the biggest fear when they do? (other than what car). In Australia - Car sales people - low on the trust scale.

Back to your video, I believe this client probably fell in the fast and cheap bracket and this video serves the purpose as required, in addition you've given them some nice motion in shots which they probably equate with higher end. I'd say they're probably happy with it and that means you've achieved your goal (if this is not yet delivered - I'd try to match up the colour and shots to VO a little tighter). The chances of this video have any negative or positive effect on their business is probably 0 so I'd have to ask if I were the business owner, what was the point of me undertaking the exercise and that doesn't reflect on you, but on the owner.

Then this. You may have come not this process with them saying - heres our script, heres our budget, so now go get the shots and edit. In which case theres little control.
 
I do a lot of those - as DP (with gear) i end up with around $2k/day (each spot is around $10k+).

As far as crit, your camera moves are nice but your lighting is non existent so you end up in no man's land: there is certain sleekness to your video (because of camera moves) but there is also certain cheapness.
 
Looks good to me. I would suggest a few grand for something like this assuming you plus gear plus one crew member in one shoot day (not including post.) Of course, taking the time to light would have cut down on number of shots, so that's the trade-off there. I don't believe customers of car dealerships are swayed by a slick commercial or promo video, so I'd go with more setups over better lit setups anyway.
 
Chris Santucci said:
I don't believe customers of car dealerships are swayed by a slick commercial or promo video, so I'd go with more setups over better lit setups anyway.
Click to expand...

In general i would agree BUT people don't shell out extra $$ on used BMW because they are rational but because they want certain status symbol. Good lighting = status symbol.
 
1 man band - 1 Day shoot
Available light
1 Day edit
VO buyout
Royalty Free music
2 hrs revisions
Compression & upload
A: charge whatever you want - other than the VO & Music
it's just time
 
Overall, pretty well done especially with a DSLR.

I'd like to see you lose the shots with ugly backgrounds, keep production value as high as possible.
Also, slow down your moving shots a little.

Finally, reduce the piece in TRT by 25%. I know that's going to be hard but it means only the strongest shots and narration will survive.
 
ChristianMoriarty said:
1 man band - 1 Day shoot
Available light
1 Day edit
VO buyout
Royalty Free music
2 hrs revisions
Compression & upload
A: charge whatever you want - other than the VO & Music
it's just time
Click to expand...

This was about what we had. One day shoot with no budget for lighting nor time as this was shot as a one man crew. The script was their own with their choice of music and voice over they wanted. The script started out as being almost 5 pages of just text and would of been closer to 5-10 minutes but we trimmed it down. Thanks for the input guys
 
ReelFilmGeek said:
This was about what we had. One day shoot with no budget for lighting nor time as this was shot as a one man crew. The script was their own with their choice of music and voice over they wanted. The script started out as being almost 5 pages of just text and would of been closer to 5-10 minutes but we trimmed it down. Thanks for the input guys
Click to expand...

Pretty much as I expected. It is what it is under those circumstances.
 
Looks good to me! Impressive for a DSLR.

The worst part is the V/O. The woman sounds very robotic, like text to speech software.
 
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