There are many important elements to making a successful video.  Great footage, compelling content, the right music, it all plays a part in taking your concept and making it work on the screen. But the one thing that’s most important in order to get your point across in a video is pacing.  

Most people don’t understand what pacing means. At its most basic form, pacing is the rhythm of the video, or, more importantly, of the editing.  Music videos are often paced very fast, with quick edits and tons of movement.  Why? Because they generally aren’t trying to tell a specific story and are more going for a mood. Documentaries are often paced slowly, giving the audience time to see historical footage and follow what is often a complex story that unfolds over an hour or more.

In media, including television and corporate videos, pacing is, at its most basic level, about how the story is delivered. I’ve always explained pacing as it relates to feeding a baby.  When you’re feeding a baby, the key is getting the food to them at the right time; feed them too fast and they’ll spit it out and make a giant mess, feed them too slow and they’ll become unhappy and start to cry. 

For your video, it’s job is to get your ultimate point across by feeding the audience the information at the perfect pace; that means quick enough that it’s enjoyable and easy to follow, but slow enough so that they can digest it and understand your point.  

Working as an editor, I’ve been brought into numerous projects where the content was great, but the pacing was either entirely too fast, or way too slow.  This led to countless meetings where executives were trying to understand why the audience wasn’t responding to the cut.  Did they need to change the interview bites?  The voiceover? Maybe the picture itself?  No, the way to solve the problem was to fix the pacing.  

On most projects, once I sat down and re-paced the interviews and/or voiceover, the information that was already on tape suddenly started making sense to the audience. No reshoots or new interviews were necessary.  

Yes, it’s important to get great footage in the field, along with shooting compelling interviews and writing the perfect voiceover.  But once you’re in the edit, make sure you have someone that’s paying attention to the pacing.  

Take care in feeding your audience.  You don’t want to make them cry.

There are basically two kinds of reality shows: the first is the talent-based show that follows around a person, or a family, or a collection of Real Housewives. The second is a competition show based around a talent (or lack thereof) like cooking, sewing, or singing, that often involves celebrity hosts or judges. 

So maybe you have an idea for the next great competition reality show, bringing together America’s disobedient dogs along with the greatest dog trainers for an epic doggie obedience battle hosted by pet-lover Ellen DeGeneres. (You even have a great name for it:  Pooch Perfect) 

There’s only one problem:  You don’t know Ellen. And while you’re a great dog trainer, and you’re certain that America would love the show, the fact is you don’t have the access or the connections to get a show like that made.  Not many do.

On the other hand, your Cousin Sal is hysterical.  The life of the party, he’s always up to do crazy things, like marching in parades without an invitation, or swiping food off stranger’s plates at restaurants.  He once even ate an entire bowl of dog food just to

win a bet.  Yeah, Sal is totally awesome, your entire family agrees that he should have his own television show!

And the fact is, he could.  Why? Because while a competition show like Pooch Perfect is just a concept, a show revolving around your cousin Sal already has one of the most important elements for reality television, and that’s talent.

Now I can’t promise that Cousin Sal has what it takes to have a reality show.  But the only way to find out is to put Sal on tape.  In the world of reality, that’s called a Sizzle Reel, or Sales Tape. A Sizzle Reel is basically filming, editing, and showcasing the talent for your reality show doing what they do best.

What makes a good Sizzle Reel?  

1. Your reality characters have to be over the top. Super funny.  Super psycho. Super attractive.  Super weird.  No one is going to tune in to see a guy who’s just sorta funny, or a family who sits down to a nice, quiet dinner.

Are they crazy funny, do they get laughs even when they’re not trying to?  Are they dramatic, do they fight a lot and create tension wherever they go?  Or are they inspiring, overcoming an obstacle to do amazing things?  Because a character-driven reality show has to start with one of these elements. 

2. Do they live in an interesting world? We’ve seen shows about treasure hunters. (American Pickers). And child beauty pageants. (Honey Boo-Boo). Bakeries. (Cake Boss).  Animal conservation. (Whale Wars).  Even amazing fishtanks. (Tanked). 

A world that’s new and interesting to a television audience is a great start.  But if it’s a world that we’ve seen before, hopefully you have an angle on this world that hasn’t been fully explored on television.  That said, I wouldn’t recommend pitching a show about the cupcakes you make in your bakery, as there are about 5 cupcake shows currently on TV.

3. What are the stakes? “Stakes” is essentially just a device used in television to create tension and drama. While it’s great that the bakery just got in an order for 20 dozen cupcakes, it’s not as entertaining if they don’t have to deliver them for a week. This is reality television, they need to deliver 20 dozen cupcakes in two hours!  (And oops, they’ve run out of flour!)  Will they deliver?!  That is the stakes for the episode.  

Stakes can be as simple as a negotiation between an American Picker and a guy selling an old car out of his barn, or as difficult as will the guys from Whale Wars catch the whaling ship and save the whale without the ship sinking? 

Now, not every reality show will have all 3 of these elements.  Some might have one, others may have two of them.  But like a slot machine in Las Vegas, if you can line all three of these elements up together — characters, new worlds, and high stakes, you’ve hit the jackpot and probably have the recipe for a great reality television show! 

Why us?

No one in Chicago has worked on more reality shows and Sizzle Reels that me.

Having worked in Hollywood in reality television for over 15 years, I produced and edited some of the most well-known shows around. Biggest Loser, Hell’s Kitchen, America’s Next Top Model, American Ninja Warrior, I’ve helped create hundreds of hours of reality television.

More importantly, I’ve personally produced and/or edited dozens of Sizzle Tapes for nearly every network on television.  I’ve worked on shows that have eventually sold and went to series, including Leave It To Lamas, Saved By the Baby, How’d You Get So Rich? and countless others.  I’ve worked for every major network and just about every cable outlet, and I have a good idea what they’re looking for.

I would love to speak with you about your idea for a reality show, and be happy to give you my insights into the show’s potential.  I can work with you to create a compelling Sizzle for your project, or I’d be happy to take the footage that you’ve already shot and edit it into something that will grab people’s attention.

Additionally, with my experience in the reality world, I’m constantly in touch with producers and executives that are looking for the next great reality show.  Who knows, that might wind up being yours!  

Get in touch and we’ll talk!

The first rule of making a video for social media in 2018 is that, well, there just aren’t any rules when it comes to your media creation.  I mean, sure, interesting is always a good start, because grabbing your audience’s attention, regardless of subject matter, is always a good thing, right?  And in a world connected by the internet and whipped into a frenzy by social media, it seems like the right place to start.

Talking babies, talking dogs, talking dogs dressed up as babies, it seems like in the quest for buzz and clicks, videos of every stripe are pushing boundaries and taking risks in the hopes of reaching a wider audience.  And given the bang for your buck that social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and similar sites are offering, you can get creative and put your concept out there without breaking the bank.

Of course there are a few simple ways to think about your creating your video that could affect it’s overall success:

1. Sound. Or really, a lack of it. It turns out that the majority of videos on Facebook are watched with the sound turned off.  Maybe it’s because they’re playing automatically.  Maybe it’s because people aren’t ready to fully commit.  Regardless, whether we like it or not, a study in 2016 found that 85% of videos watched on Facebook have the sound off.  So if you can make get your point across in your video without having to rely on sound, you’re better off.

But if sound is something that you can’t live without, a great solution is to use subtitles. If dialogue is intrinsic to your production, actually placing the words on the screen gives people a chance to read along with your video while the sound is off.  Subtitles allows the viewer to engage with your production without making the effort to turn their volume up.  And who knows, maybe by sparking their interest they’ll go that extra mile.

This isn’t to say that your production shouldn’t have any sound — it’s just an important reminder that your audience may not hear it.  And by Facebook’s own analytics, 80%of viewers prefer to be able to opt-into sound, and will actually react in a negative manner to videos that were surprisingly loud from the first frame.  So keep that audio going, just don’t overdo it.  

2. Size matters. Or really in this case, length.  The fact is many of your viewers are going to be watching your video on their mobile devices, often on a train, at work, or in the back of an Lyft.  And given how and where they are watching, the shorter, the better.

Jeffery Katzenberg, one of the founders of Dreamworks, is betting the farm that in the future television shows are going to be watched primarily on mobile devices and run between 8-10 minutes per episode.  They’ll be broken up just enough so that you can catch an episode at the gym, or on a lunch break.  And with video on track to be nearly 80% of mobile data traffic by 2022, catching that wave and getting your video online is more important than ever.

So when planning out your video, try to keep it on the shorter-side. Twenty to thirty seconds, a minute maybe, something just long enough to grab your audience, engage them, and then drop them off at the end of the ride feeling satisfied and ready to click, share, or subscribe. 

Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t produce longer form videos to tell your story.  But if that’s the case, then you want to use a variety of social media platforms to create a series of videos that complement each other. 

3. Use the whole internet. Don’t just focus on one social media platform, use them all. Maybe you want to put your shorter material on Facebook or Twitter to grab people’s attention, and then send them to something longer and more in-depth on YouTube.  

If you have the content, don’t be afraid to make videos of varying length and for a variety of audiences to get your message. And remember:  Your first video is just the beginning.  Don’t think of your videos as one-time event, but more engaging with your audience that you can continue to build on over time.

But most importantly, don’t be afraid to be creative.  As they used to say, there are many ways to skin a cat.  (Why anyone would want to skin a cat is an entire different question!) But the fact is there are certainly many different ways to think about the video and the best way to tell your story.  

You know, maybe you should drop us a line.  Because we have some ideas.  

Creating a video for your company or business is a great way to engage your audience. Whether it’s a mood, a product, or a concept that you’re trying to sell, videos get more attention online and are a great way to reach more customers and businesses. 

Who hasn’t been sucked into a compelling video on Facebook, or taken a few minutes to watch an informative video from Twitter? The fact is, you can tailor a video directly to the audience that you’re looking to attract, and you can do it in anywhere from 10-15 seconds to twenty minutes or more.  

Every video tells a story. That story might as simple as an explainer video to show your audience how to make or use something, or as interesting as a story about people or places that give your potential customers a positive feeling about your business.  Let’s be honest, video is everywhere.

On Facebook, videos get 135% more organic reach (unpaid distribution) than a still photo, and over 8 billion videos are watched everyday.

On YouTube, over a BILLION hours of video are watched everyday.

Companies that use video in their marketing have revenue growth that is 49% faster than those that don’t use video. 

So if you’re looking to stand out without breaking the bank, creating a video is the perfect way to do it.  And we’re the perfect company to help you. 

Everyone likes to save some money.   From combo-meals to cutting coupons, there are plenty of ways out there to save a buck. And if you’re new, or relatively new to producing a video, there are certainly things that you can do to save money without affecting the quality of your production…  Like knowing where you want your video to end up before you even film the first frame.

Seems simple, right?  While it can be, sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what you hope that your video will accomplish.  Making a video, especially for the first time, can feel like you’re jumping into the middle of an ocean without a life vest – There’s a lot of water, and you just don’t know which direction to turn to swim for shore.

But even if you feel a little adrift, having some ideas of where you want to end up with your production can get you moving in the right direction.  And working with the right team, they just might throw you a lifeline to get you where you want to be.

When deciding what you’re hoping your video will accomplish, you need to ask yourself a few simple questions:

1. What is the video’s objective?

You might be looking for an overall feeling to convey to your audience, maybe empathy for a cause or excitement for a new product.  Maybe you’re focused on introducing a new company or brand to an expanding demographic.  Or maybe you’re even looking to get more specific, like looking for a spike in sales from Hispanic middle-income single-parent households.  

2. Who is your audience?

Are you trying to make videos for families? Single men?  Children? Pinpointing your audience can help you approach your production from a psychological angle, vastly increasing it’s effectiveness and getting you to where you want to go much faster. 

3. What do you want them to do?

Now that we know what we want the video to accomplish, and we know who we’re marketing it to, now we need to decide what we’re hoping our audience will do once they’ve seen our video.

Are we hoping that they’re going to learn more about a product, join a cause, or maybe pass along your information to a friend?  You’ve done the hard work, now we just need to make sure that your viewers click, share, or subscribe to our content.  And when that happens, we know that the video has done it’s job. 

Having clear and concise goals for the video that you’re producing will have a positive effect on every element of your production, from planning, to shooting, and throughout the editing process. And any direction you can bring to the table can save you time, which will save you money in the long run.

So even if you’re not exactly sure how to get there, at least having an idea of where you want to go can help your partners make sure it’s smooth sailing on your video journey. And with your partners help, you’ll be relaxing on the beach in no time!

Are you looking to go for a dip?  Talk to us, we know some great beaches!

It seems that everyone’s goal these days is get their video to go viral. But how many clicks and watches does it take for a video to be considered viral? A few years ago, anything with a million hits would have been considered viral, and a great success.  But today, you need at least 5 million hits in a 3-7 day period to be considered a viral video. 

How does a video go viral, anyway? While there obviously isn’t a magic formula for making videos go viral, (if there was, they’d all be viral, right?), there are some concepts that can up your chances to get your video in front of millions of eyeballs.

1. Be Interesting

That might sound obvious, but it really is the place to start.  An interesting concept, interesting information, and, of course, interesting people are paramount to your video getting shared around the internet.  

Just like no one wants to watch a boring movie, no one wants to share a boring video. Creating exciting or dramatic content or making a truly hilarious clip can greatly increase your chances of going viral. 

2. Start Strong

It’s important that you grab your audience’s attention from the first frame.  The internet is a big place, with a lot of distractions, and if you want people to watch your video and share it with others, you have to pique their interest right away.  

Engaging your viewers right from the start is the first step in getting your video to go viral…  Now your job is to keep your audience all the way through to the end.

3. Keep it Short

The longer the video, the less likely it’s going to go viral… Because there’s a much greater chance that people will lose interest and not watch through to the end.  And if they’re not watching, they’re not sharing.  

Recent trends have shown that 30 – 45 seconds is optimal if you’re looking to encourage sharing activity, with 30 seconds being ideal if you’re looking for more clicks.  but videos at a minute or longer can be effective depending on your goals, like creating brand awareness.

Still, studies have shown that 60% of viral videos are under 3 minutes, and almost no video that has gone viral was over 5 minutes.

4. Create a Viral Title

Now that you’ve created a short, entertaining video, the next step is to come up with the perfect title.  And the fact is, certain titles are more likely to go viral than others. 

Lists and How-to titles are often effective in creating a viral title, like the title of this post.  But you should also think about keeping the title to your video shorter, with searchable keywords that are easily found on places like Google and Bing.  Also, make sure to be descriptive. Using interesting adjectives like “epic” or “hilarious” to describe your video and hopefully draw in your audience. 

Lastly, keep it simple.  Don’t try to describe everything in one title, and don’t oversell what you’ve got.  A handful the right words should get you on the path to going viral.

5. Post it Everywhere

Don’t just stick to one platform — put your video in as many places as you can.  Once upon a time you could just post your video to YouTube and then link to it from other social media platforms.  Not anymore. Today, social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook are emphasizing “native” media, or media that’s uploaded directly to their platform, which then gets promoted more often.  

6. Share It!

This may seem obvious, but if you want to get your video to go viral, share it with everyone, wherever you can.  Friends, co-workers, relatives, send that video on it’s way around the internet and see if it can’t get a little momentum.

7. No, Seriously, Everywhere!

Don’t hesitate to send that video to anyone you can think of.  Post it on your friend’s Facebook page. Instagram it to all of your groups.  And tweet it out to any celebrity that you can think of.  Who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll retweet it out to their millions of followers! 

Are you hoping to create a short video with the hopes that it will go viral? Let us help!

We have some great ideas that might just put your video on the map!