Keywest Vlog – Vacation Video

Vacation videos and home movies aren’t what they used to be. Recently, one of our videographers was on vacation in the San Francisco area and shot some video in the Muir Woods National Monument.

This video covers the highlights of a hike, which starts at the park entrance, passes by thousands of old-growth coast redwoods (which are the tallest living things in the world) and finishes up with an amazing sunset view of the area from the adjacent Mount Tamalpais State Park.

High levels of diffuse light and finishing the hike at sunset (otherwise known as “Magic Hour”) really helped the image quality and added some depth to the images. Those factors, in conjunction with a professional DSLR camera and a monopod, take this video a few steps beyond the average home movie, potentially making for a really memorable Facebook post, which is no small feat lately.

There are plenty of ways to take your home movies and vacation videos to the next level. Everyone has heard of the GoPro; it is probably the most well-known consumer level video camera and it produces some really striking results when used correctly. Though it’s probably best demonstrated in the extreme sports field, there’s no reason why you can’t put it to use on your next vacation and achieve remarkable results. Check out this GoPro video of Kelly McGarry doing a backflip over a 72 ft canyon.

Canon has recently started a new ad campaign encouraging photo and video enthusiasts to “bring it”, which in part, refers to a bulky DSLR.

Ad campaigns like this are designed to highlight the benefits of using professional equipment. Some those benefits include added depth of field, increased dynamic range, reduced noise, and fully manual aperture controls, just to name a few.

If you make a point to bring a professional camera with you on vacation, as opposed to taking photos and video with a cell phone, the results will speak for themselves.

What’s the best camera to take with you on vacation?

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Keywest Vlog – Vacation Video

Corporate Photography for your Business

Corporate photography can be an amazing asset and marketing tool for your business. It not only provides your company with a professional and polished look, but can also boost your online presence and serve as a publicity tool.

Corporate Photography for your Business

Online Presence

An online presence is incredibly important – it’s imperative that you have a visually engaging and well functioning website. More often than not, website designers or companies will purchase stock footage for their website imagery. However, by utilizing images from your latest corporate photography shoot, you can showcase your actual business. Corporate photography can also aid with your online presence if you choose to use your images to open up a portfolio website. This can be especially advantageous to artists and businesses looking for investors, it allows people to see what is being offered, not only product wise, but also in terms of location and other aspects of your business.

Publicity

Many businesses often overlook the benefits of using professional corporate photography for their events. Professional photographs during corporate/publicity events can be especially beneficial not only for your web presence, but also in situations where images are required for press releases, brochures, or any promotional materials. An expert in corporate photography is experienced and flexible enough to provide his services for a wide range of business events such as launch ceremonies, corporate parties, employee parties etc.

Professional Appearance

A photographer who is experience in corporate photography is able to provide photographs, which exclusively capture the specific product/subject in a vibrant and interesting way. In terms of product photography, showing your products and services in a professional manner will also help raise the perception of your business, and in the consumers mind, increase the value of those products and services that your business provides. The professional appearance of a business is also vital for any real long-term growth.

Looking for #CorporatePhotography for your next event or product launch? Contact Keywest today!

 

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Corporate Photography for your Business

Slow Television – A New Trend?

Slow television is a term used for a genre of live “marathon” television coverage of an ordinary event in its complete length. The term “slow television” is derived both from the long endurance of the broadcast as well as from the natural slow pace of the television program’s progress.

Now, slow television isn’t something new – I’m sure you’ve seen this all too familiar footage of a fireplace on some random channel in the middle of the night:

Slow Television

But slow television is now making its way into the mainstream – British Airways is introducing slow entertainment on its long flights, including a seven-hour film of a train ride through Norway. British Airways flights will now include a dedicated show of quiet, meandering television, with a screening of an entire seven-hour-long train journey from Bergen to Oslo. “Slow TV,” will provide long-haul passengers with something soporific to watch.

The airline was inspired by the runaway success of the train film in Norway, where about a million people have viewed it. British Airways was inspired in part by the popularity of the slow-moving in-flight screen used by all airlines, which shows the airplane’s progress and statistics such as temperature, speed and time. The show will take viewers through the duration of the train ride, with no commentary of events to liven things up. The journey-within-a-journey has been inspired by a trend for “Slow TV”, which is already popular in Scandinavia for its relaxing, undemanding qualities.

The quiet film uses a camera mounted on the front of an ordinary train, and shows its journey through stations, countryside, past picturesque lakes and underneath snow-capped mountains. Highlights include children waving from stations, the changing weather, and stretches of total darkness as the train passes through long tunnels.

Find out how slow television is expanding. What do you think of #SlowTelevision? Will you be choosing the #SlowTV options on your next long haul flight?

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Slow Television – A New Trend?

Social Television and SnappyTV

Social television is the union of television and social media. Millions of people now share their television experience with other viewers on social media platforms.

What is social television?

Social television refers to the phenomenon of people communicating with each other while watching a television show or discussing with each other about television content using the Internet as a medium of communication. Some people call it “immersive television” and others say “online television”, or “interactive television”. It is basically like watching television with your family and friends. Only in this case, you are virtually connecting with people from different parts of the world or maybe your next door neighbour, all with the help of the Internet.

Social television is dependent upon users’ sharing their experience using smartphones and tablets and #SocialMedia platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. The social television market covers the technologies that support communication and social interaction around television as well as companies that study television-related social behaviour and measure social media activities tied to specific television broadcasts– many of which have attracted significant investment from established media and technology companies.

SnappyTV is social television start-up that was just bought by social media platform, Twitter today. #SnappyTV is a platform for live clipping, editing, and distribution of videos, and is already widely used by brands to share video clips on #Twitter, both organically and via #TwitterAmplify.

Social Television and SnappyTV

SnappyTV worked with the biggest content partners in the world to inject the best video content into Twitter’s real-time conversation, straight from the television to your mobile device. Twitter users have watched goals, slam-dunks, amazing shots, and touchdowns –– as well as red-carpet moments, award show performances, news clips and funny moments – right from a Tweet in their timeline.

What are your thoughts on #SocialTelevision? Let us know how often you make use of it, and for what purposes.

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Social Television and SnappyTV

Keywest Vlog: Watchbot 3.0 Review

The Watchbot 3.0 is a security camera system that can be operated remotely through smartphones and other portable devices.

Watchbot is produced by Electro Box Ltd. a global consumer Electronics Company based in the UK. They were nice enough to send us one to review, and its safe to say we were impressed.

When you first unbox the #Watchbot you immediately get a sense of how streamlined the components are. The company takes pride in the speed at which you can set this system up and you can see why. All the features are built into the main camera and its pretty much plug and play from there.

The Watchbot 3.0 kit contains; a Watchbot camera, a DC Power Supply, a wall mounting kit, an Alarm connection adapter, a network cable, and the user guide.

Watchbot 3.0 – What’s in the box?

For the purposes of this review, we thought we would try it out as a #SecurityCamera. However, the manufacturers have several other suggested uses, such as; home security, baby monitoring, watching pets, monitoring elderly individuals, protecting student accommodations, or watching your home while you’re on a holiday. Using the camera for business security made the most sense for us.

Here you can see the Watchbot looking at the door to our equipment room. The Watchbot can be programmed to capture images of anything that moves in front of it, and save those photos or video for review. Here you can see how everyone that passed the equipment room was captured on camera, whether they used the door or not.

It’s important to note that, all of the camera’s features can be operated manually, but if you’re using the Watchbot as a security camera, the automatic motion sensor is the best option and it works incredibly well.

Keywest Vlog: Watchbot 3.0 Review

Essentially, this is a webcam that can be remotely accessed simply by downloading an app on your smart phone. It functions well as a security camera but our favorite feature has got to be the ability operate the camera remotely using the motorized pan & tilt function, and with a little added setup, it can have two way voice communication as well. If you are looking for a security camera solution that can be accessed anytime, with live video streamed to your phone, the Watchbot 3.0 is a great choice.

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Keywest Vlog: Watchbot 3.0 Review

Consistency & Standards in Production

Consistency creates a level of standards, and standards breed consistency. Of course, you can have one without the other, but it is the power of the two together which create a level of professionalism and trust which keeps clients coming back again and again.

We have come across clients who ask us if we can hire freelancers to film at their different locations or events across Canada, instead of sending our own crew. The answer is of course we can. However, it is not something that we recommend. Here’s why.

At Key West Video we have have a certain level of standards which we apply to our everyday interaction with clients. Whether in a meeting, on a shoot, or during the editing process. We want our clients to feel well taken care of, and want them to be assured that they will get the premium quality service which they have been delivered in the past. One of the salient ways we do this is maintaining a level of consistency throughout all of our projects, and throughout the projects life cycle.

Maintaining consistency means training our staff in our specific branded fashion. Above all else we ensure our employees understand that great customer service is at the heart of our business. Creativity and attention to detail are important as well, but being able to accommodate and be flexible with our clients is one of our top priorities.

Elizabeth Halford wrote in her post on Consistency in Post Production, on the Digital Photography School website.

“It is less likely that you will be hired as a photographer if your potential clients can’t look at your work and know what they’re hiring you to do. By all means, experiment experiment experiment! But keep your portfolio of work easy to ‘read’ so there is no confusion about what you have to offer.”

Ms. Halford perfectly sums up just why we find it so integral to keep our work consistent. We want our clients to feel comfortable that every time they come back to us, or advise a colleague or friend to use our services, they will be provided with the same experience they previously had.

Zak Pines in his article Why Consistency and Standards are so Important – Production and Production Management, details his thoughts on the matter. He provided a great list which explains the why. Why are consistency and standards so important? This list can practically be applied to any industry, but I believe it is especially relevant in video production where costs can be great, and timing is often crucial. Here is his list:

1. Standards ensure customer expectations are met around the quality of deliverables


2. Standards give customers predictability of deliverables that allow them to better plan programs – critical since our goal and measurement of success is always around customer outcomes


3. Standards reduce turnaround time (by reducing the amount of cycle time spent on revisions and rework) – faster content time to market


4. Standards ensure our costs are managed carefully on projects, resulting in the best possible rates for customers – cost savings


5. Standards ensure our customers’ time is well-managed on projects – and our customer’s time is incredibly valuable, particularly when working with subject experts


6. Standards ensure consistency (of brand, of voice, of presentation, of formats) across communications channels and content types

Standards and consistency should go hand in hand. When they do, they create a formula for a successful business which is able to deliver on it’s promises to their clientele, and build lasting relationships.

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Consistency & Standards in Production

Nike: The Last Game Animated Video

With over 10 million views in one day, Nike Football’s animated film entitled The Last Game is a winner with online viewers

Igor BeukerI

With the #WorldCup 2014 in full swing, #soccer fans from around the globe flock to #Brazil in order to get a glimpse of the action. For the millions of people which are fans of the game, and especially those who go so far as to claim soccer as their religion, Nike is tapping into that market with their new animated video.

Part three of their #riskeverything campaign, the video tells the story of The Scientist, who creates clones which  replace the existing soccer stars. But the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney challenge the clones to a final match to decide who really is the best of the best. As you can imagine, the ‘real’ players, who put their hearts on the line and risk everything win in the end.

While the video’s storyline borders on the cliche, the #animation style and technique is quite impressive.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Neymar Júnior, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Andrés Iniesta, David Luiz, Franck Ribéry, Tim Howard and Ronaldo Fenomeno. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/nike-football-launches-awesome-animated-film-the-last-game/#sthash.c66WNKgU.dpuf

Igor Beuker in his article on ViralBlog highlights Nike’s animated short. He believes, “Nike football is taking marketing and branding entertainment to another level.” They are harnessing the online communities in which their target market spends their time, and a medium which speaks to them directly.

Nike Football is taking marketing and branded entertainment to another level. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/nike-football-launches-awesome-animated-film-the-last-game/#sthash.c66WNKgU.dpuf

Nike Football is taking marketing and branded entertainment to another level. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/nike-football-launches-awesome-animated-film-the-last-game/#sthash.c66WNKgU.dpuf

Nike Football is taking marketing and branded entertainment to another level.

Again an awesome way of brand marketing. This video is going extremely viral, and is earning massive attention with over 10 million views. In just one day!

- See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/nike-football-launches-awesome-animated-film-the-last-game/#sthash.c66WNKgU.dpuf

Nike Football is taking marketing and branded entertainment to another level.

Again an awesome way of brand marketing. This video is going extremely viral, and is earning massive attention with over 10 million views. In just one day!

- See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/nike-football-launches-awesome-animated-film-the-last-game/#sthash.c66WNKgU.dpuf

Nike Football is taking marketing and branded entertainment to another level.

Again an awesome way of brand marketing. This video is going extremely viral, and is earning massive attention with over 10 million views. In just one day!

- See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/nike-football-launches-awesome-animated-film-the-last-game/#sthash.c66WNKgU.dpuf

Nike Football is taking marketing and branded entertainment to another level.

Again an awesome way of brand marketing. This video is going extremely viral, and is earning massive attention with over 10 million views. In just one day!

- See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/nike-football-launches-awesome-animated-film-the-last-game/#sthash.c66WNKgU.dpuf

Nike Football is taking marketing and branded entertainment to another level.

Again an awesome way of brand marketing. This video is going extremely viral, and is earning massive attention with over 10 million views. In just one day!

- See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/nike-football-launches-awesome-animated-film-the-last-game/#sthash.c66WNKgU.dpuf

Nike Football is taking marketing and branded entertainment to another level.

Again an awesome way of brand marketing. This video is going extremely viral, and is earning massive attention with over 10 million views. In just one day!

- See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/nike-football-launches-awesome-animated-film-the-last-game/#sthash.c66WNKgU.dpuf

“The idea behind ‘The Last Game’ is to show the world that Nike, like any true lover of football, believes that the game should be brilliant, daring and bold. Having the confidence to take risks is absolutely vital in football. Imagine a world without the brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo, the acrobatics of Zlatan or the wizardry of Neymar,”  said Nike’s Chief Marketing Officer Davide Grasso.

The video not only showcases #Nike Football’s dedication and love for the sport, but as Sameer Ashad states,

“Nike were able to showcase many of their new products like new boot series and world cup kits during the 5 minute video.”

Therefore the video serves as a great piece of branded marketing, and at this point we wouldn’t expect anything less from Nike.

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Nike: The Last Game Animated Video

Video Editing Apps: Top 5

Social media services like YouTube, Instagram, & Twitter have made quick, mobile video editing and sharing commonplace. Now people can share their vacation videos as its happening, or post videos directly from live sporting events or concerts.

As with photos, the raw videos that come from your cell phone often leave something to be desired when it comes to video editing & stylistic modifications.

Below we have assembled our top 5 favourite video editing mobile apps.

5. Videoshop – Video Editor

Videoshop provides one of the simplest functions that you can’t easily perform on your phone. If you want to combine multiple clips for an Instagram or twitter post, this app will let you do that with an extremely streamlined interface. You can also add titles and modify the aspect ratio.

4. Videohance

For those who want to take mobile video editing a step farther, Videohance allows you to add motion to still photos, and save them as videos. This can add that extra bit of interest to your photo post, or allow you to make a dynamic slideshow.

3. Square Video for Instagram

Anyone who posts videos on instagram knows that you are forced to crop your video to instagram’s 1:1 square aspect ratio. Square Video For Instagram allows your to save your widescreen videos into a square frame, allowing the whole image to be presented in your Instagram post.

2. MoviePro: Video Recorder & Editor

MoviePro: Video Recorder & Editor is a useful “all in one” solution for those who want to use a single app from start to finish for mobile video production. You can record videos through this app, and edit multiple clips together. When you are finished you can save edited files, optimized for your favourite social media provider.

1. FiLMic Pro

We saved the best for last with FiLMic Pro. This app turns your cellphone into a professional video camera that (under the right circumstances) can visually compete with several high end camera systems. It essentially unlocks all the camera functions like white balance and focus, which are normally automatic, and makes them manual. This allows you to have complete control over the camera, and take full advantage of its functionality.

 

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Video Editing Apps: Top 5

Video Promotion Tips

Getting your video noticed is the most important step to expanding your business and/or product. Here at Keywest Video we would like to provide you with some tips for online video promotion.

Video Promotion Tips

YouTube Channel

Start with video promotion directly on your YouTube channel – using your #YouTube account, create a channel for all the videos you post. The more videos you have on your channel, the better. Once the video is uploaded, inform everyone to watch it and include links on the video to your social media outlets as well as your website. Ask people to subscribe to your channel – that way every time you upload a new video it will be added directly to their feed.

Social Media

Always remember that social media is your best friend. Utilize all the resources you have in front of you to virally promote your latest video. If you have a Facebook Page created for your business and/or product, upload the video’s link and share it around amongst your followers and friends. Post to LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, MySpace, Pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn, Google+, and Tumblr about your latest video. You could #Instagram a photo of your video with a link included. Just be sure to use different descriptions every time you post so the audience doesn’t get the feel that you’re just copying and pasting. The more you utilize these free services for video promotion, the better your online traffic will be.
For SMEs with limited resources, social media has been a blessing. Free social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube have been adopted enthusiastically by businesses for marketing, publicity, customer relations and market research purposes.

Just make sure you are able to keep up with the social media you put out and stay interactive with your followers. If you can’t handle running every social media outlet, then stick to the ‘Big Four’ aka Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.

Blogs/Email Blasts

Does your company have a blog connected to your website? If so, then post the video on both your website and blog, making sure that your video has a link to your website. Adding a little description about the video or why you have chosen to make one can also help, and including hashtags are an easy to way to micro-promote.

A number of businesses have an email blast that goes out to previous costumers as well as business associates. This is the perfect place for video promotion as you are able to directly send your video to your clients and keep them updated on what is up and coming in your business.

#Hashtags

Hashtags are taking over the internet and more and more are being created everyday. So jump on the bandwagon and start hashtagging. The best way to utilize this simple method is too include keywords that are associated with your business and/or product and what audiences you want to reach with it.

Also, keep an eye out for what is currently trending online. If your video can relate to anything that is currently popular, add that hashtag in to your description.
http://www.hashtags.org/ is the best place to find out what’s trending each day, popular hashtags, upcoming events involving social media, and the latest news online.

If You’ve Got The Money

Our final tip for successful online video promotion is to allocate a budget. Google AdWords, Facebook Advertising, etc. allow you to control where you video goes, locally, nationally, or globally. Pay per click ads allow you to control how much you pay per day per click. They also make sure that they show up on the right websites and connect into mobile apps. Remember that having thousands of views on YouTube looks better then your video only having one or two hundred.

Do you have more tips on video promotion? We’d love to hear them. Feel free to share your tips in the comment section below.

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Video Promotion Tips

Photo Editing Apps: Top 5

Instagram & Twitter have made quick, mobile photo sharing commonplace. Now people can share their vacation photos as its happening, or post photos directly from live sporting events or concerts.

Whether you’re posting for yourself or a business, it never hurts to give your photo a little extra embellishment to help it stand out.

Though apps like #Instagram provide some simple editing tools, its hard to get exactly what you want out of an image when you’re limited to working on a mobile device.

Luckily, there are several fantastic mobile apps designed specifically for this purpose. Here’s our selection of the top 5 photo editing apps available right now.

5. Colour Splash

Color Splash allows you to isolate the colour on one specific object, and make the rest of the image black & white. This is a relatively simple effect to accomplish for anyone well versed in professional photo editing software, but the ability to do this timeless effect quickly on a mobile device can help diversify your image posts, and give your followers a reason to hit “like”.

4. InstaCollage Pro

Ever seen an Instagram post with multiple photos arranged together in a collage? You could spend a considerable amount of time assembling such an image in #photoshop, or you could build a professional looking collage photo for Instagram or #twitter in about 30 seconds with InstaCollage Pro. This app is perfect when you have 3-5 photos that really tell a story best when they are together.

3. Superimpose

For those of you who are used to detailed photo editing software, you may want more options than the previous 3 apps can offer. Superimpose grants you some comparable features to those found in #Adobe Photoshop, but with a mobile friendly interface.

2. Afterlight

Afterlight is currently #1 in the #Photo & #Video category in the Apple app store. This $0.99 app is geared almost directly toward Instagram users. It features basic colour correction options and a pack of frames and overlays that will help set your Instagram posts apart from the crowd.

1. Camera+

This is easily our favourite app on the list. Camera+, is just what it sounds like. This approach to mobile photography pairs a filter with a specific type of photo at the time you are taking it. If you are snapping a shot of a sunset, a night scene, or a selfie under some fluorescent lights, Camera+ will use the best settings possible for that situation, giving you a photo that looks great to begin with.

 

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Photo Editing Apps: Top 5

Graphics for Your Corporate Video

Graphics and branding can play a significant role in the overall look and feel of your corporate video. Find out why they are a useful tool.

Graphics for your Corporate Video: A5Media and Keywest Video present Marketing Sushi

Establish Your Brand

Many companies already have a #BrandingStrategy and look that they generally adhere to for marketing purposes, and it is important to extend these branding guidelines to your video productions as well. Incorporate your #Branding graphics into your corporate video in order to enhance your #MarketingStrategy.

Create Unity

As a part of your branding and marketing strategy, adding graphics to your #CorporateVideo will not only add an element of unity to your marketing materials, but also unify your videos as a whole. Incorporating branding graphics into your corporate videos is also useful when you have created a variety of videos and need to identify them as a series of modules or episodes.

Visually Attractive

We all know that it’s incredibly crucial to keep your audience interested and engaged in your content. Adding graphics to your corporate video can increase their visual appeal and enhance their overall look. The graphics can also supplement the video by further explaining the content with the use of visual aids.

When incorporating graphics into your corporate video production, it can be helpful to ask yourself the following questions:  

• Do you have company graphics, logos, and designs that you want to include?


• How much of a role will graphics play in the video?


• Do you require animation, special effects, or sound effects?


• Will graphics and branding elements be provided by your company?


• How do these elements factor into the message and overall goals of the video?

Answering these questions and understanding the role of branding and graphics will give you a better idea of how you can enhance your video by adding special effects, graphics, and images at the right time to have maximum effect.

Not sure about your graphics needs for your next corporate video production? Contact Keywest today – we’re here to help!

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Graphics for Your Corporate Video

Charitable Video Production

Charitable work is something that will get you in the big mans good books. But are there other benefits? Other downsides? At Keywest we do donate our time, and provide adjusted costing, but in this world nothing comes for free.

In an article on Creative Bloq, Sam Piggot details how he went from sparse work to having one company use him for all of their production needs and therefore help bring in about half of his yearly income. Sam tell us, “When asked for a favour with no promise of immediate financial or personal gain, saying no is easy.” Which is true. But he also explains, “you have a desired skillset; it’s fantastic to get paid for using that, but remember that not everybody has five-figure budgets.” His message being, that a charitable favor, or small gig, can lead to bigger and better things. This may not happen in every case, but the ones that do and turn out to be great successes are worth it, and for the ones that don’t, well at least you got the experience and chance to say you did something nice for another person/organization.

In comparison, Linda Essig writes on the Creative Infrastructure Blog, entitled “Just Say NO!“,

“A first year graduate student in my arts management class presented a paper this week on arts labor economics.  Her undergrad degree was in acting so she had never delved into the topic formally. She certainly understood through anecdotal observation that there is an imbalance between artist labor supply and artist opportunity and that artists are often paid less than their peers in other fields (to put it mildly).”

In this instance, Linda was discussing the use of unpaid work, often of students, in arts based industries. While more focused on middle to large sized companies versus charitable causes, Linda explains her frustration with the availability of individuals willing to provide their services free of charge, which in turn takes paid jobs away from those struggling to find work in the industry.

At Keywest we believe in charitable video donation, but to a degree. We get calls on a regular basis to provide charitable work free of charge, or at a reduced rate for non-profit organizations and registered charitable organizations. We do help out whenever we can, but we try as much as possible to create a two-way relationship. This is to ensure that the time and effort our crew puts into the work is also beneficiary for our company as well. We create this two way relationship through us providing the required service in exchange of things such as links to us on their organizations website, social media activity, and giving us the ability to use their video for our promotional purposes.

While searching for others options on the topic of charitable work online, I came across a forum where one person was asking advice on whether to do charitable web design work or not. One gentleman’s response was the right mix of honest and insightful, and so I want to share it with you here.

“If you do some sites to non-profit organizations, you send a signal, that you are web designer not only for money, but you really enjoy what you are doing. People who are doing something only for money wouldn’t do it for free, only passionate will. A passionate is much better webmaster than the others!

And there are not only financial motivations. Doing something non-profit gives you satisfaction that you have helped other people. It is also something new after working with clients who were changing demands 10 times a day, and everything analysing with criteria, how much money will they earn on it. Usually if you do something for non-profit organizations, you have much more freedom in designing the site as you would like to.”

What are your thoughts on working free of charge, whether for a #charitable organization or not. Would you be willing to give away your services? Do you think there are other benefits? If so let us know in the comments below!

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Charitable Video Production

Keywest Vlog: A5Media - Marketing Sushi Ep. 1

Hey guys, welcome to the first Marketing Sushi video by A5 Media where we serve marketing raw. Today, I’m here at Keywest Video, our video production partner and one of Toronto’s best videography companies. Now, in future videos we’ll talk about how Keywest can help you make better videos, but today I want to talk about the basics: choosing the right camera angles.

So let’s go through each one and talk about how you can use them. So the first video angle you should know about is the 45 degree. This is the classic and often the go-to angle for corporate video. The lack of eye contact makes it less uncomfortable for the viewer for longer videos, so when in doubt, choose a 45 degree angle. It’s reliable, solid, and always professional. The second video angle you need to know is the POV. In this shot, the camera actually mimics the point of view of the viewer. Choose a POV angle when you want to connect with the viewers in a personal one-on-one way.

This next video angle isn’t a video angle at all but I wanted to include it anyway. It’s the walk and talk. Made famous by Aaron Sorkin of West Wing Fame, the walk and talk is perfect when the video content is as much about the space as it is about the subject. Now there’s one drawback to the walk and talk and that’s rehearsal. You have to practice everything beforehand, but if you’re a real estate agent, if you’re a car dealership, if you’re a restaurant, or if you’re any business where the space is as important as what happens within it, the walk and talk is perfect for your next corporate video.

Well that’s it. I want to thank the guys at Keywest Video for the incredible job they did on this. And for a limited time, tell them that A5 Media sent you and you can get up to 15% off your next video project with them. And if you’re in need of help with your marketing or advertising, or any of your creative needs, just reach out to us at A5 Media. We’ll be glad to help. See you next time on Marketing Sushi.

Keywest Vlog: A5Media – Marketing Sushi Ep. 1

Keywest Vlog: A5Media – Marketing Sushi Ep. 1

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Keywest Vlog: A5Media - Marketing Sushi Ep. 1

Interactive Video for Marketing

Interactive video is gradually becoming the future of marketing with video. It allows customers to engage in an on-demand fashion while providing highly accurate data about their video experience.

Interactive Video for Marketing

What is Interactive Video?

#InteractiveVideo can take many forms. The simplest explanation is a #DigitalVideo that supports user interaction through gestures, voice, touch, and clicks. Users can interact inside the video itself by playing with game-like experiences, filling out forms, or following along with interactive tutorials.

But interactive video can be many things. Interactive video can be shoppable, allowing the user to make purchases within the video; it can be educational, enabling the user to follow a tutorial or complete an HR training; it can be used for marketing, capturing customers’ attention by offering choices; or it can simply act as a source of entertainment, driving deeper engagement through branching video and microsites.

Interactive Video for Marketing

Interactive video allows the customer to take charge of what it is they are watching. By using interactive video, your customers can control the way in which they consume your marketing content. This in turn allows you to offer them a customized and personalized method of engaging that also allows them to obtain the information they’re looking for faster. Interactive video allows viewers to make selections based on their interests, thereby providing you with data on what it is they are most interested in, as well as how you can get them to the most relevant information.

Many interactive video tools incorporate a variety of different elements and story paths so as to provide the viewer with a different experience each time. If interesting enough, customers will tend to engage with the interactive video on more than one occasion so as to view different outcomes and experiment with different story paths. In this fashion, an interactive video experience can be an excellent way to promote your brand/product through word of mouth. Those who have a good engaging experience with your interactive video tool are more likely to share it with others.

What good is an excellent marketing tool if it cannot provide you with data? Interactive video allows you to view a more detailed path of your audience interaction that a normal online video would. Since there are different options and paths, interactive video can track exactly what your customers want to learn about and how it is they are going about obtaining this information. As viewers interact with the video, marketers can use their responses to accumulate information about audience interests, enabling them to follow-up with more relevant content going forward, and potentially even help inform the selling process.

Philips Interactive “Designed2Play” Video

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Interactive Video for Marketing

Internal Videos: Top 5 Benefits

Corporate videos are used for a number of purposes. Internal videos are an excellent communication tool that often get paid less attention to videos directed at consumers. Here are the top 3 reasons why we believe you need to pay more attention to internal videos.

Top 3 Benefits of Internal Videos:

“93% of Internal Communications Professionals believe video has become essential” -Melcrum Study 2011

“54% of employees expect to see video in the workplace” -Cisco “The Network” 2011

1) Quick & Efficient:

It is a lot more likely that an employee will be willing to watch a 2 minute long video highlighting key moments from the past quarter, or learn about a new procedure, rather then a boring 3 page memo about it.

Video is an efficient medium. It can provide a lot of information a detail in a short amount of time. Through the use of graphic text, voice-over, visuals, addresses to camera, photographs, b-roll etc. internal videos can express a great deal of information. Internal videos can even save your company time and money by eliminating the need for long and boring meetings, e-mails, and documents.

3) Create a Personal Feel to Your Company:

Tom More, in his post entitled 8 Tips on Videos to Leave Your Competition in the Dust, on ViralBlog’s website states,

“Video communications are a great tool to add a personal touch to company-wide communications”

This is because internal videos allows you to express what you need to, but in a way that showcases your company’s unique style. Whereas text alone may fall short, video literally lets you show who your company is.

4) Highlight Achievements:

When you have a qualified staff that works hard to help your company’s image, client relations and bottom line, it is important to highlight those achievements. A great way to let employees know that you care, is to take the time and resources to showcase who has done great work in the organization lately.

Internal videos are a great way to highlight staff achievements, because you can utilize a variety of mediums from photographs, graphic text, and even testimonials from co-workers. When you package them together in a short video to show at a company event, or on your internal website, it is a wonderful way to build company moral and really show employees they are valued.

Video communications are a great tool to add a personal touch to company-wide communications. Slidelys can also be a great way not just to connect with your consumer audience but also to reach out to your company.

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week.

- See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

Video communications are a great tool to add a personal touch to company-wide communications. Slidelys can also be a great way not just to connect with your consumer audience but also to reach out to your company.

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week.

- See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpufvcdsfvfd

Video communications are a great tool to add a personal touch to company-wide communications. Slidelys can also be a great way not just to connect with your consumer audience but also to reach out to your company.

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week.

- See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

Video communications are a great tool to add a personal touch to company-wide communications. Slidelys can also be a great way not just to connect with your consumer audience but also to reach out to your company.

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week.

- See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpufvgdfvdfb fdb

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

Start out with a weekly Slidely message that says thank you, recaps the best moments from the week, sends photos from the most recent company gathering, or highlights the achievements of some of the star players or teams that week. – See more at: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/8-tips-on-videos-to-leave-your-competition-in-the-dust/#sthash.mfFz0F2s.dpuf

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Internal Videos: Top 5 Benefits

Creative Vision: The Follow-Through

At Keywest we believe above all else, in excellent customer service, and killer creative concepts. One of the essential ways we ensure our clients are satisfied with the end result, is focusing on the overall creative vision and the follow-through.

Following through from #pre-production to #post-production is essential. Sometimes the overall creative vision can become lost if the target message is not carried through during each stage of #production.

In order to make sure this doesn’t happen, we assign a #producer to each client who oversees your project from initial conception to completion. They understand your creative vision and fill in any #creative gaps. They then ensure that the rest of the team is well aware of this vision and has the appropriate tools in order to execute.

Sometimes a project starts out with a great idea, but that initial concept can be lost if each stages does not work cohesively together to realize the overall creative direction of the project. For example, if the #script has been drafted and the shot lists prepared, but the director of photography has yet to have their say on how they plan to light each shot, this is a shortfall. In order to mitigate this, we take the necessary steps to ensure that each member of our team is involved in every projects process that they work on.

Similarly, when it comes to the editing stage, we don’t just hand our #editors footage. The designated producer will sit with that editor and explain what the creative vision or direction of the specific project is, what the desired style is, what occurred on-set which may be beneficial to know, and of course any client direction which was given. Once a first draft is formulated that same producer will then watch the first draft and make any final tweaks before it is even sent out for review by our clients.

Lastly, during the review process, we send our clients the video through an online streaming site, which gives them the chance to send to any necessary colleagues who may then provide feedback. In some cases, clients may even wish to see less cleaned up versions of the video to make sure the creative vision is staying on track. We respect our clients needs for control of their creative vision, and attempt to take any steps which makes the process from pre-production to review easier for them.

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Creative Vision: The Follow-Through