Video Marketing

Steve Stockman In Video Marketing, Television, Press

The True Story of How Tattoos Got Us a Digital Series on Comedy Central

Our new digital series for Comedy Central, Gnarnia went up on Youtube last week. It’s about 4 guys in a heavy metal band who live together behind a used record store in Los Angeles, who’ll do just about anything to avoid growing up.

We took it to several networks last year. The pitch included a very funny sizzle reel (a 4 minute demo of the project) and an explanation of our plans for the show. The quick pitch was “stoner Monkees”, which caused everyone in the room under 45 to go “Like, actual chimps?” (If you don’t know the Monkees, … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In Tips and Tricks, Video Marketing

10 Tips for Doing Better Marketing Video

You write a lot about movies, home video, story, etc. It’s all great, and I use it when I shoot stuff. But I need to convince my company to do better marketing videos and I’m not shooting those.

Any advice?

-Jackson D., Denver

The only thing worse than shooting awful marketing video is paying someone else to shoot awful marketing video for you.

Critical in this age of video overpopulation: A crash course in video literacy for companies. The more you know about how video really works, the less likely you are to waste money and time on something nobody … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In Video Marketing, Feature Film, Television, For Pros, Your Questions Answered

Shoot Just Enough and No More

Throughout your book you talk about cutting, trimming, deleting, editing until you’ve removed all of the bad, redundant, boring parts of your project.

What happens when you cut out all of the bad stuff and then you realize that you don’t have enough good material to complete the project? Are there strategies to make sure you shoot enough great material to edit?

It’s too late to fix my first project (a music video), but I’d sure like to make sure it doesn’t happen on my next one.

–Fred

Knowing how much to shoot may be the second biggest issue a … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In Video Marketing, Teaching and Training, For Pros, Your Questions Answered

Shooting Crew-Free

I make educational videos for computer enthusiasts on YouTube, but I have to do everything myself. Lighting, sound, script, talent, editing, posting, video description, video thumbnail, marketing… Problem is, without a crew, shots have to stay static. I can use digital zoom, but it gets ‘blocky.’

I had a friend help me with this video (one static camera, one my friend is holding). What I can do to make a better video?

Thank you!

–Carey Holzman

Nice video, Carey. I rushed right out to buy some old parts and built a cool gaming computer for my guest bathroom. Okay, I … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In Video Marketing, For Pros, Your Questions Answered

How to make a How-To Video, Part II: The Journey

In Part I of this post, we laid down the basics for How-To Video. Now lets go for mastery. The key to which, as with so many other elements of video, is story.

Think about your video as a real film, with real story elements. The simplest story in any how-to video is the journey, where the hero takes us from not-done to overcoming-obstacles to done. The more challenging the journey, the better the video.

How much journeying you can do in your how-to video depends on your audience’s needs. If people will watch while they do … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In Video Marketing, For Pros, Your Questions Answered

How to Make a How-To Video that Works: Part I

How do I create a series of online class videos that are How-to’s, but creative and interesting, while also teaching?

My upholstery course videos are pretty wide shot/closeup. I know I can do better. I’ve asked every video and film maker I know if they can think of a clever technique for doing these classes. They’re all going to get back to me on that. (ha!)

–Shelly Leer
modhomeec.com

Before we get to the “creative” how-to video, let’s look at the basics- the marks a how-to video must hit.

How-to videos helped me save $200 replacing my own sump pump, … Read the rest

Steve Stockman In Video Marketing, For Pros, Your Questions Answered

Should You Be a Film Major?

I am an aspiring film director from the UK. I have always been passionate about storytelling, and was part of countless productions in school. Although I decided that performance wasn’t for me, two years ago I began to develop an interest in filmmaking. There is no better feeling than when you come away from a film with an emotion, feeling or thought playing on your mind. I read your book over summer and it has given me so many new perspectives on filmmaking and creativity as a whole.

Next year I go to University and I am currently deciding on

… Read the rest

Steve Stockman In Tips and Tricks, Video Marketing, For Pros

Just Don’t: 6 Ways NOT to Shoot Video Interviews

I’ve written a lot about how to shoot video interviews (here, here and here, for example) but not a lot about how NOT to shoot video interviews. Here are some advanced “don’t do this” tips for you to go out and not do immediately:

1. Don’t tell them what to say. In commercial focus groups a few years back, we showed two different sets of “testimonial” type spots. One set featured absolutely real people, who said real things about the product. The other featured people saying more positive things about the product, but they were actors, and … Read the rest