I have been using an autocue on productions for years.  In my professional opinion the cheaper equipment has either been a pain to use and operate, or, the more expensive models have required a high budget on a production because they require an operator.  I have been looking for a cost-effective and good practical solution to this issue for several years.

Last week I tried a new product from Datavision after coming across these guys when I wanted to purchased some new fluorescent, affordable lighting.

Yes, I have an iphone.  It’s really helpful because I have my showreel on my phone to show clients!  So, I was fascinated to learn about the iprompter from Datavision www.datavision.co.uk.  I tried it on a shoot this week and it is simply brilliant.

I can fix the iprompter hood on my lens ring quickly and easily, and cut and paste a long document into i-prompt in a few seconds.  The remote means an assistant (who doesn’t need to be an auto cue techy) can operate and control the scrolling text, but to be honest all I am needing to do is start the scrolling text myself really with a 5-10 second ‘action’ run in time.  The i-prompt settings as an app I have found make it easy to scroll text at a pace and size easy to read for clients.

A few Producers and Directors have said to me, surely the iphone is too small to be a good autocue?  This hasn’t been my experience this week with clients.  It is perfect for filming at distances of 1-3 metres.  Actually, I would be bold enough to say it is BETTER than a regular size prompter.  The reason is the iphone is obviously smaller and so when subjects are reading text, and looking into the camera lens eye movements are smaller and so less visible.

This product is an asset to any cameraman or directors tool kit.  Thank god for new products like this appearing in the marketplace!  Thank-you Datavision!

LED Lighting has many advantages over traditional film/video studio lighting…

• Lower Energy Consumption
• Bulbs have a longer lifetime
• Improve robustness, smaller in size
• Faster switching on
• Greater durability and reliability…
• LED lighting is cool lighting… this means your actors, subject or presenter does not get hot and cooked anymore!  It makes the working conditions in the studio or on location much more pleasurable for both the film crew and anyone involved in-front of the cameras.
• The quality of the light projected has less glare, so it is better for video production

Fluorescent Lighting

Fluorescent lighting requires very little power, so it is more cost effective to use in the long run, but more importantly for production value fluorescent lighting is a diffuse source, so there is a complete absence of glare, so your shots are more flattering and presenters are more comfortable.

This means that switching to fluorescent lighting is a must… and I can tell you is giving us new possibilities to produce better video content for our clients.

I invested in some new lighting because I knew switching to LED or Fluorescent Lighting was a step forward everyone in the industry is making, and its been a painless and worthwhile shift.

I purchased x2 F-Light 6 fluorescent lights from Datavision.  They are bank selectable so I can turn off several of the lights when they are not needed.  I mixed tungsten with daylight tubes half and half and have to tell you these lights have been fantastic out on location and in the studio.

I did a couple of tests today to check filming for NTSC (30fps) as I film almost all my productions is PAL (25fps) living in the UK.  On some camera angles a pulse did appear so I shot in PAL and converting the footage to NTSC in post which removed the pulsing problem.  This is as a result of the lighting rate emitted from the lights being more compatible with 25fps than 30fps.  The pulsing issue can also be rectified turning the lights (if possible for the shot) from the subject at a 45 degree angle.  This method also removed pulsing from the footage in post while filming in NTSC.

I shopped around, both in the UK and USA to find some good competitive fluorescent studio/location lighting because like everybody else I want to do my best for my clients.

I found this company – Datavision – www.datavision.co.uk

and purchased x2 F-Light 6’s from them (they are similar to kino flow panel lighting which are great lights I’ve used in the past).  I gave Datavision a chance as they really worked hard to look after and take care of me as a client.  The lights I purchased are fantastic and a fraction of the cost of other lighting that I had looked at.  I’m now looking at other products from these guys because they are forward thinking and want to meet my needs in a changing and very competitive marketplace – my needs as a busy producer, director and cameraman for Sky and also freelance will always be hard to meet.  I’m not on commission – I’d recommend giving them a try.  They really helped me out by shipping some lights to me when I had to film in the January snow!  Great lights and check out the iprompter –  www.iprompter.co.uk too!

Thanks Datavision

Video on the web signing out!

If you want what you shoot to be visually stunning then there is no other camera.  It gives you the ability to record at 4 times the resolution of any other commercially available camera.  It is able to offer the same depth of field and selective focus of an equivalent film camera using 35mm P/L mount lenses.

Red One Camera Packages from £270 a day

Hire our Sony EX3

The EX3 is Sony’s latest entry level HD camcorder, an evolution of the EX1.  It records to a special solid state memory card developed by Sony and Sandisk SxS in XDCAM HD format which allows for a picture quality to be captured that is superb.  No fixed lens here, this body is able to accept a vast array of lenses including broadcast level.  Integrated shoulder mount makes it comfortable for a days shooting.

Sony EX3 Camera Packages from £160 a day

We have the professional experience to bring your corporate web video to life with a ‘look and feel’ that implicitly shows your company professionalism and uniqueness.

We provide end-to-end solutions allowing complete control of your corporate web video production, from the initial pre-production planning and scripting stage, to post-production and editing, to streaming video to web solutions (we can distribute your finished web video production on DVD or even Blu-Ray if that is your desire).

With modern day technology, we can quickly repurpose your corporate web video for use overseas into any foreign language, or it can be repurposed into any other format (web streaming or downloads, phone, or iphone, etc.) so your corporate web video message can be distributed around the world quickly and easily.

Corporate web video is without doubt the best way to communicate with the world more efficiently, effectively and powerfully.

Please feel free to contact us for a free friendly chat about your corporate web video production needs and requirements.

We use the latest equipment and can now capture video at High-Definition with hidden cameras.  This is the only way to find out what a person is really doing, or what is really going on inside a company, or anywhere, and then share it with others to actually develop trust with the information.

This is a professional service that our company offers.  Our aim with offering this service is to capture undercover video footage that positively influences a company or public interest.  We are not private investigators and we are not interested in this type of work as we are a professional web video production company.  We offer this service because it is asked for regularly.  This is because we are a web video production company that produces factual-based web content and documentaries, because the public-at-large want to know the truth!

Raising Awareness Productions as a web video production company is particularly interested in working with people or companies who have a clear aim to produce factual media that has a clear purpose: for the greater good of mankind.

We can support your professional needs from motion graphic sequences to viral animations, to mobile content, to web commercials, and HD quality web idents.

As far as 2D and 3D animation, motion graphics and flash animation for the web goes, (and broadcast TV too) we can do just about anything!

Our flexible workflow allows us to offer extremely competitive rates, and as a creative web video production company we are passionate about and love what we do.  So, you can rest assured that any challenge you present us with will be met with enthusiasm, creativity and a highly professional approach.

There is a huge boom in video viewing on the web.  This creates opportunities for companies embracing video to web advertising, companies forward thinking enough to want to provide regular, informative video content on their website, and also opportunities for independent video producers and final cut pro editors.

Video Virals

A video viral is a brilliant way of creating brand awareness and getting a product out there!

Viral videos become popular quickly with outrageous or humorous content through the process of sharing.  Humour in films or documentary making is often necessary to get viewers attention but with video virals humour is considered to be the vital component to the success of the viral.

A viral video is a video that is passed electronically from person to person through the web, but more recently virals are being sent to mobile phones.  Viral videos can be very powerful, because they are rather like word-of-mouth marketing.

Businesses today are becoming increasingly more aware how humourous video virals can play a huge role is capturing and entertaining prospective new customers.

Video to web virals are becoming increasingly more popular.  There has never been a better time to be a Final Cut Pro Editor in London!

We hope this information helps your business!

Online advertising has moved forward fast in a very short time.  It’s moved from text, to banners, to animated gifs, and now web videos.  Research suggests video is becoming ‘the choice’ for most online campaigns.  The fact is video isn’t optional anymore, every website should have one!

Web videos can provide interactive calls-to-action. And as the web and web videos become more effective as working unified platforms, you can bet your iphone some pretty cool purchasing options are going to become available with web and phone videos.

Research shows more and more advertisers are experimenting with web-only video.  This is because they can embed clickable calls to action to track the success of their campaigns.  Our company uniquely combines software development alongside video production.  This is because this is where advertising is heading!

The goal for companies should be to move beyond TV, web or phone video advertising, to be offering more information after the video content.  Video to web advertising is the way forward with skilled tracking to ensure results in a marketplace that is becoming more and more competitive.

Ultimately, savvy marketers will use video as a linchpin of their online marketing strategies, while simultaneously looking at more effective ways of tracking interest, and more sophisticated ways and means of generating buyer call-to-action.

Raising Awareness Productions is a professional web video production company.

We hope this information helps your business!

Recently, Mr. J Gayes, a self-employed businessman from Chester, chose YouTube to market his three-bedroom holiday home in Powys, Wales.  The five minute video featured each room and gave extensive external views of the property.  But now research is showing property professionals are getting in on the act.  Central London estate agency James Pendleton has several videos on its website and Hamptons International is also experimenting with online video content to sell homes.

“A video, whether on YouTube or an agent’s website, or downloadable by prospective buyers on to their iPod, is a fantastic marketing tool,” said Charlie Wright, of BPM, a property marketing firm.  “Over the next few months we’ll be putting videos promoting up to 1,000 homes a month on YouTube.  Gradually, a culture will evolve.  People will see the site as a shop front.”

It’s not surprising, perhaps, that what the British are doing now, Americans did last year.  Diane Cohn, an estate agent in Reno, Nevada, started putting her own property videos on YouTube in summer, 2006.  ”For homes over $1 million, I engage a professional video production company to produce a mini-documentary,” she said.

Research shows British estate agents are now looking at video online as an authentic marketing tool to sell homes.

Raising Awareness Productions is a professional web video production company.

We hope this information helps your business!

Today, consumers are much more savvy and want to know more.  They want to see, feel and almost touch a hotel before making a booking.  Video content on hotel websites will provide a prospective first-time customer with a more human feel.

A hotel web video is more authentic and emotionally engaging than text and images will ever be.  Videos evoke more trust than text and images, because people tend to believe what they see.

Web videos are becoming increasingly affordable and a professional HD web video can be produced on a small budget.  But web videos are becoming increasingly more versatile, once a video has been produced it can be streamed on a website of course, but it can now be emailed and more recently sent directly to a mobile phone!

It will surely become available at a five star hotel shortly…  “Madam, Would you like us to send a 1min video of the penthouse suite directly to your mobile phone right now?”  Now that is 21^st century service!

Raising Awareness Productions is a professional web video production company.

We hope this information helps your business!