The new camera - Sony FS100

Well, there we are. Beautiful new camera, and combined with the Atmos Ninja, a new workflow. Initial tests look fantastic. It was very easy to grab some great shots at a community meeting yesterday that was poorly lit. The results are clear and lacking in noise despite the camera being on auto gain. This bodes well. Am currently using the stock lens but will soon be able to use our nice Nikon glass. Just waiting for the adaptor. The Ninja seems very promising, besides giving us a very accurate and larger screen and long recording times to HD, it records via HDMI to Apple Pro Res in a 4.2.2 colour space. A big leap in quality. Exciting times ahead, very confident in being able to supply high quality for business, and have the scope to move into music videos and documentaries.
Will post videos to show results soon.

Thinking about video production for your business?

Video.  It’s the now form of communication, and it’s powerful.  Being a part of the team at A Tractor Productions has given me an inside look at just how important this mode of communication is for communication between people, for informing people, and for operating in a market place.  A lot of us are semi-permanently plugged into the net now, and this is where we go when we want to know something about where we should go for fun on the weekends, learning about how to do our jobs better, finding the best ink for our printer or school shoes for our kids, what we might cook for dinner, and a million other things.  But seeing how A Tractor Productions clients use video, has demonstrated why this tool is so important for communicating in a web based marketplace.    

But how do you decide if professional video production is the right thing for your business?

There are quite a few things that your video could do for your business.  A video for your business can find new customers in a number of ways.  It can help your business to be found by your customers by maximising your search engine.  It can help you to stand out from your competitors by being a point of difference, and help them to spend more time on your web page, and thinking about your product.  It can help your potential customers to feel good about you, and confident about using your product.  If your customers have seen your video, then they have already met you.

There is also a range of benefits of video production for existing customers that can keep them happy and coming back to you, or also for use in training and supporting your staff so that they are able to do their job in the most effectively.  Some products require video manuals to help the customer get the most out of the product.  Alternative regular video information newsletters keeps customers engaged and interested, and can even help customers that are fans of your service to refer new customers to you.

There is more to professional video production than finding a person that can use a video camera.  Professional video production will allow you to present what you want of yourself and your business.  This is done firstly by; understanding your business and where you want it to go, and working up a script for the video shoot that uses tried and true communication and marketing methods.  To be proud of your business, and find an identity for your product that you are proud to promote.  This presentation of your business will impact on every person that views the video, and make that vital first impression of your product or service on your customer.  While there can be a place for home made video production, depending on your interest and skills in this area, professional video production is worth consideration.  Professional video production can limit delays and avoid mistakes in production, (ie lighting and audio are actually important folks), give you a clear costing on the project with no unforseen expenses and get this right for you the first time, in a timely, painless, and cost effective way.

I hope this article can help you decide how to move forward with marketing your business.

Katerina Baker

Goona Warra Winery Video

Finally done and it's a ripper. Now to do more winery's. Anyone out there know of a Melbourne (or thereabouts) Winery that could benefit from a beautiful video made about them?

Songwriting

While I've already entered one song into the Vanda and Young Songwriting Contest I've had a mate contact me to see if we could write one together to enter. With only days to go it will be a challenge, more so since he's in NZ and I'm here in Melbourne! Still, we have a chorus so it can only go forward from there.
Will publish when it's cooked!

Testimonial Videos

I have a few testimonial videos up on the site - this really working well for me. It's simple with regards to filming and video production but extremely effective in that when a client is happy enough with your services to stand up in front of the camera and say so, this is a really powerful message about trustworthiness and the ability to deliver a great job.
I advise anyone with a presence on the net to consider using this simple but effective tool. The videos don't have to be long, in fact more than a sentence or two is overkill. This has the added benefit of being not too expensive to produce. In fact, why not make a morning of it - get a sausage sizzle going, get 3 - 5 valued clients together and celebrate a bit! I filmed mine traveling to the clients offices and it only took an afternoon.
Cheers for now - Brian

Using YouTube to deliver video drafts

We've been doing this for about the last 12 months but I thought it might be worth a mention in this blog.
We utilize You Tube  to deliver ongoing drafts of projects to clients. It's great and makes it instantly available for the client to view the latest changes and come back with more tweaks. Especially good with TV commercials where we're often running up against deadlines and need client approval fast. The trick is to upload the video file and make it unlisted. That way no one can see it unless they have the actual url or link. The file can't be search for or accidentally found either. Once it's uploaded we simply email the link to the client. When we do an update we delete to existing video on You Tube and create another one.
So there you go - instant digital delivery of video files to clients for approval. Don't you just love this stuff!!!

Video shoot at the Goonawarra Winery

Well the Blade and Sony Z1 performed beautifully at the Goonawarra shoot on Thursday morning. First we filmed the sunrise creeping across the vine rows and striking the circa 1860's bluestone cellar building. Then we headed out to where the pickers where harvesting the cold climate pinot grapes in the gorgeous autumn sunshine. I mostly used the Nikon 105mm lens for the vines and the wide angle 28mm for the cellar building shots. With a little color correction and extra saturation in Final Cut the footage is looking stunning. We still have to film the internals of the winery itself and some Mothers Day festivities before the job can be edited but I will post when complete. Fantastic to be utilising this incredible light we have in Melbourne this time of year.

Video Production and the SG Blade

Nearly a year ago I purchased an SG Blade lens adaptor system so that I could use Nikon 35mm SLR lens's on my Sony Z1 HD video camera. The results have been sensational. We've had a little hiccup with some problems but they've been ironed out now and the whole system is turning out some stunning images. It's interesting to observe that the Blade has some issues with light, (you lose about 1 F stop) and you have to manually focus and pay attention to aperture settings. This forces us to be very careful with our setups and lighting - a bit like going back to the old days! Everything has to be done manually. I can tell you it's well worth the effort and a very enjoyable process. You can see more about the Blade at www.shoot35.com and see some of the projects we've filmed with the system at http://www.atractorproductions.com/services-and-examples.php

Filming at the beautiful Goonawarra Winery in Sunbury tomorrow - hurrah! Will post how it goes.

Video production and Panda update

I notice the new Google update is taking effect on search engine rankings in the video production scene. This has to be a good example of the impact that video and video sitemaps has on website rankings. Really, for ANY small business wanting to get their message out there then there is real value and ROI in having quality, profession video produced and resident on your site. At A Tractor Productions here in Melbourne, we work with excellent web designers and SEO companies to help our clients achieve meaningful results. In my opinion, video contributes to this process by giving the whole thing something to hang off - by that I mean that once you have a video produced, then you can blog, newsletter, email, etc... the video out to your database. This in turn increases video views and your contents relevance in Google searches. It drives more traffic to your site and those viewers stay on your site longer - once again increasing your relevance in Google searches and driving more traffic to your site - and so the wheel turns.
Happy Easter!!
bb

Bob Dylan Concert in Melbourne last night

Saw Dylan last night at Rod Laver thanks to my mate Bernard. What a great band, concert and sound. Top quality. Sad about Bobs voice - wanted to hear the great mans words and be moved but his throat is very worn and tired and could only make out a few snippets. I found myself asking if he toured with a vocal coach - and if not why not? My partner and I are still arguing about the merits of his harmonica playing but the crowd went berserk every time he blew his holy breathe through it - if that means anything! Still fantastic to see him and the band though. Wow!
I know - not much about video production in this blog but too much work makes Jack a dull boy! Will return with some more posts regarding my adventures with the SG Blade lens adapter system soon.

Video camera repair

Just had our camera serviced and used Pro Hi Tech Services in Sth Melbourne. Great service, cleaned the Sony up, made sure the head wear was minimal, checked focus stuff - all great and not expensive. Highly recommended.

Hello Sunday Morning

Just read an great article http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/high-sobriety-20110409-1d8gz.html
regarding our drinking society. It lead me to the Hello Sunday Morning site www.hellosundaymorning.com.au
While I can say that I'm very tempted by the idea of abstaining from alcohol for 3 months, and I may well proceed with that, I was struck by the sites very excellent use of video to get the idea across.
This is a perfect example using video on a website to communicate ideas, passion and commitment. Kudos!
Cheers
bb
www.atractorproductions.com

LED lighting

Currently working on a presentation video for Dave Tripp at Laser Electrical Clayton and Wantirna. Getting to see that LED lighting is going to be a real participant in reducing our power bills and overall energy efficiency - amazing stuff! Using Motion for alot of the graphic work, what a fantastic program to use alongside Final Cut Studio. Also achieved a very tidy 3 point lighting setup using a blue screen.