What's the Return On My Video(s)?

"What's the return on my video?" - This is a question we often get from our clients. Depending on the client, the answer can vary. Each client is unique and so is their audience. But there are a few answers that are common across the board. If you break it down and ask yourself a few simple questions, you'll find the answer quite easily.

First, what type of video are you creating? Is this part of a video marketing series you're releasing? Are these a set of videos that will live on your website? Is it a TV commercial? Or perhaps it is a sample from a live event where you did a presentation. This is the first part of the equation. The second part is determining your audience. Are you targeting youth or adults? Entrepreneurs or consumers? Is the video meant to be entertaining or informative? Lastly where is this video going to live: website? TV? YouTube? Answer these three questions and you can determine where you will find your return.

For example: Let's say your creating a video marketing series for your consulting firm for entrepreneurs. You're going to release weekly tip videos based on what your firm does and it's expertise; therefore, your videos are meant to be informative. You release these videos on your various social media sites via a YouTube link. Because your releasing videos so frequently, your firm's credibly and SEO will consistently increase. You will gain more brand awareness from your firm's name popping up in searches and because of your knowledge and ability to answer questions, your firm will see a rise in inquiries and leads generated from the videos.

Another example: Let's say this same firm has an employee who frequently does presentations to entrepreneurs on growing their business; so in this case, this person creates and releases a demo reel of various presentations he/she has done. This person releases the video on their website. They would be targeting other entrepreneurs in this case.  This video is more or less a resume piece. Your potential clients can get a taste of how good your presentations are and will be more inclined to hire you for your services.

It's pretty common knowledge that the majority of consumers will research their product/service online before purchasing it. Finding and hiring people and their services online is just as popular as online shopping. Therefore, having an online presence is crucial. However, it is not as simple as having a website and an email anymore. Your online presence needs to have sustenance in order for your business to grow and survive. Videos are the latest way to add "umph" to your marketing and growth and there is a myriad of ways to fit your unique needs.

Across the board, there are a few things video marketing will always do for you and your business: It will always help your SEO, it will always increase brand awareness, and it will always capture someone's attention (especially in conjunction with other marketing methods and campaigns). Video marketing can only help you and your business. Whether you hire a video company to help you plan and create your videos or you grab a webcam and start a vlog, videos are sure to enhance your company's marketing plan and capture some attention.

"Gotta Be More" Music Video Shoot: Day 01

Last week we had our first day shooting the music video to our upcoming music video, "Gotta Be More" (performed by Stefany Mayz). It was a fantastic shoot!

We started bright and early around 8:00am that day. It was a small crew consisting of camera/DP, one actor, director, and one of our fabulous interns. First shot of the day was up by approximately 8:30am after setting up the camera and lights. We started with the kitchen scene, followed by the bathroom scene, and then ended with the bedroom scene. Then we had a company move to the office location where our director (William) made a cameo as the "angry boss" for the office scene.

We wrapped up our first shoot day well ahead of schedule, ending shortly after 1:00pm. The shots look fantastic so far. And while the song, "Gotta Be More", is still in it's final stages of recording, it's been getting great feedback after a first listen from local critics. We are very excited to be moving forward with this project!

The storyline for the video of "Gotta Be More" is about finding fulfillment in life. The lyrics to the song ask the questions of where and how to find such fulfillment, and the storyline of the music video give the answer.

Be sure to see what that answer is when the video is complete and released this spring!

Happy Filming!
-- Lees Productions LLC

Our First Video Marketing Class

Last Friday, Lees Productions LLC hosted it's first "Video Marketing 101" class at the Farmers Insurance building in Cherry Hill, NJ. It was a great opening to our new monthly program. Both current and prospective clients showed up to learn about how to video can help grow their business/brand.

We gave them a more detailed look into how video is going to tremendously impact businesses and social media over the course of 2014 and beyond. We also gave them ideas on how they can take advantage of this new, significant trend and use it individually.

Our audience also gave us great feedback. Based on their follow-up questions, we now have new tips and information that will be included in next month's presentation at DeVry University in King of Prussia, PA. We are also considering doing a few specialized classes that will focus on specific aspects of video and video marketing.

Thanks to all who joined us at our first class! It was a great success and we hope to see even more of you on February 28th in King of Prussia!

Lees Productions 2014 "Behind The Scenes"

The next web series we are creating is our "Behind the Scenes" program. It will be an ongoing mini-documentary of the different video shoots that we do. You will get to see what the actors, crew, and staff are doing. We will do mini-interviews with everyone involved and you can get the inside scoop on what it's like working in the industry. With this series, you'll see all the crew members and equipment in action!

Additionally, you will become privy to what goes into a production, what tricks we may have used, and how we overcame any obstacles. You will get to see first hand what goes into starting a business and shooting a video, corporate or film. 

Some of our "Behind the Scenes" footage will be from our YouTube.com shows, short films, a feature film, two-to-three documentaries, and any corporate work that we do. The independent film world can be a harsh mistress. Watch to find out how you can get over the obstacles!

Lees Productions 2014 "Video Industry Unleashed"

A lot is coming from Lees Productions in the new year. We are launching all sorts of programming on our YouTube Page. We will have an interview show, a 'behind the scenes' of Lees Productions series, five sketch comedy shows, and two original web series'. These shows will all be shot in our new studio and will air at different times during the year. We also currently have three short films, a documentary, and a feature film projects. Over the next couple blog posts, we'll describe each one.

The interview show, Video Industry Unleashed, is all about the video industry. We feature a new guest every week, from film professionals to marketing specialists. We ask them to give tips and helpful hints on how to get into the industry and how they have made their way. We ask them what a new college graduate can expect to see in the field they have just joined.

So far, we have interviewed producers, directors, directors of photography, actors, marketing specialists, writers, and many more. We will be interviewing professionals higher and higher up in the industry. We will speak with distribution company owners, news anchors, big time film directors and more. We want to bring everything to the fingertips of beginner film makers.

It is our goal through this series to help every film maker have a shot at making it big. We want to bring the industry tricks to the ones just getting started. We want to create a platform to move the industry forward and inspire new talent.

Finding work in a Family Industry

The film industry has always been a "who you know" field. To move up in the ranks you have to suck up to the people who know someone who can give you a job. It's very difficult to succeed otherwise.

College's are still teaching the old ways of doing things. They are teaching that you need to be grandfathered in still, that you have to shoot with massive budgets and expensive equipment. They don't show young film majors that you can easily find work in commercial video, weddings, music videos, recording depositions and much more in the law realm. It's these roadblocks thrown up by the ones already in the field that hold back the film makers of the future.  With these complications many young would be film majors give up. They end up working at a pizza place or walmart.

But there is hope on the horizon, because equipment is becoming readily more available to the young aspiring filmmaker they can know show people what they can do. They can prove themselves easier, give themselves the chance that before you had to have given to you. Young people in the video industry can now work hard to get in.

More and more film festivals are popping up giving young people in the industry a chance to shine. They help the young unknown become the well known. They now have a better chance. With this trend beginning, film students can start to see a future in this field.

How The Camera Has Shot the Big budget!

In the days of the big budget everything was shot on actual film stock. Also, the industries high-quality equipment was slow to become available. Back in the day, cameras were expensive, lighting costs were astronomical and you needed more lights to make the camera look good because they weren't amazing with low-light. These things combined made for a hefty budget.

Now cameras have become standardized. They have become easier to make and more readily available as well. And the quality they can shoot just keeps getting better and better! The fact that these cameras are so available, means that the average joe can either buy them, or rent them for very cheap. This creates a world that didn't recently exist, a world that explodes with content professionally-shot. This, in turn, floods the market and devalues the industry. And just like anything else, when something becomes standard, it becomes cheap. Now when a true professional tries to sell them-self for the prices they used to, they are laughed at and some one cheaper is hired.

With a market that was once eclectic and  shrouded in mystery now becoming mainstream, is the artistic side dying or thriving? Is it good to have everyone make a story? Or should we leave it to the professionals? What's your opinion?

It's been a while!

Hello all,

It's been a while since my last post but I hope everyone enjoyed the series of how to create a great film. 

I was thinking about what my next string of series should be about and my wife suggested a great one, "The age of big budgets is dead!"

In this series we will look at what are some reasons people can do the same quality for less, and how the economy has affected the way business is done and looked at! What are some way the industry has had to change to stay alive when there isn't any money to be had! And what does our future look like!

I look forward to discussing these things and more with you In the next string of posts.

About Our Company

 

About Us

 

We are a company that is determined to produce great videos for our customers. We produce professional videos for client's websites, YouTube pages, TV/Cable commercials and more. Additionally, we also produce music videos, feature films, and the like. We have been producing videos for 5 years and have a very experienced crew. We cover all aspects of production from start to finish. We have many connections with the marketing world to follow up on the backend as well. We also host major events for the entertainment industry, from concerts to film festivals.  We are presently hosting a business networking event/concert at Dave & Busters on June 22^nd. Our next major event will be a film festival this fall.

 

Philanthropy 

 

* We pride ourselves on giving college students the opportunity to work right out of school. Most companies want students to have 3-4 yrs experience when they graduate before they would consider hiring them. This is nearly impossible. We have set up a program to remedy that. We hire students straight out of college and give them the training they need in the areas they are most passionate about. We give them the stability of a job, allowing them time to get themselves on their feet and into the big world. With the opportunities we present them with, they are able to better establish themselves so that they don’t become one of the many graduates in this field that end up working at a pizza parlor for the rest of their lives.

 

* Our heavy involvement with our community makes us a name people recognize and trust. Lees Productions LLC sponsors and contributes to events that help better the community, promote commerce, and encourages the collaboration of businesses. We support events and foundations dealing with animal care, adoption, and education about animal abuse. As a company we believe in the idea of spreading opportunities to everyone and promoting the well being of a strong economy.

 

* Our company is a part of Rotary International and we are involved with a lot of charity work in our community. We are helping with scholarships for high school students and Sandy Relief for people at the shore. We are always looking for ways to be more involved.

Creating a Great Film: Shooting

When you finally get to the shooting part of the film it is important to remain organized and flexible. You need to be able to keep moving while not sacrificing quality. And you need to roll with the punches should something go wrong.

Always make sure that everyone, even the PA's have heard what the shoot schedule and plan are before the shoot dates. Make sure each head, Director, DP, and AD, all know who is on their team. This helps avoid confusion and stress on the set. Avoiding as many problems as you can by planning early helps when the inevitable problems begin. Have back up plans and procedures in place before the shoot so everyone knows what's going to happen if a certain problem ensues.

Another thing to remember is to know your job and do just your job. Don't try to tell other crew members how they should do their job. Concentrate on what your position is so everyone can run together like a well oiled machine. This will help avoid crew members being out of position when their needed because someone told the person to do something they weren't supposed to.

Many mishaps can't happen on set, but being well prepared and at the ready will help you overcome anything.

Creating a Great Film: Producing

After the story has been written it's time for a producer to come in. There are many things for a producer to consider but if they have no budget, then these tips will help.

First figure out the hardest part of your script, a big location, a certain actor, a certain prop. This will help you see where any money you do have needs to go. Simple, but just sitting down and figuring out where what money you have needs to go Is very important.

Next they need to come up with a grand plan of what to do with the film after it is finished, this will help when convincing people to help out with the film for free. It's always a hard thing to get people to work for free. Some tactics you can take are to have a great post production plan so crew and cast could get paid later. Or you can convince a person with lots of experience to help out so that you can sell the experience of working with this guy as the pay for helping on the film. There are lots of people out there looking for help moving forward in their career so they are willing to help out for free.

The next thing to consider as a producer is to be very creative. A producer must be able to come up with ways to save money everywhere without killing a film. A major way to do this is with location. Remember that the viewers can only see what's in the frame, nothing else. If you need to be in a bunker, put your actor in front of a piece of Sheetrock and play the rest off with lighting and sound affects. The mood can be created without grand sets. Be willing to for go grand cover shots so you can shoot a island woods scene in the backyard of someone's house. Be willing to concentrate on sounds and acting to pull off the feel of being at a club when really your in someone's dark basement. Don't forget that creative lighting, sound, and camera angels can save you tons of money in the location department.

Creating a film with no budget as a producer can be stressful, but it will help you see things in a new way. It will make you have to be creative and new and look at things like you never have before!

Creating a great film: "Writing"

A great film starts with a great story. As much as people think they know this part, there are still tons of writers forgetting what makes a story watchable. They worry to much about putting in jokes or special effects. They think to much toward production value instead about what the story truly is about or how it is progressing.

The first thing a writer should do Is outline their whole story. Sounds simple but so many writers just start writing without knowing where their story's going. By outlining your story you can always keep a clear idea of where you story is going, this eliminates the possibility of useless scenes that don't make the story move forward. Eliminating these scenes that don't do anything but maybe make a joke or kill someone will instantly make the story more effective.

Next a writer will want to make sure the characters change over the film and to make sure the progression of that change is spread out over the course of the film. This simple change keeps the audience interested over the whole film because they watch the character change more in each scene. This makes the characters more relatable and more real, because No one in real life would change right away so making the characters change over time makes them realistic.

Another thing a writer can do is write their story to the purpose they have. Meaning if they are planning on putting the script in a film contest or know they will have a huge budget, write a story that has many characters, outrageous locations, or even other planets. However if you know you will be pitching your script to independent film makers or someone who will only be able to raise a small budget, write a story that has minimal actors, one to two locations, and simple shots.

Writing a great story is always hard but if you keep all these things in mind when you write, you will be selling your scripts and winning contests everywhere.

Creating a great film!

Over the next few blog posts we will be talking about what makes a great film and how to do it on a small or a lot of times non-existent budget. The many topics we will discuss will include writing, camera, lighting, sound, and many many more.

Stay tuned for the blog posts that will change how you create your films.

"Unforgotten" read through coming up

A Read through of a script is very important in pre-production. They help the actors and the director get a real feel for who the characters are and what they should be portrayed as. It helps everyone know what direction the story's going in so that there are no questions on shoot day.

For "Unforgotten" we will be going over all 18 episodes on January 4th. We will really be ironing out the characters and getting to know who these people are in the series. We will figure out how the characters progress through the series and how they change.

With all the rehearsals and the pre-production work, "Unforgotten" will be a web series that everyone will be talking about!

Writing for a budget part 2

A great writer is not judged by the story as much as whether they can write a great story in any situation. If a writer can come up with stories that work in all sorts of situations they will get their scripts sold.

One of the greatest things a writer can be able to do is write with a particular budget in mind. If the writer knows there will be a minimal budget then they can keep the locations to one place, characters to a minimum, and props to as little as possible. They can also keep in mind where they know things will be shot, who is available to do acting. They can also keep the shots simple, no crane shots or dolly shots.

A writer is the beginning of any film, they are the ones that create the story and essentially dictate what the production will cost and entail. So starting with the writer is a great way to make sure the film will be made and done the best way it can.

Behind The Entertainment

Today we had the great honor of being interviewed by "Behind The Entertainment." BTE, as their also called, is a show were new creators can showcase what they can do. It is an opportunity for them to get their name out in a world were everyone is trying to do the same. They help the new artists tell the world what they can do.

In todays world social networking is king. You have to be able to share your work on twitter and Facebook and tumblr and four billon sites all at once. Its hard to be able to keep up with all that, let alone get something you want people to see. Thats where BTE comes in. They interview these artists so they have something to show people and say this is who I am. BTE's interviews are all about getting you to know the artist on a deep personal level. The interviews are very personal, you feel like you having a conversation with the artist yourself. They help you really fall in love with who the artist is and what they do.

When they asked to interview us about our web series "Unforgotten" it was a great opportunity. We have been trying to push the series as much as possible and this was a fantastic chance. We want to create as much hype as we can for the series before we release it. Everyone on the crew was there; William Lees Jr the Writer/Director, Stefany Mayz the Soundtrack Artist/Art Director and JD Rodriguez the DP. Everyone got to say a little piece about the series. It was a great time for all of us because we really got to lay out what the series is about and what direction it is going in.

BTE is a great show for the independent world. Its great for letting the world know about the little artists that are out there and that they have something great to offer.  Check out Behind The Entertainment, we guarantee you wont be disappointed!

"Behind The Entertainment"

Blocking out the first two episodes of "Unforgotten"

Walking into the set was a great feeling. We were moving forward with the Web Series we started so long ago. With two weeks till we start shooting it was a critical part that had to be done.

We started going over shots and immediately fell in love with the surrounding area. Our DP JD came up with some great shots and told us how we should move to make the series seem real. We went over the beginning scenes and moved on.

At the next location we practiced bounding and figured out the shots. This scene will have to be precisely done to make it look real. When we figured out this scene we moved on to the last location.

This location was were the characters would be doing some of there best stunt work. The training had to be right so everything can move smoothly and no one gets hurt.

With the day ending we stopped at a Taco Bell and had lunch and ironed out the rest of our schedule. More to come on "Unforgotten" in the near future so stay tuned.

Scheduling without a budget

One of the hardest things for an independent film company to do is scheduling, especially with no budget. When everyone is working for free you have to work around everyone's schedule. You have to try and match 7 to 10 people's schedules, almost impossible. You have to be able to flow with the hassles of jobs and trips that crew or actors have taken. It can be very complicating, but there are ways to lower the possibility of conflicts in scheduling.

First, try to know before you write your script whether you will have a budget or not. This will help you write to fit your budget and help you be realistic about finishing your film. If you have a limited budget you can write the story to have minimal characters and also try to use the crew members as actors too. By doing this you can limit your crew and cast to 3 to 4 people. Easing scheduling problems.

Another way to eliminate problems with scheduling is to make the scenes in the script have minimal characters in the same scene and make sure your shots are simple, no elaborate set ups. Instead concentrate on the angles and motion of the camera. Concentrate on the acting and getting great sound. So many film makers concentrate to much on special affects and forget about the core of a film; acting, lighting, and sound!

A great story is founded on concentrating on the interaction between characters, the way they evolve as they go through the film. When you make a script more simple and concentrate on theses elements not only do you help with future problems with scheduling but also create a story people will want to watch for years to come.

The Title of our New Web Series!

Coming up with a title for anything is very hard. If you get it wrong It ruins how people will perceive the whole series. You have to make sure that the title reflects what happens in the series. You have to capture the true essence of the story and relay it all in one to three words. It has to be something memorable and catchy so people feel the need to tell others about it.

So it is with great pride that we announce the official title of our new Web Series; "Unforgotten".

The Agents meet! "Redemption"

We started to set up for the scene today and fast realized that getting it dark enough for the scene was going to be hard. We started by just closing the blinds but that wasn't enough, we had light leaking in everywhere! We blocked the light from the blinds with a flex fill and then the door windows with towels, taped up with electrical tape. A lot of electrical tape!

The next challenge was creating a harsh enough light so that the actors were only lit from one side. We didn't have much to work with but we ended up just using a desk lamp. It worked nicely and the shots came out very dramatic. We had the ISO and F stop way down on the camera.

When JD Rodriguez showed up we started blocking through his scenes. He did amazing. Then Ian Askew showed up and we officially started blocking both characters. We went through the lines multiple times and ironed out all the character's mannerisms. When we started the shooting both actors were very comfortable with their parts.

The shots came out great and the acting was amazing. We can't wait to see all this footage in post production edit! We have one scene left to shoot and then it's a wrap for the films shooting!