Promotional video production
Film and video production for artist promotion is now an essential part of any artists marketing strategy. Working as a freelance filmmaker I produce, film and edit high-quality promotional films and videos. In this case study, I explain the process behind the creation of a video designed for artist promotion.
Devising the concept
Artist Samuel Thomas was looking for an engaging and stylish video for his new website that could help communicate his creative talents. After chatting online and by phone, Samuel explained how he was looking to move this project forward. We agreed on a concept, and suitable timeframe for the filming and editing of the video then scheduled some dates.
Filming schedule
At the time of filming, Samuel’s main studio was based in Cromer on the North Norfolk Coast. Following our initial detailed discussions, Samuel sent me some photographs of his studio so that I could check that there would be sufficient space in which to film. I discussed prepping some paintings with Sam so that I would be able to document him at work on a selection of his canvases.
Filming day
Filming close-up action shots with a camera slider and shallow focus prime lenses take quite a bit longer than usual to get it perfect. I needed to direct Samuel so that his actions pre-empted my camera movements. This all took a few practice runs and a bit of patience. I enjoyed being able to spend the time exploring these dynamic camera slider moves. The studio was quite compact, so most of the footage was filmed using the wide-angle 14mm and 24mm prime lenses.
Video editing in London
Back at my edit suite in London, I began to edit the filmed and transcoded footage. Initially, I spent some time cutting down the filmed interviews so that I could bring together the best parts of the conversations. With the interviews edited, I looked for some suitable music and quickly found a track which I thought would be ideal for this video. Samuel had sent me a selection of his paintings as high-resolution .tiff files. I used some of those within the edit to help illustrate his skills. Editing the best of the filmed images took some time as I was keen on the timing of everything to flow really well with the music.
Artist promotion
The final edit incorporated the best shots from the studio location shoot and twenty of Samuel’s photographed artworks. These were all edited over a well-timed music and sync bed. Once I was completely happy with the final version, I e-mailed Samuel a private Vimeo link to view the film. I was pleased to hear that he also thought it was perfect and that no edit changes were required.
In addition to the two-minute version, I have also edited a shorter version for my Instagram profile. The final YouTube video is now on the Samuel Thomas website. Other artists that I have produced promotional films for include Billie Ray Martin, Georg Meyer-Wiel, Luis F. Carvalho, and Suzanne Perlman.
If you would like your promotional film production produced or would like to talk about any ideas you have for your project, please get in touch as I am always happy to assist.
