BBC trained marketing videographer
Life keeps evolving, and I’ve now realised that one of the most currently sought after job descriptions that I offer is as a ‘marketing videographer’. These two words best summarise the promotional opportunities now available to anyone interested in online marketing and, to me is fast becoming an important aspect of my ‘dream job’. All my clients are now asking me for social media content more than any other genre, whether as an add-on to their commission or as their way to effect some direct advertising for whatever they wish to promote.
In the following case study, I explain some of the detail of the videography behind a recent commission for marketing by social media.
Marketing videographer for Glitterbox
Recently, I was delighted to be asked to film at Glitterbox a house club night at London’s famous Ministry of Sound. Filming beautiful visuals and editing to great music is always a creative highlight for me. Combining those with the opportunity of capturing the atmosphere in one of the world’s best clubbing nights was very exciting.
Filming at Ministry of Sound
Although I have had previous experience of working as a videographer at parties and beach nightclubs, for me this gig was at the next level because of the popularity that Glitterbox enjoys at their events both in UK and Ibiza. I anticipated that the floor space there was likely to be packed. Therefore, it was important that I travel light and work independently while in the club. The Glitterbox marketing team had asked me to film some of the dancers during costume changes and makeup (the use of environmentally friendly organic glitter was getting promoted). So, to be as prepared as possible, I arrived early to check out the allocated dressing room and filming space. Once the dancers arrived and began their preparations, I spent an hour filming lots of beautiful shots of them as everyone relaxed into the vibe.
Filming in a crowded space
Kit wise; I’d decided to use my camera mounted on a static handheld rig. This fig-rig ensured my camera was given some protection while filming in a large group of people. This rig also allowed me to hold it above everyone when moving through the crowds. My particular challenge at this event was to find any available bright quality of light to enhance the appearance of the many fun people and talented dancers.
Filming in slow motion
My brief was to film the evening’s preparations and performance events and to then edit the visuals to a music track selected by Glitterbox. Because I did not need to record any ‘live’ sound, I decided to film the whole night in slow motion. Because I was filming in slow motion, I also had to crank up the ISO to get the right exposure. Once I felt as though I had enough footage to make an exciting edit, I finished my most enjoyable night on the dance floor to wear off the Red Bull.
Editing the media
Back at base, with 12 hours of HD footage in slow motion, I copied the media onto my RAID 5 drives and set it all to transcode while I caught up on my sleep (it was a very long night!). Once refreshed, I played through all the transcoded rushes and edited together the best shots into a one-hour timeline. A first viewing always enables me to see the best of all the clips that I had filmed. With further editing, I reduced the sequence to a 7-minute edit of useable shots. The next stage for me was to edit down to 60 seconds the best of the footage to the music track which was very enjoyable.
Delivering the video
After their viewing of my final edited video, the Glitterbox team decided to change the music to a more dynamic track. This second track worked much better with the images I had selected. I was then able to increase the cut-rate and to edit in a more varied range of different angled shots. Six different segments from this one music track were used to form the most dynamic 60-second sound bed. This duration would ensure the video would be suitable for uploading to Instagram. This second version was sent for feedback and, after I had made a couple of further minor changes as requested, the video was signed off. I then delivered a master ProRes422 version and a .mp4 version for uploading to social media.
A video for social media marketing
This example of social media marketing shows some different but related products getting promoted by one short video:
- Glitterbox: the brand and tickets for their next club night at Ministry of Sound.
- The artist and music track: Saturday (Dimitri From Paris 12″ Version).
- The label Defected Records: who owns the copyright on the music track.
- Eco Glitter Fun
After successfully delivering this beautiful video, I was permitted by Defected Records also to share their video on my own social media channels. So I have uploaded it to my Facebook page, Twitter account and Instagram channels where it is enjoying many views. It is also now available to view on my Vimeo channel.
Working as a marketing videographer for Glitterbox was a fun and exciting project for me. I enjoyed working with the whole team. I very much hope for a repeat performance sometime to continue to develop my filming skills further for special nightclub events.
Marketing videographer
I love working as a freelance videographer and enjoy working with my clients to create the best video content for their marketing and promotion. If you would like any help with marketing your project via social media, please get in touch. I am always pleased to be able to offer assistance and advice.
