David Pritchard
In this article, David Pritchard from Imageforge will explain to you why video should be an important part of your business’s marketing strategy and how you can go about producing videos yourself with easy-to-follow rules and everyday equipment. If you’re running a business in 2022 and not making use of video to showcase your brand then you’re missing out on a lot of benefits that could supercharge your business. My name is David Pritchard and I’ve been working in Phuket for 13 years offering video production and photography services among other things, to countless local and international businesses. I’ve shot videos for many tv shows, a few movies, lots of documentaries, and my bread and butter, advertising videos for local businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and startups. You can read more about me on the video production section of my website www.imageforge.asia a media production and marketing company. Now you know the author of this article, let’s get down to business! 
Video content over the last few years has become the king of content, it’s more entertaining than a picture and holds their attention longer. Keeping the attention of your viewer is the secret sauce to unlocking a whole host of tasty benefits! SEO BOOST – INCREASED BRAND BUILDING – SNOWBALL MARKETING All the social media platforms love to see users spending a lot of time on their respective platforms… If you make a video that holds a user for a long time it’s perceived as higher value, so the platform will push it to more people, this effect can snowball. This extra time viewing your content also means they spend more time having your brand ingrained into their thoughts. Your website runs on the same logic as the social media giants, if someone is spending a long time watching videos on your page, Google perceives this as an indicator of quality, hello boost to your SEO! There are levels to video production and we highly recommend you hire a professional for your main promotional material… But anyone can learn to shoot engaging video content for social media using basic equipment you already own. In this video she teaches very well how to use natural light and the principles can work for any camera, whether your phone or an actual camera. I’ll be adding my own version soon!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNSy1UWrSJ0I hope you enjoyed and learned something useful in the above video, here are some key-points I’d like to add.
1) You Can Only Polish A Turd So Much
A turd will always be a turd, no amount of fresh herbs is going to fix that! So start by making sure your subject is presentable. From a photography perspective, I will always google the dish I’m about to shoot for inspiration, see what other people worldwide have been doing to shine a light on this particular dish. Sometimes I’ll give feedback to the chef beforehand, showing what I’ve found on google. This however doesn’t go down well with all chef’s so be warned! Having the dish look good is critical to your success, especially when working with limited equipment and experience.
2) The location of your subject.
Whether you’re shooting food, a person talking or any subject, I will look at the environment, backgrounds, and lighting before anything else. The key rules are, you want to avoid a bright background in almost all cases, at least it must be darker than your main light source. Pick something easy like an actual table, a plain colored wall, or some nature, none of which is being hit with direct light from the sun. (for now) So say you’re looking at this table, it’s a fairly plain canvas, the main focus should be the dish. The dish now needs light, here it is with the light blocked. Now here is the same dish with the light from the window.
3) Wield The Power Of The Sun
Another key element of using natural light from the sun… don’t let it hit your subject directly until you understand what you’re doing enough to tame it. The light from the window is indirect, a nice big soft source that’s pretty much as good as any professional lighting setup. Now, this window light or big open bright space, like any other light needs aiming, you have to consider the angle of reflection as it bounces back into your camera. This is actually very easy! Face your subject and imagine there is a line on the left and right of them as if they pointed their arms out to their sides. The light source cannot go behind them, cause then it’s going to be shining into the camera and not onto the face/front of the subject you’re shooting. Lack of light leads to a lack of color and is generally unappealing as you can see in the comparison above. So if you imagine a clock, you want the light source to be between 4pm and 6pm, or 8pm and 6pm. You and the camera now have to fit in this same section, without blocking the light source too much.
4) Shooting Angles
Video production and photography often come down to personal preference, and everyone has their own interpretation of what’s beautiful. If you are struggling to find the right article, google the concept you’re going for and see what other people have done. Get creative! Phones especially are so small and versatile that you can get some super cool shots like these.
5) Editing Your Footage
Today’s social media giants have video editing software built right in! All you need to worry about is capturing that beautiful footage and then depending on if your platform is going to be Tik Tok, Instagram, or Facebook, they have the tools you need to edit and deliver. Here are some examples of using those tools. If this all sounds like a massive headache and you would rather someone took care of it for you, my company can come to do all your shooting, all the editing, take care of all your written content, posts and schedule, and even your advertising and generally showing Phuket how awesome your brand is. Our packages are scalable depending on your needs, whether you just need one shoot or an entire package you can get in touch with us – Imageforge Video Production
