Professional Practice: Research into Promotional Videos

What Tips are there for Making a Good Promotional Video? What are the Generic Conventions?

As I will be creating a promo vid for the Historic Dockyard, Chatham, I've decided to explore other promotional videos (which can relate to my film) plus general techniques which are crucial for these videos.

Promotional Video for a Dental Surgery (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZzBym2_X0w)

Watching the video below has given me some ideas which I've thought about for my video. As you can see, the general style of the promo video consists of a POV style: A journal through the dentists environment, learning what it is exactly no better than seeing it in a first person perspective. This is what I plan to do for my video: I would like cutaways with a POV perspective of someone walking through the Dockyard, preferably going from one attraction to another. 

POV/Journalistic Style

For example, a POV showing walking from the smithery, looking around, then heading over to the warships. Not only does this enable the narrative to flow much easier, it also helps to allow the audience to feel as if they are virtually there. I also plan to do this in the submarine and almost give away this idea of a 'virtual tour' - sticking a GoPro on someone's head or chest to see how cramped and small it really is inside the submarine.

'POV' style of filming

As you can see from the print screen above, a POV style is used to show what the dental rooms look like. However in the video, the POV is frequently moving - there are barely any still shots minus the interviews. This technique frequently keeps the narrative pace flowing which is what I am also planning to do. However, I am planning on using a track and dolly to create moving establishing shots, purely to keep this pace flowing and to make the establishing shots more effective and better looking.

Cutaways

Cutaways of photo frames, to help set the mood

Of course, cutaways are essential for promotional videos and almost everything in general. These are purely used to establish and set the scene - enable an extra sneak peek into whatever is being promoted. For example, simplistic panning shots of photo frames on the wall in this video work effectively as it reinforces this friendly and homely feel which the video creates, helping to make the audience feel comfortable and in a way at home.

Establishing Shots

Establishing shots of the company's logo and what exactly
it is what they do

Likewise to cutaways, it is also essential to establish the setting almost immediately so that the audience can begin to expect what is actually being promoting, and helping to initially set the scene (which the cutaways help to do). For example, in this promotional video, a long shot of the dental surgery's name and brand is shown - this immediately tells the audience not only who the company is, but also what the company does, helping to set the scene.

Interviews/Voice Overs

Another generic convention would be the use of interviews - these are most likely interviews of those who are working for what is being promoted, or who the company is focused on. For example, this promotional video has interviews of both the staff and the customers, purely to gain a different perspective and to show the companies success and happiness of customers.

I too will be following this idea however I am planning on using these interviews in a more sophisticated way. For example, as my video will be explaining and giving a brief of some of the attractions, I plan to get interviews of staff who provide this information as well as ask them questions regarding why they like working at the Dockyard, and what it offers to them. This allows me to save lots of time and getting two positives out of one interview.

As well as this, interviews provide a perfect chance for cutaways to be shown. Instead of focusing on the interview only, cutaways are used to help add more content for the promotional video and of course reducing the chance of repetition - if the camera is just sticking on whom is getting interviewed then it may seem a bit boring. So, cutaways can be used whilst the commentary of the voice over is continuing.

Furthermore, judging from the image, you can see how the interviews are deliberately set up in the surrounding environment, to follow this idea of setting the scene. For example, the image shows the surgeon at his potential work desk - showing his telephone and even a bottle of water to help make it all seem realistic and more importantly not set up. This too can be used for my film - I plan to have my interviews based in front of iconic and identifiable parts of the Dockyard, depending on whom is getting interviewed. For example, the submarine interview could be done inside one of the bunker rooms, or having the submarine blurred in the background.

This has given me a slight insight on how to create an effective video - to me, this is very efficient due to it's camera work and content. Interviews of both the workers and customers work in a way to tell more about the company - the camera work clearly shows what the dental surgery is like. However  I will continue to research on more examples which I can use as research for my report.