Consider the hidden job market
The great thing about speculatively answering and approaching businesses for work opportunities, or answering non-traditional forms of advertisements is that sometimes openings and opportunities present themselves expectantly.
12 months I ago saw an ad on Gumtree for a web developer job, which although I didn’t meet all the essential criteria I answered anyway, I thought at least throwing my hat in the ring would be a positive thing to do and at the very least would allow me to see how I am potentially presenting myself to prospective employers. 
Jeremy from Jezweb contacted me with a rejection email for the job shortly after, however was really interested in discussing the possibility of collaborating on some media projects. Because of that I now have a small steady stream of media production jobs coming my way, and have so far produced 2 corporate videos, with another potential project waiting in the wings.
Producing a corporate video
The first project I produced for Jezweb was for a financial consultancy firm in Warnersbay NSW. Ruddi, the CEO of Key Financial Planning was consistent with his approach and outlook of the project, and after several discussions regarding the approach and concept of the production, had decided to not present directly to the camera. This in itself was not a huge problem, and I proposed a voiceover and a mock interview to facilitate the story which he felt comfortable doing.
Pre-Production for Key Financial Planning
As with any production the first stage is planning! Pre-production consisted of visiting the premises and test shooting, along with meeting the clients and establishing working relationships.
There were discussions detailing exactly what I wanted to capture, how to arrange the location to ensure the best possible footage, and coaching and encouraging participation from as many of the employee’s as possible. I also wrote a log of idea’s and possible scenarios that I thought would be effective, knowing that on the shoot day time would be at a premium and there would be little time allocated to ad-hoc decision-making. Additionally, I also wrote a backup script in case the voiceover didn’t go to plan or there were problems with the dialogue. Ruddi explained that he wanted to write the script and that a colleague of his would travel from Sydney on the day to read the script, this was all prepared off site.
Production - Shooting video and recording audio
The equipment I used was a Canon XA30 video camera, which is a camera that sits between the consumer end of the market and bridges the gap to the professional camera market. I chose to buy this camera as I wasn’t able to buy anything in the professional sector due to financial limitations, a pro camera like the Ursa mini pro for example costs $4000, and that’s without any lenses. However, the XA30 is more than capable, and has been a great work horse which produces video at an exceptional quality regardless of its price.
One of the advantages of the XA30 is that it has a wide DR and Highlight Priority Gamma modes. Wide DR compresses high brightness areas to achieve a wider dynamic range. This not only helps suppress overexposure, but also produces smooth gradations in highlights and shadows, all while maintaining a finalised look that eliminates the need for post-production processing. The Highlight Priority Mode gives an HDR-like quality to your video by reducing the amount of highlight and mid-tone compression on the gamma curve, which helps to maintain highlight exposure. It is also flexible with format and framerate, and so I am able to adjust the framerate from 25p to 50p, resulting in a smooth slow motion effect.
I used a Zoom H4N and a Rode Broadcaster microphone for the VO. It took a couple of long editing sessions to get to a usable audio edit that fitted the project. I used Pro Tools to edit and rendered the project as a 44.1Khz Wav file to export to FCPX.
Post Production - Delivery of Key Financial Planning media package
Key Financial Planning have placed their new marketing video on the website which has been professionally re-designed by Jezweb. The redesign offered them a better functioning website with a clean and modern layout and overall better functionality and presentation. The video has boosted conversion and sales, it also builds trust and presents Key Financial Planning as a genuine and honest company. And of course having a video provides excellent SEO results and opportunities.
Jezweb offer great websites that rank well
Jezweb are a multiple award-winning Newcastle based web development team in Jesmond. Jezweb design and implement websites for local business and specialise in website design, SEO, and marketing.
