Video is a high-impact form of media with the potential to engage with a diverse audience. For over 120 years, people have used moving images on a screen to entertain, inform and instruct audiences all over the world. This has led to the movie and television industries ranking among the most lucrative and powerful businesses in the world. Quality video is costly to do well. Part of the reason that movie and television studios exist is the fact that producing quality video requires specialized skills. Conventional wisdom dictates that only a large organization like a studio could have access to the creative and technical talent required to pull off the task. Fortunately, conventional wisdom is wrong.
Video on a Budget
Can you harness the power of video without hiring a team of cameramen, editors and directors? The answer is yes. In our age of connectivity and personal technology, most people are carrying a good video camera with them at all times. The cameras built into the typical smartphone are more than capable of producing high-definition video that will look good no matter where you display it.
You can turn your sponsors, exhibitors and attendees into your film crew simply by encouraging them to take video at your events and share the videos with you through social media.
Leveraging Your Audience
If you want to make good use of the content produced during your events, here is how to make it work:
- Before the Event
If you want to gather video during your event, keep this fact in mind as you plan the event. Your attendees need good sight lines and adequate lighting to capture quality footage. Make sure you have plenty of signage encouraging attendees to use their video cameras. Be sure to include a hashtag like #MyEventName2016 for your impromptu film crew to use on social media.
- During the Event
When you planned your event, you had ideas about which activities would be popular and well attended. Once the event starts, be ready to throw these ideas out the window. You may plan the event, but once it begins, your attendees will find and record the most meaningful and memorable aspects of your events. Let your attendees show you what really mattered.
- After the Event
No matter what type of video project you are filming, you will usually end up with far more footage than you need. Start with a timeline of your event, then sort the footage by time and date. Choose the best clips from your most popular events to incorporate into your final video.
- Postproduction
Once you have all your video compiled, you are ready to produce your final product. You will be using footage from a wide variety of sources. Be sure to correct any color shifts, brightness and contrast problems and audio levels.
When you leverage content provided by your event attendees, you may spend a bit more time in postproduction, but you will be rewarded with a video that truly showcases your event.