Videography is the artistic capturing of motion pictures on any electronic device. Often confused with cinematography, it is not intended for the big screen or theatres but for the visual promotion of companies, ideas, and thoughts. Videographers usually produce short clips and circulate it all over the internet on Youtube, Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, and now the infamous Tik Tok.
A video is produced in three stages: pre-production, production/filming, and post-production. The pre-production stage begins with the conceptualisation of the idea by the team. Once the goal of the video is understood, a strategy is made. The budget and the scope of making the idea come to life is determined. The proposal is then storyboarded and explained to the client to get a confirmation that it matches their needs. Then a project timeline is made and roles for the team members are assigned. The script is prepared, the equipment needed is listed and the locations for the shoot and the characters are finalised. One very important step in pre-production is checking out the location to visualise the frames and determine how the set has to be prepared for the shoot day.
On the shoot day, the team arrives a little early to get everything set up in place. Every scene is perfectly orchestrated to get the desired result. The footages are reviewed at the end of each scene and checked for any errors. At the end of the shoot, the clips are combined and backed up.
Going forward with post-production it mostly involves working with various editing software. The first step is to adjust the lighting, contrast, saturation, color correction, and select the portions of the clips that are required. Then the clips are assembled together, music is added and patched with the desired transitions and effects. Further is any graphics or animations that are required are also added. Feedback is taken from the team and the client at every step to fasten the process and get the final output within the estimated time.
These days it only takes a mobile phone to capture, edit and promote a video but a professional always makes sure he is prepped with the right gear for the job. The tools required for capturing include the best DSLR camera for photography and videography and a shotgun mic, the camera light, and a three-point lighting kit for perfect lighting, a tripod, or a gimbal for stabilization of the video thus giving a professional output. Communication and coordination between the production team is key to getting a perfect shot for which a good pair of earphones always comes in handy. Some extra lenses, filters, and polarizers are always to be carried to fine-tune the video. Most importantly, a professional never forget extra batteries, power cords, cables, extra storage devices for back up. Every equipment is checked and organised neatly in the respective equipment bag/camera bag to avoid the hassle of finding things at the shoot location.
The widespread use of smartphones and social media platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok and youtube to name a few, the media field has grown drastically in the past few years in India. Photography and videography have not just become part of everyday day life but are also becoming the career option for many. Although many might find it easy, there’s more to this than what it meets the eye. The reason why some of the product or promotion videos produce better output is because of the way its captured. A camera is an object and you need to fill it with light and make it understand what needs to go where. As pixels play a huge role in videography or photography in the current situation, we need to make sure each pixel understands its role. Back in those days when films had a different way of capturing images the output was different. Keeping that in mind, seeking the right media production house or media production company is the only way to procure the desired marketing videos you seek.
Hence, what makes videography so important in marketing is the quality of the shot that is being captured. Cinematic videography is a technique and an art that cannot be learned and mastered by every layman. Some of the top videographers in India like Navdeep Soni or teams like photo tantra, pixel studio.IN, fotosutra, etc. who made the media field one of the major contributors to the current economy are not cinematographers but are talented and trained videographers. We here at The Light Lab give you the quality and work satisfaction that you are looking for, not just because we want to be one of the major contributors to the Indian economy but to actually show what talented professionals we are. So, don’t choose us because we are the right fit, but choose us to help you show the world that your product is the right fit.
