One of the most important steps in developing a vision for a video project is to flesh out the style you'd like your project to embody. Video production can be a significant investment for your business, so it's critical that you take the time and care to ensure your video has the right tone and is successful as possible.
Technical Elements Vs Narrative Elements
There are two sides to the elements of a video's style: technical elements and narrative elements. Technical elements include things like frame rate, lens choice, lighting, cinematography, et cetera. Narrative elements refer to the actual contents of the video: the script and the action. While your producer will handle the details of most of the technical elements, and in some cases, the narrative elements as well, you should ensure to paint as clear a picture as possible for them to help them bring your vision to life.
What to Consider
There are five central points you should consider when developing your video's style: your company's brand style, the video's subject matter, the intended audience, what platform(s) the video will be distributed on, and how to stand out creatively.
1. Brand style
Creating a consistent and recognizable style is an important aspect of developing your company. Your video can play a significant role in continuing to build your brand. Consider consulting members of your marketing department if you are not familiar with your brand's style. Discuss with the producer your company's values, image, and culture. If your company has a style guide detailing company fonts, colors, logos, et cetera, this is a great resource to provide your producer with!
2. Video Subject Matter
Simply mirroring your company's brand isn't necessarily always the right move, however. It's important to also take into account your video's subject matter. If your company sells stuffed animals and has a brand built on a bright, happy style, but you are making a charity campaign video focusing on the impact of deforestation, then a bright, happy style may not be a good fit.
Consider you video's subject matter. What kind of emotions go along with what the video focuses on? Think about what sort of action will be happening onscreen. Will there be a lot of quick movement or very little. How will this effect how the pacing of the video & its tone?
3. Intended Audience
Another important factor to consider is the target audience for your video. Certain stylistic choices may resonate better with particular age, gender, class, occupation, or culture groups more than others. As one example, a video with exciting music, quick editing, and dynamic camerawork may appeal to younger audiences, while a video with a more muted style may land better with older audiences. For another example, if you are creating a product video for a very niche audience, including detailed technical information in the script may be a good choice; however, if your product is intended for a wide consumer base, this may not be the best approach.
4. Platform
Different online and legacy media platforms have different norms and present content differently, and this influence the choices you make for your video. For instance, while putting a short intro with your logo may be appropriate for a YouTube video, it is not suitable for a video on TikTok, where videos are shorter & require an immediate hook.
5. Creative Distinctiveness
Finally, the last element to consider is this: "what will make the video stand out?" Videos produced for advertisements & social media in particular should be created with an attention-grabbing and engaging style. A unique style can be developed through direction, art design, color grading, music, or scripting.
Final Thoughts
Your Producer will be able to help in making stylistic decisions, but it's important to know the factors that need to be considered. Make sure to consider these five factors, and discuss them with your producer!
Interested in producing a video for your company? We can help! Reach out here for a free consultation: https://www.silverglassky.com/quote