ENVISIONING EDEN: A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK INTO VIDEO PRODUCTION
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is the value of a video?
According to Josh from Eden Visions, “everything you watch becomes a thread in a tapestry of influences,” and this is no different when it comes to brands promoting their products or services. Eden Visions reached out to our team last year to see if we could make some magic together, and we did just that. From fishing line and pulley systems, to drills and electric turntables, read on to find out how Eden Visions pulls off the perfect promo video.
1. Hey Josh, tell us how you got into video production?
Hey! I got into video production when I was a teenager really. My friends and I made videos for fun. They were mostly in the genre of comedy or music, but we would also make short films, usually in the horror genre! They are terrible… but I also kinda love them! I didn’t know anything about exposure, or aperture, or anything else technical for that matter, and I probably spent more time in front of the camera than behind it, but I definitely loved the feeling of creating something new. I found it very satisfying and exciting.
2. What inspires you, where do you go to get ‘charged’ with new ideas?
Well I love film. So I definitely am inspired by all kinds of movies, documentaries, and series that I watch. But it would be to think too highly of myself to think that these things are in the same sphere of work that I am involved in; I don’t make movies. However, I do believe that everything you watch becomes a thread in a tapestry of influences. More directly, I am inspired nearly everyday by other creators I find online through YouTube or through the film school I am part of.
3. You originally reached out to us, what drew you to our brand?
What you don’t know is that I am not a big beer drinker! What drew me to your brand initially was entirely aesthetics. Your products really stand out from the crowd. When I look for brands to collaborate with I am asking myself at least two questions. Firstly, do they have a strong visual brand identity which I can see they care about? Secondly, do I think video would add value to their business? AND UNION ticked those boxes for me, and working with your collection of beers has been so much fun. I’ve subsequently learned that you are a bunch of lovely people to work with, so that’s a massive bonus!
4. Your motto is ‘Growing brands through video’, can you tell us a bit more about how you think brands can make better use of video?
Yeah, let's start with some stats. A study by Forrester recently determined that just one minute of video is equivalent to approximately 1.8 million words. A similar study by Insivia concluded that viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch video compared to 10% when they read text, and with users spending on average 88% more time on websites with a video versus those without, video is becoming less and less optional for businesses who want to create engaging and high performing websites and social media feeds.
I would add to that, many companies automatically think that a professional product videographer will be way beyond what they can afford with their marketing budget. They’re wrong. Technology has allowed many more people to become professional videographers creating high level content. This drives up competition for me, but it also means that for an SME looking to promote products and services, video marketing is getting cheaper and cheaper. And with 83% of video marketers saying video directly increases their lead generation and sales, if you’re really serious about your business growth then there’s simply no reason not to be utilising video marketing!
5. Do you think production gear and software makes a difference, or could a talented individual with a smartphone do the job too?
What a question! I’ve written a blog on this which is on my website for anyone interested. The blog is titled; Is TikTok threatening to professional videographers?
In short(ish), I think that it all comes down to context. Before we produce a video for anyone, we have to ask questions about who the audience is, where the video will be hosted, and what the expectations will be regarding production quality in that arena. Here are three P’s to consider:
- The people you are targeting matter. People will put up with worse video quality if they have a good existing relationship with the creator, but if you are trying to access a new audience, poor production quality will make people bounce faster, no matter how good the content in the video is.
- Purpose matters. Poor quality does not affect a video's ability to make you laugh, in fact many times it can enhance it. If your purpose is comedic you can get away with a lot, but if your purpose is to advertise, or inform, or demonstrate you simply won’t keep attention or be respected as a brand if your video looks bad.
- The platform matters. People don’t go to TikTok expecting to watch well produced content. However, YouTube for example has become a space where people increasingly expect good production values, even more so on companies own websites etc.
Check my blog for more thoughts on this, it's a great question.
Soundtrack comes super early in the process, yes. Cutting to the soundtrack is always going to be more efficient that having to change everything to fit the music later!
7. Can you give us a peek behind the curtain and let us know how some of the effects for our video were done? (floating and spinning cans)
I try to do as many effects practically as possible, as opposed to achieving effects in the edit. So I spin cans with drills and electronic turntables, submerge them in fish tanks, make pulley systems with fishing line which is removed in post, and use a good amount of tape, blu tack and dowel rods to make things stand in unnatural positions!
There are some behind the scenes snippets from the AND UNION shoot on my instagram eden_visions if anyone wants to see some video!