What is High Quality Video? (Part 1)
Everyone claims to have “high quality” video production. Here’s how to decipher who’s really offering it.
Understanding Video Production Part 18: Conclusion (the We’re Finally Through Edition)
Wow. 18 posts. If you’ve made it all the way through, then go buy yourself a beer from us and congratulate yourself. You’ve now seen what goes into ever video production that we do at Hamil Bros Studios. Sure, there’s more, but, you still have a good idea of what it...
Understanding Video Production Part 17: Post Production (Final Destination)
Getting ready to head out the door Well, we have our edit, our audio, and our composited effects, and that means we’re ready for the final stages of the journey of this video. This has been quite a journey, but, it is the journey we take every single time Hamil Bros...
Understanding Video Production Part 16: Post Production (Hearing Aids)
The Butcher or the Baker Let’s start off with a children’s poem, shall we? No… Of course not, what do you take me for? Jeez! Anyway, this is where we will dive into the post audio where you can either take the sound ingredients and make something delicious, or you can...
Understanding Video Production Part 15: Post Production (Now You See Me…)
Spicing things up In the last article, we talked about editing and the way an editor makes you feel what the director wants you to feel. Now we need to add things or take them away to really sell what the audience is supposed to see. This takes on many shapes and...
Understanding Video Production Part 14: Post Production (The Edit Edition)
About Editing I know. I know… Cheesy title. But, you get what you pay for. Let’s just assume that everyone thinks they know what video editing is, and to a degree, they do. I mean, Apple and Windows certainly feel that way with iMovie and Windows Movie Maker, and...
Understanding Video Production Part 13: Post Production (Early Edition)
Post Apocalypse Last time, we talked about prepping our video for the edit and sending it off to the client for review. Sometimes, we get caught in limbo while we wait for the client to get back with notes. That’s a rare case though. Most of the time we can, instead...
Understanding Video Production Part 12: Post Production (The Journey of a Thousand Frames)
Ready! Set! Not Yet! Our video footage is copied and organized. I’m sitting at my desk, I’ve got my headphones on, and I’m ready to rock. I’m always eager to start editing. But, we’re a little ways away from that. (And, yes, I always make this creepy face when I'm...
Understanding Video Production Part 11: Post Production (The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly Truth)
They say that the first 10 are the hardest Wow! If you’re keeping up, or have the ability to read and count, you realize that this is week #11. That means it has taken 10 weeks to explain what typically happens over the period of a few days for us for a simple video...
Understanding Video Production Part 10: Production (Action and the unsung heroes)
Welcome back to another exciting episode of What The Heck is Ross Talking About? Not really. If you’ve followed me for the last 9 weeks, then you probably have a decent idea of what I’m talking about. If you do, well done! Time to roll camera! (literally and...
Understanding Video Production Part 9: Production (The Sound of Silence)
The sound of silence? What on earth are you talking about? Nothing, really. I just thought it sounded cool and we saw Disturbed play that song this summer (2016) and it made me think of that, but, let’s see if I can tie it in somehow. Hearing is Believing Earlier, in...
Understanding Video Production Part 8: Production (Camera!)
A Camera is a Camera A video camera is a video camera is a video camera. NOT!!!! But, I’m sure you already knew this because you’ve noticed that that the last Tom Cruise movie looked better than your camcorder at your 6-year-old’s kindergarten graduation. Stands to...
Understanding Video Production Part 7: Production (More lights!)
There's more to the frame than just the subject Our interviewee is lit for the video and that’s pretty good, right? Absolutely! But, for Hamil Bros Studios, that’s not good enough. Boom! Throwin’ down the gauntlet here… Not really, but, whatever. We have a good...
Understanding Video Production Part 6: Production (Lights!)
Painting with light and shadow We’ve said it many times before and will continue to say it, we paint with light and shadow. When it comes to lighting for video, the balance between dark and light is of the utmost importance. When I was much younger and still a newbie...
Understanding Video Production Part 5: Production (The Room)
Time for the Shoot Day! Happy Halloween! Today, we're going to dive into preparing the shooting room. Sounds scary, right? No? Well, whatever. This room is going to be a video production nightmare for sound and lighting, so, let's jump in. By now, you have had a...
Understanding Video Production Part 4: Pre-production (The End of the Beginning)
Woohoo! The conclusion to pre-production! I bet you’re excited… Or not. I know you may not believe me when I tell you that these articles are, by no means, comprehensive, but, there are a million things to do in preparation for a successful video shoot and nobody...
Understanding Video Production Part 3: Pre-production (Scripting)
How about that script? How about that script? Okay. Now we know what the client wants and, more importantly, what their needs are. We’ve discussed whether the project is going to be a television commercial, a promotional video, or a informational video. We’ve also...
Understanding Video Production Part 2: Pre-production
What is pre-production? What is pre-production? The simplest answer is that it’s all of the prep work that has to happen before we ever even think about getting out a video camera. Like it is with many things, the preparation that goes into a video shoot is...
Understanding Video Production Part 1: The Basics
What goes into video production? What goes into video production? Simple, right? Just set up a camera and start shooting your video, right? While that may be the case for some videographers or production companies, and the occasional shoot may only require that, let’s...