Videoing a speech

A couple of the businessmen we manage are the keynote speakers at a seminar here on the Gold Coast tomorrow. We’re having one of the speeches videod for future use.

I spoke with a number of local firms for the videoing. And here was my thinking in the selection process.

# 1: Had to be great quality.

# 2: Had to reassure me the end result would be great quality.

Sure, price was an issue, but not a major one (having said that, quotes ranged from $500 to $4,000. The winning bid was the second lowest.).

Step 1: Telephoned 5 companies on my shortlist. Ranking them on various criteria, I soon had an idea of who I thought would provide me with the best solution.

Step 2: Checked out their web sites. My assumption here was that well-managed business have good web sites. That proved true. The most professional companies on the telephone had the best web sites.

Step 3: Did some due diligence. I rang some contacts in the industry and ask for recommendations. The company at the top of my list was recommended by 1 friend. I amde a few enquiries about them.

Step 4: I met the final 2 contenders. One guy told me what he would do. The other guy told me what he would do, explained what that would mean to me, he demonstrated how he would do it and why, and he showed me examples of his work (which included a range of some pretty impressive stuff from TV commercials to speeches).

The second guy was the business we went with. They answered the phone well – professional receptionist with a friendly voice.

* They analysed our needs and offered solutions to meet those needs.

* They presented very professionally.

* They were recommended by a credible 3rd party.

* They demonstrate their skill and expertise.

The reassured us of their expoertise and ability to provide us with the best quality. It was a nice job from start too finish.

Here’s how they video:

1. Radio microphone on speaker – picks up sound best

2. Ambient microphone on crowd – picks up laughter and crowd noise better than the speaker microphone

3. One camera on the speaker at all times (Broadcast quality)

4. One camera on the audience (Broadcast quality)

Editing:

a. Nice introduction with music and captions

b. Integration of the speakers slideshow into the editing (rather than having the slideshow filmed during the speech)

From there the glass master copy goes onto DVD (autoplay).

DVD production

To have the DVD duplicated, it’s simply a case of finding a decent duplication service. The same guy who is videoing the event for us can get it duplicated.

Cheapest is getting duplicates done outside Australia, but that takes a little longer (i.e. 3 weeks).

At time of duplication, the DVD’s are also printed (we’ll have our graphic artist do up the graphic).

And apparently, duplicated DVD’s have a 90% success rate. Can’t remember why, but that’s the average.

There you go…..that’s the basics on getting a speech taped. Hope it’s helpful.