The Trials, Tribulations and Rewards of Editing
Even though the filming is done, the project is not yet over. Post production in video marketing is all about putting everything together and coming up with an end product that holds up the message for the audience and ultimately meets the business goals. Post production involves a lot of editing and video integration, but it takes you much closer to your end goal, so this step should not be taken lightly.
Editing the Picture
Editing the video that has been filmed should be done in an organized manner since it is time consuming and quite a laborious process. The first step of editing is importing raw footage and converting them to appropriate files for the computer. Always make sure that you create a back-up file of such footage for safety purposes. Then arrange them roughly into place. Stock footage, retakes, talking heads, even B-rolls (shots that do not focus on your primary subject) — there are layers and layers of videos that should be gathered and brought together, not to mention they need to be trimmed and properly paced. The painstaking task of frame-by-frame editing requires more than creativity and skill, the editing professional should have utmost patience.
Incorporating Music and/or Voice over
To improve the overall viewer experience of your video, you should incorporate the appropriate music. Adding music to the video will make it more interesting but you should pick the tune you will use meticulously. If the budget permits, you can use an original track custom-made for the video. Of course the alternative is to choose stock music. If this is the case, make sure that copyrights have been secured to avoid infringement issues. Nevertheless, not all videos need a soundtrack, and if you do use one, choose one that is suitable for the project and will highlight its theme.
If the video content calls for a voiceover or dubbing, do not skip professional talent. The voiceover could be the one that sets the tone for the rest of the video so hire professional voiceover talents to do the job. Lastly, the use of sound effects is optional but adding it astutely could make the audience more engaged to the video’s message.
Extra Steps
Aside from editing and the addition of music, finalizing the video also entails adding titles and credits, color correction and the use of graphics and/or special effects. The video footage should be edited into a draft and reviewed before finalizing. Try to keep the video no longer than a minute so as to keep in step with the maximum attention span of viewers. It is also advisable to introduce the company name within the first 30 seconds of the video.
Make sure that the person in charge of editing is familiar, or better yet an expert in using the editing software. Stitching together raw footages into not only a comprehendible story, but a perfectly executed marketing strategy, is a significant final step to producing an attention-grabbing an crowd-pleasing video that delivers the intended value or call for action.