Edit by
mail with NOW YOU CAN GET YOUR VIDEOS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BY A REAL VIDEO PRODUCTION HOUSE!
WE'LL MAKE YOUR COMMERCIALS, WEDDINGS, HOME MOVIES AND EVERYTHING ELSE LOOK LIKE IT WAS PRODUCED BY THE PRO'S! Camcorders have become more affordable in the last few years, even as they have become more sophisticated. Features that were once available only in professional video gear have now become commonplace in even the least expensive consumer video cameras. So too, the creativity and ability of the average home videomaker has increased. Clever and careful attention to quality in amateur video production has replaced much of the shaky, unfocused and poorly-conceived video home movie efforts of a decade ago. But if camcorders have gotten cheaper, easier to use and more available to the general public, the editing equipment required to put the fine finishing touches on home movies has not. At least not to the degree that the acquisition equipment has. This is easily apparent to anyone who has attempted deck-to-deck editing and titling with clunky, blocky, low-end consumer gear. But cheer up! AdFaktory was created to help, and dedicated to the proposition that EVERYONE can afford to edit in a hundred-thousand dollar edit suite! We've edited thousands of video productions, from nationally broadcast advertisements to baby showers. We've welcomed professional producers and rank-and-file video amateurs alike into our facility for over six years, and not one person has ever left here without a top-notch high-quality video production. We are proud members of our local Chambers of Commerce, Film Commission and other professional guilds and organizations. Over the last few years, as our clientele has diversified and our reputation for high-quality, affordable video post-production has grown, we found ourselves doing more and more editing by mail... with no client or producer present. For instance, when one of our customers sends us "raw" tape from another city or state- complete with clear instructions about narration, music, titles, shot sequences and so forth, we are able to crank out first-rate productions, often without even the need for a phone call. We commonly do this for small cable television companies and network affilliates that lack the size and subscriber base required to operate a full-blown production and editing facility. All that is required are some basic lessons in videospeak... NARRATION is the foundation upon which all visuals are placed. Think of your TV or video production FIRST as an audio product, as if you were creating it for radio, or as if it were a cassette that you listen to in the car. As you write the copy (narration/voice-over) think about the rhythm and pace of your message and consider what sort of music may be appropriate to fill in the holes in the voice-over (if any). If there is no narration, your script should still say something like; "bring up music and show product" or "kill music and bring up natural sound." When your production has good stand-alone value as an audio product, the addition of visuals make it truly great! This applies to TV ads, product demonstration tapes, family photo videos, corporate identity videos, whatever! STORYBOARD your written copy... Not with little pictures, necessarily, but with a clear description of the visual shot that covers the accompanying copy. Pro's will leave large margins on the left-hand side of their double-spaced written narrative for notes on these shot descriptions, and notes on TRANSITIONS- the way one video scene changes into another. A shot description doesn't have to be technical... eg; "Wide shot of front lobby" or, "Close-up of product" or, "storefront with address title" and so on. TRANSITIONS The easiest and most common transition is the BUTT-CUT where two video scenes are simply butted together like an old-fashioned film splice. Be careful with other transitions like dissolves and exotic wipes. They can add extra time to the edit process and may be inappropriate to your production. For instance, page peels and flying boxes may be okay for a fast-paced high intensity industrial video, but will look just plain awful in a touchy-feely warm and sensitive scene. TITLES or Computer Graphics (CG for short) should be written out and placed in the left-hand side of your storyboard with good instructions about size, color, backgrounds and so on. For instance, if the company president is on camera, you may say: CG: "John Doe, Company President" over live shot. Or, you may simply want to create a title on a nice background color created by the computer, sometimes called a "Title Page"... eg; "Our Company Picnic" or, "The wedding of Sarah and John" and so forth. or copies... We'll make copies for you on any format, broadcast or otherwise, including VHS, 8mm/Hi-8, SVHS, 3/4-inch, 1-inch, BetaCamSP and others. We can also make copies in foreign broadcast formats such as PAL or SECAM. Dub prices are dependent on the length of the finished production and number of copies ordered, and so on. PRICES for video editing-by-mail are figured on a per-hour basis. Here's how it works: You send us your stuff; raw tapes or photos/slides, etc, script and storyboard, and clear editing instructions. We'll look over the project and call you back with a price. We will not proceed with the production until we have an agreement with you about price and other details. Until you establish yourself as a regular, you will send a check, money order or charge card information to us before we deliver your finished videos... We will not process your payment until we finish and deliver the project. Everything we do is priced according to an hourly rate sheet. (Slideshows or photos-to- video are priced on a per-picture basis). Every project is different, so it's difficult to give prices up front without seeing your particulars, but here are a few examples; Usually we take about 3 hours to edit together a broadcast quality 30-second commercial... At $75 per hour this averages $225. With a broadcast 3/4-inch ($15) and 2-VHS approval copies ($5ea.) a good TV ad can be edited and delivered for about $250, including voice and music. Sometimes broadcast quality commercials can be even cheaper! If you provide only 5 or 6 shots and your own voicework, editing can be done in 2 hours, bringing your total to about 175.00. A killer deal by any standards! NON-BROADCAST PRODUCTIONS We've edited everything you can think of and probably a lot more. We will use the same per-hour rate ($75) as we do on everything else, and remember, we don't start unless we have an agreement with you to proceed. You needn't go overboard on instructions if you don't want to. For instance, if you send us your raw wedding videos and the announcement/invitation, we'll send you back a professionally finished, edited product without any instructions! We've done hundreds! We won't take anything that is flagrantly illegal or that can't be mailed out of state... Check on Federal Postal guidelines if you have questions. Home / Commercials / Music Videos / Duplications / How to Plan a Video Production Rates / Edit by Mail / Copyright Information / Demo
Updated 8/12/2005 |
