A Few Good Tips for Good Audio

A picture can tell a thousand words, but what if that picture is accompanied by bad audio? Will it be able to tell anything at all? It does not take years of experience as a "sound guy" to record quality audio for your video presentation. By planning ahead you can produce a project you'll be proud to show.

Always be prepared for outside, uncontrollable factors such as wind, industrial sized air conditioners, trains, cars, ham radio interference, hums, etc. You can plan ahead and prevent these kinds of annoyances from ruining your production by utilizing a professional windscreen (known as a "possum") for your lavaliere (lapel) or boom mic and scouting all locations before you shoot. Windscreens reduce wind velocity, which minimizes wind noise, pop noises and breath sounds from your interviewee. By taking advantage of a location scout you will have the chance to notice any unwanted noises and find ways to work around them or the opportunity to find another location that better suits your production needs.

Once while shooting a video project in Dallas we encountered radio interference on our lavalier mic that was coming from several possible sources such a nearby tv station, cell phone towers or a ham radio tower. No matter what channel we switched the mic receiver and camera transmitter to we got a nasty "hummm" in our audio feed. Having exhausted our known solutions we were forced to use a hand held mic taped to a steel rod that was kept out of the video frame. It worked. The moral of this story is to always take as many back ups as possible. Tape, cameras, mics, batteries, etc.

Audio is just as important as video in any production. A clean audio track will take any video project to the next level. Try listening to just the audio track from any program you currently like then imagine it without the audio. Plan ahead and make the effort to scout all locations before your shoot.

Navigation professionally produces a variety of audio and visual needs. http://www.navigationadvertising.com

So much more than an office job!

Plane rides, car accident scenes, body builders, politicians, restaurants and more restaurants, history, music, weddings, real estate, children homes—you name it I have probably been involved with a video about it!

The past three years of my life have been spent working for Navigation Advertising and Adventure Video Services to produce videos of all kinds. I have traveled to from Washington D.C. to Montgomery, AL as well as small southern country towns.

Each video production has been unique and opened my eyes to different places and people. Not everyone is fortunate enough to get paid for doing what they love. Visual story telling through video is my primary gift and I enjoy every minute of it.

One of the most recent video projects I shot and edited was a demo reel for motivational speaker, Dale Smith Thomas. Dale's presentation at Murfreesboro's newest hotel and only convention center, The Embassy Suites, was my first time shooting in high definition. Our multi-cam set up included three Panasonic AG-HVX-200’s that recorded directly to P2 cards. Wow! This made “capturing” the footage in Final Cut twice as fast! While editing her speech into a 10-minute demo reel I was not only able to practice editing and exporting high definition video but also truly became inspired by her encouraging words. What a great way to start 2009!

- Kristen Archer, Video Production Manager

Video Production Tips

Visually telling a story through video is one the most effectively ways to reach desired audiences. But if your video production value is low due to poor videography, your message may be lost in translation. By following these three tips your production value will inspire and inform rather than distract and disappoint.

1. The first step to improving your video is to ensure visual stability by using a tripod, jib/crane or steady cam. While some camcorders come with built-in image stabilization, it can only compensate for so much movement and will not give you the clear, you want. Don't skimp on your video equipment—nothing is more expensive than having to reshoot poor video. Note: some producers want the "shaky camera" effect, but make sure you stay on your shots long enough for the viewer to follow the story.

2. A common video mistake is making constant movements and adjustments while shooting. Be deliberate when making adjustments; don't make changes without a reason. Take a shot of something and leave it there for several seconds, stop the recording and take another shot. Don't quickly pan the camera from one subject to another. When panning and zooming, use slow, smooth, and deliberate motions. This will make your videos much more pleasant to the viewer. Note: We make sure that our entire video crew is constantly looking at the camera to make sure it is ON. Yes, we like other video production companies have made the mistake of forgetting to hit "record".

3. While the viewer will typically never know about your production organization, this is a crucial step to take to ensure proper video production. Organizing your shots in pre-production will save headaches and hours of time in post-production. Slating and making useful comments on each shot allows for more creative time in post. By purchasing a small dry erase board for slating and legal pads for making comments about each shot, digital capturing time in post will be limited to just capturing necessary shots. This will also save tons of hard drive space and make finding wanted shots quicker. Make sure to always allow at least 10 seconds of pre AND post roll for each shot. You'll get smoother transitions and easier batch capturing in post-production.

While everyone has their own way of shooting video, the three tips above will ensure a smoother production from beginning to end. From keeping it simple and stable to maintaining organization throughout your production—you and your viewer will experience a better product. Anyone can use a video camera, but few can get professional results every time.

Kristen Archer, Video Production Manager
Navigation Advertising, LLC

Reel News

Navigation Advertising’s video department recently joined the fight to stop partial-birth abortion in Tennessee. In collaboration with David Fowler, President of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, the video department co-wrote, filmed and produced a dramatic, 5-minute informational video in the effort to get the word out about Senate Joint Resolution 127. SJR127 would allow the people of Tennessee to vote on an amendment to our state Constitution that would allow partial-birth abortion to be banned as well as other common state abortion laws to be enacted. The Family Action Council of Tennessee is endorsed by James Dobson’s, Focus on the Family organization. This video project will be distributed to Tennesseans throughout the state to encourage them to contact their legislators and request that SJR127 be passed into law. Please visit www.lifepetition.org to view our video (bottom video) and learn more about Senate Joint Resolution 127 and what you can do to help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3UJ_X4C19M&eurl=http://lifepetition.org/

Welcome!

Welcome to our first official blog entry. One of the greatest tasks is to make these entries not sound like press releases. After developing thousands of promotional tasks for clients over the past 14 years we tend to think in a certain way, but we'll do our best to just communicate about our industry, community, families, experiences and projects. We enjoy our position as Murfreesboro and Rutheford County's premiere advertising and marketing company. We look forward to serving our community by helping our client's put their "best foot forward" through effective advertising, marketing and public relations. We understand that when businesses and individuals are successful they have the funds necessary to pay employees, provide for their families, eat at Toots, or buy a home from Ole South Properties. This blog will provide interesting information about the world of advertising, marketing, public relations, website development, print design and video production. At Navigation Advertising we practice The Art of Persuasion. http://www.navigationadvertising.com