{"id":4328,"date":"2013-05-09T12:43:26","date_gmt":"2013-05-09T16:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=4328"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:23:26","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:23:26","slug":"add-filmmaking-talent-to-your-web-content-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/add-filmmaking-talent-to-your-web-content-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Add Filmmaking Talent to Your Web Content Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>The following guest post was written by David Baker, Director of Web Communications at Oregon State University. David will be speaking at Confab Higher Ed in Atlanta, GA this November.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4333\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4333\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/relentless-250x250.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4333\" alt=\"Student on OSU's racing team\" src=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/relentless-250x250.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/relentless-250x250.jpg 250w, https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/relentless-250x250-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4333\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Relentless&#8221; is a documentary film about Oregon State University&#8217;s student formula racing team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Video content is a powerful tool for higher education marketing and communications. When done well, it can turn your brand into a channel and connect with your audience at an emotional level. Add technological developments that make advanced digital cinema tools accessible for any budget, and the potential is huge.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, most higher ed websites stumble with making video content work. To be successful, we need to step up to the plate and treat video as an integral part of our content strategy.<\/p>\n<p>The good news: As colleges and universities, we\u2019ve got a rich universe of content to draw from. Our researchers study climate in Antarctica, shape public policy and explore genetic mysteries. Our students are world travelers, Olympic athletes and community organizers. It\u2019s hard to walk across any campus without running into a compelling subject.<\/p>\n<p>The bad news: Many colleges and universities fail when it comes to video content. Entire cable networks dedicated to university programming fizzle and fade or plod along unwatched. Higher ed YouTube videos languish as brilliant lectures online take a backseat to cute cat videos.<\/p>\n<p>But video content for marketing, when done well, can earn views and build your brand. You need to tread the fine line between marketing and storytelling \u2014 include your message subtly, and surround it with a great story. University of California Davis illustrates this in \u201cThe art and science of beer\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3QFQVblxzSk\" height=\"315\" width=\"560\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>One of the keys to creating great video content is finding the right talent. There are a few routes to take when staffing up, but they all start with finding a great visual storyteller.<\/p>\n<h2>Option 1: Grow Your Own Talent<\/h2>\n<div class=\"pull-quote-box\">\n<div class=\"pull-quote\">Filmmakers always put the story first, and stories are what you want for content marketing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The era of the Flip camera turned us all into Francis Ford Coppola wannabes. Though only a few years ago, it seems like an earlier age. Before our phones all had amazing HD video capability, those simple, one-button Flip cameras \u2014 barely larger than a pack of chewing gum \u2014 made it seem so easy. Sure the handheld video was shaky and the audio was low-quality, but the image was stunning and better than anything we\u2019d seen before.<\/p>\n<p>We even invented a conceptual framework that allowed us, as digital marketers, to embrace this amateurish video: It\u2019s more authentic, low-fi is in, too much polish smacks of untrusted commercialism, it\u2019s what is popular on YouTube, and so on.<\/p>\n<p>But the fact of the matter is that most of what we created in the Flip Camera Era was unwatchable. Looking back at our 2008 video content today, it feels dated. It\u2019s more unrefined than it is authentic. The notion that we can turn anyone into a web video producer turned out to be fantasy.<\/p>\n<p>However, this doesn\u2019t mean that you can\u2019t grow your own video content marketing talent.<\/p>\n<p>The next big video innovation after the Flip camera was the advent of the DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera. When Canon added HD video capabilities to its prosumer and high-end still cameras, the power of a good quality lens gave an instant cinematic look to the video it produced.<\/p>\n<p>Add an affordable audio device like the Zoom H4N, and DSLRs remain our mainstay for video production. Even broadcast producers use these cameras on major television programs. With the right talent, DSLR cameras allow users to bring a photographer\u2019s sense of composition and a photojournalist\u2019s knack for storytelling to the arena of digital cinema. And that\u2019s where great content marketing begins: with the story.<\/p>\n<p>Despite what many like to think, however, you can\u2019t just hand a Flip camera, an iPhone, or even a DSLR to anyone on your team and expect to capture watchable content. Sometimes you might get lucky, but much of your content will drift aimlessly in the ether of YouTube.<\/p>\n<p>Odds are, though, you\u2019ve got someone in your group who\u2019s an avid photographer with a strong sense of composition. Pair that person with a writer who has interviewing skills, hand them a Canon 7D and a tripod, and you have the makings of a documentary film crew.<\/p>\n<p>The key to growing your own talent is to seek out team members with a passion for the craft. They can\u2019t learn it all on the job \u2014 there just isn\u2019t enough time. But if they have enough passion to learn the needed skills (and conduct much of this learning on their personal time), then you just might be able to cultivate a homegrown Michael Moore.<\/p>\n<h2>Option 2: Hire a Filmmaker<\/h2>\n<div class=\"pull-quote-box\">\n<div class=\"pull-quote\">The key to growing your own talent is to seek out team members with a passion for the craft.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Filmmaker<\/em> might seem like an odd position title. I bet that title doesn\u2019t show up on your institution\u2019s HR website.<\/p>\n<p>But if you don\u2019t have the time, or the right mix of interest and ability on your team, hiring a filmmaker might be the best way to go.<\/p>\n<p>There is a difference between a marketer, a videographer and a filmmaker. Great marketers know advertising and messaging. Videographers are detail-oriented technicians. But filmmakers always put the story first, and stories are what you want for content marketing.<\/p>\n<p>When hiring a filmmaker, ask to see each applicant\u2019s demo reel. If it\u2019s a technically precise collection of shots from various commercial or professional projects, that person may not have what you\u2019re looking for. But if you see some visual poetry, experimental footage, time-lapse sunsets, interviews with a grandmother or a local mechanic, you may be onto something.<\/p>\n<p>Any web-savvy filmmaker should have an online portfolio of professional work and personal experiments. I look for a <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/\">Vimeo<\/a> account. Vimeo is a video sharing community that tends to attract a more artistic following than YouTube, where cat videos still rule the day.<\/p>\n<p>Browse through their portfolio to see what they\u2019re producing. Based on their work, you should easily be able to learn if you\u2019ve got a committed storyteller on your hands. Look for flashes of artistry, but also watch for play and experimentation. Video technology on the web is a rapidly evolving environment, and your filmmaker will need to continually adapt and learn.<\/p>\n<p>Film schools churn out budding filmmakers by the thousands every year, and more of them wind up on their parents\u2019 couch than in a Hollywood director\u2019s chair. If you can turn one of them loose on your school\u2019s amazing stories, you might have the perfect combination: You feed them with great stories and a steady paycheck, and they\u2019ll feed you well-crafted content marketing videos to carry your brand to an engaged audience.<\/p>\n<p>At Oregon State University, we chose this route. When we became serious about video content, we hired a filmmaker. Our filmmaker, Justin Smith, has film industry experience and a film degree. He\u2019s also earned an MBA and has marketing sensibility. During the week, he produces amazing content for OSU \u2014 this has included two longer documentaries (<a href=\"http:\/\/poweredbyorange.com\/kelwer\/\">Kel Wer<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/poweredbyorange.com\/relentless\/\">Relentless<\/a>) that have screened in a local IMAX theater and on public television, as well as on the web. On the weekends, he sharpens his filmmaking skills with <a title=\"Justin Smith on Vimeo\" href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/justinsmith\">side projects and experiments<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Option 3: Look to the Outside for Talent<\/h2>\n<div class=\"pull-quote-box\">\n<div class=\"pull-quote\">The  tools are getting better [&#8230;] But telling a great story is just as challenging as ever.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A third option for creating video for content marketing purposes is to hire a freelancer or agency. You\u2019d want to use the same evaluation criteria that you would apply to bringing full-time staff on board. Do they have a professional portfolio? Does their work reflect their passion? Can they tell a story?<\/p>\n<p>If a freelancer or agency portfolio contains only traditional broadcast commercials or dry corporate video, you probably want to look elsewhere. But if you spot some strong, compelling examples or experience working on documentary films or broadcast content, then that freelancer or agency probably has some of the story sense you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n<p>Agencies that specialize in video content marketing are cropping up more and more. (Disclosure: I know this because I started one called <a href=\"http:\/\/slipstreamcinema.com\/cinema\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Slipstream Cinema<\/a>.) Such agencies should give you a higher production value than a lone freelancer. At Slipstream, we\u2019ve developed <a title=\"Slipstream Cinema's aerial camera\" href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/user16447060\">aerial camera platforms<\/a> that allow us to get dramatic shots that add a big film look to campus tours or documentary films. A good agency approaches your project with the vision and resources of a feature film crew.<\/p>\n<p>But if you\u2019re working on a budget, a lone freelancer can also be a great option. Local Corvallis, Oregon, filmmaker Eric Buist is an excellent example. Eric\u2019s <a title=\"Eric Buist - Buistmedia\" href=\"http:\/\/buistmedia.com\/\">portfolio site<\/a> and <a title=\"Eric Buist on Vimeo\" href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/ericbuist\">Vimeo account<\/a> highlight the perfect combination of story sense, artistic quality and technical competence. At our campus, we work with Eric frequently and trust him to find the right balance between message and story. When we need someone to supplement our team or to recommend to an organization on campus, Eric tops our list.<\/p>\n<p>Cinema-quality video is now par for the course when it comes to content marketing. It\u2019s hard to grasp the transformation that\u2019s taken place over the past four years. The tools are getting better, smaller and cheaper, and the distribution channels are free. But telling a great story is just as challenging as ever.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that you can choose from multiple paths when it comes to building a video content marketing team. And the potential and power of video content is inspiring. I\u2019ve seen a film, produced by a single staff member with a humble DSLR camera, leave an audience of hundreds breathless.<\/p>\n<p>Universities and colleges have amazing brands and stirring stories. It\u2019s time they found an audience.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few strong examples of video content marketing in higher education and beyond:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"RELENTLESS Official Trailer\" href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/cHJt1n62MA8\">Relentless<\/a>, <em>by Oregon State University<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/0ZNSVMaPIUQ\">How to write a short story<\/a>, <em>by Florida International University<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/53546831\">Our Story<\/a>, <em>by Sierra Nevada Brewing<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/22968295\">Deschutes Landmarks<\/a>, <em>by Deschutes Brewery<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Cascade Hop, Craft Brewing and Oregon State University\" href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/brHZC9-cVx8\">The Cascade Hop<\/a>, <em>by Oregon State University<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(If you notice a craft brew theme to this selection, it\u2019s reflective of the innovation found in that industry, the predilections of the author, or both.)<\/p>\n<p>How do you use video content for marketing at your institution? What examples of compelling video content have you found?<\/p>\n<div class=\"guest-author-box\">\n<div>\n<p><strong>About David Baker<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"David Baker on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dave301\">David Baker<\/a> is the Director of <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/webcomm\/\">Web Communications at Oregon State University<\/a>. He\u2019s also co-owner of the video content marketing agency <a href=\"http:\/\/slipstreamcinema.com\/cinema\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Slipstream Cinema<\/a> and is finishing a feature-length documentary about wine. When he\u2019s not building websites or sampling Oregon craft beers, he\u2019s usually roping his wife or daughter into a film experiment for his <a title=\"David Baker on Vimeo\" href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/user1231663\">Vimeo channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- end .authorbox--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following guest post was written by David Baker, Director of Web Communications at Oregon State University. David will be speaking at Confab Higher Ed in Atlanta, GA this November. Video content is a powerful tool for higher education marketing and communications. 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