Crowdson & Company is a full-service video production company located in Central Illinois, specializing in video production for small businesses.
If you need a commercial, training video, music video, or an event videotaped, call us. We can deliver your project on DVD or videotape, on the web or on your iPhone.
We're always looking for new and interesting projects that will challenge us and allow us to stretch our creativity and skills. If you have any questions or would like to discuss how your project can become a reality, please call us at 217.299.8801, or email us at
info@imaketv.com.
Video can be used for something straightforward such as introducing a new product or service; to increase traffic to your website via a clever video; to provide a product demonstration or tutorial to your customers; to deliver commentary from your CEO to investors; or to convey a message to employees.
Additionally, many small businesses find additional uses for videos by utilizing them for online advertising, or by incorporating them into a Multimedia News Release. An MNR is a great tool that incorporates video, photos, text, links and other information; making it more interactive than standard, text only, press releases.
As a video guy, most people think that I would be annoyed by continuity errors in movies and tv shows – you know, when the gun is on the table in one shot, then cut to a different angle and it’s gone. Those type of things don’t bother me much though. I know mistakes get made and I guess I’m not that anal. What REALLY bugs me though, is the laziness of writers who let their characters solve a case by using their computer to zoom in on the killer’s reflection in the victim’s eyeball. This video is a nice example:
I can forgive Star Trek, since they’re in the distant future, but the rest are supposed to be in the “real world”. Here’s a good parody of the technique from Red Dwarf:
Entrepeneur Magazine has an article for business owners about the importance of using video on their web site:
Jama Software, a developer based in Portland, Ore., uses video for everything from product demos to getting customer feedback on work in progress to showcasing its philanthropic work, says John Simpson, partner and director of customer outreach and marketing. The firm’s videos page is the third-most visited on its web site. More than 40 percent of the site’s visitors view a video while they’re there, and 35 percent of video viewers go on to request a trial or demo of the product.
“As a little guy, your best weapon is to differentiate yourself,” Simpson says. “Video lets us do that.”
The numbers back that up. According to online media research firm comScore, in August, 158 million U.S. Internet users viewed a video online–the largest audience ever. That kind of potential viewership is appealing, says Kraig Westfall of Good Fruit Video in East Lansing, Mich. Westfall’s clients typically hire him for video productions between one and five minutes long and budgets of $1,000 to $5,000. He counsels customers to use authentic voices and real people from their companies rather than slick voice-over and acting talent. “That kind of authentic voice builds relationships with the customer or prospect. People are often put off if something seems too slick,” he says.
Video can help customers find you too. Forrester Research recently found that sites with video stood a 50 times better chance of appearing on the first pages of Google results on keywords for which Google offers video results. The key is to integrate video search engine optimization tactics. Much like traditional SEO, the major search sites (Google, Yahoo!, MSN, etc.) each have methods of accepting video submissions in addition to their search algorithms that seek video out.
Of course, we’d love to help you create web videos that work for your business. Just call for a consultation!
Ever wonder why local commercials look so different from national commercials, even though we’re using similar equipment? Two things – money and time. Here’s a good example – this commercial (film? mini-doc?) for Johnnie Walker uses one actor (technically two if you count the piper), one camera, and only one shot for the entire 6 minutes – doesn’t seem like you could get much simpler. But stick around for the credits at the end to see how many people it took to make this one-camera shoot happen. They finally got it after 40 takes over two days (most likely 10-hour days). I would guess that it cost over $100,000 for this “simple” one-camera shoot.
