May 10, 2019 Creating Videos with More Impact

At Mitsue-Links, we provide video production as a service. In line with our clients' requirements, we perform proposal formulation and scenario planning prior to filming as well as filming and editing for pre-prepared scenarios etc. In all projects, the most important phase is the complete preparation of background information before commencing production.

When working on video projects from the scenario formulation stages, we occasionally receive client requests to ”convey as much information as possible“. However, videos stuffed with information can become vague and overly long. Furthermore, if potential viewers notice that a video has considerable length, it may even deter them from watching - thereby not conveying the important content contained within and rendering the video ineffective.

By ensuring that information is properly prepared, it facilitates smoother production, and, even without cramming too much information, allows for the creation of more impactful videos.

When preparing information, I believe it's important to clarify the following two criteria

• video objective (”what“ to convey and to ”who“)
• the necessary information to be conveyed to achieve said objective

Objectives vary by client, however examples include “highlighting the benefits of a product” or “sharing company information for recruiting purposes.” In the former, the primary target viewers are potential product purchasers, whereas in the latter, job-hunting students are the focus. It's therefore important to carefully identify the information required to achieve desired objectives, that is to consider ”how to create appeal“ with viewers and then plan and prepare content accordingly.

If clients seek to create a video that will have success in reaching their audience, it's important to prioritize and sometimes discard information. By focusing on questions such as ”what is the purpose of this video?“ and ”what information is important/useful for the viewer?“ it's possible to produce far more effective videos, thereby making it straightforward for the viewer to grasp key points conveyed.

Both the pre-determined video objectives and target audiences are employed as guides during the editing stage.

So, when editing it's important to always refer to objectives and consider questions such as “is the design sense and/or illustrations suitable for the desired objective?” and “is content effectively conveyed to the viewer through the screen?” to ensure consistency.

Furthermore, through the making of small considerations, video content will be better conveyed to the target viewers.

The mind is said to judge preferences in an instant, therefore the first few seconds of a video's content are extremely important. So, when developing scenarios, it's crucial to create a title that clearly conveys “what the video is, and who it's for”, furthermore any conclusions/key points should be communicated in the early stages of playback. An example being YouTubers who commonly include something such as ”I tried ________“ in the title of the video and add a clear description. Doing this ensures viewers can understand at a glance the nature of the content and subsequently enables their effortless immersion into the video.

Furthermore, superimposing captions and subtitles can further demonstrate viewer consideration. As some viewers may play content in environments where they watch in mute, such as on public transport, in a library etc., it's important to ensure they can obtain the same information and value from the video as those with audio enabled – additionally, using captions can make content easier to understand.

In terms of accessibility, the use of captions/subtitles is also effective because information is equally transmitted to everyone. In recent years, I feel that demand for accessible content is increasing, partly due to the influence of the upcoming Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games.

Our team, with due consideration of the above-mentioned points, works day in, day out to create corporate videos with more impact.

We'll hold our Introduction to Enterprise Video Use seminar on 14 June. In the seminar, we'll introduce important points about getting started in corporate video production (please note that the seminar will be in Japanese).

If you're considering corporate video production in the future or whether you`re interested in professional video production, please join us.