Friday, February 22, 2013

Five-and-a-Half Steps to a Great Video: The Pagano Video Method
- Step Two



Five-and-a-Half Steps to a Great Video: 
The Pagano Video Method - Step Two

Welcome back!

In our last installment of this series, we looked at the first step in my method for creating a great video.   We started by borrowing a page from the actors' handbook and began to create a back story.  The back story, you'll remember, is a trick actors use to give their characters depth, personality, and the motivation that leads them to their current situation -- a moment in time we experience as a movie, play or TV show.  It's the story behind the story. 

Step Two: What's your product?
In this installment, we continue building on the back story by asking another key question that this time will give us knowledge about the main character in the video.  That main character is your product or service:  The star of the show.

What do we know about the star?  At this stage, not much.  From the exercise we completed in Step One we know about you and your business, but the star of our show -- your product or service -- is still an unknown.  So now let's learn about your product or service. 


Question Two:  "What's Your Product?"

"Pizza Boxes." 

I have to admit, if this were a real conversation with a real client, I'd be grinning right now.  The idea of making a video with pizza boxes as the star would never occur to me.  I haven't really thought much about pizza boxes at any time I can remember.  Sure, I've thought a lot about the pizza.  But the box?  Not so much. 

"So tell me about pizza boxes…"

"Well Fred, you'd be surprised at the variety of pizza boxes.  They come in many different sizes and shapes."

"Shapes, you say?"

"Yes-- there are square ones, of course, but there are also octagons, round ones, and some that are wedge shaped, for single servings."

"I've never seen a round pizza box."

"They're fairly new to the market, but they're catching on.  You see them more in high-end pizza restaurants." 

"Why mostly in high-end shops?"

"It's because gourmet pizzas are gaining in popularity.  The operators want to show off the uniqueness of their product, and one of the best ways they can do that is with a box that's unique.  You wouldn't put a diamond ring in a cardboard box, and the gourmet pizza purveyors feel the same way. 

"Customers like them too.  And the really interesting thing is that our research shows, over and over, that just putting a pizza in a premium box means an operator can charge two, three, even five dollars more for the same pizza.  Just because of the box, which only adds about 25 cents to the cost."

Eureka!  We've discovered the star power of the pizza box.  Spending an extra 25 cents on the box brings in up to $4.75 in extra income.

Had we not taken the time to learn everything we could about the product, we wouldn't have gotten this extremely important bit of information  Is there any question that we'll be talking this fact up big in the pizza box video?  You bet we will.  It's a gem!

When you're planning for a video, be sure to learn everything possible about the product involved.  It's the star of the show, so make sure you give it the star treatment.

Next time we mark the halfway point in the Pagano Video Method and ask yet another key question in the pre-production process:  What do you want to do?

See you then!

Best,
Fred Pagano


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Don't want to wait for the next article in this series?  Learn more about the Pagano Video Method and how it can help you produce great videos direct from the source.  Contact Fred Pagano at Brown Cow Studios today!  

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Copyright 2013 Fred Pagano & Brown Cow Studios of Boston.  All rights reserved.  This copyrighted article may be redistributed provided all text, credits, and this copyright notice are intact.  Please let us know you've linked to us. 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

5-1/2 Questions to Ask Before Producing a Video:
The Pagano Video Method




5-1/2 Questions to Ask Before Producing a Video: The Pagano Video Method - Part Two


Who are You?


The Pagano Video Method-Question 1:  Who are you?
Question 1 in the Pagano Video Method:
Who are you?
Welcome back to my multi-part series, 5-1/2 Questions to Ask Before Producing a Video:  The Pagano Video Method.  These are the questions I ask my clients when they approach me about producing a video.  The answers provide insight into the client's goals, needs, and purpose, and help me as the producer to make intelligent choices during the production process. 

Although I'm concentrating on corporate videos in this article, the five-and-a-half questions of the Pagano Video Method can be applied just as effectively to your home videos about vacations, birthdays, and even your kids' college application videos.  The five big questions are always the same. 

Question 1:  Who are You? (Part One)


We kick off our five-and-a-half questions with what I think is the most important question of all.  It's so important that we ask it twice:  Who are you?  Though this question may seem  simple, and you might think you already know the answer, don't be so sure.  Take the time to answer it and its sub-questions completely.  You'll gain valuable insight. Here's why:

When actors prepare for a new role, they often create a backstory for their characters.  Although the script might describe the character Julie as "a confident, pretty, single woman in her 20s who is trying to make a living as an artist," actors know this description isn't detailed enough.  They compensate for the lack of detail by creating their own story about the character they portray.  This backstory could go back as far as the character's childhood and may describe where they grew up, their family, personal style, and even key incidents in their lives:

Julie is a 20-year old brunette.  Most people would consider her pretty, but she wasn't always so.  She grew up with a hooked nose, a rather large one at that, and it always made her self-conscious.  She was a plastic surgery success story, because following the operation she had two years ago, she began to like herself more, others found her more attractive, and the dreaded "Mama Hooknose" taunts she had endured through childhood ceased ... 

Wow!  That's a lot of information we didn't have before.  Now we know that Julie's confidence is due to an action she took two years ago -- getting plastic surgery.  We also know that before the surgery her peers teased and taunted her for her funny nose.  They even called her "Mama Hooknose."  None of this is in the script, but it will come out in the actor's portrayal of the character.

The back story gives actors knowledge they need to make the characters come to life.  It's a window into why the character thinks and acts a certain way and what its little foibles and personality quirks might be.   Though Julie is a confident young woman, something inside might still bristle whenever someone tells her that she has an excellent sense of smell. 

And so it is with video.  To make a great video, whatever the subject matter or purpose is, we need an answer the question "who are you?"  We need your back story. 

So, who are you? 

To answer that question, we ask more questions:


  • What business are you in? 
  • How long have you been at it?
  • What's your primary service or product?
  • Who uses it?
  • What other products or services do you offer?
  • How did you get involved in this business?
  • Who are your competitors?  The biggest?  The up-and-comers?  The one who most makes you nervous?
  • What successes have you had?
  • What have you done that hasn't been so successful?
  • What problems are there?
  • What opportunities exist?
  • What do you value?  Customer service?  Profits?  Providing a service or product that improves people's lives? Something else?
  • What is your mission?
  • And finally, can you describe your company in fifty words or less?


You can probably think of many more questions to ask yourself that will drive you to answer the big question, "Who are you?"  Ask them!

When you're done, you'll have your backstory.  Though it may not overtly come into play in the video that introduces your new widget, the knowledge of who you are will be there, lurking in the background and influencing a myriad of factors that go into a successful video -- specific word choices in the script, camera angles, background music, even whether you are best served by animation or live action. 

That's the first question in the Pagano Video Method.  It's not limited to just corporate videos, either.  You can apply my method to videos about your wedding, family vacation, Aunt Edna's 70th birthday party, or anything else.

Learn your back story.  Ask the big question, "Who are You?" 

Come back next week for a discussion of the next question in the Pagano Video Method, "What do you do?"

Thanks for reading!
 Fred Pagano


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Don't want to wait for the next article in this series?  Get it from the horse's mouth:  Learn more about the Pagano Video Method and how it can help you produce great videos direct from the source.  Contact Fred Pagano at Brown Cow Studios today!  

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Copyright 2013 Fred Pagano & Brown Cow Studios of BostonAll rights reserved.  This copyrighted article may be redistributed provided all text, credits, and this copyright notice are intact.  Please let us know you've linked to us

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Thursday, February 7, 2013

5-1/2 Questions to Ask Before Producing a Video:
The Pagano Video Method







5-1/2 Questions to Ask Before Producing a Video:  The Pagano Video Method


I love my business of creating great videos and sound designs for business.  It's hard work, and I often put in long days and work well into the night.  But I love it, and that's why I do it. 

It can be frustrating sometimes, however.  One of the biggest frustrations is when my client's aren't clear about what they want in a video.  Sometimes the only thing they know is that having a video is a good idea.  They're not sure of the message, the desired result, or what they'll use it for. 

They depend on me, a creative professional, to flesh out the answers and get them on the right track.

In response, I've developed a set of five-and-a-half questions -- they're part of what I call the Pagano Video Method -- that every client should answer at the beginning of a video project.  Together, these questions create a roadmap to a successful video.  They cover everything from the basic purpose of the video to its style and flavor.  They help crystallize ideas, generate new ones, and lay the foundation for scriptwriting.  One of these questions is so important that we ask it twice -- or one-and-a-half times.  You'll find out why later on.

When the answers to the five-and-a-half questions are clearly thought out, the direction of the video becomes clear.  We've got the information necessary to begin production of a great video that accomplishes its purpose.  By this stage, things are often so clear that the video almost writes itself. 

The end result is a more effective video and a happier client. 

So, what are the five-and-a-half questions? 

1.  Who are you? (Part One)

2.  What do you do?

3.  What do you want to do?

4.  Who do you want to do it?

5.  How do you convince them to do it?

5-1/2.  Who are you? (Part Two)

They sound pretty simple, don't they?  They are, but they're powerful too.  Because without clear answers to these questions, its nearly impossible to create a video that works. 

Over the next few weeks, we'll look at each of the five-and-a-half questions that constitute the Pagano Video Method in depth.  We'll look at some real-world examples and scenarios, and put the method to work creating a mock script. 

Come back next week for the first question in the series ... "Who are you?"  It's not as simple as you might think.  In fact, we ask it twice ...

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Don't want to wait for the next article?  Learn more about the Pagano Video Method and how it can help you produce great videos direct from the source.  Contact Fred Pagano at Brown Cow Studios today!  

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Brown Cow Studios produces high quality video and sound designs.  To learn how we can help you, visit www.BrownCowStudios.com

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(c) 2013 Brown Cow Studios of Boston -- All rights reserved.
This article may be redistributed provided all content and copyright notice is intact.  Please let us know you've linked to us.











Friday, February 1, 2013

Why the Suicide of Aaron Swartz Matters to You



Why the Suicide of Aaron Swartz Matters to You


This is a bit off topic for this blog, but I think it's an important issue that deserves the space.

Aaron Swartz, you may recall, is a computer hacker/internet rights crusader who was prosecuted for allegedly stealing electronic documents from JSTOR, an online storage system for scientific papers.

Swartz made amends.  Having returned the documents he'd taken to JSTOR, that organization had no interest in taking action against him, nor did MIT, whose internet servers Swartz intercepted to do the deed.

Despite this lack of interest in the case by the wronged parties, the Federal government prosecuted anyway.  Swartz was charged with 13 felonies, faced over $4-million in fines, and was facing a 50-year prison term.

Rather than face prosecution, Swartz committed suicide on January 11, 2013.

That's the background story.  Simon Dumenco, writing in the January 21, 2013 issue of Advertising Age makes a great case for why Swartz's needless overprosecution affects you, me, and everyone.  Please follow this link to the AdAge site to read it:

          Simon Dumenco's Editorial on Aaron Swartz's Suicide


Remember:  The parties he supposedly wronged had no interest in his prosecution.


BullShots!

BullShots! is written by Fred Pagano, and is published by Brown Cow Studios of Boston.



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