Question On Product Review Video Production

[iAnalyst.com]

We are looking to make reviews of many of the products we have on site (staff reviews).  The only problem I am having is our products are not stored at our office (nor can they be as they weigh hundreds of pounds and are super expensive to ship).

So what would be a good solution to show in the video? Should we just do a slide share of still shots of the products with a voice overlay or try something more of a hybrid that uses a whiteboard?

The products themselves cater to gardeners and the DIY crowd so it doesn't need to be super involved.

[CollinJarman]

This seems like largely a matter of opinion and creative direction, so I'd take most answers here with a grain of salt (mine included).

That said, I tend to be a little nerdy, and often detail-oriented... barring actual clips of the product in use, I like diagrams or schematics showing specifically how something works.  Bonus points if you can expand on the how, and why your product's method of operation is superior.  Still slides would work as well.  Someone explaining the product in detail with a whiteboard style setup would definitely bring a human touch to it that some viewers may prefer.

Presumably the people you work with are also interested in the product, or similar fields.  I would do a survey of them to see what appeals to them the most, and try to target the video at your audience.  This an interesting and open-ended sort of question, so I'd like to hear what more people have to say on it...

[AgentsofValue]

I was working on a website on cell phone reviews several months ago and had the chance to view a number of mobile phone review videos on YouTube and other video sharing sites. The most effective videos involved showing how the product works such as the display, the camera, or the software. Some would also directly compare a phone with a rival to show its advantages. Unbiased reviews, would also touch upon the weaknesses of a particular device.

The advantage of a video review over a written one is the fact that it can visually display how a product functions. It also shows that you are truthfully reviewing a product since one can be clearly seen handling the device on video.

Now, I'm not sure how this would work with your product seeing as you've mentioned that they weigh hundreds of pounds and  doesn't need to be super involved. But if you could somehow take advantage of the video to show how your product works then I think it would be more effective than just a still shots with a voice overlay or  using a whiteboard.

[PhilNottingham]

Hi Erick,

This sounds like an interesting conundrum - but I'm sure you'll be able to find ways of making it work.

Echoing some of the previous two comments, I agree that it would be ideal if you can unite the staff and the product in some way - be that sending staff to a warehouse/studio somewhere or just doing "test" videos going forward when you try out a new product.

However, if this is not logistically possible, you have a couple of options:

• Chroma Key the staff onto a studio image of the product

This is essentially like doing a weather video for your product - getting a nice image of the Product in the warehouse against a white background, recording the staff member against a greenscreen and then removing the green in post production in order to lay them over the product image. There are tons of tutorials online to help with this - but it will require some level of production skill to get it set-up right and look believable.

• Mix footage/image slide-shows of the product with footage of staff reviews

Here you could instead just intersperse quality images of the product with VO and footage of the staff member talking http://library.creativecow.net/articles/kramer_andrew/slideshows.php this is a great little tutorial which explains how you can get a slideshow looking nice an professional with Aftereffects - but you can do similar with Motion and other editing programs. I would ensure you always have some visual appearance of the staff members in this video type - otherwise it may appear like you have just hired an actor to do VO and you won't be displaying the personality and product knowledge that is required to make a decent product video. You'll also need to ensure the images you use are unique and in a similar style, using any stock product photography to build out the video will look unprofessional and make it appear like you are pure affiliates without any product expertise.

While both these options will allow you to mask and get around the physical distance between product and the staff experts, but only if you retain some level of production style and quality between the two bits of footage. This means with either suggestion, you will need a photographer/cameraman to get to the warehouse somehow. If this isn't possible - then I think you are in a bit of a tricky situation. You could just do talking head videos with a short introductory sting featuring a standard product image - but this would ultimately result in a sub-par product video. This doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't create anything, especially if you are creating the videos mostly for the opportunity to get rich snippets, but you should be aware that bad product videos can lower conversion rates as much as good videos can increase them.

Hope that's useful.

Cheers,

Phil.