Capture Video – Annual Award Video Production

Annual Award Video Production

Capture Video produces a full range of videos. In a typical week, we will edit a short informational video consisting primarily of animated titles to be used in a presentation, we will videotape a live training session and prepare transcriptions to go along with the DVD for reference, we will videotape and edit a short promo for a website with client testimonials and titles and then we will work on one of several larger projects that we often have circulating on our editing computers.

For example, every year, PRIMA (Public Risk Manager’s Association) hires us to produce their annual award winner’s video for their award gala in honor of that year’s Public Risk Manager of the Year. So that the hundreds of people in the audience can understand what made that year’s winner the right choice, they have Capture Video produce a 4 – 6 minute “day in the life” style video, highlighting the award winner and his public risk management achievements. This is more than a one day project. There’s a lot involved in producing this kind of video.

Check out the 2014 PRIMA award video here:

For example, travel. As the Capture Video producer for PRIMA, I have traveled to St. Louis, MO, Knoxville, TN, Fairfax, VA, and Conchord, NC to spend a day or two with these wonderful people. This year, I got to spend the day with Bill Kostner, in Lincoln, NE. As much as I love to travel, traveling for work does take planning. There’s my schedule to consider, the award winner and his or her colleague’s schedules, and flight schedules. The upside is I have gotten to go to some awesome locations (really – they’ve all been great!) and meet some truly fantastic people, which makes the jet lag a little more bearable. Still, next year I am keeping my fingers crossed for Hawaii!

After spending a day or two interviewing people, videotaping local attractions, and capturing as much information as possible in my camera and my brain, I head back to Virginia and start the editing. Usually I have anywhere from 5 to 8 hours of footage to sort through and boil down to 5 minutes. Even if all I was doing was watching footage, that would be one whole day, but, of course, I am doing more than watching. I generally go through the original footage and sort it into categories, and sub categories, based on the specific job. With the PRIMA video for example, I might create the categories of each of the interviewees and then B-Roll, and then create sub-categories like “the winner’s job,” “the winner’s personality,” and “the award.” It’s a little like making a sauce and having all the ingredients you are going to use on the counter. You need to take a little salt, a little pepper, don’t forget the oregano, etc. As I edit, I make sure I have a little clip from each interviewee and cover a little on each of the topics I need to hit on to make my client’s happy and tell a compelling story.

Once we have a rough cut that is close to the final – meaning all the clips have essentially been selected and placed in the order they make the most sense, I send it to the client to review. If they are happy, I go through and add titles and music and adjust color and audio levels, if needed. I send it to them again and we make any last minute adjustments before producing the master video.

A project like this usually takes between five and eight days. In my typical week, I might not spend every day working on this kind of video production, but, thanks to clients like PRIMA, who hire me on an annual basis, in a typical year, I get to produce at least one of these more challenging and, therefore, more rewarding video productions.

Whether it’s a half day videotaping session, an all 2D animation video, or a video production project that will span weeks, Capture Video provides professional crew with an eye for great footage and an ear for a great story.