Collegiate Films offers low prices and professional content,
but we understand that some authors just can’t afford to hire someone to create
video content for their book. These authors may decide to try the DIY route, but
may not know where to start, and a poorly made teaser could be more detrimental
than helpful. In light of this, I’ll be writing a series of posts focusing on
video production techniques you can use to add some polish to your book
trailer.
Let’s start from the beginning:
Pre-Production
In the filmmaking world, pre-production refers to all of the
planning that goes into making a film or video. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! It is
extremely important to be at least somewhat organized and have a roadmap of
what you want the finished product to look like. We’re going to take a brief
look at some different aspects of pre-production, starting with the most boring
and working up to the fun creative parts.
Legal
Now’s a good time to start collecting the legal forms you’ll
need for your video. Since you’re going to be using this video for marketing
purposes, you need to make sure you’re legally covered to use whatever you may
use in the video. This means having signed actor and location releases. An
actor signs an actor release to show that they’ve agreed to let you use their
image in your video, and will protect you from legal action that could result
if you DON’T obtain proper permission. Similarly, a location release is signed
by the owner of the property and states that you have their permission to film
at that location and that the location can appear in your video. If you
purchase rights to music or hire an original composer you’ll also need forms
for that (but if you’re going the DIY route for this video you’ll probably want
to stick to royalty free music). You should be able to find all of the above-mentioned
forms here: http://www.filmcontracts.net/
Equipment
Equipment will not make or break your video, but it is
important to have some basic necessities. First and foremost, you’ll want a
camera. These days I would have to recommend a DSLR camera such as the Canon
Rebel T3i, which can shoot 1080p HD video, and with a little bit of lighting,
you can make it look quite professional. You can probably find a friend with
one of these to borrow from. The downside to the DSLR route is that it makes
audio much harder to record, so if you have access to a prosumer or
professional level video camera with professional audio inputs, use that. As
for audio equipment, ideally you want to use a microphone other than the one
built into your camera. In-camera mics are usually very, very poor quality. A
nice shotgun microphone – a microphone with a highly directional pick-up
pattern that helps you avoid recording too much extraneous sound - would be the
ideal solution (you’ll also need an XLR audio cable and something to run it to
– either a field recorder, or using an adapter you can run it straight to your
computer). The final piece of equipment I would label a necessity is a tripod.
Nothing will make your video look unprofessional quite like shaky footage. Get
a cheap tripod and lock down your camera.
Casting and Wardrobe
If you’ll be using actors in your video (or voice talent),
you’ll need to find people that fit your vision of the characters and then deck
them out in clothing to match. Thrift stores can be a great source of cost
effective wardrobe! Professional actors will most likely not want to work for
free, so if you plan to use them be sure to budget for that.
Writing
This is what you do best, right? Here are some things to
think about when writing out a script for your video:
·
Keep it short – people have short attention
spans and you’re not a video professional, keep it short and sweet and it’ll be
better for everyone. I’d recommend 30 seconds if you’re doing it yourself.
·
Remember you’re selling something – what is it
about your book that will connect with people and how can you communicate that
to them?
·
Don’t mimic the book jacket, but leave them
wanting more – your trailer should offer something to readers that they can’t
get just from reading a synopsis. You can communicate tone, pace, character,
story, etc. just remember not to give it all away. Entice your readers. I like
to draw inspiration from the first few pages of a book. As an author you spend
a lot of time making sure your reader will be hooked from the get go, try
incorporating that hook into your video.
·
Be realistic – if you can’t afford a
professionally produced video, you probably can’t afford Michael Bay style
explosions. Think about what you have available to you and try to work with
that.
·
This isn’t a movie trailer – you’re selling a
book, not a movie. Your voice and story are far more important than flashy
visuals. Voice-over reading of passages, simple titles, and appropriate music
are the best tools at your disposal as an author, not a filmmaker, making a
book teaser.
Drawing
This may not be your best talent, but drawing out each shot
you see in your head, even if you just use stick figures, can help you see how
the visual grammar of the finished piece will fit together. This is called
storyboarding and you can find storyboarding templates here: http://www.printablepaper.net/preview/storyboard-letter-16to9-2x3
Scheduling
Grab a calendar and figure out when you, your actors, and
your equipment are all available. This part can be tricky. Make sure to give
people plenty of advanced notice and follow up with them as the day gets
closer. Also give yourself more time than you think you’ll need. In video
production, things will go wrong, you don’t want to run out of time to shoot
and have nothing you can use.
This was a fairly simple and boiled down description of
preproduction but I hope you found it useful. If you have any questions, please
ask them in the comment section below and I’ll do my best to answer them. Keep
an eye out for Part Two where we’ll be discussing the actual production process!
