Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Get Viral, Man!

If you've been paying any attention at all to current web trends, then you know that everyone is doing "viral" marketing and if you're not, you're clearly stuck in the last millennium--ya dang luddite! Not to worry. I'm here to tell you that there's still time to catch (and give) this cool little bug. Specifically, I'll focus on a basic definition of what a viral campaign is, what things you can do to have success in this area, and what we can do to help you get started.

First off, there are many definitions of viral marketing, but a good place to start is Wikipedia. While the word virus has had a negative connotation forever, this new sense of the word has changed that--at least if you're in the marketing business. Simply put, a viral campaign is a campaign that passes through a social network in much the same way a virus would in the physical world. Originally, viral campaigns were conducted using email as the method of spreading the message or "virus". In today's Web 2.0 world, things have gotten much simpler; There are a multitude of sites that exist specifically for the purpose of allowing users to share content. This makes the launching of a campaign much easier. Some of the more well-known sites are YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, but there are many, many more, each with their own way of building communities and each with their own content focus.


Creating a powerful virus (having a successful viral campaign) requires a good understanding of how and where to post the content and how to taylor the content to the audience so they will take over and make your message go viral. For complete campaigns in multiple media, it is best to go to professionals who specialize in this area and take advantage of their experience. I recommend Hollenbeck Associates for their breadth of experience and great team, but there are many options out there in this area.


For a simple video campaign, we can write, produce, edit, upload, and syndicate a single video or series of videos for you right here at Frame x Frame Productions. We can even create a dashboard for you to check stats and manage your campaign on as many as 10 online video sites. Our experience as a production company means your video(s) will have production values that will stand out from the "man hit in groin with football" home videos many of these sites feature. Our knowledge of how these sites work will deliver the success you expect your viral video campaign. In fact, just the act of posting videos online will have a positive effect on your rankings in search engines and in the amount of traffic your website receives!

In 2008, we'll be offering some great new packages for viral video campaigns, so if going viral in in your future, there's no time like now to go out and explore the sites, craft your message, and then find a partner that will help you spread your disease!

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

When and Why HD?

By now, you've probably heard that all broadcast TV is going HD in 2009 (this time, they really mean it...really!) However, if you are not producing content for a major network, you've probably found yourself wondering if HD will provide any value for your productions. The answer, as with many things, is "It depends..."

First off, there is no argument that High Definition (HD) video, in all it's various flavors (1080i, 720p) and formats (HDCAM, DVCProHD, HDV) provides superior image quality, detail, and color when compared to Standard Definition (SD) video. For many applications, this simple improvement in quality may be enough to justify the move to HD. After all, who wouldn't want superior image quality, detail and color?!

At Frame x Frame, the key question we ask for determining whether a move to HD is appropriate is, "How and where will the video be shown?" If the answer is "on the 4x3 television in our conference room," SD may perfectly fine for the job. If the answer is "On an 80 foot screen in a convention center," the answer is clearly HD. The trick is figuring out whether HD or SD is appropriate for all of the cases in between the 13" conference room television and the 80' screen in the convention center. It is in this in-between area where I will focus.

To start determining whether HD is appropriate, you should first think about the size and shape of the playback screen where the video will most commonly be played. Will it be on a 50" Plasma at the trade show that is 16x9 aspect ratio or on a computer monitor as part of a Powerpoint presentation. The general rule is that larger screens in a 16x9 shape tend to benefit more from the shape, color quality,and detail level of HD.

Next, think about the subject matter of the video. Will the video be a series of talking heads or detailed shots of circuit boards with narration highlighting the design aspects of the circuit board. Greater levels of small detail tend to benefit from the "D", the "definition" of HD.

Finally, think about the future of the video. Will this video be used for a month or two right now in a single format or will it need to be updated and used for years to come and be shown in many formats. If the video will have a long shelf life, or man different types of uses, it may be bes to shoot and edit in HD so that the footage will have greater flexibility and will be more "future-proof" as video formats change over time.

Keep in mind that this is just a top-level discussion of HD vs SD video. Future posts will focus on some of the specifics of HD video sizes and formats.

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Great Developments

Welcome to the Frame x Frame Productions blog! We have created this to keep our friends and clients current with what we are up to and as a place for us to share tips from our vast production experience. In this post we'll share some of our latest projects with you. Upcoming posts will include answers to some of your FAQs like "How will recording on cards change the work-flow from the old tape-based work-flow?" and "What is the best way to compress video for a web audience?" and "Why should I care that one of my vendors has a blog?" :-) If you subscribe, you will not miss even one unbelievably exciting post, so why not become a regular reader?!

Many things have been going on at Frame x Frame since our move to West Berkeley. First, we have begun pursing our life-long dream of specializing in "Green" environmentally focused video. Toward that end, we have created Mynt Minutes and Green Marble. In 2008 we will be further developing Green Marble from a blog into a fully functioning Green Portal. If your company or organization is pursuing green initiatives and looking for a green media production partner contact us to set up a meeting: mynt@framebyframe.com.

We have also partnered with Relaxation Media to create a series of DVDs featuring relaxing scenes and vistas. The first product, Wide Open Spaces, is in production and will be released in early 2008. You can check out the Relaxation Media Blog or my blog on HD Production to find out more and see samples of the work.

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