ITC Translations: the challenges of filming
Internet videos Today, videos are a very common communication tool for Internet users. Since Youtube was created (11 years ago), this form of media has spread across the Internet, despite being previously restricted, due to insufficient Internet connections, to fixed text and images. For businesses, communicating via video took two very different routes:
- Advertising, which involved broadcasting the video on TV or in cinemas.
- Internal communication, which was rolled out using physical media (VHS or DVD depending on the period) or for special events (broadcasting during meetings, for example).
It goes without saying that the former was by far the more expensive. In addition to the technical requirements, the cost of broadcasting was also much greater. As a result, filmed advertisements long remained the exclusive domain of famous brands; the majority of more modest brands simply didn’t have a sufficient communication budget.
The arrival of Youtube and the democratization of Internet videos radically changed the situation. Today, films can be broadcast for free, which has lead a whole new generation of content creators to define new, freer and more varied, codes and logo, as they are not limited by the constraints of television and its associated costs. This situation has subsequently opened the door to external communication for smaller businesses.
However the problem is that corporate films (the internal communication videos which we discussed previously) have left a significant mark on the way in which company videos are created. Even though advertisements need to make an impression with their originality, corporate films are often austere and slave to over-codification, quickly making them as boring as possible.
ITC: The short movie
For a long time, ITC had wanted to communicate using video, but the decision to use fiction to communicate is entirely new for the business. The idea originated from a meeting with 2.8 de diaph, a fledgling film production company specializing in web films, which was responsible for writing and developing the film.
The project rapidly turned towards short formats, with a few episodes which would set the tempo throughout the year and make viewers want to see more. Numerous ideas were put forward, and a handful of scenarios were written before an agreement was reached for the first episode. A storyboard needed to be created to prepare for filming. We defined the shots in advance, depending on the shooting location and the production intentions.
One of the main obligations with fiction is the need to call on professional actors. Asking your own employees to act is suicidal and screams amateurism, but unfortunately it is still very widespread in the corporate film world…
For the first episode in the ITC miniseries, Thierry Rousset and Maxime Jullia, two actors from Lyon were chosen.
Filming often takes much longer than we imagine. In this case, 6 hours of filming were required for the first 2.5-minute episode. Setting up the lights and the camera, rehearsals, everything is a lengthy process, and each shot is filmed five to ten times before arriving at the perfect take.
The film crew is, of course, much smaller than that of a cinema film crew; five people were present on set.
Once filming is over, it needs to be edited. This step puts all the shots together and gives the impression of a smooth scene. The quality of the editing has a direct impact on a scene’s sense of rhythm, and it is extremely difficult to edit a scene which was badly thought out. It is a critical step in terms of working on the film and it requires true attention to detail.
Finally, the last few steps: color timing, mixing, and subtitling. Color timing includes altering the colors in each shot so that they all blend together and give a consistent aesthetic appearance.
Mixing is the sound equivalent of color timing. Subtitles complete the film, by adding the graphic elements, which were not filmed, to the video.
In the end, over three months passed between the initial idea and the finalization of the video. Of course, the work involved in this type of film is more significant than that required to film premises and people working or smiling at a reception desk.
But, in the end, even if the film doesn’t specifically mention ITC Translations, isn’t the message even stronger?
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