I see a new wave emerging. One where people on social media that want to “engage” their audience, turn to automated video production solutions in order to get more moving pictures into their social feeds.
This has been a long time coming to be fair, i recall feeling it a few years back when i started my little video production endeavour Tellafoto, i anticipated there would be a growing demand for video in the future, as people evolved their own promotional content above and beyond simple stills in their social media marketing; marketing that almost everyone with a Facebook page now partakes in.
It’s been a struggle to build up my offer in video production services for small business as they often are of the belief that it costs a small fortune to get anything of quality produced, and to some extent they are correct, however, there exists simple and affordable methods for obtaining good “engaging” video content and it doesn’t always come at the cost of a second hand sports car.
I am talking of course about ‘Story’. Story doesn’t so much rely on big production budgets, but it does rely on planning and creative thinking, something I believe (and hope) will remain beyond the grasps of automation for still some time to come.
On the Market!
Being observant and active in the video production space for some years, over time i have subscribed my self to many industry news letter and so regularly receive emails gloriously announcing how the video production industry is becoming more and more simplified for the end user, with one such service declaring:
” You don’t need a producer to be professional” and “No lights? No camera? Action”
However, when clicking on the email link to check out this amazing video production service, one quickly discovers the product is a Chrome plug-in that allows you to record your computer screen and your webcam simultaneously; and then pretty much cut between the two. “Great for whipping up a quick presentation” they say, but how – i am yet to understand – has this got anything to do with video production?
At best it could be called a video powerpoint presentation or even a great teaching tool for new apps or web services, but to suggest that its anywhere near video production is just straight up BS.
And its not the only service making such claims, they are coming thick and fast now, with a real estate agent i worked with last year recently sending me a link to a video email that she received where the company has essentially hooked into a stock footage platform where it grabs a bunch of stock, grabs your logo off the internet and attaches it to the stock, adds your contact details and then emails you the video they made saying “look we made this for you” It’s quite tragic really, and definitely not video production – more video business card, and maybe, just maybe that’s all the customer wants right now.
Whats your experience of automated video production? Did you find it simplified? Time consuming? Did you get the engagement you desired? Please let me know in the comments below.