Plain English
What you
actually get.
Every line on a quote from me, explained without the industry words. If something here is not what you pictured, say so before we shoot rather than after. That is the whole point of this page.
Reel
Also called: short, short-form, vertical, TikTok, StoryA short vertical video for social. Tall, not wide, because that is how a phone is held. Usually one idea: a job going in, a product close up, one of your people explaining one thing.
Comes captioned, because most people watch with the sound off, and delivered ready to post rather than as something you have to crop yourself.
Brand film
Also called: hero video, sizzle, the main videoThe one video that explains who you are and why someone should pick you. It goes at the top of your website, in front of a hiring ad, on the screen in your lobby, and in any pitch where you get two minutes to make an impression.
This is the piece everything else gets cut from, which is why it is worth doing properly once rather than cheaply three times.
Cutdown
Also called: a cut, a version, an editThe same film, shortened for a different place. A 90-second brand film becomes a 30-second pre-roll ad, a 15-second social post and a 6-second bumper. Same footage, no second shoot, small extra cost.
You are not paying for the same video twice. You are paying for the versions that actually fit where you are putting it.
Stills
Also called: photos, images, assetsActual photographs, shot alongside the video on the same day, then colour corrected and delivered at full size and cropped for social. Not frames grabbed out of the video, which look soft and always give themselves away.
Yours to use anywhere: website, ads, print, job boards, the side of a truck.
Shoot day
Also called: a shoot, production day, filming dayOne day, up to eight hours, on your site. I turn up with everything, work around your crew, and shoot the video and the photos in the same visit. A month of content usually comes out of one of these.
I do not book half days. The drive, the setup and the packing down are the same whether I shoot for four hours or eight, so a half day costs me a full day and gets you half the material.
Testimonial film
Also called: customer story, case study videoOne of your customers on camera saying the thing you cannot say about yourself without sounding like an advert. I ask the questions, so they are having a conversation rather than reciting a script at a lens.
All you have to do is tell me who to call. I handle the rest of it.
Recruiting film
Also called: culture video, hiring videoYour actual crew doing the actual work, made for people deciding whether to come and work for you. It runs on your careers page, in job ads, and on the sites where trades people actually look.
Drone
Also called: aerials, flyoverShots from the air. Worth it for anything you cannot see properly from the ground: a roof, a golf course, acreage, a build at three stages of progress. Not worth it for a shop interior, and I will tell you when it is not.
Motion graphics
Also called: titles, lower thirds, animated logoThe text and graphics that move. A name and job title sliding in under someone speaking is a lower third. Your logo animating at the end is an outro. Prices on screen, arrows pointing at things, and captions all live here too.
Built to match your brand, so it looks like you rather than like a template.
Podcast episode
Also called: the show, multicam, a sit-downThree cameras running at once so the edit can cut between whoever is talking, proper microphones on everybody, and the whole thing cut together into one episode you can upload.
The vertical clips come out of the same recording. One afternoon of talking turns into an episode plus a month of short videos, which is most of why a show is worth doing.
Website upkeep
Optional, month to monthChanges to a site after it is built are not part of the build. Most people go a long time without needing any. If you would rather have them handled as they come up than quoted one at a time, I keep the site current for a flat monthly fee.
Monthly recap
On every retainerA short note at the end of each month: what went out, what people actually watched, and what I want to shoot more of next time because of it. Not a dashboard you have to learn to read. A few lines you can act on.
How long things take.
What I need from you.
Short list, and none of it is difficult. Missing any of it is the usual reason a shoot day runs long.
- Your logo, as a PNG or vector file if you have one
- Your brand colours and fonts, if they exist
- One person who can make decisions on the day
- Access to the site, and a heads up on any safety rules
- Anyone appearing on camera told in advance
- A rough idea of what you want it to say
- Your social handles and website address
- Fifty percent deposit to hold the date
Words I will probably say by accident.
- B-roll
- Everything that is not a person talking. Hands, machines, the site, the drive-up. It is what makes a video feel like a video.
- A-roll
- The person talking. The interview itself.
- 9:16 and 16:9
- Tall and wide. Tall is for phones and social, wide is for websites, YouTube and TV.
- Colour grade
- Setting the look and making every shot match, so footage from three cameras across two days feels like one piece.
- Lower third
- The name and job title that appears under someone while they are speaking.
- Safe zone
- The part of a vertical video the app does not cover with buttons. Text has to live inside it or nobody reads it.
- Raw footage
- Everything the camera recorded, unedited. Enormous, unwatchable, and not included by default. Available for a fee if you want it.
- Final files
- The finished, exported videos and photos. These are the ones you own once the job is paid.
- Usage rights
- Where you are allowed to run it. Everything you own is included forever. Paid ads and TV need a licence on top, because the people and the music have to be cleared for it.
- Deliverable
- Any single finished thing on the list. One reel is one deliverable. Twelve photos are twelve.
What it all costs
Monthly packages, one-off projects, add-ons. Real numbers on the page.
Video ProductionHow a shoot runs
The six things I make, and the three steps from first call to final files.
Reels and contentSee it made
Every reel on this site is work that came off a day exactly like the one described here.