Video, CD/DVD, Website Production
These media are acquisitive media, requiring the Producer and his crew to acquire media, usually in digital form, for assembly into a final production.
The acquisition phase is called, "production," while the assembly is called, "post-production" or editing.
Using the script and "break down" as the guideline, the Producer assigns a crew which ranges in number from one person to twenty or more. A video will always require, at minimum, a Director-Cameraperson, while a CD-ROM, DVD and website will require, at minimum, a Designer-Programmer.
Video is the most simple of these, the "motion picture" media. CD-ROMs, DVDs and websites often incorporate video within their mix of media usually incorporate some degree of interactivity. Video is not interactive, but must be viewed from one fixed point to another. CD-ROMs, DVDs and websites are interactive allowing the viewer to choose "scenes" and the order of "scenes" to customize the viewing experience within the limits of the Designer's program.
Video Production (Jump to CD, DVD, Website Production, below)
Video is produced by shooting or photographing scenes according to the script. This requires a camcorder, which may range from a simple "prosumer" (combination of professional and consumer level of quality) camera, costing less than $5,000 to a very complex and expensive high definition (HD) camera system costing over $80,000. The camera may be hand-held, or placed on some mechanical support, such as a tripod, a "dolly" (a steerable platform with wheels) or a crane (enabling the camera to be taken high in the air). Other camera platforms include a helicopter (even higher in the air!) or a "Steadicam" (a system of spring-loaded arms that are attached to the body of the camera operator, enabling the camera to be smoothly moved, even while the operator runs).
Video may be created in the real world or in the artificial environment of a studio. Real world shooting is generally less expensive than studio shooting. Real world shooting requires finding a populated environment that fits the script's requirements. Costs are generated by researching the existence of such environments, the fees to use the environment and a performance fee to those who occupy the environment. Other costs include electricity, travel, lighting, props, meals and insurance.
Studio shooting offers complete control over the environment which can be designed to replicate any location, real or imagined. Costs include set design, talent casting, set supplies and building, equipment rental, staff salaries, actor salaries and benefits, lighting rental, light bulb use, electricity, props, meals and insurance.
The scenes which are videotaped may be still life, real life or acted. Still life scenes include product shots, exteriors of factories and buildings, architectural details, equipment, etc. Real life scenes, the basis of documentary videos, include interviews, street scenes, office activity, meetings and events. Acted scenes are those which require professional performers either union or nonunion and are considered the most expensive to stage.
Currently video is recorded on videotape (although video cameras with removable hard drives are now in beta test. There are many types of video tape and many types of camcorders, which may be grouped in terms of quality. Historically, videotape began as an "analog" form of recording. Analog records information in the form of continuous waves of electrical force. There are still many forms of analog tape in use today, but the most current method of recording is "digital." Digital video records information in the form of just two numbers - one and zero.
Generally, digital is better than analog, even though some older, more expensive analog systems still outclass some of the newer, less expensive digital systems.
Even though your video may be distributed in VHS or over an Internet connection, a video Producer will always shoot with the highest quality videotape and highest quality camcorder he can afford.
Here are the various forms of videotape that are used today.
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The Crew: The "crew" are the technicians and artists who execute the videotaping. Crew size is determined by the script and the budget. The smallest crew can be one person with a camcorder, with a microphone and light attached. Most news crews are composed of a cameraperson, sound recordist and a producer/reporter.
Quality corporate video requires at least a news crew, but often more people. Here is a brief list of corporate video crew titles and their duties:
Producer: Established the budget, allocates payments, supervises all workers and satisfies Client's immediate and long term goals.
Director: Supervises lighting, staging and performers. Assures that the script is realized on tape to the satisfaction of the Producer and Client.
Continuity Person: Assistant to the Director, makes sure each scene in the script is videotaped and that the content of each scene matches its contiguous scenes.
Director of Photography: Supervises camera crew, lighting and electric technicians, establishes the mood and style of the photography.
Camera Operator: Operates and maintains the camera.
Assistant Camera Operator: Operates focus, maintains supply and labeling of videocassettes, helps with camera maintenance, may also help with camera movement.
Grip: Positions and sets up all equipment, such as lighting stands, tripod, dolly, monitors, etc.
Dolly Grip: Assistant to the Grip, maintains and moves the dolly, crane and other camera movement systems, any other labor to assist Grip.
Gaffer: Maintains adequate supply of electricity and distributes electric power to all equipment.
Best Boy: Assistant to the Gaffer, runs wires so as not to cause trip hazards, takes up wiring at end of shoot, any other labor to assist Gaffer.
Makeup/Hair: Assures the best appearance of the people who appear before the camera.
Teleprompter Operator: Takes script and loads into a special computer system that scrolls the script in front of camera lens so that talent does not have to memorize or refer to "cue cards."
Production Assistant (or "PA"): General assistant that does any job not covered by other crewmemers including driving a car or van, getting meals and coffee, buying supplies, etc.
Once the video has been shot and reviewed by the client, it is delivered to the editing facility where Post-Production Begins.
CD, DVD, Website Production (Jump to Video Production above)
Although the production of a video may be called for in a CD, DVD or website proudction, it isn't always necessary. A CD or website may be composed of just still images and text. A DVD may be composed of a film property, acquired in a completed form with little or none of the interactivity that makes DVDs such a desirable form of distribution. If you are interested in video as an element to a CD, DVD or website, you are cordially invited to read the Video Production page for any information you may require on this topic.
Video production aside, the production of an interactive medium such as a CD, DVD or website requires additional steps above and beyond those of video alone. Those steps begin with the interactive script, described in CD, DVD, Website Pre-Production. Using that script, the Producer begins by acquiring the necessary elements, including text, photographs, graphics, motion pictures, audio, animations and programming. The programming of a CD, DVD or website is equivalent to the Post Production of a video. Programming brings all the elements together into a working whole that may be appreciated in final form.
Programming: Usually, the programming will begin while the elements are being gathered in the Programmer's computer. Programming may be executed in any one of several available software tools. CDs are usually programmed in either C++ or Macromedia Director. When created in Director, they may be exported to website format in Macromedia Shockwave. Spruce Technologies and Sonic Solutions make several DVD authoring software products, similar in style to Macromedia Director, and available in various levels of cost and capability. There are many software products for creating websites, such as Net Objects Fusion and Microsoft's FrontPage, but many seasoned web programmers prefer writing in the native code of the web, Hypertext Markup Language or HTML.
The Flow Chart: All interactive programs require a simple, graphic display of how they will work. Usually, this is organized in the form of a block diagram or flow chart. Similar to a corporate organizational chart, each block refers to a specific screen or function with arrows running between blocks to show how a user may move from block to block.
Careful preparation of the flow chart is essential, since revisions and corrections after programming has begun may necessitate long hours of reprogramming.
Acquiring Assets: With the flow chart on the wall of the programmer's office, each block is designed, first as a program statement and then as a collection of "assets." Assets are the text, photographs, graphics, motion pictures, audio and animations that are required for each scene or block in the diagram.
Text: A Copywriter, working with the Client and the Producer, writes a first draft of all text and submits it to the Client for approval. A second draft and even a third, light touchup draft may be required prior to final approval by the Client. Text is usually exported from the Copywriter to the Programmer in ASCII or "raw text" mode and is often sent as email, allowing the two creatives to be worlds apart.
Photos: Photographs may be taken by a photographer, usually using a medium resolution ("megapixel) digital camera. CDs and websites rarely use photographs larger than 600 pixels high by 400 pixels wide (pixels, or "picture elements" are the smallest unit of digital photography) with a resolution rarely larger than 100 lines per inch. DVDs may use higher resolutions and sizes up to 1,920 pixels high by 1,080 wide (this is equivalent to a single frame of high definition or HD video). Photographs may also be captured from video sources or purchased from traditional stock photography companies, many of which have begun to offer their libraries in digital form.
Graphics: Graphics are usually created by a Graphic Artist or a Programmer who may be multitalented. The specifications for graphics are the same as for photographs, described above.
Motion Pictures are compressed forms of video, exported from videotape to any one of several formats used by CDs, DVDs and websites.
Motion Pictures: Currently, the resolution of each video frame (usually 720 pixels wide by 486 pixels high) and the speed of the frames (30 per second) represent too great a flow of data for use in CDs, DVDs and websites. In order to employ motion pictures, the video must be compressed. Compression always results in a loss of some sort. Video is recorded into a computer using special "video capture" boards that are installed into the CD programmer's computer.
There are many compression types, or "algorhythms," such as Quicktime, AVI and MPEG-1. In order to watch videos in any of these forms, your computer must have a "player plug-in" of the appropriate type. Plug-ins are common, and may already be installed on your computer and those of your target audience. They are easy to download from the Internet and may even be included on the distribution CD or DVD you create. In the case of websites, the plug-in must have been previously downloaded by the user or have been incorporated in the browser (such as Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer) the user is running.
DVDs are similar to CDs, but where CDs have a maximum capacity of 650 megabytes (650,000,000), DVDs have a capacity of over 14 gigabytes (14,000,000,000). Again, video compression algorhythms are employed, but since DVDs have a higher capacity the compression need not be so severe. As a result, the video on a DVD is as good as some videotape formats.
Audio: CDs have enough capacity for the highest quality of audio - it's what the CD was designed for! But your production may have to sacrifice audio fidelity to make room for other assets. If so, your CD programmer will offer you alternatives and play samples for you to hear. Often, audio quality - especially narration - can be reduced drastically and still retain acceptable quality. DVDs have an enormous capacity for audio. DVDs can employ surround sound formats, as Dolby Digital 5.1 ("five-dot-one"), which provides 6 effective tracks of audio. Several foreign languages can also be incorporated on a DVD, which, when synchronized with the video, can satisfy audiences around the world.
Animations: Like video, animation is created as a sequence of frames and stored in one of several compression algorhythms. If your project includes the creation of a video element with animation that will stand alone, it is best to create the animation in full resolution with the video and then to compress it along with the video for use on a CD, DVD or website. If, however, your animation is being created only for computer-based playback, you can save time and money by creating the animation in the appropriate compressed form.
The relative data capacities of each medium will determine the best compression algorhythm to use for your animation.
Testing: When all of the elements of your project are combined on the programmer's computer and linked by way of the program's interactive script, your vendor's Producer should be able to run a complete demonstration of the production. This may be done from the computer's hard drive, which maximizes all functions, but a better test is to use the final distribution method - disk or Internet.
For a CD or DVD project, the vendor will distribute one or more test disks to the Client and ask the Client to fully test the production. For a website, the production may be installed on a secure test server where the Client can access it privately.
Testing is a very important phase of production and should be executed on as many types of computers as possible. Often, unpredictable results will occur during testing, including feature failures, synchronization loss and even full computer crashes. For each occurance, the programmer must trace down the cause, correct it and issue at least one more test disk. Service bureaus exist specifically for this purpose and their services may be a part of your vendor's budgeted charges.