Promotional Video Production
Culford School needed open day films before the open day. Dojo needed three restaurants to explain a queuing app in their own words. Promotional video production is for the moment something new has to reach people, and the job is always the same: make somebody care about a thing they didn't care about a minute ago, then tell them what to do next. The promotional videographer, the director and the editor are all us, on every promotional video.
A thirty minute conversation with the team. No obligation.
What makes a promotional video work?
It starts with knowing who's watching and what you want them to do afterwards. A launch film for existing customers can get straight to the news. A film for people who've never heard of you has to earn the first few seconds before it can say anything at all. Most of the promos that fail were made for everybody, and so they speak to nobody in particular.
The opening matters more than anything else, because on a phone people decide in a second or two whether to keep watching. We'd rather open on a face or a moment of action than on a logo. The middle should say one thing well, and a brief that arrives with six messages usually produces a film that lands none of them. The end should be specific about the next step, like booking a visit or calling the sales team.
Promotional videos for business, from one shoot
Most of our promo production for businesses comes out of a single shoot that's planned for several outputs. The main film is usually around a minute long for the website and social. A thirty second cut works for paid social and anywhere attention is shorter. Vertical and square versions are edited for the platforms they'll run on, with the framing chosen on the day, so they're not just crops of the main film.
Because the versions are decided before the shoot, the shoot is usually one day. If we know a vertical edit is coming, we'll frame the key shots with room for it, and we'll film the short moments a cut-down needs as well as the longer sequences.
Product video: the Dojo Walkup film
Our product video for Dojo is the film for Walkup, its queuing app. We shot it in three restaurants across the UK, with three interviews and two cameras at each, and filmed each restaurant using the app on a normal service. The restaurants tell the story in their own words. You can see the Dojo Walkup film.
Commercial video production
Some promos are closer to adverts, made for a campaign with a media budget behind it. Our commercial work includes films for LEGO, Pepsi, Diageo and Chelsea FC, and the same approach applies at a smaller scale. A clear idea that's cast and filmed properly is worth more than a long list of shots.
We don't make broadcast TV commercials, and we'll say so if that's what your brief really needs. For online campaigns and launch films, commercial video production is a good part of what we do.
How a promo gets made
The first conversation takes thirty minutes and costs nothing. It covers who the film is for and when it needs to be live, and we come back with a treatment, which sets out the idea and how it'll look, with a price that is fixed for the agreed scope. You know what you're paying and when the film lands before anything starts.
Then it's preproduction, where we cast, find locations and plan the shot list, followed by a shoot that's usually one day. We direct, and the crew scales to the brief, from a sound recordist up to a second camera and lighting for anything more ambitious. After the shoot comes the edit and your notes, then the grade and the sound mix with licensed music, and finally delivery of every version in the formats agreed at the start. Most promotional video projects take four to six weeks from the first conversation to delivery, and we'll plan back from a launch date if you've got one.
A promo with a deadline
An open day film is no use the week after the open day, so we plan back from the date. For Culford School we've made open day films for the prep school and for the senior school and sixth form, plus a virtual open day for families who couldn't visit in person.
FAQ
How long should a promotional video be?
The main film is usually around a minute for the website and social, with a thirty second cut for paid social and vertical and square versions for each platform.
What makes a promotional video work?
Knowing who's watching and what you want them to do next, an opening that earns the first second or two on a phone, one clear message in the middle and a specific next step at the end.
How long does a promotional video take to make?
Most take four to six weeks from the first conversation to delivery, and we plan back from a launch date if there is one. The shoot itself is usually one day.
Does First Last Film make TV adverts?
No, and we'll say so if that's what your brief really needs. We make online campaign films and launch films, with a clear idea, cast and filmed properly, at a fixed price agreed before we start.
Related services
Promotional films are one of our video production services. If the job is to say who you are, a brand film is the better fit. A launch that needs to keep going after the first week usually wants social media video production behind it. Schools commission a lot of promotional work, and video production for education covers how we film there.
The sooner we know the date, the more we can plan into one shoot. Tell us what's launching, and we'll plan back from it.
Work in this area
All the work. Films like these often sit alongside brand films.
Three things people ask
- What does it cost?
- Most production companies won't tell you until you've had a call. What things cost
- How long does it take?
- Four to six weeks from brief to delivery, for most projects. How we work
This is one of the ways we work, and the whole range is on the video production services page. People reading about promotional videos often go on to brand films and social media video. You can see the approach at work in the Culford School case study, and for a sector where a film has to recruit families before a deadline, read video production for education. Guides that go with it: how to write a video script and why use video for marketing.
Tell us the problem.
We'll tell you honestly which kind of film would solve it, or whether a film is the answer at all. Thirty minutes with one of our team.
A thirty minute conversation with the team. No obligation.