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Welcome to the Duchin Productions Blog
A Font is not a Design
There is no substitute for a great designer. It’s always painfully obvious when someone has designed their own collateral. The only people they’re fooling are themselves since they’re not hiding anything. Sorry for the bluntness, but it’s just plain awful! The same is true for people who “design” their own websites — everyone knows when it’s a “DIY.” Sure, you might save some money up front, but you’re doing irreparable harm to your brand when you go it alone without the proper skill sets and talent....
read moreIs your YouTube Captioning Saying you Curse?
We just watched a corporate video on YouTube with captioning turned on. Not only was the company name spelled incorrectly but an expletive was incorrectly generated in one of the sentences! Why is it critical to fix your captioning? Because Google reads it. If your company is spelled wrong, chances are it might be omitted from important search results. Don’t risk it. You might be wondering who does the captioning in the first place. Well, technically it’s YouTube but as you probably know, Google owns YouTube. There are some...
read moreLet there be sound with your videos
Have you ever clicked to watch a video and you don’t hear anything? If you’re like most of us, you instantly start clicking volume keys, fiddle with cables, turn a bunch of knobs only to be blasted away seconds later when the sound eventually starts. You might think you’re being edgy or creative by having silence at the start of a video but chances are, you’re just frustrating the viewer. You can easily avoid this dilemma in a number of ways. Consider making a short logo animation with a tasteful music bed. This is a great way to brand...
read moreMake better customer testimonial videos
This blog post isn’t about cameras, microphones, elaborate graphics or the latest technology; it’s about the human side of getting great interviews. It can take months or even years for clients to agree to give a testimonial. Don’t make the mistake of simply having people say why your business is great because that’s really not the point. It’s about personalizing and sharing their experiences and explaining how working with your company helped them succeed. Always remember, you’re not interviewing a company; you’re interviewing a person. Sit...
read moreThe best YouTube video
There’s a video link below but please don’t click it just yet. We want to explain why we feel this video is so great. It’s not because it’s beautifully shot or has amazing special effects, it’s because it works. We discovered the clip when we were on the Millennium/Takeda website. Since we’re in the video business, we clicked the YouTube link at the bottom of their page. What happened next wasn’t expected. A person welcoming us and informing us about the kinds of video on the channel. Top things that we like about the video: 1. Short,...
read moreDo you really need that second camera?
Capturing individual interviews with two cameras has become very popular in the past few years. When done right, it looks really nice, but when done wrong, it looks plain silly. Before you green light the approach, make sure it has purpose. Don’t just do it because everyone else is doing it. Our main focus (pun intended) will always be the person sitting in front of the lens. Most of us are not naturally comfortable sitting in front of a camera, so adding a second camera often increases the anxiety level. When we record customers for a...
read moreWe don’t make movies
We work exclusively with business and broadcast networks to make news. When someone engages our services, they have stories to tell and not much time to do it. Our philosophy has always been efficiency. We get in and out quickly to reduce any disruptions during business hours, and then work hard to distribute the content to the appropriate channels. There’s a growing trend where companies are persuaded to make their content look like a feature film. We can do that but don’t recommend it because it often looks too polished and can lack...
read moreA logo is not a call to action!
If you’re really lucky, people may watch your video content to the very end. This is the time to encourage viewers to take the next steps whether it’s selling a product or inviting them to contact you for something specific. Ending with just a logo might help your branding, but it does nothing for customer engagement. We recommend all videos conclude with an active call-to-action. The phrase “for more information” doesn’t drive people to take the next step. Using wording like “contact us today” is a direct request for people to engage with...
read more10 steps to making a great Kickstarter video
Seems like everyone wants to make a Kickstarter video, so we thought what a great time for a blog post on the subject. We pulled our collective heads together and came up with this simple list. 1. It’s not about you, it’s about the investors. You might think you’ve just created the best mouse trap in the world, but no one will give you a dime unless you can demonstrate why they should support you. It must always be about the message and not the medium. Making a video does not ensure your success, it’s just a dynamic...
read moreWebinar Audience FAILURES
In this blog post, we’re not talking about bad audio, typos or poor internet connections. Today, we’re addressing jibber jabber, those giggly conversations that take place before/during and after presentations. If you’re like us, you may have left a webinar before it even started simply because it was taking too long for the company to get their act together. It’s really amazing to watch all the planning that goes into promoting a webinar and then total failure when it comes time to actually presenting the content. Be Lean:...
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