If you’ve been on the homepage recently, you probably already saw that the new Visonic Dome YouTube video is now online.
But in case you haven’t watched it yet, here it is again:
Producing this video was a totally new
(and sometimes stressful)
experience. But seeing it all come together feels pretty great.
This video will be the first thing many people see on the upcoming Indiegogo Kickstarter* page. So it’s important to make a good impression.
Lessons learned making this crowdfunding campaign video
The Indiegogo blog has a great list of tips and best practices for making your crowdfunding video pitch. You can check that out by clicking here.
Likewise, Kickstarter has its own blog post on the subject.
And yet…
The difference between reading about something and actually doing that something is about as great as a bowl of Frosted Flakes – but without the positive encouragement of an anthropomorphic tiger.
Huh?
Listen, here’s my top tip: watch as many videos from other campaigns as you can and take notes.
Getting firsthand experience by following and backing other projects is crucial to creating your own campaign. That goes for every aspect of the campaign – not least of which is the video.
Find some examples that you like and think about why that is. If you end up supporting the project, even better.
Hindsight is 2020 (literally). There were definitely some avoidable mistakes made in the production of this video. Read on for some advice on how to create your crowdfunding campaign video and learn what I wish I’d done differently.
Tip #1 – How to gauge your video runtime
After watching other campaign videos, I noticed that I rarely got any enjoyment out of videos longer than 90 seconds.
The 3-minute long videos bored me to tears.
That’s why I made the Visonic Dome YouTube video much shorter – just under a minute.
All killer, no filler.
Unfortunately, getting the video down to that length took some trial-and-error.
When I sent the script to the voice actor, his recording ended up closer to a minute and a half. In theory, that’s a fine length and still below my boredom benchmark. But in reality, I had only paid the videographer for a 60-second commercial and he was already done shooting. And speeding up the voice actor’s narration just sounded unnatural and forced.
So, I had to get back onto the keyboard and cut down the script.
I’d never written a script before. In fact, I hired a writer to create the first draft.
Screen direction and what-not were totally foreign to me.
I’d assumed the professional writer’s script would fit my 60-second limit. I was wrong.
An easy way to tell how many minutes a script takes to perform is by counting the words.
On average, we speak at a rate of 130 words per minute. Having fewer words gives you some breathing room and keeps your speech from sounding rushed.
The original script was almost 200 words.
By cutting out whole sentences and recording (and re-recording) my own voice, I managed to drop that to 127.
So do yourself a favor and learn from my mistake. Time yourself while reading the script, count your words, and do all of that before shooting your footage. You’ll save yourself from having to pay your voice-over artist twice.
Tip #2 – Start Early
Another goof wasn’t as easily avoidable.
Did you catch it?
Watch ’til the end. The onscreen text says this is a 31-day campaign.
That was true last year, when we were celebrating the 31-year anniversary.
But now it’s 2021 and the Visonic Dome is 32. Oops.
This leads me to my next tip: start early!
Creating this video took way longer than I ever expected. And even though I hired a professional videographer and editor, it was still a lot of work to get it done. Organizing and directing the workflow of a handful of artists (writers, videographer, model, animator, voice-over actor) was a bit of a challenge when everyone lives and works in different timezones.
That being said, I’m glad that I got to work with a team of pros. I think they all did a great job.
I might still end up shooting an additional video where I do tell the personal side of the story. But that’s one that I’ll probably do totally homemade with my phone.
So if you’re into that sort of thing, stay tuned.
Or consider subscribing to the Visonic Dome YouTube channel.
