Category: Uncategorized

“This one goes to eleven.”

We never actually asked the men of Broken Factory Windows how high their speakers went, but judging by the shelf that crashed halfway through the shoot, we’d say pretty high.

The Space

This local band rocks its post-hardcore jams in a tiny studio above the drummer’s print shop, Odditees. To create an authentic music video, we decided to bring our Cinamaker studio to them. As we climbed the narrow staircase, it became clear that the space could hardly hold the band members and their equipment let alone us. A traditional camera crew might have been hard pressed (literally) to make do, but with just four iPhones and an iPad, Cinamaker’s sleek setup left us just enough room to jump around when the music moved us.

The Setup

Just like our music video for Monte Qarlo and makeup tutorial video with Wyatt, setting up this fixed two to four camera shoot started with mounting the cameras and framing the shots. In this case, each camera was focused on a different piece of the band. One phone was dedicated to drums, another to bass, and two focused on the lead guitarist and vocalist to be sure we captured his face as well his hands during solo riffs. Finally, our lead videographer used a hand-held Lumix to capture the behind the scenes action, so we could capture the production in progress.

The Sound

After meticulously adjusting our angles, we found a safe spot for the Director Pad devices and secured each camera assistant’s connection. Then came the hard part — sound.

Like most music videos, we ended up laying the band’s pre-recorded tracks over the video we shot, but given the difficulty of syncing a live recording to studio audio, we wanted to make sure we captured some real-time audio just in case.

While our original approach was to plug in sound directly from the band’s mixer, we quickly discovered it would only deliver audio from the vocal inputs. However, the solution was simple enough. All we needed was one person to surrender their personal iPhone for the next hour to use as an audio assistant. Although the current consumer versions of Cinamaker accommodate up to four camera assistants, Cinamakers can still add an extra two devices as audio assistants. Once we picked our dedicated audio assistant phone, it was simply a matter keeping an eye out on the sound levels to make sure we didn’t get rocked right into the red.

The Song

We recorded a variety of songs to give ourselves plenty to work with, thanked the band for the private concert, and then headed back to the studio to edit. Our lead videographer uploaded all the footage onto her desktop and quickly got to work creating two versions of the video using Final Cut Pro.

Check out Broken Factory Windows’ “Polar” in this quick behind the scenes look at the makings of a Cinamaker music video.

Download your own music video studio in the Apple App store today with just two free apps, the Director Pad and Cinamaker Capture, and get Cinamaking. Feel free to ask us any questions through our support channel and please share your videos with us on Twitter (@CinaMakerApp) and Facebook — we can’t wait to see them!

It’s just one week away!

Love it or hate it, Black Friday is a national tradition that can get you some real bang for your buck — and for video creators like us, these crazy deals are the perfect way to snag some new additions for our Cinamaker mobile studios.

With Cinamaker, creating professional video on the go is a snap. All you need is a tablet and one or more smartphones and voila! You’ve got a control room and studio cameras that fit easily in your backpack. Plus, Cinamaker is now available for immediate free download for iOS devices on the Apple App store.

Like we said, it’s a snap. But maybe your equipment could use a little upgrade, or maybe you don’t walk around with an extra iPhone at all times.

Black Friday savings are here to help!

Starting on Thanksgiving, Target is offering a $120 discount on the 10.5-inch Apple iPad Pro and Walmart will be giving away $300 gift card for qualifying purchases of iPhones 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, and X (AT&T & Verizon).

If you’re still hungry for more, take a look at all of Apple’s Black Friday deals on Forbes.

Once you have Director Pad set up on your snazzy new iPad Pro, you can download Cinamaker Capture to your assistant iPhones and get to work.

Not into Apple products? Wait a few more days for Cyber Monday and Target will be offering $200 gift cards with the purchase of the Google Pixel 2 or Google Pixel XL. You can be one of the first to try Cinamaker’s Android Beta — now available on the Google Play store!

To read more about possible non-Apple tech deals, check out more on CNET’s holiday gift guide.

Apple or Android, all Cinamakers need accessories to keep their studio up and running — literally. Accessories such as chargers, tripods, car mounts and more can all be found on sale as part of Amazon’s Black Friday deals!

Now there’s something we can all be thankful for.

Happy deal hunting and happy Cinamaking!

Get our free e-book on How to take your Live Streaming to the next level

Looking to begin building your brand with the power of video? Here’s a list of five different types of videos that encourage interaction between you and your customers.

1. Product Reviews

Creating product review videos or sharing videos made by press or passionate consumers is a popular way for companies to gain attention as well as credibility for their products and engagement with their audience. Whichever type of review you choose to share, make sure the content is short and sweet. Adding excessive information can bore your audience and distract from the ultimate goal. Remember, all your audience wants is to know if the product in question is worth their time

For these types of videos, don’t worry too much about a strict script. Instead, just come up with a few talking points be sure to stay animated. If you start to get monotonous or long winded, you’ll lose your viewer’s interest.

2. Contests, Sales, and Campaign Kickoffs

Videos shared on social media are a fantastic way to keep your customers informed about any campaigns or special events you may have coming up. These can vary from more traditional marketing campaigns such as “Share a Coke” to more fun, informal videos asking viewers to share or submit their own videos to win big prizes or be featured on your brand’s pages. Non-profit organizations and charities can do especially well with these types of videos, as they encourage free publicity for a good cause, like the “ice bucket challenge!

Whatever your brand sells, services, or donates, video announcements allow for quick dissemination and offer an easy way for people to share, compete, or show support.

3. Vlogs And Unboxings

For these types of videos, it’s usually best to sponsor another YouTuber that already has a wide fan base. These sponsorships can be cross-promotional agreements or simply an offer to supply a sample of your product for free. The latter is an ideal arrangement for you to then request a reaction video, review, or “unboxing” video that will effectually act as an advertisement for you and an easy topic for the Vlogger’s next piece. These types of videos usually bring a lot of views and interest, especially with a personality that’s already well loved.

Given the current popularity of gaming videos, it’s usually the technology industry that reaps the benefits of these types of videos. After all, most people don’t want to watch a video about someone’s new mop, but they will watch a video about the latest phone or gaming system.

4. Livestream Events And Webinars

You may hold special events for your company or even public presentations and seminars for new products or initiatives. Unfortunately, not everyone who wants to go to your event can always make it. One of the best ways to combat this is with a live stream. Your customers will be able to see the content that they want and you’ll be able to communicate with a larger audience than just those who attend your event.

5. How-To And Tutorials

Company engagement shouldn’t end when a purchase is made. In fact, one of the best ways to stay in contact with customers after they make a purchase is to provide online how-to videos to keep them engaged with your brand and your product.

Tutorial videos don’t need to be limited to products requiring assembly. If you’re selling a tech device – such as a phone, television, or almost anything else – a how-to video can help you speak directly to your customers about some of the features of their device and how to set those up. If you provide a business service, you can make videos explaining how customers can get the most from their experience. A cosmetics or culinary company can utilize a how-to video for makeup looks and recipes, or a paper company could film a calligraphy lesson. Whatever your product is, there’s probably more than one way to use it — so get creative and share with your customers!

Get our free e-book on How to take your Live Streaming to the next level

Forget pages of frustration, represent your brand with the ease and personality provided by video.

Notice that your favorite internet pages have slowly transformed from pages of text to streams of video after video? Everyday, people become less and less inclined to read anything longer than 140 characters and happier to spend hours watching shared video content. While literacy rates remain the same, this slow but sure focus away from reading affects everything we do, including learning. Of course people still learn by reading, after all, you’re reading this right now! But as a brand, it’s not enough to only inform your customers — you need to engage them without giving them the feeling of doing homework. That’s why ditching the old-school instruction manuals in favor of well-produced videos can give you an upper hand. If you don’t believe us, look at brands like Home Depot, who totally killed the branding game with accessible, personal how-to videos for its YouTube channel.

Even dating back to 2015, statistics showed people spend more time each day on digital video than on social media. As a result, U.S. marketers plan on substantially increasing their digital video budgets. Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s Vice President of Global Content, projects that video will soon drive 90% of all Internet traffic. While these statistics may sound surprising, for small businesses and brands, this represents a great new opportunity to engage and inform customers.

The Challenges:
Despite video being so popular, most small businesses seem to stay away from this powerful marketing tool. Why? Some of the reasons cited include:

The good news is that producing high quality video is no longer reserved for the large businesses. Thanks to the continuous improvement of smartphone cameras and constant creation of mobile production and editing tools like Cinamaker, polished content can be made with any budget. With the right accessories, strategy, and maybe some creative effects, anything is possible!

If you’re still not convinced video is right for your brand’s educational content needs, here are some of the most compelling reasons to use video rather than a printed manual:

Enhanced Understanding
The opportunity to deliver a pitch or set of instructions with personal appeal and visual aids will always be more effective than limiting your message to words on a page. Video gives you the opportunity to explain and actually show things the same way you would in person, which can not only clarify ambiguity that can happen with text and ultimately make the entire experience (and subsequently your brand or product) seem more fun and easy.

Increased Memorability
An impressive 80% of people remember the videos they see online. The same cannot be said for every article or manual you read. Creating a video gives people something to remember for days to come. This means that a business has to invest in quality content that keeps users engaged.

Unique Emotional Connection
A 30-second video can bring you to tears or inspire you to take a certain action. Videos can speak to the core of who we are as human beings, because they can create a feeling of connection with another human being. As a brand, you need to realize the amazing opportunity video provides you to connect with your audience. This connection can help you build relationships with your customers and ultimately create a foundation for brand loyalty.

Ability To Repurpose Content
When working with video, you can use single images, distribute behind the scenes footage or further edit the source video to create promotional clips for marketing purposes. Video allows you to be creative and flex your marketing muscles in considerably more ways than text.

Easily Shareable
A creative video doesn’t have to be confined to your site. You can upload your videos on Vimeo and YouTube and use keywords to draw interest to them. This not only increases your brand exposure, it also leads to increased web traffic that could convert into sales.

Speed Sells
In this day and age, speed is critical when it comes to consuming content, and a picture tells a thousand words. Imagine how many more words can be shared and how many minutes can be saved with 60 frames per second!

Get our free e-book on How to take your Live Streaming to the next level

YouTube is a powerful marketing tool, and these five brands are here to prove it. Last week, we discussed tips for getting your content seen. But don’t lose sight of the content itself! Long-term success on YouTube is ultimately created by frequently and consistently publishing unique, authentic content. It’s real work!

If you’re looking to make waves for your brand with video content, start with studying the pros. The following is a list of the top brands whose hard work and smart tactics have created a strong, lasting YouTube presence.

Nike
Few companies would ever dream of having the marketing resources Nike has. Although Nike hires a lot of influencers and celebrities, its success on YouTube has been about more than just hiring renowned names. Nike’s success can also be attributed to the fact that it stayed in touch with its brand’s many unique audiences on a personal level.

For instance, while the Nike Football YouTube channel is targeted to the UK market, the brand also maintained channels like Nike, Nikefootball, Nikefutebol, NikeSoccer and many more location and sport specific channels. Rather than trying to accommodate all its content on a single channel, Nike worked hard to create and maintain channels that provided a special place for each audience segment, and that hard work paid off.

Halifax
Halifax bank has truly used YouTube to help drive brand awareness by differentiating itself from competitors. Unlike other banks, Halifax focuses on short, simple, and creative videos to deliver a campaigns real influence.

Halifax also uses the TrueView YouTube ad platform, which means its ads play alongside each other or stream in related content. This ensures that its videos gain massive, relevant reach. Moreover, Halifax creates their video and ad content with the medium in mind. Its concise and interesting content works to convey memorable messages — and they work!

BlendTec
Who knew such an arguably boring product could be made to appear so flashy by a simple video? BlendTec does accomplishes this task perfectly.

This brand found success on YouTube by analyzing what its product really does better than its competition and highlighting the “secret sauce” that converts viewers to consumers. On top of all that, using the CEO instead of actors provided incredible ethos (and perhaps even some pathos) that gave the BlendTec brand a real human appeal.

LEGO
Who doesn’t know and love the LEGO brand? Because of LEGO’s unique place in the hearts of children and adults around the world, this brand was able to utilize a unique form of video marketing.

LEGO’s YouTube videos include animations as well as ads with actual LEGO toys being used and played with by actors. To succeed on YouTube, LEGO evaluated their brand’s audience and created video content based on this research. As a result, the channel not only includes the latter form of more traditional ads, but various series of animated videos to give even more life to its world famous building blocks.

The Home Depot
One thing’s for sure: The Home Depot is never over the top in promoting its products. Instead of over-saturating screens with over-salesy ad content, it creates content relevant and useful to its audience.

By bringing information to consumers in the form of educational videos on YouTube, The Home Depot has only further established itself as a trusted expert. It’s also worth noting that The Home Depot keeps with this no-nonsense theme by posting tutorials hosted by actual employees working in real stores rather than celebrities who may have never even picked up a screwdriver in the last decade.While celebrity appeal may work well for some brands, it’s important to remember that such endorsements tie the celebrity and his or her actions to your brand, which can spell disaster should they be revealed in anyway less than upstanding.

What’s most important is that The Home Depot’s content provides money saving tips and practical knowledge. They’ve stuck to a theme that’s authentic and useful — if your brand can do the same, a YouTube channel may serve as one of your greatest marketing assets yet.

Get our free e-book on How to take your Live Streaming to the next level