Are you thinking about making a video for your business, or starting fresh with an old one?  We recently launched a new eBook called The Video Production Checklist: How to Make Incredible Videos Your Customers Will Love, and it can help you.

This eBook is built especially for a few groups of people.  It might be for you if:

• You’re considering making a new video for your business or non-profit
• You’re unhappy with the results you’ve had so far with a video that you released recently, or
• You’re doing okay with some videos that you’ve made so far, but you want to re-target and re-launch them to take things to the next level

The eBook is a step-by-step checklist to make videos that build trust between you and your customers.

Making videos is relatively easy these days.  Consider YouTube: as of this writing, 4 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube, alone.  Amazing, right?

Clearly, everyone is watching videos online, but few are taking that next step to create content that attracts customers.

Anyone can make a video in a matter of minutes, but few people will make videos with a target audience in mind.

What’s the key difference between most business videos and the select few which attract customers or otherwise make a difference to the audience?

That’s the core question that I’ve been asking myself since I began making videos for a living in 2006.  Since then, I’ve made many videos for local and national brands, alike, and seen some of them sky rocket in popularity while others garner a more limited viewership.

By studying these differences, I’ve developed a video production checklist for making videos that align with your business’ values and that communicate directly to your intended audience.

I created this checklist because I believe that making videos is more than marketing – it’s about building trust with customers through visual storytelling.  I have seen videos enrich customer relationships for many businesses and organizations.  It’s my hope that this checklist helps you to understand the video production process better, to become a more informed video client and to make more profitable decisions when it comes to video marketing for your business.

If the video production checklist sounds like a good fit to you, go get the full details on the eBook here: How to Make Incredible Videos Your Customers Will Love.

What are your burning questions about video production?

The post Make Incredible Videos Your Customers Will Love appeared first on ZWFILM.

Short films create a great framework for indie filmmakers to experiment and try new techniques. I’m a fan of short films, both making and watching them. I look to them as a filmmaking sandbox of sorts, where we get to play with the same creative elements and constraints as marketing videos, but simply in a different context.

Last summer I spent a couple weeks filming PARALLAX, a short western written/directed by my friend Meredith Mantik. It was an adventurous production, and made even more so due to disagreeing weather and wildfire delays – we were filming in the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs when the Waldo Canyon fire began.

This behind-the-scenes (BTS) timelapse gives a look into the day when we shot the audition scenes that take place within the movie. I asked some of the crew and cast to chime in on the day, too.  Here are their thoughts on PARALLAX:

Enter Meredith

PARALLAX is 26-minute Western about modern-day filmmakers Cameron and Bernadette who come to the West to restore the Western genre. But first, they need the perfect cowboy. Enter Wayne, who’s exactly what they wanted, and more…

This was one of the most fun production days since we weren’t pressed for time and weren’t under the threat of fires, flood, hurricanes, etc. After Zach and Ryan rocked the lighting, we shot three different scenes (hence the MANY different set-ups) with Kaleb Rittenhouse (Cameron), Samantha Steveson (Bernadette), and Jeff Bosley (Wayne). It was also a blast to have local actors, friends, and supporters contribute to the opening audition scene. –Meredith Mantik

Enter Jeff

I remember very vividly going into audition for PARALLAX just looking for a fun acting role.  I walked out with an overwhelming sense of losing the role.  Man was I wrong.

9 months later and still rocking post-production, PARALLAX exemplifies true passion when a group of like-minded filmmakers get together.  This time lapse epitomizes how that passion can create an unforgettable project.  People that love to work, will do anything on set.  You will see lead actors hanging lights, directors providing craft services, sound guys helping with shots and actors driving an hour, on faith, for a 5 second cameo…you name it, we helped do it.

If there is anything to be said about the two and a half minutes of footage here, the take away would be how truly amazing a project can be with the collaboration of equally passionate people.  I will never forget any day of filming ‘Parallax’.

Every day on PARALLAX was different and chaotic, but within that chaos was the comforting constant that we all loved our time on this film. –Jeff Bosley

Looking Ahead

There are some moving parts pending (music and sound design), but it’s looking like PARALLAX will be released the summer of 2013 in 2015.

Stay tuned and check out the movie’s IMDb page for more details on the movie.

Special thanks to Andy Rice for lending his musical talents to this behind-the-scenes timelapse.  Check out more of his music at soundcloud.com/helicase . And thanks to Colorado College for giving us access to Studio B in Cornerstone Arts Center to film these scenes.

The post A Day On the Set of Short Western Parallax appeared first on ZWFILM.

ZWFILM is hiring.  I’m Zach and here’s a brief intro about my company:

ZWFILM develops, produces and distributes stellar web videos and commercials. Our goal is to help customers engage with brands, and help our clients turn content into results-driven videos. We’re hard working and driven – no micromanaging here.  Looking for an alternative to corporate internships?  Want to work for a company that encourages independence and creative thinking?  Go ahead and continue reading…

The role: Production Office Intern in Colorado Springs

• Research online for projects and shows
• Format and publish blog articles
• Update freelancer database
• Organize media and harddrives
• Do general office errands

This is an unpaid, part-time position in our production office (downtown Colorado Springs) requiring 10 to 20 hours per week for a period of 8 weeks.

The position is open to current college students and recent grads.  And it starts immediately.

There will also be opportunities to work on set during shoots. We are a production company, after all.

I’m looking for someone who’s eager to learn and comes equipped with solid project management skills.  My ideal candidate will be excited to learn the in’s and out’s of the production business by working with me during various phases of our production process.

Minimum requirements:

• Highly competent in: online research, blogging platforms, managing tasks
• Good writer / communicator (bonus: excellent email etiquette)
• Highly developed attention to detail

Highly desirable qualities:

• Adaptable, committed and disciplined – you’re upbeat and proactive with a “can do” attitude.
• Compassionate and candid team member – you care about telling people’s stories and find joy/beauty in the relationships between people.
• Resourceful, collaborative, creative

So, why ZWFILM?

You get to learn – a lot. You will get to see what goes into running a lean production company – shooting videos is only a portion of the work.  You’ll be given responsibilities and be more prepared if you ever want to venture out and produce videos on your own.

Grow. Want to explore editing, scriptwriting or shooting?  I am all about exploring: getting people doing the work that they enjoy and love.

Are you who we’re looking for? (yep, almost a Star Wars reference there…)

Please complete the application form below.  Deadline to apply Friday, February 8, 2013 @ 11:59PM MT.

The application window has closed. Thanks for your interest.

The post Hiring: Production Office Internship appeared first on ZWFILM.

The timeline for project was a quick one – we needed to produce and deliver the spot within a week for the client to be able to run it locally during the week prior to the Festival.

The goal for the spot was to appeal to craft beer fans in an artful way.  Plus, we wanted to showcase the value of the experience that festival-goers get for a ticket price that’s relatively higher than other local beer festivals.

After designing the strategy for the spot with the client, we wrote the script and after some revisions locked it within 2 days.  The client had some footage from the previous year’s Festival, so we integrated the event footage along with our table-top footage that we produced especially for the spot.  The mix of these two kinds of footage created the artful blend that we were going for – an experiential view of the Festival plus clean, high-end beauty shots of a tasty lager in a Craft Lager glass.

We turned around the spot within 6 days for it to run on Comcast’s targeted zones in the Colorado Springs market.

Enjoy the spot and keep the event in mind for next year!

The post A Speedy Turn-Around for the Craft Lager & Small Batch Festival appeared first on ZWFILM.

In short, our goal was to showcase the strong relationship that CSHP’s doctors have with their patients because of the cutting-edge technology that they have at their fingertips.

We shot the spots over 2 days and brought along our behind-the-scenes guy for the ride, so watch out for a look behind-the-scenes of the CSHP spots in the future. Go and subscribe to our Insider Newsletter to get updates first!

CSHP “Climb Those Mountains”

CSHP “Rewards”

CSHP “Feel At Home”

The post Healthcare in Southern Colorado: CSHP Patient Care Compass appeared first on ZWFILM.

The post ZWFILM + Comcast Spotlight appeared first on ZWFILM.

Here’s a glimpse of our setup shooting some tabletop footage for a recent video called “How to Pipette Properly” – that’s a mouthful!  Now, who says science isn’t sexy?

Keep creating! -ZW

The post Science is Sexy appeared first on ZWFILM.

We’re huge fans of online video. Sure, we’re biased – we produce online video content, and even web television series. But we’re also consumers of online video, and we love having the choice to consume quality content whenever, wherever and however we want. So when the fun people at Wistia, an online video hosting company, published a fantastic infographic that puts online video streaming viewership head-to-head with that of traditional television, we loved getting to see some interesting data from Nielsen visualized.
What say you? How do you consume your video content? We’d love to hear what you think.

Infographic by: Wistia

The post Online Video Streaming Vs. Traditional Television appeared first on ZWFILM.

• With the company of my friend Ian Ware, I directed my first thriller short film; we premiered it to a packed theatre in December
• I shot a product film for a Denver startup company at the Denver International Airport
• I worked on my first network TV show when I traveled to Wyoming to work as a grip on a show for the Discovery Channel
• Two short films (Chasing Yesterday and The Toast) that I edited on for director Junior Michael Ray were accepted and premiered at the Trail Dance Film Festival; Chasing Yesterday was awarded the best historical short film of the festival; and I now have an official IMDb page
• When the Biggest Loser came to Colorado Springs to shoot an episode, I worked as an assistant cameraman
• The Colorado Springs office for the American Diabetes Association hired me to direct a promotional film for their StepOut walks
• And, I started to travel on more shoots when I shot a couple customer stories in Kansas City and Atlanta

And all of that happened in just my first full year working as a freelance filmmaker and running my production company full-time.  So, what’s in store for 2010?  A fair bit has already happened in these first two months of the year.  I have plans to expand ZWFILM’s services to offer more to local businesses and provide a powerful way for them to connect with their customers online.  And, I have a major addition to ZWFILM in the works, but for now it needs to remain my secret project…

I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities that have come my way and I’m excited to make things happen this year.  I’ll continue to post updates here on the ZWFILM blog as things come together!

-Zach

The post 2010 + a reflection on 2009 appeared first on ZWFILM.

Just wanted to share some inspiring motion design that I came across recently. It’s a magnificent music video of Moby’s for his song “Slipping Away.”

The video was created by Moustache, a Paris-based design house. I hadn’t seen the video prior to watching it on Moustache’s website. The standard quality doesn’t do it justice, so make sure to choose “HQ” after you hit play to stream the high-quality version.

Check out Moustache’s website for more of their work.

The post Moby’s “Slipping Away” Music Video appeared first on ZWFILM.