All posts in “広告制作”

Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 2〜ビジネス動画を自分で作ってみよう！その２〜

2015年2月18日 / No Comments

In yesterday’s post, I pointed out data that showed that 90% of people surveyed say that videos online helped them to decide on a purchase at a major retailer. That shows the power of video for increasing your business and making more money. Please refer to: 90% of All People Say a Video Helps To Decide a Purchase! (If that link doesn’t work, try this: www.robot55.jp/blog/90-of-all-people-say-a-video-helps-to-decide-a-purchase/)

But, that survey was done at a major retailer; big companies can afford expensive video productions. But what about the little guys? That’s where Robot55 comes in. And that’s also why we have started this weekly column: Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free!

And this is simple. We are going to help you each week correcting the most basic and common mistakes of homemade videos. So, in just a snap, you can make your business (or family videos) MUCH better by just keeping in mind every week’s simple 3 point lessons. These easy tips  will greatly improve your video for business and all your home photos and videos of the kids and family too! So, let’s get started:

1) First off, the most common mistake that I see people doing everyday! When using a smart device or smart phone, make sure that the picture is always framed horizontally. Keep a steady hand. Do NOT leave a lot of “head space” in a picture or video.

iphone video 2The image on the left doesn’t fill up the screen. The top of the head is at the halfway point. This is generally bad unless you are going to put in titles above the head. The image on the right fills the screen. This is correct and, judging side by side, you can see for yourself how much better it looks. Get close to your subjects; fill the screen. Do not leave a lot of head space. For a tip, just watch the news on TV when they close up on the anchor person: they get very close. You need to do that for your videos.

2) Do not “pan” a lot (swing the camera around). It is always best to take shorter close ups (like still photos). If the camera is swinging around, it is difficult for the viewer to grasp the image. You can understand what’s going on because you are there shooting the video and you are the cameraman, but for people watching it, especially on a smart device or PC, it only causes headaches. Here watch this if you can. It’s a example of bad “panning” (swinging the camera around):

Your viewers won’t be able to see what you see and they’ll not be able to grasp the images well. Instead of this poor panning method, I’d strongly recommend three shots of the same thing without the pan. See?

3 images

I know you want your viewers to be able to see everything, but on a screen, especially a small one, it just doesn’t work out that way well. You are much better off finding the important points and getting up close to them so the viewer can better enjoy the experience. And, like in #1 above, get close. Fill the screen!

3) Here is another basic mistake that might even be the most common. Never take someones picture when they are standing with a big window behind them or the sun behind them; the sun or light must always be behind you the cameraman. Always have the sunlight or lights behind the camera and behind your back. Never have the light source or sun behind the subject of the picture. Here’s a simple example of two photos taken in the exact same spot. One has the light behind the subject; the other has the light behind the cameraman.

bad lightingOh my god! On the photo on the left I look terrible! But, well, we can’t fix my face. The lighting though is a wreck as it is behind the subject and facing the camera. This is no good at all. What to do? We switched standing positions. In the photo on the right the cameraman is now standing with the window behind his back! I look much better (but a tad bit hung over! Yikes!)

Well, folks, that’s it for today’s simple three point lesson. Keep in mind these three simple points and your home and business videos (and your family photos or vacation and those birthday parties, picnics and weddings) will all be much better!

Seriously, I went to university to learn this stuff and that cost lots of money and time wasted not doing homework. But, because dear reader (you) are so cool, here’s information you need for absolutely free.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to write directly to me and ask away!

email: contact@robot55.jp

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For more free tips:

Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Pt. 1 (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-pt-1/)
Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 2 (www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-2/)
Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Part 3 – You Need a Map: How to Write a Script! (http://robot55.jp/blog/make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-part-3-you-need-a-map-how-to-write-a-script/)
Video Tips! Make Your Own Video For Your Business For Free! Pt. 4(（www.robot55.jp/blog/video-tips-make-your-own-video-for-your-business-for-free-pt-4/)

Is Your “Noren” Too Low? Izakaya? Chain New Youtube Video

2015年2月11日 / No Comments

In Japan, a Noren is the cloth sheet that hangs at the front of any establishment that shows that they are open for business. A customer must usually lift the Noren to enter any shop.

If a “Noren is too low,” then it is said that it becomes difficult for new customers to enter because they cannot see the inside of the shop. So, a Noren that is “Too Low” is bad for business. People want to be able to see inside your shop to see the look and atmosphere and staff. If they cannot, many people will hesitate to enter.

But, when you stop to think about it, if a customer is already at your shop’s entrance to where they can just lift up the Noren to look in, then you already have them at your shop’s front door and that’s half the battle of just getting them inside and becoming a customer.

But how about people who are far away or standing at the station waiting for friends and looking for a suitable place to dine or shop? Well, that’s where a video on Youtube and then embedded into your webpage or Facebook page or other Social Media can help you to get new customers and to help them to find you and enter your shop! With Youtube video, people can see inside your shop, meet you and see what kind of a place you are running, and then they can feel comfortable entering for the very first time.

You know what the old saying is? “Familiarity breeds content.” If people know what the inside of your place looks like and who you and the staff are, it makes it MUCH easier for them to enter.

There’s an interesting bar and eating establishment near Fuchu station named Chain. The restaurant specializes in a friendly and warm atmosphere and various dishes featuring quality beef and other cuts of choice meat braised or pan fried. I tried several of the dishes and they were quite delicious.

chain izakaya

Chain is run by a husband and wife team of Masamichi and Takeo Suzuki.

Chain doesn’t have their own webpage, but they decided to make a video for Youtube and place it on their Facebook page as well as on other social media sites. So we took the Robot55 team out to Chain and made the video for them and their customers as well as potential new customers.

Here is the video. I think with this, you can see what sort of place Chain is and the kind of people running it as well as get an idea about the food and drink menu.

With a video like this on your website or Facebook page or blog, new and first time customers can get a glimpse of what’s inside.

It makes it every easy for folks to lift the Noren at your shop and come on in. And that is good for your business!

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Izakaya? Chain

１８３－００４５ 東京都府中市美好町３－２－２－２０１号

3-2-2-201 Miyoshi-Cho, Fuchu City, Tokyo.

Hours: Mon – Sun:5:00 pm – 12:00 am

Tele: 042－207－2941

Map: http://yahoo.jp/fkvWZ9

 

 

The Tokyo Olympics – 1964 News Reels

2015年2月10日 / No Comments

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are coming. I was searching for information on the subject when I stumbled upon some old video of newsreel footage that show the scenes and I thought you might like to go with me on a blast to the past.

These two are Universal News newsreels (Yes, Universal used to do the news also!) Probably a common denominator between these videos of 1964 and the 2020 Olympics will be that the USA is probably one of the top two medal winners. I expect that China, and not the Soviet Union, will be the ones to beat in 2020.

This first one is entitled, “The Olympics – U.S. Widens Tokyo Lead from Oct. 19, 1964. Here’s the description:  “(1) brief shot of Harold Wilson of Britain (2) Tokyo Olympics as Hirohito watches; Sharon Studer wins 3rd medal in butterfly swim race; platform diving won by Leslie Bush; track events include 100 meter spring won by Hayes – slow motion of finish; women’s 100 meter (partial newsreel).”

By the way, did you know that Japan came in third in medals in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics? Wow! What’s happened since then? It’s anybody’s guess, but Japan has been an also-ran in the Olympics in the last few decades.

Here’s a medal chart:

1964 Olympics medal countWikipedia has all the details:

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan from October 10 to 24, 1964. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan’s invasion of China, before ultimately being canceled because of World War II. The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia, and the first time South Africa was barred from taking part due to its apartheid system in sports. (South Africa was, however, allowed to compete at the 1964 Summer Paralympics, also held in Tokyo, where it made its Paralympic Games debut.)

Tokyo was chosen as the host city during the 55th IOC Session in West Germany, on May 26, 1959. These games were also the first to be telecast internationally without the need for tapes to be flown overseas as they were for the 1960 Olympics four years earlier. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the firstgeostationary communication satellite, and from there to Europe using Relay 1. These were also the first Olympic Games to have color telecasts (partially). Certain events like the sumo wrestling and judo matches, sports huge in Japan, were tried out using Toshiba’s new color transmission system; but just for the domestic market, not for any international coverage. History surrounding the 1964 Olympics was chronicled in the 1965 documentary film Tokyo Olympiad, directed by Kon Ichikawa.

The second video is about the dawning of the Bullet Train. Check it!

I think there is one more thing though that might be common about the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; There’s going to be lots of foreigners from around the world coming to Tokyo so Japanese businesses need to up their game and promote their businesses to these wealthy foreigners while they can!

Web video and local productions in various languages will be key to growing your business.

If you need anything concerning video production in Tokyo and video production in the English language, please ask us at Robot55.

Life is Short – Keep Learning! Day of Editing and Color Correction〜ビデオ編集講座カラーコレクション編

2015年2月8日 / No Comments

“Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.” ― Isaac Asimov

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” ― Henry Ford

“I’m unpredictable, I never know where I’m going until I get there, I’m so random, I’m always growing, learning, changing, I’m never the same person twice. But one thing you can be sure of about me; is I will always do exactly what I want to do.” ― C. JoyBell C.

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Yesterday was a great day editing our Japanese Rock N Roll Ghost Story movie. It was fun.

I felt happy because of two important things:

1) We were creating our dream. I mean, it was me, us, we. We were creating our dreams by making the effort. There was nothing stopping us from making what we wanted to create and, therefore becoming who we are destined to be.

2) We were learning. We were all learning a new skill and how to become better at our craftsmanship. We learn by doing; by being; by making the effort. Isn’t this the way to live a fulfilled and happy life?

Today? I woke up happy and feeling good. It’s nice to be nearly sixty-years-old and wake up in the morning feeling good and thinking, “Gee! I learned something totally new yesterday.” No matter how old we get, we must continually keep learning and expanding ourselves and our universe.

There are quotes at the top of this page by the famous, but in my own Hollywwod, the quote might be:

“Life happens to people.”

Folks, keep learning! Live life to the fullest.

Yesterday, we had a day of editing and color correction on the Japanese Rock N Roll Ghost Story movie. It was the first time to have ever used Da Vinci software for color correction. I had never seen the software before. I now know why all the big Hollywood movies use it.

I mentioned before that we had finished the initial stages of video production and the trailer now looks set to be of “Hollywood” quality. I am expecting the trailer to be ready for your viewing within two weeks of this posting.

I look forward to more video editing, shooting, and post production in the next few days. I hope you do too.

We will keep you posted.

mr. pan 012615Mr. Pan, lead vocalist and guitar of the Neatbeats. Mr. Pan is starring in the film. (Photo by Osamu Arai)

To read more about: A Japanese Rock & Roll Ghost Story – click here: www.robot55.jp/rock-roll-ghost-story/

7万円で家宝をゲット！孫の代まで自慢出来るお子様の演奏・パフォーマンス・ビデオを制作しませんか？

2015年2月3日 / No Comments

うちの息子は子供ピアノコンクールで大変いい成績を残しており、受賞も何度かしています。とても自慢の息子ですが、大きな夢を叶える迄の道のりはまだまだ長く、これからだと思います。とはいえピアノ教師である妻と努力を重ねて既に叶えた夢も幾つかありますし、父親である私と一緒に努力して実現した夢だってあるのです。例えば一生残るプロ品質のYouTubeビデオ – そんな素敵なものを欲しがらない子供なんているでしょうか？

Continue Reading…

A Family Heirloom for ¥70,000? Create Your Child’s Performance Video That You Will be Proud of Forever!

2015年2月3日 / No Comments

My son has done pretty well at children’s piano competitions in Japan. He has even won a few awards! We are very proud of him. He still has a long way to go to achieve his dream, but there are a few dreams that he has already achieved; mostly by hard practice and dedication on the piano with his mom and teachers but there is also a few that he made with dad! I mean to say, what child doesn’t dream of having a professional quality video on Youtube to show and share for the rest of their lives?

I have made several videos over the years for my son as he has gotten older and it was through the production of these videos as well as the creation on the Robot55 concept, we have been able to come up with a way to make a video just like the one below for ¥70,000 ~ ¥80,000 complete (Ask about our cash discount special!) Normally, at most video production companies, things like this would run well past ¥150,000 or more. We can do it for 1/2 that price.

How do we create a family heriloom? And NO! I’m not talking about a video made by dad; I am talking about a professionally shot and edited video that is as good as anything you’ll see on regular TV! (Dad, we love you, and your videos are fun, but we are talking about the value of professional work!) In this particular case, the family rented a grand piano for practice for two hours before a big competition (¥5000 an hour to play a Steinway at Shidome – If you need more info, email us!) We arrived to video tape one under 4 minute song. Two cameras; one good performance by the child and a few others for extra shots. A quick edit and…. Wallah! A professional quality video that will make your child feel like a professional and it will be a family heirloom that will be treasured for years to come.

And, we had the final edit completed within 24 hours!

They are only children for a short time. Capture the moment.

Write to us at Robot55 and let’s talk about making one of yours and your child’s dreams come true!

 

NOTE TO PARENTS: After going through competitions and being a professional in TV and radio for over three decades, I can personally attest to the value of a real on-camera practice session…. And, no, I don’t mean dad with the family video cam; the kids won’t feel nervous in front of  dad like they would in front of professional video cameramen, lighting and sound people; this sort of practice (and then the subsequent viewing of the finished video by the parents and child) is invaluable for furthering the child’s skill and professionalism.

After all, aren’t they all dreaming of becoming professionals?

 

Video Shoot at a Shot Bar Named Albatross and a Izakaya named Chain

2015年2月2日 / No Comments

Last week we went to Shinjuku to shoot a wonderfully decorated bar named Albatross. Albatross is basically a shot bar and is one of the most interesting drinking places I have ever seen. It is in Omoide Yokocho just 2 minutes walk from Shinjuku station and it has a wild interior!

Ken shot the video and did a superb job of editing. This place is tiny, Ken uses his video production skills and creativity to make it look like a  huge museum. The place does kind of look like a museum, but it is quite cozy inside. Check it out!

Using the same model for Albatross, yesterday, we went all the way out to Fuchu and shoot a video for a restaurant/ bar named Chain. Chain is a nice, spacious establishment with great drinks and delicious food. Chain specializes in meat dishes such a braised steak, chicken and pork as well as a wide array of side dishes. I will post that video as soon as it is ready too!

We had a good time at the video shoot and I drank too much. I think I must owe Ken some money for drinks!