Live-action video
Live-action video is the most sought after medium of video content for businesses, but you may also be contemplating animation. Live-action video for business remains a consistently effective promotional tactic, while the popularity of animated video comes in waves; suggesting that while animation offers certain creative benefits, it is perhaps not the ideal style of video content you should be creating to support your organisation.
To help you to understand the benefits of live-action video for business we will be discussing why live-action video production offers advantages, a live-action vs animation comparison, and the best live-action video tips for creating your corporate video.
This post will be going over:
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- Live-action video meaning
- Live-action vs animation pros and cons
- Live-action video tips
Live-action video meaning
The definition of a live-action video is a video of live actors and animals, instead of a video featuring animated characters or computer-generated imagery. However, live-action video effects can still be used to create similar results to those that might be done using animation.
Live-action vs animation pros and cons
Animation pros
- Versatility: Animation is a very flexible medium allowing you to express a variety of ideas that it may not possible to create in a live-action video. This makes animation a good way to produce video content that needs to communicate exaggerated, outlandish, or abstract ideas.
- Easy to understand: Because animation is an inherently visual style, it can make difficult ideas easy to understand. It is a good format for simplifying a lot of complex information that can be difficult for viewers to wrap their heads around.
- Timeless: Many people would make the case that animated videos have better longevity than live-action. There are visual elements of live-action videos that age such as fashions, and certain things that may be shown in a live-action video such as a date, which then cannot be as easily edited as an animation video. (However, there are ways around this such as filming your live-action video in a classic style.)
Animation cons
- Lacks personal touch: Animation can be creative and visually impressive, but the trade-off is that it lacks the human element. Videos without people in them, make it difficult for your viewer to personally connect to the message, and therefore, your brand or product. You can use a voiceover in an attempt to humanise the video, but depending on the purpose of your video, it may not be enough to actually help deliver your message effectively to your audience. Having real-life actors, customers, and employees in your video is much more likely to help your audience engage with your ideas.
- Time-consuming animated video production: Animation has a long pre-production planning stage involving storyboarding, scriptwriting, animation, voiceover, sound effects, and music. Animated video production is a lengthy process; it could take anywhere from 3-7 weeks to create a short video.
- According to research conducted by WyzOwl, the average turnaround time for a 60-second video is approximately six weeks. Animated video production is a long process that should be factored in project pipelines well in advance – if you have strict deadlines for your project, live-action is the best option.
- Expensive: As discussed, animation video production is a very extensive process, with storyboarding, scriptwriting, animation, voiceover, sound effects, and music to consider. The manpower and time it takes to create an animated video can be costly. According to the data mentioned above, the average cost of a 60-second animated video is over $7,900.
Live-action pros
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- Accessibility: Animation is a specialism that requires a lot of training and technical skill, and not to mention special software for rendering animation. Whereas live-action production is far more accessible – you don’t require state-of-the-art equipment to make a great video. If you were pressed you could make do on a much smaller budget than you think.
- Quicker turnaround time: One of the main advantages of live-action over animation is the turnaround on production. With animation you are essentially starting from scratch – ideas need to be mapped out before the production can begin to come together and it begins to feel tangible. With live-action videos, pre-production planning is far shorter, and the people and many of the props are readily available.
- Tangibility: Another huge advantage of live-action video content is the human element. With animation, although the video may be advertising a real product or service, it doesn’t feel truly grounded in reality because of the way it is presented. When you have real people advertising your business, it feels much more palpable to an audience, making it a much more powerful and influential form of advertisement.
- Emotive: Not only does it make the product or service feel within reach, but by using people you can appeal to the emotional nature of the viewer. Not only are live-action videos for business very informative, but you also have the flexibility to show your company’s values through a real person and build trust with the audience, building more credibility for yourself. This factor also makes your videos far more shareable online.
Live-action video cons
- Logistics: When it comes to live-action videos, the drawback is logistics. Creating a video involves a camera crew, sound technicians, editors, and actors. If you don’t have experience with this, it can be difficult to organise a production if you’re not hiring from the same production team.
Live-action video tips
- Make a plan: As with any video production, planning matters. The planning process is not as extensive as animation, but preparation is still important to execute your video to perfection. You should be clear on the target demographic of your video, the purpose of your video, and the content. If you are going to star in the video, here are some tips on preparing yourself.
- Connect with your audience: To create a truly persuasive video, you will need to connect with your audience on a personal level. How will you communicate your brand values to your audience in an engaging way? A script that tells a strong story is sure to help the viewer form a connection.
- Production value matters: While it is possible to shoot a video on an iPhone these days, the production value of your video speaks to the value of your product or service. Going with a professional service for your corporate video will help you make sense of the live-action video process and create a compelling and engaging video.
From our comparison and analysis, you can see the clear benefits for live-action videos that remain in 2021.
Do you require a videographer for your live-action business video? If so, book with Splento for a professional, reliable, and affordable service. Contact us today to discuss your project with a team member.
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