Now that you know you need to make a video of your hotel, we will analyze point by point the most important and essential steps that you must take into account to record it. Prepared?
#1. Idea
The starting point is an idea. A good video is not an overlay of shots without more. It must have a storytelling, a well told story. A narration with magic, with all those ingredients that excite the viewer and help to retain information. If a story is well told and generates feelings will be hard to forget.
Meet your buyer person and put yourself in their shoes. Try to find out what really excites them and moves them, and go straight to the point. Undoubtedly, the idea is the basis of any video marketing. Do not stick with the first one that comes to mind. Turn around and ask for advice.
#2. Script and Technical Script
Once the idea is decided, the plot of the story, write a good script. It details the narrative of the story shot by shot. It must have a common thread, a very clear and differentiated narrative structure in three stages: an introduction, a knot and a denouement.
You can decide for a video with or without voice-over. If the video is with a narration, write each sentence thinking, once again, in your buyer person. Think that the most important thing is that your potential customers feel identified. Pay special attention to the tone of voice.
But if, on the contrary, you decide for a video without explicit narration, choose the appropriate shots that tell the story for themselves.
Based on the script (text and shots), elaborate the technical script. This must be a living document until the last day of filming. At this stage it is only necessary to specify the plans, but as you progress your project you must incorporate more information as the technical material that requires the recording of each scene, in what location, with which characters, props ... Try to be as accurate and concise as possible. Structure it as a table and provide information.
#3. Characters
Define how many characters you need to tell the story. Think, once more, in your buyer persona. With whom they would feel identified? Is it a hotel for adults only? Or familiar?
Based on this, perform a casting and try to select the characters appropriately. Take into account the sex, age and other physical characteristics such as the color of the hair or the skin. Perhaps your hotel receives a large influx of German guests or, conversely, they are all Spanish ... Choose characters that approach stereotypes with the intention that the buyer persona will feel totally reflected in the history of the video.
Once the characters are selected, it expands the information in the technical script and details in which planes each one of them must be. Remember that it is a document that needs to be expanded as the project progresses.
#4. Location
Determine, with all the intention of the world, which locations of your hotel should be in the video. Do you have a hotel with stunning views but honestly, the rooms need a makeover? Do not think it. The video must be so spectacular, so mind-boggling, that viewers will not be able to resist visiting it.
Is your hotel in the center of Madrid or in front of a crystal-clear Canarian beach? It enhances its location and shows the most beautiful sites around it, in addition to the activities that can be done or the complementary offer that the visitor will find. For example, you know that your buyer persona likes to practice golf and there is a course near your hotel ... Don’t hesitate, make the protagonists practice it.
#5. Props, make-up, costumes...
Prepare a production as detailed as possible and take into account aspects as important as the props, makeup or costumes of the characters.
If we continue with the golf example, think about the sticks and all the sports equipment necessary for your protagonists, the makeup and in every little detail. The triumph of a video lies in a good storytelling and in no element that draws your attention in a negative way. If everything happens naturally, the video will triumph. Do not hesitate.
#6. Technical equipment
It details what technical needs your video requires. Would you like to record aerial shots and need a drone? Do you want to make smooth and stable camera movements? Then you should wear a ronin. Analyze what type of shots you want to record and study the technical needs.
#7. Shooting plan
Detail one by one the plans that you need to record and structure a shooting plan as optimum and productive as possible. For example, the recording will last for 3 days but, due to budget requirements, you can only count on a drone on the first day. Group all the plans with those technical needs and record them in a row, even if they don’t follow an order in the final script. Each filming has its peculiarities. Establish a calendar in which everything flows in the best possible way. Do you want some advice? Prepare more than one shooting plan. It may rain, the drone may break down or a piece of prop may fail at the last moment. The more b plans you have, the better.
#8. Permits
If the locations extend beyond the areas of your hotel, you should know well what permits you need. Are you going to go to a golf course, a beach or a shopping street? Find out first what requirements you must have. If it is a public space, you should contact the city council and possibly pay a fee. Do your homework before bad management does not ruin a day of filming.
#9. Lighting and Recording
The day has arrived. Nervous? You should be if you haven’t done a good planning. But if you have followed our advice, calm, enjoy an intense and unforgettable day. Follow the plan of filming strictly, but be enough flexible to save the inconveniences to improve the product. Also think about the lighting of each shot and the communication between the whole team. If the team is united and works together, believe us, it will be noticed in the result.
#10. Edition
The momento of true has arrived. The work is done and now is the time to assemble it, edit it. Today there are many software programs that make the job easier, like Premiere, Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve ... They are very intuitive programs that an inexperienced user can learn in a short time, even though it is clear that an expert's hand will improve the product in an exponential way.
#11. Sound
Sound is very important in the final result of a production. Have you ever tried to see a shot of your favorite movie without volume? It loses a lot of strength. Don’t you think so? Sound is very important. Make sure that, if there is, the voice-over has a good quality, choose the soundtrack and effects very well.
#12. Coloring
Coloring is a part of the postproduction process that refers to the color correction, its homogenization. It is done with advanced and specific computer programs.
#13. Graphic
It is the final touch to audiovisual production. Graphing manages to signal identity while activating mechanisms of persuasion. Letters, a logo or any graphic message contribute to the penetration of messages in the viewer and are a clear mark of corporate identity.
#14. Export and dissemination
Last but not least. Quite the opposite. There is no point in making a good video of your hotel if it is forgotten in a draw. Exporting in the right format and in the most appropriate resolution is fundamental to be able to spread the video to the whole world. Social networks, blog, website, emailing ... Good content deserves a good spread.
