Content Marketing & Film Resource

The First Five Things I learned as a Production Intern

John Zawawi July 28, 2016 Production, Video production, production intern Leave a Comment

My name is John Zawawi, and I just finished my freshman year at the University ofMassachusetts Amherst. This is the first internship I’ve ever had, and I couldn’t be happier to be doing it at MEDIABOSS.

Being in a professional environment for the first time, I quickly realized that I know nothing.
There’s plenty of things you can learn in school, but your true education begins once you step foot inside the walls of a real workplace.

Now that I’ve settled in, I’d like to share some of the first lessons I learned (so far) while working for MEDIABOSS.

5. Making Coffee

The quintessential intern task, becoming the office barista is one of the first things to learn on the job. However, this doesn’t make it unimportant.

Whether it’s an editor on a marathon session or a client coming to the studio for the first time, being able to make a coffee saves time for everyone.

It may not be the most important thing I’ll learn from my time here, but being willing to make my colleagues’ lives easier is a guiding principal that I’ll take wherever I work in the future.

4. The Difference Between a Camel and a Dromedary

Coming into this internship, I expected to learn a lot about writing, production and filmmaking. I didn’t expect to learn what the difference between a camel and a dromedary is (answer: a camel has two humps, a dromedary has one). But I recently had this specific difference explained to me, because that attention to detail is what you need to have when working in professional environment.

You have to be an expert on whatever you’re shooting, whether it’s beer or the Boston Marathon. At MEDIABOSS, being the most prepared isn’t a goal, but a requirement.

3. Anticipate

On set, my job as an intern is to anticipate what everyone needs, and try and find a way to help them. Every second is precious. Sometimes, the difference between having gaff tape on your wrist and 10 feet away from you is costing the crew that last second of perfect lighting before the sun sets.

Good anticipatory skills are a result of paying attention to the filmmaking process. I learned very quickly that you have to be paying attention to each person’s job, which is something I’m
thankful to have to do: forcing myself to be constantly in tune on set has helped me soak in more of what is going on around me.

2. Never Leave For Post-Production What You Can Do In Production

On set, it’s easy to say “we can take care of that in post”. As it turns out, it’s not nearly as easy to do in post. Photoshop takes time (read: money), and the less editors have to do, the more efficiently the entire company can move.

As a successful company, there are always more projects coming in than there are editors.

Delivering them quality footage saves them hours of unnecessary work. In taking the time to make shots look perfect from the start, you get that time back tenfold later.

1. Everything is Storytelling.

What I believe is the most important thing I’ve learned since coming to MEDIABOSS is to look at every project as a story. Before, I only looked at visual storytelling in terms of film and television.

Even the simplest commercial has a story, and it is the job of the creative professionals who work here to tell that story in the best way they can. Approaching all projects as stories has helped me simplify the process. Asking the question, “what is the story here?” has allowed me to understand the purpose behind creative decisions made, and consequently has helped my own decision making process.

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Unleashing The Full Power of Facebook Live

Ian Barrett July 21, 2016 Production, Tips & Tricks, Video production, live stream, facebook live Leave a Comment

Here are the facts: Video performs well on Facebook and Live Video performs even better.

Most of the videos you see on Facebook Live are people sharing 5-20 minutes of an event.

Facebook Live is a great feature for sharing events with your friends the moment it happens. It lets you tap into the power of your curated social network and it makes viewing with a mobile device simple.

Now, if I were to cite a drawback it would be the limited quality of the shared audio and video. Cellphone video may not always be the best vehicle to share your brand.

We take a different approach. We've been using it to produce and share live multi-cam shows. In fact, we've had so much success with it, we started producing two live multi-cam shows at our studios.

You're may wonder how we can pull off a multi-cam switch with cellphones. The answer is that we don't. We use a Broadcast switcher and run optical connections to our cameras. We're running a television studio into FB live. This allows us to add some fun bling to our broadcasts: custom graphics, great audio and pre-packaged content.

What we love about it (and what you probably love, too) is the immediate sharing to a targeted audience through a social network.

This is the exact same set-up we use for Broadcast television, Livestream, Ustream, Justin.tv, etc. - but without the expense and hassle.

For many clients this type of sharing is groundbreaking and creates traction on a network that they have been cultivating for years.

The interface also allows for interaction via comments and reaction emojis with a slight, but manageable, delay.

Now, the technology itself is not new or particularly groundbreaking. But the power it gives to anyone with an account and a device is. Everyone now has the potential to be a broadcaster.

The secondary benefit is the ability to share the finished video in a variety of different ways. Research has shown that a 2/3 majority of the views happen after the live broadcast. Once a video publishes, Facebook Insights shows you where people joined and where they left. The insights also lets you see what parts of the broadcast they liked the most by noting the reaction emojis.

Our own recent experience with a radio broadcaster and our client was an out of the park success. The radio station loved it because it enhanced their broadcast AND gave them content to share after the broadcast was over. This meant that thousands of fans who weren't able to attend still got to see what they were missing.

The Daily Beast, CNN, and TMZ are just a few of the early adopters to Facebook Live video and they've seen great success.

This is the beginning of a big trend. We predict that as adoption increases, you'll see more high-end multi-cam productions on Facebook in the near future. And I'm sure it's making Google and YouTube a little nervous.

The way we look at it, if you are marketing person who wants to make something big happen for your company or your client, Facebook Live is a powerful option. And if you are looking to make a bigger impact than your competition, then looking into a multi-camera option is the right way to go.

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4 Common Misconceptions About Video Production

Erin Hayes December 03, 2015 Production, Tips & Tricks Leave a Comment

]Businesses small and large are creating and distributing video content more than ever.

Despite its popularity, the process involved in producing a successful video is often misunderstood.

Clients come to us feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of the process just as often as they come to us expecting it to be a snap.

In this post, we clear up four common misconceptions about video production we've come across in our years as video producers.

1. Just Press Record

There’s a lot of prep that needs to happen before a camera op presses record and answers, ‘speeding’ to a director.

Capturing a professional and effective video is not as simple as going for a take as soon as the subject walks on set.

The production crew will need to light the set. They'll make tailored adjustments to the lighting and camera angles once the subject is on their mark. And they'll need to test the audio to make sure it's perfect.

This takes "as long as it takes" to get right and make your video look and sound amazing.

It’s a good idea to figure in at least 20-30 minutes for setup depending on the complexity of the set/scene.

If you have actors that need makeup and hair, add another 30 minutes per person.

Once makeup is done, the lighting is perfect and the audio is pristine, the director will let the crew know it’s time to record.

2. Don't worry, we can fix it in Post.

Every once in a while we're asked to take someone else's footage and "fix it" for a client. There are tweaks that we can make, but ultimately, poorly executed video production cannot be fixed in post-production.

Yes, footage can be color corrected and low audio can get boosted (to an extent) during the editing process. But, if you didn’t light your video well, compose your shot right and didn’t test your microphones, the only step you can take is re-shooting your video.

Poor pre-production can’t be fixed in post either.

There isn’t a De-Awkward-izing Filter in post-production software. So, if your actors don’t know their lines or aren’t familiar with the script, post production won’t be able to fix that.

If your storyline or pitch is weak in pre-production, then the final product will be weak, too. Sure, editors can add quick cuts and a thrilling music track to pick up the pace of the video. But it won't fix the content.

Bottom line, preparation is everything. The weeks leading up to the shoot are just as critical as the production day.

Make sure your script is tight, your subjects rehearsed and you hire a professional production crew.

3. It Costs More Than It’s Worth

A good video does not cost more than its worth.

Video is considered to have the highest ROI our of any visual content by 51.9% of marketers, according to eMarketer.

And in terms of biggest bang for your buck, consider this: A one-minute video is worth 1.8 millions words.

Video Brewery made this comparison:

"...That’s the equivalent of 3,600 typical web pages. If you write an average of one web page an hour, it would take you 150 days of writing to achieve the impact of one minute of video."

What would it cost you to pay a marketing consultant to write one web page an hour for 150 days?

Well, if you hired a consultant at $50/hour to write for 8 hours every day for 150 days, it would cost you $60,000.

Sure, a one-minute video could cost you $60,000. But if that's outside your budget, there are plenty of excellent, less expensive options.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying cheaper is better, either. A bad video is never worth what you paid for it.

The key to making sure that your video is worth what it costs to produce is hiring the right video production partner.

We'll write more on that in another post.

4. It was shot today so we’ll get a finished product tomorrow.

In today’s Need-it-Now world of smartphone video uploaded directly to YouTube, it’s not surprising that this is a common misconception.

When it comes to professionally produced video, the timelines are longer. How much longer? It depends on the complexity of the project.

Once footage is shot it needs to get backed up and imported into a system.

There is no easy chart to definitively determine: "This amount of footage will take this long to back up and import."

Different file types take different lengths of time. Some import in real-time, some import faster. Some file types take exponentially longer to import.

Let’s say you shot an hour of footage with two cameras and an additional 30 minutes of b-roll (supporting background footage).

If we use the rule of averages, the backup/import process will take half a day.

Then an editor will want to go through the footage so he or she is acquainted with the project.

The time this takes depends on the editor and his or her process.

But a professional will want to take the time to make sure they’ve seen everything that was shot.

This way they can create the best possible final product.

Then, the editor will create a first version. This is their first pass at executing the producer’s vision for the video.

The producer and the editor will watch the first version together and the producer will let the editor know if he or she is on track.

Once the producer signs off on the first version the editor will go for a final version.

If the final is approved by the producer, then the editor will begin the finish edit.

In addition to editing the story together, the editor also color-corrects the footage, adds graphics and music, sweetens the audio, etc. All of this takes time to do...and time to render.

Editing is tedious. It isn’t a process you’d want to rush if you care about quality.

It’s possible to have a video turned around in a two or three days if you’ve paid for a rush fee. But generally speaking, you should expect anywhere from a week to a month turn-around.

Again, exact timing depends on the length and complexity of the video.

Video is an immensely powerful marketing tool if done right. Treat the production process with respect and you’ll be satisfied with your end result.

If you’d like to learn more about our production process, check out this resource.

And if you have questions about an upcoming project, we’d love to talk!

Production Tips & Tricks

In Post We Trust: Our Approach to Editing Video

Monica Duque December 01, 2015 Production, Video, Tips & Tricks Leave a Comment

Back in the day when I was producing weekly shows in Colombia, I remember putting all my faith in “Alvarito”, my editor.

This guy was a magician! Not only an efficient operator but an organized mind, capable of giving a nice finished touch to our projects. A guy who took our job seriously and always gave every edit his best.

At the time, I enjoyed the power of keeping things under control. It was a lot of responsibility but I loved it.

My agenda was always organized; is the driver on time? Is the gear checked? Is the crew ready? But even then there was always a risk of something going wrong.. Why? Ask Murphy. It’s the law of production.

Luckily, I had “Alvarito” to help me trough those tough moments. I’m not gonna lie, post-production was my lifesaver a few times.

A few years later I became an editor and as “Alvarito” I challenge myself with each project. I came to find editing very similar to puzzles. My job is getting the best pieces of raw footage and telling stories by putting these pieces together.

Video is the go-to visual content today for a large number of businesses – so editors, we have a lot in our shoulders!

Editing, like storytelling, is all about the small details which helps to design a product that will speak to your target audience. Full disclosure: I'm not one of those editors who takes the footage, logs and transcribes each shot into text. That takes forever and I find it limits my creativity.

Here is how I do what I do:

Take a deep breath and dive in.

Sometimes projects get confusing, especially if I wasn’t in the shoot. So, I take a deep breathe, set up my timeline and just get to work creating my wide cut.

At this point I don’t pay too much attention to shots, narration or sound bites. I just try to take my best shot at telling the story I want to tell.

Then, I watch it front to back; no matter how long it takes or how boring it sounds. This is the moment when I get the key pieces of my puzzle - when I establish the line I want to follow.
I mark all those moments I know I’ll need and everything starts to make sense. For sure my next cut will be more clear and tighter.

Focus on the design.

By the design I mean all those details that enhance my edit, like music, Color Correction, GFX, VO, FX and much more if needed.

Watch it again.

If the result gets me close to the goal, I put on my brave boots and call the director and/or producer for their approval. I’m glad to say that most of the time I just have to adjust a couple of shoots or frames, render and goodbye! - getting OFFLINE before 5 pm.

Being able to customize elements makes me valuable as an editor and having freedom to shape stories makes my job exciting. Yes, some projects ask to be treated by the script, but b-roll and design elements allow for plenty of creative freedom.

Here are some tips that help me on my day to day job:

Take some time from the edit.

After spending so much time in the same edit, it’s easy to become desensitized to the material. So it’s important to step away. Taking a break from an edit and returning with fresh eyes can help you to do a better job.

Avoid one camera angle.

If your material includes multiple cameras angles, take advantage of it and make sure you switch among them. That makes your product more dynamic and interesting.

Once your audience gets the idea of space, you can avoid wide shots and jump into medium and close ups. It’s engaging to watch body language and facial expressions.

Remember, you are taking your audience on a journey with your video. Make sure you are using the best shots to achieve your goal and reach the viewer's expectations. Don’t forget, what you may have is less than 30 seconds to grab people’s attention So get them as quickly as you can!.

Never stop learning.

As editors we need to stay fluid and learn new tools. Make sure you can create an experience for the viewer. Motion graphics, voice over, animation, color correction, matched footage from different sources – these will help you create a dynamic product. You have a lot to do more than just edit.

Become a storyteller.

Also, knowing what works for your edits is more important than operating the software. Your goal is to create video that people will enjoy watching. Storytelling is definitely more important.

Respect the job.

Behind every video there is more than a tired editor. There is a supporting team.

If you are not an expert, hire one. I respect this job, and editing is not just cutting and pasting. It takes years to get good at it and that’s why hiring a professional makes sense. You get the best product this way.

If you're looking for inspiration on what content you should include in your video marketing strategy, download our Guide to the 7 Must-Have Videos:

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Production Video Tips & Tricks

Making the Pilot: A No Nonsense Guide to Pilot Production

Ian Barrett October 27, 2015 Creativity, Production, Tips & Tricks Leave a Comment

Pilot production is tough.

There’s a lot riding on the pilot. This single episode needs to present all the unique characteristics of your production and sell sponsors or networks on your idea.

If you are talking to networks, they generally fund the pilot. You would have already attached a director and talent to the production and the network would generally set you up in one of their studios to create the pilot.

To be clear, this blog isn’t about that.

It’s about you.

You don’t have a network budget, but you do have a great idea and some money. And you really believe your show idea can go somewhere.

It’s time to put that script and that budget on the line and get it made. But where do you start?

First, let’s dig a little deeper.

Many show pilots go on to become the first episode in a series. ‘Great!’, you think. ‘One out of the way.’

Well, yes and no. Because of this, there’s quite a bit of pressure to immediately engage and capture an audience.

Now, Netflix released some interesting data this fall that shows the pilot is rarely the episode that hooks a viewer. In fact, according to their data, that magical episode is usually between episode 2 and 8!

However, that doesn’t mean that the pilot can be phoned in. A 22 episode story arc won’t mean anything if the pilot falls flat on its face. Because chances are, you won’t be given the chance to either:

a) produce the remaining 21 episodes or

b) air the remaining 21 episodes.

Another obstacle is that your pilot really needs to look as much like a typical episode as possible.

That means it’s necessary to work as hard as you can to nail talent, locations, costumes, props, lighting and camera all at the same time.

What’s changed about the business is that web series have become the new concept development hot bed.

This means you can make a successful web series and get the attention of anyone from Producers to Network Execs to the actual Agents who are looking for vehicles for their clients.

That’s how “Broad City” came to the attention of Amy Poehler. She stepped in as Executive Producer and got them their deal.

1. When do I know I need to make a Pilot?

When people approach us about producing their show pilot, it’s usually because people have expressed interest in their show idea.

Whether it’s an unscripted or scripted program, they need a pilot to fully pitch a network or sponsor and get the series funded.

Thanks to the rise of online video series, we’ve seen a spike in interest in pilot production in recent years. This is largely due to the fact that the number of outlets has gone from a few to hundreds.

And there is an entire business for branded web series (sponsored original content) outside of any network or distributor.

2. How much does it cost?

That’s always the first or second question people ask us, and we respond the same way every time:

How much does a car cost?

How much does a watch cost?

How much does a stroller cost? (new dad, here.)

It’s absolutely relative. But the important factors are the scale of the production: i.e. the number of days of shooting, locations, props, costumes etc.

What’s important is that your pilot looks like you are invested (read: you spent a lot of money).
Good production is absolutely the key component to making the people who watch your pilot go, “Wow” instead of “Ummm, we’re not interested.”

On our end we do everything on a fixed budget. This means you pay us and you get a guaranteed broadcast quality pilot that you can show to networks and sponsors alike, with no post-production surprises.

In addition, every element of the production will meet broadcast standards. This is critical, because in many scenarios your pilot becomes the first episode of the series.

You don’t want to do this twice. And in most cases, you won’t get that second chance, anyway.

3. What’s involved?

Well, MediaBoss is a production company that produces unscripted and scripted television shows. We have created hundreds of hours of television and we bring that experience to the client. Our pilots are award-winning and have resulted in broadcast programs.

That’s important because making a pilot is a lot harder than shooting an episode that is part of an established series.

Everything is brand new in a pilot: the music, the graphics, the shooting schedule, the actors and crew and their relationship with the director.

It’s really difficult to make it look like this is Episode 100 and not Episode One, or the first time everyone has worked together.

But that’s the job we love and it’s where our experience pays off.

First, you bring in your script and meet the team. The team includes the producer, director, production manager and staff writer.

After a reading we do a script breakdown and figure out what needs to be done to make it happen. That’s where our budget comes from.

5. When does the shoot happen?

The first shoot happens after the budget is agreed on, a production agreement is signed, and a deposit is delivered.

The production agreement will outline the shooting, editing and delivery schedule.

But first, we get into the pre-production stage. Casting, locations, makeup, props, legal clearances are just a few examples of things that need to be locked up before you can start shooting.

Then there’s the conversation with the MediaBoss production team about your show’s “look”.

How will it be lit, shot and edited. The color palette, acting style, production style, etc.

The whole team needs to be on the same page with all of these elements. In the end, that’s what the director is responsible for on set.

So when that’s lined up it’s time to shoot.

6. What’s the shooting like?

It’s hell on wheels. I think the fantasy of the ‘set life’ and the reality are pretty far apart.

Filmmaking is blue-collar work. Period.

You have a job to do and it has to be done to these specs. And it has to be good.

I’ve meet a lot of well-dressed directors on set and I have to say that on a managed budget production, you better see some sweat and a team of people hustling otherwise your not going to make your shot list for the day!

When you are shooting on a tight schedule with a lot of set-ups, you don’t have time to screw around.

You can’t afford one part of the production to hold any of the other parts up.

So, no you can’t take all day to light that cutaway. It needs to be lit and shot in 15 minutes. And you need to move onto the next thing and the whole crew has to be in synch with that.

Sets can go from chaos to ‘We are shooting this now, action!’ in a couple of minutes. It’s so important to have a good experienced crew, because they all know what’s needed and they do it.

The director also needs to get the best out of the actors and that rapport can’t take all day to develop. He also needs to know when to take an alternate shot or move on even thought something isn’t perfect, because time is the enemy and when you run out of that, there is no more production.

That’s not to say that the mood on set needs to be tense.

In fact, it should be the opposite and everyone should feel like they are on the same team working a very long series of days to an amazing goal.

A good director can make that happen, too. If you hear yelling on set, it’s not a good thing.

The best crews just know what to do instinctively.

7. What’s next?

Next is the post-production phase. This where all those pieces are edited together to create a program.

It’s important to remember that post-production is actually the bigger part of your budget.

There are no ‘simple’ edits. Everything needs to be done to the highest standard, from audio to color correction and effects to graphics.

It’s about a 5:1 ratio. Five days of post for every day of shooting. That’s not a fixed number. There are a lot of companies that can spend a month on a :30 second spot. But that’s not the world of pilot production.

Generally people want to start sharing a pilot as quickly as possible.

8. And then what?

And then it’s done!

Now you take meetings, put it online, share it in festivals and try to get the series made.

We are happy that all of our pilot work has been so well received, regardless of budget. When people see a MediaBoss produced pilot the reaction is always, “That looks great!” We never want to hear that someone lost a gig to a poorly produced pilot. And trust me, we have met more than a few people who blew a budget on a pilot that they couldn’t even share with anybody when it was finished. This extends to the network level.

9. How do you prevent that?

Do your research. Find a good team. Manage your budget and be ready to show it to everyone you can.

Ask questions:
Are they insured?
How many things have they done?
What kind of cameras will they be using?
Audio?
What do they use for post-production?
Do they rent or own?
Do they have a studio?

Ask to see a reel of their work.

We have over 400 television shows and nearing a thousand videos under our belt. We pride ourselves on producing award-winning products for our clients. We are fun to work with and we get the job done, on budget.

We’re really proud of what we do and we are dedicated to making each product better than the last.

Check out MediaBoss’ pilot for the show “Partners”.

Creativity Production Tips & Tricks

MediaBoss Television Pilot Partners Wins People's Telly Award

Erin Hayes September 09, 2015 Production, Press, Video Leave a Comment

Original Press Release Published Here

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Framingham, MA September 9, 2015 - The Telly Awards has named MediaBoss Television as a winner in the 36th Annual People's Telly Awards for their dramedy television pilot titled Partners. In addition to recognition from the Silver Telly Council, the judging panel that selects the Telly Awards winners, the Internet community helps decide the People’s Telly Awards winners. With nearly 12,000 entries from all 50 states and numerous countries, winning the People’s Choice is truly an honor.

Partners follows the career of a female detective in an all-male police station. The pilot was written by Matty Blake and directed by MediaBoss Creative Director & Producer, Ian Barrett. Blake and Barrett are producing partners under their partnership company, Let the Boy Watch. The pair have worked together on several other comedic pilots and a variety of other productions.

Partners was co-produced and edited by MediaBoss Television. A scripted, ensemble concept, the pilot was captured in Framingham, MA in a single day and featured actors, Jimmy Dunn (The McCarthys), R.J. Kelly (Political Animals), Betsy Beutler (Legit, Scrubs), Dan Schachner (Animal Planet) and Matty Blake (Mystic River, Boardwalk Empire).

"Filming Partners with MediaBoss and this cast was a like a writer/actor version of going to Disney World: Pure joy and magic,” Blake says. “We had so much fun but we also worked our butts off. A group of professionals getting together and playing our trade on our terms. Laughs yes, but we cared, we toiled, we strove. It wasn’t frivolous, it was rewarding. It’s the best kind of fun. It’s why we do what we do. We love the process!"

"It was a very fast paced set. We had a ton of set-ups to get through because we only had our cast for one day,” Barrett says. "Everything came together like magic, in the end we had more material than we could use! I can't say enough about how amazing the experience was."

The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 and is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and online commercials, video and films. Winners represent the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world.

“The Telly Awards has a mission to honor the very best in film and video,” said Linda Day, Executive Director of the Telly Awards. “MediaBoss' accomplishment illustrates their creativity, skill, and dedication to their craft and serves as a testament to great film and video production.”

To see check out more of MediaBoss’ productions check out their portfolio: http://www.mediabosstv.com/creative-video

About MediaBoss Television
MediaBoss Television is a full-service television and web video production company that produces compelling video content for broadcast, corporations and start-ups alike. MediaBoss Television is based out of an 8,000 square foot converted industrial studio in Framingham, MA.

Please contact Erin Hayes, MediaBoss Television, for inquiries: Erin@MediaBossTV.com or call 508-405-0323

-END-

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Production Press Video

Buzzwords, De-buzzed: 10 Definitions For Video Production Jargon

Erin Hayes September 01, 2015 Production Leave a Comment

The first time I was on set I was a writer at the Boston Herald but transitioning to the Video Production World. It was one of the first gigs I went on with our now-Creative Director, Ian Barrett. We were filming a firefighter auction in a Boston bar for a television pilot. He asked me if I saw any 'AC' around.

It was winter. The dead of January. I thought he was nuts. Why would he be looking for air conditioning right now? [Spoiler: He wasn't.]

Fast forward through the better part of a decade and now I'm the one speaking production patois. Recently, I found myself talking with a client about filming their video. I told them we'd film with our matching c300s and prime lenses. Then I asked them if they had branding guidelines for the custom GFX we’d add in post.

I got some blank stares and it hit me. I’ve become someone who only speaks in model numbers and abbreviations! I’ve become one of them.

But this exchange got me thinking about the terminology we throw around in the studio on a daily basis. I started to make a list of the otherwise nonsensical phrases we use. It got long, quick.

For fun, I thought I'd share the first 10 terms/phrases that came to mind. Here's the list. And please feel free to add to it in the comments!

1) AC

I thought I’d start off with this one. Turns out, Ian wasn’t looking for air conditioning that night. He was looking for an electrical outlet, or Alternating Current. Why didn’t he just ask if I’d seen an outlet nearby instead of AC? Because he’s been making films since he was 12 and people who make films say ‘AC’.

2) GFX

These are graphics that we add to video during the editing process. These could be animated lower thirds or supplemental visuals to help tell the story.

*Bonus: A Lower Third is graphic with the speaker’s name and title. It's called a lower third because it's usually placed in the lower third of the video frame.

3) CP 47

Asking for CP-47 is usually the first joke we pull on an Intern on set. A CP-47 (or C-47) is a clothes pin. No, I'm not kidding.

There are many stories explaining the origin of this name, all of which are probably apocryphal. But the story we like the best (and feel is the most likely to be true) is the tale of: Evil Accounting versus Poor Production Crew.

Legend has it that in the early days of Hollywood, studio execs balked at spending money on an item as banal as the clothes pin.

They’d deny requests for clothes pins from the lighting department until, one day, the “clothes pin” line item transformed in to the commanding piece of equipment known as a “CP-47”.

And how could they deny their lighting crew such an impressive sounding piece of equipment?

4) B-Roll

B-Roll refers to the footage filmed by secondary cameras.

Back in the days of tape, the primary footage would be captured on the A Tape, or A-Roll. Once that coverage was complete, the tape would get switched and the B Tape would be inserted into the camera.

In the editing process, both tapes would be loaded onto the system and the editor would cut between the two.

Today, when we refer to "capturing B-Roll," we're referring to the atmospheric shots that help support the video’s story and add visual texture to the final product.

This could be the exterior of a building or a close up of a beer getting poured, etc. You get the idea.

5) Bed

Just today our Creative Director asked me to 'work on getting a bed’ for a video we’re editing.

Nope, I’m not hitting up Jordan’s Furniture.

I’ll be listening through our music track library, instead.

The ‘bed’ refers to background music under a narrator or foreground footage in a corporate video or commercial spot.

6) Sticks

When you hear ‘get the sticks’ or ‘move the sticks’ don’t bother looking for fallen tree branches. ‘Sticks’ is production lingo for a tripod.

7) Stinger

I always liked this term. A 'stinger' isn't anything that will prick or hurt you. It's an extension cord.

Here's a fun MEME created by The Black and Blue Blog:

8) Sweetening

'Sweetening' something in post means to enhance something in the post-production process.

This could be audio sweetening if music or voice tracks could use a clean up or a boost.

Sweetening could also refer to color correcting the video footage.

9) Timecode

Timecode is an invaluable communication tool.

It is the clock counter generally found at the bottom of the screen of video footage. It starts with 00:00:00:00 at the beginning of a video and counts upwards for the duration of the video.

The zeros represent Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames of video.

It's used as a synchronization tool and for logging and identifying captured material.

We use it when we show first looks of a video to clients. But we also use it internally to streamline communication between a project's Producer and its Editor.

A Timecode edit could look like this:

As in:
Keep sound bite at: 00:00:12:34-00:00:13:56
Edit out: 00:00:15:20-00:00:21:45

10) dB

A producer might say to an editor, "Bring down the dBs in the music bed to minus-10."

They would be talking audio levels.

dB is the abbreviation for decibel. According to Wikipedia, "The decibel is a logarithmic unit that expressed the ratio of two values of a physical quantity, often power or intensity."

Does your head hurt yet? Because mine does.

Here's what you need to know: mixing audio takes work, precision and patience.

When done right, you don't notice how perfect the video's audio is. When done wrong, you're jumping up to turn down (or up) the volume every time a scene transitions to the next in the program you're watching. The worst.

O.K. You have my short list of production terms.

What would you add? Have any more obscure ones, like CP-47? Share them in the comments!

Additional Resources:

Find out more about our production process:

Production

Production Firm Knows Who's Boss - MetroWest Daily News

Erin Hayes August 31, 2015 Production, Press Leave a Comment

Original Article Published in MetroWest Daily News, Aug. 31, 2015 edition

By Bob Tremblay/Daily News Staff

Credit for the name MediaBoss goes to Ian Barrett, the creative director of the Framingham-based production company.
“The name derived from two sources,” explain Erin Hayes, the firm’s CEO and co-owner. “First, it's a very powerful engine - the Boss 302 engine. The other part of this is the Boss Level of a video game - the hardest level to beat.”
Located at 92 Blandin Ave., the company was launched in 2008 with Hayes and Paul Bouley as owners. The four partners – Hayes, Bouley, Barrett and Nick Clarke - all reside in Framingham.

Hayes recently discussed the company with Daily News staff writer Bob Tremblay.
QUESTION: Why was the business started?
ANSWER: Our collective background is in storytelling. We came together as independent television producers and writers who wanted to bring our particular passion and creative to a broader audience.
We were producing several television shows in and around Boston when we started MediaBoss. At the time video marketing wasn't on everyone's radar. We saw a lot of businesses struggle to self-produce their videos and create storylines - or strategy - for their visual content. And likewise, we saw a need to include online content marketing for television programming.
We combined an agency with a production house to create a one-stop shop for all content creation.
Q: Why did you choose your current locale?

A: Framingham represents a thriving and diverse home for businesses. This is why so many large corporations such as TJX, Genzyme and Bose like to headquarter here. We represent the innovation and startup concept, which the town will hopefully see more of because it gives balance and creates new business opportunities.

Q: Has your business moved?
A: Our business has moved twice since we began. We doubled in size from 2008 to 2010 and we expanded again in 2013. We started off in a 1,500-square-foot space. We are now in an 8,000-square-foot space.
Q: What did you do before you started this business?
A: I was a writer at the Boston Herald. Our creative director was an independent television and video producer. Our production manager, Paul Bouley, was an editor and production assistant. Our animator/graphic designer, Nick Clarke, was an intern at Framingham State University.
Q: What does your company do?
A: We are content producers. This expands from television, filmmaking and video for the Web to visual and written content for the variety of social media platforms that are out there today.
Q: What makes you different from the competition?

A: We are a production company and agency combined. Many production companies need the creative direction to produce work for the client and many agencies need a production company to make their creative reality.

Our clients know that whether they need branding, marketing and sales content, Web video, television commercials, television programming or even a film produced, we can deliver the product along with the creative side and the strategy to make their content stand out and reach the most amount of people possible.

Q: What is the cost of your service?

A: It varies from project to project.

Q: Any future plans?

A: We plan to continue to grow and serve our client base and add some new television projects. We're working a few television pilots, Web series and some creative projects.

One of our media and marketing clients is New England Studios in Devens.

Q: How many employees do you have?

A: Our team is six people. We expand our crew on a project basis. The six of us consider each other family. Ian and I are married and our employees are “aunts and uncles” to our daughter.

Q: Any news to report?

A: We just won two Telly Awards for our productions this year.

The website for MediaBoss is MediaBossTV.com.

Curious about their production process? Click below!

Production Press

I'll Write You A Symphony: Behind Jared Dylan's Music Video

Erin Hayes July 30, 2015 Creativity, Production, Video Leave a Comment

By MediaBoss Team

Jared Dylan, 20, is going into his senior year at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, with more than a little bit of rock star credibility.

The aspiring singer/songwriter's music video for the single "Symphony" dropped last week and he's been getting 10,000 hits a day since it premiered on YouTube.

Not too shabby for an independent artist, but there is a lot more to the story than that. The first interesting bit is that he actually wrote "Symphony" when he was 16, and this overnight success has been four years in the making.

When asked about the song’s origin, Jared candidly admits that he wrote it for girl he met only once. [tweet_dis]"She asked me to write her a song and I wrote her “Symphony"[/tweet_dis]. I knew her for a total of 5 hours and she still doesn't know that I wrote the song about her." Dylan admits, laughing.

Inspirations aside, writing a song is one thing, and making a music video is an entirely different animal. When Jared and his manager Jimmy Walorz of Vizion Entertainment, decided it was time, they reached out to video producer Bill Millman (now at Atlantic Records) who tapped Godsmack director Ian Barrett at MediaBoss Television for the job.

The shoot was a whirl-wind two days on location in Miami. Barrett captured the video’s performance shots on site at the University of Miami, including the iconic stage sequence overlooking the fountain at the center of campus. Additional material, specifically the sunset finale and white room sequences were shot at Miami's famous, Trendy Studios.

While the shoot was fast-paced and hectic, Dylan was impressed by how smoothly the process went. "I don’t think there was a difficult part because they worked so well together,” he said of the crew. "MediaBoss is a group of professional veterans who have done it so many times that they knew exactly what to expect. They had it ready to go. We were moving from location to location seamlessly."

That’s not to say that the young artist didn’t have his nervous moments. The white room shots at Trendy Studios were a little out of his comfort zone.

“The entire time, I’m saying (to Barrett), 'You think it’s too weird that I’m doing this? Do you think people are going to respond to this or just think I’m a lunatic?! He just kept yelling over the playback and the next thing I knew I was jumping on chairs and doing karate kicks, it was fun."

In the end, the white room shots are Dylan’s favorite memory from the shoot. He had to put a lot of trust into the direction of Barrett, and according to him, it paid off.

“Ian (Barrett) is a visionary. He is a true artist,” he said. “He was doing things for the video that I just wouldn’t have even thought to imagine. That white room, again all those different costumes and everything, that’s where I think the chemistry between me and Ian really came out. Every one of those shots that we did was a single take."

“I’m so happy with how it came out,” he said of the final edited video. "I cannot express how much I love it, it’s awesome.”

Dylan found inspiration and support from every member of the team throughout the shoot.

“Bill (producer) is probably one of the most fun people to be around. It’s like you never know what he’s going to say next, but it’s going to be hilarious and you just want to be a part of it,” Dylan said, laughing. “He also played a huge part in pushing me throughout the whole process. I was just playing through the song and he was like ‘You gotta give it more than that!’"

“I don’t think the energy of the video would have been nearly as high and as fun without him there."

As for his co-star, actress Rachel Seeker, Dylan says " She's hot." He says reflecting on the beach shot they did together, “And...She’s a sweetheart and so down to earth and easy to talk to, She was there, every second of the shoot,” he added. “She did not leave set, She was alway there to give support...I mean we couldn’t have done the video without her."

Walorz served as the “all-seeing-eye” throughout the entirety of the shoot, according to Dylan. “Having such a seasoned opinion and such a well-versed influence on the video - we owe a lot of credit to Jimmy.”

Every shoot has an unsung hero, somebody who goes 'above and beyond' and this production was no exception. Jared's good friend, Andrea Lopez, became an impromptu 1st AD and started by wrangling shots, talent and locations. She even filled in as actress to play Jared's love interest when a conflict displaced the original girl.

“I don’t know if I want to let her know how grateful I am because she’ll just hold it over me,” he joked. “She is easily one of the most supportive and just selfless and downright, just inspiring people that I could possibly imagine to be on our team.”

The video provides more than a visual asset to a song, it’s also a captured moment of Dylan’s time at Frost Music School at the University of Miami, a place that has been fully supportive of the whole process. Including his fellow students who appeared in the video.

The school assisted by not only giving approval to film, but by agreeing to share "Symphony" with their social media community, “I think the coolest part is the University of Miami is going to share it cause that really shows how much they support the project.”

"The University of Miami is a huge part of who I am right now,” Dylan added. “But specifically, it will be a huge part of who I am forever."

Dylan has great expectations for the “Symphony” video.

“We’re shooting for 50 million views,” he says with his signature smile, “Gotta set the bar high. We’ve got a lot in store."

"Symphony" is available on iTunes and you can view the video here on YouTube.

Creativity Production Video

The Ultimate Guide to Producing an Animated Video

Erin Hayes July 23, 2015 Marketing, Video Marketing, Production, Tips & Tricks Leave a Comment

Animated video is a powerful communication tool. Humans have communicated by using pictures since the beginning of time.

Our ancient relatives drew Pictograms and Ideograms to convey their messages. And our love of visuals has not waned over the course of millennia.

Visual content is the key ingredient to make the marketers' coveted unicorn - online engagement. Posts with videos attract 3 times more inbound links than plain text posts. And videos increase people’s understanding of your product or service by 74%.

This is because people process visuals 60,000 times faster than they can read.

We're contacted about animated videos for two reasons:

1. Clients are looking for a highly shareable video. Most of us grew up watching animation and learning from animation. The threshold to inspire a potential viewer to click on an animated video is low.

2. They have a complicated product or service they'd like to explain. Animation lends itself well to explainer videos because it can make the complicated sound simple. And that is appealing.

'All right', you say. 'Sign me up. But how do I go about producing such an incredible communication tool?', you ask.

This is where our Ultimate Guide to Producing an Animated Video will help.

1. Know Your Goal

We love animation. Most people do. But chances are, you aren’t producing an animated video just for entertainment. Defining the goal for your video before you write the script is essential.

How do you define a goal? Easy. What action are you trying to inspire your viewers to take?

Sign up for a webinar?

Join an email mailing list?

Dive deeper into your website?

Sign up for a demo/free trial?

Share the video with their networks?

Choose just one goal. Define that one goal and list the ancillary goals under it.

2. Know Your Tone

Do you have a style guide? If you do, then it will outline the tone your animated video should take.

If you don’t have a style guide, then now is a great time to think about tone. How should your company handle communicating your message?

Should the tone be straightforward without nuance?

Should the tone be playfully smart?

Should the tone be academic?

Should the tone be colloquial and contemporary?

Trust us. Taking time to decide on tone before you start writing the script is a good idea. Knowing the tone will make writing the script easier. It will keep feedback cycles manageable. And it will help you communicate your vision to the production company you hire.

3. Know the Feedback Hierarchy.

Speaking of feedback, knowing who's involved in the approval process is a must.

Before you get into production, find out who needs to sign off on each stage. This may seem like a mundane task and one that can be pushed until the process begins. But trust us, it isn't.

We've seen it happen before. A client gets the approved script to us and they sign off on the storyboard. We deliver the final animation and suddenly there are changes to the voice over and/or the graphics. Not only does this delay the final product, it costs more money.

Clarifying exactly who needs to approve assets before you begin will limit surprises down the line.

4. Create A Through-line

Now that you know the video’s goal, its tone and the approval process, it's time to think about the storytelling.

A through-line is the structure on which your script's story hangs. Typically, this is a character’s journey. But you don't need to personify your character.

Your character may be your product's buying cycle or your service’s benefits. And that brings us to number 5.

5. Use Metaphor

Does your product create a speedway from A-Z for your customers? Then think about a driving metaphor to help tell your story. Does it give your clients a detailed view into their billing? Then maybe a scientist with a microscope could work. There are no wrong ideas.

The bottom line is this: If you have fun writing the story, your audience will have fun watching the story.

6. Keep It Short and Simple

Did you know that 20% of viewers will click away from a video in 10 seconds or fewer? That percentage only increases with time. According to Visible Measures, 45% of viewers will stop watching after 1 minute of video and 60% drop off by the 2 minute mark.

Animated video should be between :30 and 2:00. This means your script should be no longer than a single page, or about 300 words. Worried you can't hit all your key points in 300 words? Don't be. You got this.

And you know what? If you don't, then the production company you hire can help. We're happy to work with our clients during the scripting process.

7. Understand the Process

Animated video is a little more involved than live-action video. There are many moving parts (har, har).

Understanding the process will help you manage expectations across the board. Your team will feel more at ease and your production company will too.

The timeline to delivery depends on the complexity of the animation but the process is generally the same. Here's a breakdown of what to expect.

Step 1: Creative meeting with the production company

This is a good time to discuss goals, tone and any creative concepts you have for a through-line. It's also the time to talk about look and feel.

Step 2: Provide approved script:

Nothing can move forward without a script. If the production company is writing the script, build in at least two weeks to your production schedule. This time allows for iterations and your feedback cycles.

Step 3: Storyboard

Once you approve the script the production company will create a storyboard. The storyboard will show you how the visuals will tell the story. These are either simple sketched drawings or clip art, depending on the company’s preference. We prefer to sketch our storyboards.

Step 3: Voice Over

Once the storyboard is approved, the script will get sent to a Voice Over artist. This step generally happens after the storyboard’s approval. The visuals will help the production company give acting cues to the actor.

Step 4: Animation

Once the approved, final voice over is in-house the animators will begin animating. Animations are created to the specific timing of the VO. Any changes to the VO will change the animation. Changes to the VO and the animation will add to both production time and to production cost.

Step 5: Music and Sound FX.

Once the animation is finished the animator edits in sound effects for texture. This could be footsteps, wind, office background noise, etc. Then the video is scored with a music track.

Step 6: Delivery

The video is then encoded and exported. Depending on the complexity of the animation this could take 10 minutes or an entire day. Once it's exported, the animated video is delivered to you! Barring any mistakes on the production company's end, this version is the final version. Any extra changes after the final is delivered will need a new invoice. This is why it was so important for you to know your feedback hierarchy!

We hope you found this guide helpful! If you'd like to talk to us about an animation project we'd be happy to connect. Contact us here.

Marketing Video Marketing Production Tips & Tricks

Production

Pilot production is tough.

5. Making Coffee

4. The Difference Between a Camel and a Dromedary

3. Anticipate

2. Never Leave For Post-Production What You Can Do In Production

1. Everything is Storytelling.

1. Just Press Record

2. Don't worry, we can fix it in Post.

3. It Costs More Than It’s Worth

4. It was shot today so we’ll get a finished product tomorrow.

Here is how I do what I do:

Take a deep breath and dive in.

Focus on the design.

Watch it again.

Here are some tips that help me on my day to day job:

Take some time from the edit.

Avoid one camera angle.

Never stop learning.

Become a storyteller.

Respect the job.

Pilot production is tough.

1) AC

2) GFX

3) CP 47

4) B-Roll

5) Bed

6) Sticks

7) Stinger

8) Sweetening

9) Timecode

10) dB

1. Know Your Goal

2. Know Your Tone

3. Know the Feedback Hierarchy.

4. Create A Through-line

5. Use Metaphor

6. Keep It Short and Simple

7. Understand the Process

Step 1: Creative meeting with the production company

Step 2: Provide approved script:

Step 3: Storyboard

Step 3: Voice Over

Step 4: Animation

Step 5: Music and Sound FX.

Step 6: Delivery

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