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Broadcast Television Services of Austin, Texas
BEM PRODUCTIONS
Broadcast Television Services of Austin, Texas
BEM Productions specializes in quality, budget-minded videos for a myriad of companies. Our award winning videos reflect the dedication and experience we provide.
Quality gets noticed, and makes your message - and you - more successful.
What would it mean to you if your prospects, trainees, customers or contacts remembered a lot more of what you told them? More productivity? More sales? A better bottom line?
Video excels at stirring and intensifying emotions while showing how things work.
Good reasons to own a custom-made video:
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Everything is based on your approval and satisfaction. Every step from the planning stages through the final edit is evaluated and confirmed by you or your designated agent. The only thing we absolutely need from you is the message and tone. Beyond that, you can be involved as much or as little as you wish. However, we've often noticed how the quanity of input from our clients improves the individuality of projects.
Unlike many of our competitors we have a very liberal attitude towards client involvement. Since you are the expert on your companies' topic and we are expert at video production, we believe it's essential to combine our efforts to achieve the goal at hand. We encourage all input from our clients to ensure this philosophy. When a client says to us "oh yeah that part reminds me..." or "what happens if we try this?" we're usually encouraged that we're on the right track toward client satisfaction. This collaboration may require more effort from us, but it always delivers a high quality customized video for our clients. Back to top or Next question
We call it preproduction. It is the most important step in making a video. This can take hours or weeks depending on the complexity of the project. These are the questions that need to be addressed: The answers to these questions will determine the content, tone and overall look for the video. Everything from script through music are discussed, as well as extras, like animation and special effects. All of this information helps us design the plan and scheduling for the project. Also the true budget is established and maintained. Back to top or Next question
We can research and write the first draft for you and present it for analysis, or as your companies' expert you can write the content and we can reshape it into a script. Your revisions are worked into the second and subsequent drafts. We have a lot of experience with scripts and whichever way we go we can assure you a balanced and cohesive product. Programs with interviews are usually molded into the program by the script with narration. This presents a nice bridge to lead in and out of interviews. Often the script is not finalized until after the interviews are shot in order to design these bridges. Interviews can provide exciting surprises or performances that make a flexible script essential to feature them in the program. I have produced entire programs with no narration at all and just made cohesive bridges from one interview to the next via their content. Although very time consuming the results were very exciting as it was all testimonials and very believable. Back to top or Next question
We prefer linear editing due to the unwanted artifacts of non-linear editing. Linear editing is traditionally done in two parts; off-line and on-line. Off-line, also known as rough editing, is where content, pace and tone are established and all client revisions are enacted. Off-line is less expensive then on-line. On-line is the final edit where graphics and effects are laid in. The general process is after the first off-line edit, I give the client a VHS copy that has a time code window on the lower third of the screen. These copies go by the initials BITC. This window has an exact time line (in hours minutes and seconds) of the program and gives a time reference for notes. So the client simply watches the video and when a change comes up writes the appropriate number beside the note. The process repeats for the second off-line edit and usually has the music included. Next we go to on-line and create the final edit. We never insist our clients be there for on-line but they are welcome to join us if they wish. Finally the client has one last opportunity for changes and then it is sent for air or duplication. Back to top or Next question
This depends on the project. For example, with the Governor's campaign we shot an event, edited it and uplinked it via satellite to all the TV stations across Texas. They simply put their affiliate graphics over it and aired the story the same day. Of course, we had the luxury of a great advance team preparing the events. In general, however, we produce videos within the time the client gives us. The turn around time is discussed in detail in preproduction meetings. We also set up backup schedules for bad weather, illness and other occurrences. As a rule we can produce a fifteen minute video from scratch in two or three weeks. This time allows the client ample opportunity to review each step along the way and relate comments. Some projects take much longer, even years to allow seasonal changes to occur or to let the story play out. In these cases we keep a sharp eye on detail to keep the exact look the same. Notes are carefully taken to keep all camera, audio and lighting settings consistent. Back to top or Next question
The run time is estimated in preproduction. Content, overall look and projected audience hold many answers to this question. It really takes the first rough draft of the script to make an accurate assessment on the run time. Different genres of productions require different pacing or transitions. For example, we can estimate the run time of an industrial video explaining the technical use of a machine by reading while timing the content in the script. Then just slight additions are made for segment banners or other transitions. On subjects that are pulling on the viewers' emotions it is necessary to make them care by showing them the subjects' plight. These segments can be timed out roughly by task but really form in the first edit where the feel becomes apparent. We have failed our objective if we bore our audience. The length of a production can seem much shorter with an exciting presentation. Even extremely dry subjects can be given new life by employing creative content approaches and imagery. Back to top or Next question
Consistent quality ensures simple pricing for BEM Productions. We shoot almost exclusively in BetaCam SP and invite you to see our equipment section. As a general rule, pricing variables are in the special requests of each project not the essentials. The exception is travel and lodging. The numbers listed below can also be reduced significantly with client involvement in the rough script. Essentials include single camera location shooting, audio and grip, voice overs, basic graphics, music and all editing. All BITC's on VHS are free of charge. Pricing for essential productions runs from $650.00 to $900.00 per finished minute.
Special requests include multi-cameras, studio shooting, crane and dolly shoots, helicopters, custom graphics, animations, original music, uplinks and duplication. Pricing for special request productions runs from $850.00 to $2000.00 per finished minute. Live shows run a little less. We submit several competitive bids per month and would gladly ready one for your production free of charge.
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"How involved will
I be in the project?"
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step in making a video?"
"Who writes the script?"
"How do you edit the video?"
"How long does it
take to produce a video?"
"What should the running time of my video be?"
"What do videos cost?"
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for my new video?"