In case you haven’t heard, there’s a fairly significant election coming up in just a little over a month. Presidential elections are always a big deal, but with unprecedented levels of partisanship and the myriad of paradigm-shifting events having occurred over the last few months – a worldwide lock down from COVID-19, nationwide protests against police violence, and attempts to cast doubt on mail-in ballots, just to name a few – the election on November 3^rd is poised to be arguably the most important election this country has ever seen.  

Polls across the country are trying to prognosticate the election’s outcome, but who knows for certain what are going to be the biggest issues on voters’ minds when they enter the polls or mail in that ballot? Well, the voters do! So, we asked them.

Utilizing our nationwide network of videographers who can be ready to film at a moment’s notice, Snippies compiled a questionnaire seeking insight from American voters about the topics and issues most important to them and solicited answers from a wide swath of citizens in five U.S. cities: Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Diego.

We’ve turned these interviews into a 4-part on-street video series entitled “My Fellow Americans,” debuting the first installment last week asking people what leadership qualities they’re looking for in the man who will be leading the country for the next 4 years:

Just in time for tonight’s first Presidential debate, we debuted the latest installment asking people what issue is at the forefront of their mind:

In the coming weeks, Snippies will be unveiling videos on how voters think the United States is perceived by the rest of the world and what role they think the Postal Service will play before and after November 3^rd. “My Fellow Americans” was conceived, shot, and finalized in about a week and if you’re looking to get insights from American consumers about a variety of topics as quick or even quicker, Snippies is your one stop shop!

Snippies provides our clients with worldwide access to people and places in an instant.  The Snippies business model has been to establish relationships with production professionals around the world that continue to deliver the high quality we insist on.  One of our most recent clients, Everyday Health (EDH), an online health and wellness website, is benefitting from those long-established relationships.

Snippies has enjoyed a prolific relationship with EDH, partnering on many projects in the health and wellness sector, during which we were able to demonstrate our ability to develop trust with patients suffering from sensitive conditions. EDH had a vision for a new series for their platform, TippiTV. The purpose of the series is to connect patients with medical experts to provide the patient with real time advice and information that will help them navigate through the many challenges they face. Snippies would create intimate, in-home profile videos with 3 patients suffering from Crohn’s Disease. In addition, they wanted to add another level of insight: a talk show component with experts on each condition who could listen to the patients’ stories and provide advice and tips.

EDH trusted Snippies to recruit the appropriate patients dealing with the specific medical conditions and who had compelling stories to share. We were able to recruit the patients within a week and in just 10 days, all patient profiles were scheduled and filmed. The profiles were then edited and delivered to EDH to share with the experts that they had recruited.

The next phase was creating the talk show with the experts. We turned our in-house studio space into a talk show stage and hosted the expert panelists in our office. The experts reviewed and discussed the patient stories and gave them tips for living a better life. At the end of each shoot, the panelists suggested tips for the patients to try for a few weeks. The plan was to capture follow-up conversations between an expert and a patient to see how the tips were working.

Ultimately, our plans were altered due to the shelter in place order and we could no longer send our crews to the patients’ homes, so Zoom became vital to our operation. By recording the digital conversations, Snippies captured the final elements needed to complete the stories and the project was a great success. As with many of our clients, EDH leveraged the power of Snippies global reach to coordinate resources from around the world to produce a product that reaches far and wide, and all coordinated from our office in Midtown Manhattan.

The series on Crohn’s Disease went live on TippiTV in May.

Snippies provides our clients with worldwide access to people and places in an instant.  The Snippies business model has been to establish relationships with production professionals around the world that continue to deliver the high quality we insist on.  One of our most recent clients, Everyday Health (EDH), an online health and wellness website, is benefitting from those long-established relationships.

Snippies has enjoyed a prolific relationship with EDH, partnering on many projects in the health and wellness sector, during which we were able to demonstrate our ability to develop trust with patients suffering from sensitive conditions. EDH had a vision for a new series for their platform, TippiTV. The purpose of the series was to connect patients with medical experts to provide the patient with real time advice and information that will help them navigate through the many challenges they face. Snippies would create intimate, in-home profile videos 3 patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. In addition, they wanted to add another level of insight: a talk show component with experts on each condition who could listen to the patients’ stories and provide advice and tips.

EDH trusted Snippies to recruit the appropriate patients dealing with the specific medical conditions and who had compelling stories to share. We were able to recruit the patients within a week and in just 10 days, all patient profiles were scheduled and filmed. The profiles were then edited and delivered to EDH to share with the experts that they had recruited.

The next phase was creating the talk show with the experts. We turned our in-house studio space into a talk show stage and hosted the expert panelists in our office. The experts reviewed and discussed the patient stories and gave them tips for living a better life. At the end of each shoot, the panelists suggested tips for the patients to try for a few weeks. The plan was to capture follow-up conversations between an expert and a patient to see how the tips were working.

Ultimately, our plans were altered due to the shelter in place order and we could no longer send our crews to the patients’ homes, so Zoom became vital to our operation. By recording the digital conversations, Snippies captured the final elements needed to complete the stories and the project was a great success. As with many of our clients, EDH leveraged the power of Snippies global reach to coordinate resources from around the world to produce a product that reaches far and wide, and all coordinated from our office in Midtown Manhattan.

The series on Multiple Sclerosis went live on TippiTV in May.

Home to the Amazon rainforest and river and spot for one of the world’s biggest pre-Lent parties, the Carnival, Brazil is a vibrant, colorful city that is buzzing with energy.

While there are several picturesque cities in Brazil to choose from for your video locations, a few stand out for the unique backdrop they offer. Here are our recommendations.

The Amazon
Before Jeff Bezos, the word Amazon stood for one thing: pristine rainforest and unadulterated nature. Home to countless animals, birds, reptiles, insects, flora, and fauna, the Amazon rainforest is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. It can also be quite intimidating and difficult to shoot in, if you’re unprepared. Be sure to carry extra battery packs, solar power supplies, and lots of stamina if you plan on walking the forest. You’ll need to obtain the right permits to film in the Amazon, but you may just as easily board one of the cruise ships that traverse the Amazon River and grab great footage. Definitely carry your drones to capture the forest from above.

Rio De Janeiro
Hit the streets that were prominently featured in the hit film City of God to capture the energy of this bustling metro. Visit Barra da Tijuaca, a much safer shantytown (or favela) than the one depicted in the Oscar-nominated film. Definitely grab footage of the gorgeous Copacabana beach and the art deco iconic masterpiece Christ the Redeemer for its breathtaking views.

Recife
Hit the Venice of South America. Featuring white sand beaches, rivers, islands, and waterways this city also has a historic old town and a potent dose of Brazilian culture.

Olinda
Remnants of Portuguese colonialism are more prominent in Olinda than in any other Brazilian city. Their Carnival festival tends to be a daytime event, as opposed to Rio’s evening festivities. Featuring colorful homes, restaurants, museums, and art studios, this is a hip town where you’ll find architecture that doesn’t exist elsewhere in Brazil.

Snippies is a full service video production company based in New York City with video crews available in Brazil. Give us a call for any Brazil based video production needs, including obtaining permits, fixers, and security and logistics.

España!

Spain has been the filming location of choice for Hollywood blockbusters for decades. Epic and iconic films such as Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Bourne Ultimatum, and James Bond have all filmed scenes in various cities around Spain, but there’s no rule that says only film studios should take advantage of the many diverse locations across the country. If you have the means and need to spice up your corporate video with some awesome B-roll, here are some beautiful cities to consider and what visuals you can expect to find.

Barcelona
Several films and video production crews have found their ways to the streets of Barcelona. Here, you have a choice of filming iconic buildings like the Sagrada Familia and Park Güell and also capture the natural wonder of the mountains surrounding the city.

Granada
Head first to Sacromonte, an area initially inhabited by marginalized populations in the 16th century, but which now draw visitors to dance amidst the prominent white caves. The main city features beautiful architecture, including the Abbey of Sacromonte, surrounded by distant snow peaked mountains. A dreamy almost fairy-tale like city come to life.

Cordoba
This is the place to visit if you’re going to feature Moorish architecture. While many of the mosques have been converted into cathedrals, this city offers a rich historical perspective on the Islamic culture that was prominent years back. This is a city protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site, so don’t go flying around your drones without proper permits.

Valencia
The past meets the future in this birthplace of the famous rice dish paella. The City of Arts and Sciences is a spaceship-styled building, perfect to film some high-tech videos. Also, the old town looks like a Spanish café painting come to life with its quaint al fresco tables and boutique restaurants and shops.

Madrid
What can we say about the capital city except that it’s home to some of the world’s greatest pieces of art. Head into a museum, speak to some curators, or even visitors and grab interesting man-on-street video footage (once everything has calmed down, of course). After getting permission from the museum, post a virtual tour of one of the several art museums.

Tenerife
Filled with craters and lava flows, Tenerife is a geological jackpot located off the coast of West Africa is the largest of the Canary Islands. If you visit right before Lent, you’ll see the European answer to Brazil’s Carnaval. The island also features Spain’s highest peak, giving way to breathtaking aerial video footage.

Snippies is a full-service video production company in New York City that specializes in grabbing video footage from around the world, including Spain. We have the capacity of filming in multiple international cities, simultaneously and delivering a finished video with lightning speed. Se habla español.

Outside of New York City, London is probably one of the most featured and instantly recognizable urban metro landscapes that has captivated the big and small screen. Harry Potter, James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Spider-Man, The Avengers, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Downton Abbey all have prominent sequences that take place entirely England’s capital, which features architectural marvels that are historically sophisticated and contemporarily intriguing. So, if you’re looking to showcase Old Blighty in an upcoming production, you’ll want to check out to the following locations around the city to capture the very best footage from some of the most iconic and appealing spots.

London Bridge is Video Gold
There are several bridges – 21, to be exact – that provide safe passage over the River Thames. Choose from the Tower Bridge, Millennium Bridge, London Bridge, or Richmond Bridge to grab excellent video of the riverside buildings and the atmosphere of the city.

Aerial Videos from the London Eye
Hop aboard the world’s classiest and tallest ferris wheel to get a 360-degree view of the city. The fragile seeming pods of the wheel are extremely steady and offer breathtaking views of the entire city for capturing amazing B-roll footage. The London Eye is conveniently located opposite Big Ben clock tower, so if you’re an efficient videographer, you can easily grab additional footage of the world famous bell tower.

Brick Lane
On this street in East London, you’ll find buildings not out of place in a Jack the Ripper documentary to go along with contemporary cafés, art galleries, and boutique shops. This is a hipster neighborhood, ideal for grabbing man on street interview videos or grabbing a modern view of contemporary London.
Bonus: You’ll find tons of great Indian restaurants or curry spots here to feed your video crew.

Buckingham Palace
The royal family lives here, so if you want to film, you’ll need to grab permission beforehand. While casual phone based videos are usually permitted, like during the changing of the guard ceremony, you’ll definitely need a local handler to manage the permits if you want to create a professional, public marketing video with your crew.

Snippies is a full service video production company based in New York City. We film several videos in London on a regular basis and can help you obtain licenses, permits, and local video crews for all your video needs.

Shooting on a green screen background gives you the freedom to transport your video to the limits of your imagination – even if you, like the rest of us, are working remotely! Basically, a green screen allows you to superimpose or “key-in” any type of video, photo, or animated video in the background of your video (frequent Zoom users may already be aware of its “Virtual Background” feature, which utilizes the same principle). Your video can travel through time and space. Be whisked away to Times Square, Hawaii, a Texan ranch, or even Delaware!

But how do you choose what to put in the background? How do you ensure that the green screen video looks seamless and not fake? Excellent questions!

Lighting
A good green screen video starts with a laser focus on lighting. Light your set evenly so that there is balanced light across the frame. Space your subject and the green screen as far apart as possible to avoid shadows – around 6 ft would be ideal. Keep a matte box handy to keep out any unwanted light. Light your subject and the green screen separately to avoid any mixing.

Camera Settings
If you want to make the most realistic green screen effect, you’ll have to adjust your camera settings accordingly. The ISO setting should be low, and set it to the highest quality recording format. Set your aperture to f4 or similar to increase your depth of field. Also, ensure that there is minimal motion blur in the shot. All these steps will ensure an ideal chromakey.

Avoid Reflectors
The final tip for green screen shooting is a simple one: be aware of any shadows or shiny objects in your footage. Check the gate, once, twice, and three times before calling it a cut. Leave reflectors out of your shoot and make sure your actors don’t wear anything shiny. Tell the makeup department to leave the glitter at home that day.

Filming on green screen gives you the luxury of introducing fantasy into an otherwise ordinary shoot. The results, if done right following the above 3 steps, can be absolutely mind blowing.

Evergreen video content gives you consistent, dependable value, which is a wonderful thing whether you’re looking to either monetize your video content or acquire a new audience for your brand. Evergreen content, such as the suggestions below, can be made at anytime and is always relevant!

Animation
If you watch a cartoon that you grew up watching, chances are, you’ll still connect with it. Animated videos are made in their own universe – they don’t follow any limitations of the real world. Having an animated video for your brand will hit differently each time depending on your audience, but it will also deliver a specific message at any given time.

How-To Videos
Instructional videos or do it yourself videos are always relevant. Think of all the uses of your product or service and create a funny “how-to” video to impress your audience.

Pointer a.k.a. Trailer Videos
Sometimes a video is not a video, but a pointer. You can produce a short video, like a trailer, to encourage people to download a white paper from your website. A pointer video is a way to market another piece of marketing. If your brand is going to be present at a popular trade show, you could create a teaser reel to land more customers at your booth!

Behind the Scenes
Everyone wants to know how things get made, especially if they loved the final product. Next time you have the budget to hire a video production company near you, ask them to add an additional videographer to the crew to take “behind the scenes” footage. These videos act as great morale boosters for employees – especially if they happen to be bloopers!

Bigger Picture
If your company has a set of ethos that it builds its entire products & services on, you can address it through a philosophy video. Share your worldview and connect on a deeper level with your audience.

Testimonials
Grab video testimonials of customers talking about how great your product, service, or you are! This will always be relevant, as long as you’re in business! Testimonial videos have a proven track record of increasing sales.

Fresh like the morning mist, an evergreen video helps you stay relevant longer!

File Error!

File Failed to Send!

Please contact your IT administrator.

If you’ve ever seen one of the above or similar messages on your computer while transferring files, you need to know about firewalls. You may think that a firewall exists solely to make you miserable and unnecessarily elongate your work process, but the reality is far from the truth.

A firewall keeps out bad players, hackers, and competitors from accessing your company’s sensitive data and is a required blockade of information traffic within any organization. But, if you need to get personal access for specific tasks that are important to you, then what you need to do is speak with your IT administrator about surpassing the firewall.

Video File Transfer Access
If you’re working with a local video production company or one that’s remote, you’ll end up transferring – both uploading and downloading – a large number of heavy files. When you engage in a file transfer over an FTP server, it opens up a port of exchange between the outside and inside world. A firewall would immediately recognize this kind of activity as a threat and block the transfer.

In order to surpass this you need to give your admin a heads-up so that they can setup a username and password that your video production company can use to securely login to your network and engage in the transfer.

Third Party File Transfer Apps
If you would rather not bother your IT department about large file transfers, you may use one of the following sites that allow for transfer of giant files at relatively quick speeds:

WeTransfer (free, with paid version)
FileZilla (completely free)
SendAnywhere (free, with paid version)

Social Media Access
If your final project is a marketing video intended for public viewing, then chances are you’ll also need to get access to sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and the like. Most IT departments ban these sites to reduce distractions. But, once again, as a marketing manager you should get special permission to manage the company’s social media pages to upload your content on a regular basis.

Video making for marketing should be a fun process, get the right IT setup to make it run smooth!

You typed in a quick search for a video production company near you and moved ahead. But in addition to the videos they have produced in the past, there are 3 litmus tests available to know that you should get into business with them. 

Every production company needs the following things. 

1. Liability Insurance – Having insurance gives you a hint that the video production crew knows a lot more about production than making a short video. Liability insurance protects you and the company in case of any mishaps during the production. Every policy is different but primarily, the kinds of things you want to see should cover the audio and video equipment including lights, wires, drones, and so forth. Most liability insurance will protect the entire video crew while they are out filming. Say a light falls or a drone crashes into a window – all these things need to be covered so that you don’t start fighting a lawsuit while trying to create a brand video. A comprehensive insurance would also include worker’s compensation. A production company will have a set number of individuals who work on any given shoot. All these members need to be protected by insurance, in the case of an accident or emergency.  

2. Professional Equipment – Your video production company should have the best equipment. A camera is one of the most important aspects of your production, but not the only one. Ensure that they have reliable, tried & tested sound and light equipment, as well. A video production is all about the setup and finding the right visual that will deliver a compelling corporate or marketing video.

3. Experience – A lot of young filmmakers want to hit the ground running by trying out their freshly gained skills in film school on your business. While their chutzpah is admirable, nothing beats experience. As you’ve probably grasped by now, the professional video production company you choose should be able to do a lot more than just film a pretty visual. This means pre-production, scriptwriting, location scouting, obtaining licenses, registrations, managing the entire cast and crew, overseeing the post-production and ensuring final delivery within your deadline. In video production, very much like in life, things can and do go wrong. Having an experienced video production house makes the difference between a hit and a disaster.