How to Create a Video for your Startup in 4 Easy Steps (opens in new tab)

(yairharel.com)

14 pointsyairharel16y ago4 comments

Making a high quality video is harder and more expensive than it seems. There's a quick and easy way to ensure your video is excellent: Use stop motion.

4 comments

jason_tko16y ago

I posted a comment on the blog, but I wanted to share this and generate a conversation on Hacker News also. I found another low-budget way to do this :

I have a good friend who is a budding film student. One night over drinks, I was discussing my recent endeavour - trying to create a great and simple text advertisement that summarises what Webnet IT does. My friend, who is a naturally creative guy, started coming up with a whole bunch of ideas, which turned into video ideas, and then over the course of the evening we worked out a plan to make a video together.

In return, I gave him plenty of exposure, provided all of the locations, bought all of his coffee (a not insignificant expense), and talked him up to everyone I came across who was looking for a corporate or private video to be made.

Here is the end result which we're really happy with : http://www.webnet-it.co.jp/index.php/en/content_page/nice_to...

Our target was to create a simple story that a typical company that needs our services would regularly face, and turn that into a fun and hopefully engaging story.

If you're looking for something similar, I recommend seeing if you or your friends know any film students, and try to work out a reasonable and mutually beneficial deal with them.

I'm very interested to see how other people on HN in similar situations have created videos to communicate their businesses.

theli0nheart16y ago

Great tips, but I don't really think a video is a must. Yes, it's nice to have, but IMO it's a better use of time to make a useful product than to worry about making a video that no more than a small percentage of your potential customers will ever see.

fjabre16y ago

Interesting.. Don't know why the OP would recommend they have a foreign accent though.

I think the accent should be relevant to the country you're in... Unless your product is Beck's beer or Outback steak house..

midnightmonster16y ago

I think the accent is supposed to make it sound more interesting and memorable. And foreign-ness can help cover uncertain quality: if I have a less clear idea of what perfect deliver would sound like, imperfections may not be as noticeable.

There are several accents I love to listen to, but I don't think I agree with the OP. Anything that makes the audio harder to understand is likely to be a net loss. If I can't get clues from the speaker's mouth because she's an invisible narrator or because the sound and video get slightly out of sync, and if your video is competing with the fan in my over-hot office or the Thundercats video my three year old is watching (he called them "rain cats" for a while), that gorgeous accent may be one difficulty too many.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse