There are the three major technical elements of any video shoot the camera, sound, and lighting. Millions of dollars can be poured into any aspect of this. Certainly the Hollywood budget for any portion of this is average of 6 figures for even low budget films. However the big difference is that these are great cinematic works made for the silver screen. Since the internet or even T.V. do not offers it is simply not necessary to spend as much money. What becomes “necessary” is purely based on the platform being delivered on.

The bottom line for the customer is how does the video look. Since at this day and age major film festivals have actually been won on iPhone cameras by quality cinematographers the idea that specs matter for a shoot has been turned upside down. Professional filmmakers are well aware that your quality video can be shot on a phone and be more attractive than an amateur with all of the high tech gear,

There are important elements that should be understood before we move forward. Without proper lighting no camera will function to its potential. In actuality the footage will look “grainy” or have static in it. In essence the most important thing for the look of a video is lighting. While we at Enlightened Vision Entertainment inc. always use high proficiency equipment for all of our shoots, often in well lit offices that utilize fluorescent lighting, such equipment may not be necessary unless we are aiming for a dramatic look which can only be done by positioning our lighting a certain way.

Sound would be the other important component. While the look of a film or video is the most important thing; without proper sound it is useless. Bootleg movies are often terrible because of the low quality of the video, but moreover because of people laughing in the background, or the sound being a little too low at the funny part of the movie. High quality microphones are indeed the only thing I would consider a necessity that spans across any type of video shoot. Whether it is captured separately through a field recorder, or synced directly into the camera to avoid having to sync sound in post-production is really not that important. But if sound is not captured at a high quality level then most videos are worthless to the consumer.

These are the elements that someone looking to get a video shot for their company should look for. Whether a videographer is shooting on a Red or a 5D is something that the consumer should waste time looking into because to understand the difference between the cameras and why one is quality and the other is not is simply a waste of time. It is probably best to leave the video equipment to the professionals, and just make sure that the body of work at the end is the quality that you are seeking.