Behind the Scenes Blog

There is a BIG reward for doing web video production professionally.

A friend approached me with some iPhone footage of a cricket product prototype he had developed. He asked me if I could quickly edit the handheld shots so he could send a few retailers a short clip to see if there was market potential.

I suggested he considered doing it properly (albeit on a small budget) to give his new product the best chance of success. He agreed. So we called on a few budding cricketers, borrowed a tennis court and put the product through its paces.

Build a better bowling machine and the world will beat a path to your door!

There was a bit of work behind the scenes; script writing, storyboarding and location scouting. The use of our teleprompter meant Phil could deliver the script “down the barrel”. The video was tightly edited, branded and optimised for upload to YouTube. Overall the process took two weeks. It was a small budget… but the video needed to persuasively communicate the amazing features and fun aspect of this unproven product.

Film a better video and the world will beat a path to your business!

To be a success, this video had to get the attention of sporting retailers… And it did! Within a few days 2 major Australian sporting retailers were on the phone inquiring about making orders… within 3 months there was a buzz online as the YouTube clip registered 10,000 views. Soon a demo spot on the 9 network Cricket Show during the Ashes was on offer. International distributors were lining up… and Phil was sending container loads of product to South Africa and the UK.

Today, two years later, Dimension Sport has 3 versions of the Paceman Bowling Machine and Winter Wonderland Productions has created web videos for all of them.  Phil has developed versions of his machine for tennis, field and ice hockey… and he has new product prototypes in the design phase.

And if you search YouTube now, you’ll see there are over 3800 videos uploaded by customers who love the product!  And the original Paceman web video has just passed 286,000 views.

And yes… I’ve got a Paceman original in my backyard!