Any Chicagoland Folks Who Can Produce Video?

[chilllucky]

I've developed a traveling pipe cabinet that I would like to produce a one minute (or less) commercial for, to be displayed on a website for the product to be put up next month.
Is there anyone in the local pipe world who can help me with this? I can pay you in product for sure, or actual money, too. I just can't devote any time to figuring out how to do _another_ arts/technical thing that I only have one immediate need for.

 

[mso489]

You sound video production saavy, but if I'm wrong, bear in mind the range of legit services is very wide in terms of quality, price, and promptness. Likewise, many scams revolve around video. And some legit contractors can drop a project without notice. This should be a relatively easy project at a reasonable price for a pro or talented amateur. In my career, I talked with several production companies that were astonishingly crooked and manipulative, and I was lucky enough to be agile in not stepping into the traps, of which there were many. One of the Chicago TV stations that regularly does TV ads might have a pro who could do a short job under contract if you don't find someone in the pipe community.

 

[pylorns]

Just general idea on cost - anything that is animation 2d runs 1-10k a minute. 3D runs around 30k a minute. Captured video runs 1-5k a minute.

 

[mso489]

Yoiks. I think that's right, but seeing it written down! I think I'd get my nephew to do it on his phone for a chocolate milkshake.

 

[sablebrush52]

If what you're looking for is a simple "industrial", like a montage of views of the cabinet, you don't need to shoot video. All you need is to shoot a bunch of stills and composite them in a freebie piece of software like iMovie, that comes with a Mac. I would imagine Windows has something similar.
iMovie allows you to assemble a series of images, whether still or video. add pans and movement to them ala Ken Burns, cross dissolve them, add a soundtrack or narration, and create a very nice piece in the matter of a couple of evenings of your own time. You'll have the benefit of being able to make the piece to your liking. And, it's fun to play around.
Keeping it under a minute is a good idea. It's simple to do. Even a retarded monkey could do it.

 

[mso489]

Simple is good because it sticks to the subject, and short is good because it caters to the audience's restless attention span. The monkey might do it for a banana, but it sounds like a reasonable plan.

 

[woodsroad]

Find someone to do good photos for you. The only thing worse than trying to sell your product with a bad photo is trying to sell your product with a lot of bad photos strung out into a video!

 

[chilllucky]

I will listen to any pro with considered ideas, but what I have story boarded out is a captured video, one camera, two shot affair with some title cards edited in. It ought not take any more than 4 hours to shoot and edit.
Sable et Al - I appreciate your advice, and you are not wrong about getting good photograps, but I will reiterate that I do not have either the time nor the inclination to learn more new software for this project. No matter how intuitive it seems to you, my experience with computers is minimal and different.