Over the years, lots of people have come to us for help making online videos. Swimming through the delicious spaghetti of our experiences, we began to notice some recurring themes. So we started scribbling down the most common questions, challenges, and insights we’ve developed. We boiled them down into 11 bite-size morsels which make up this handbook with one simple goal: to help you commission brilliant online videos.

1. How to commission brilliant online video
WEAPON
COMMUNICATION
OF MASS

2. FOREWORD
Over the years, lots of people have come to us for help making
online videos. Swimming through the delicious spaghetti of
our experiences, we began to notice some recurring themes.
So we started scribbling down the most common questions,
challenges, and insights we’ve developed. We boiled them down
into 11 bite-size morsels which make up this handbook with one
simple goal: to help you commission brilliant online videos.
You’ll come across many words in the pages to follow, including
tastemaker, trolling and Stringfellow. But there are a couple
I’d like to draw your attention to. Daring and playful.
Keep them front of mind, as these words will certainly
help you blow your objectives out of the water.
Daring to challenge expectation and thinking playfully in
terms of how you can communicate with your audience are key
ingredients in the mindset of every great video commissioner.
Now don your bravery pants, colour outside the
lines, and bring YouTube to its knees.
Mike Cooper
Creative Director, Republic Publishing

3. Hello
Audience
Budget
Format
Viral
Brief
Agency
Metrics
Stakeholders
Timescale
Crew
Why
Glossary
About us
Get in touch
Checklist
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
32
34
36
38
CONTENTS
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING LTD
MANAGING DIRECTOR James Beechinor-Collins
jbc@republicpublishing.co.uk
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Mike Cooper
mike@republicpublishing.co.uk
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR James Holland
jh@republicpublishing.co.uk
NON-EXEC CHAIRMAN Clive Swan
clive@republicpublishing.co.uk
Ian Delaney - Group Editor
Mike Browne - Group Editor
Michele Lonergan - Financial Controller
Joseph Patrick - Video Producer
Tim Bunn - Video Producer
Nigel Brown - Managing Editor
Ben Sillis - Associate Editor
Adam Bunker - Associate Editor
Phil Barker - Senior Staff Writer
Boc Ly - Deputy Editor
Jeppe Christensen - Managing Editor, USA
Magda Voigt - Project Manager
Adam Fraser - Reporter
Jon Partridge - Editorial Assistant
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Mike Cooper
EDITOR Joseph Patrick
DEPUTY EDITOR Ben Sillis
WRITERS Tim Bunn, Joseph Patrick, Mike Cooper
and James Beechinor-Collins
DESIGNER Stephen Mellor
PRINTERS Taylor Brothers
PUBLISHED BY REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
www.republicpublishing.co.uk
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks to Daniella Orsini and Stanley Chow.
For all of our clients at Republic Publishing,
without whom this wouldn’t have been possible.

4. Video is a very powerful medium. It
can provide an immediate smack to
your senses, which is why it’s such a
powerful way of connecting with your
audience, quickly and memorably.
Just click, tune in and absorb.
It continues to be a great way to
communicate and captivate people
through compelling stories. You can shift
and shape perceptions of your brand or
products within a matter of seconds. And
that’s precisely why it’s something worth
getting fired up about. So go ahead and get
fired up, but please remember this: nobody
gets attention without paying attention.
Questions first. Shoot later.

5. This way, please.
HELLO
You are here
THE BEAUTY OF CREATING VIDEO
FOR YOUR BRAND
Next stop,
Tinseltown
8 REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
Take a deep breath. Glory is upon you.
You’re about to do the best thing you’ve
ever done. Even better than that time you
did Tequila slammers with Johnny Depp
in The Viper Room. You’re about to make
your very own online video. You’re like Jerry
Bruckheimer in the 80s. You and your brand
are about to bank-roll a masterpiece.
You could make a 90-minute documentary
about the amazing new vegetarian quiche
in the canteen. You shouldn’t, but you
could. Hell, if you’ve got the budget you
could even fly Kevin Bacon in from Los
Angeles to quote Paul Daniels, on the
telly. The possibilities are endless.
But remember this: There are rooms full
of people, all around the world, just like
you - only not quite as attractive - doing
exactly the same thing. In an age where
people are uploading 72 hours of video per
minute to YouTube alone, it’s becoming
increasingly difficult to stand out.
So if you do want to make a documentary
about a quiche, it better be a dancing quiche.
Someone in olden times once said, “To the
victor go the spoils” and a brilliant online
video can bring you lots of wonderful spoils.
Specifically, greater brand awareness and
increased audience engagement: people
will remember you, tell others about you,
even give you money if you’re lucky.
More specifically, a top-drawer online video
can bring you a massive Christmas bonus
and a weekend at the CEO’s summer retreat
on the shores of Lake Garda (excluding
peak weekends in July and August).
Making video is fun. It’s exciting. It’s easier
than ever before... but there are some things
that you really do need to know before
you start. Like figuring out your budget,
learning to manage ‘creative types’, and
writing the ultimate video brief for ’em.
You’re about to climb Mount Excellence in pursuit of
online video glory. There’ll be a bunch of checkpoints
on the way to guide you, but the first stop is base camp
where you’ll be briefed on perhaps your most important
lesson. Understanding your audience. Analogy milked.
Photo credits - (Left) Keith Bell / Shutterstock.com (Right) Byron W.Moore / Shutterstock.com

6. 10
AUDIENCE
YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE NO LONGER YOUR
CUSTOMERS. THEY’RE YOUR AUDIENCE
Take your
seats, enjoy
the show
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
Audiences. You might think they just sit
down, watch and go... but they don’t. They’re
judging you. An audience is a complex
beast. One minute they’re laughing and
enjoying themselves, the next minute
they’re slagging you off to their mates
and anyone else who’ll listen. Viewers are
fantastically fickle and the line between
praise and criticism is incredibly fine.
If you want to make a brilliant online video,
it’s imperative that you know who it is you’re
making it for. So do some research, yeah?
Even if you think you’ve got a good grip
on who your audience is, you might be
surprised: what they want can vary even by
where they’re watching a video. Case in point:
currently, seven of the top ten most-viewed
videos on YouTube are music promos, but
Vimeo’s top ten is dominated by timelapse
photography. People look for different
things in different places.
Do you have a farmyard full of Facebook
followers champing at the bit for funny
content? Ask them what they want to see.
See what short links are triggering a
tsunami of retweets. Review the analytics
on your company blog - see what people
actually care enough about to share and
make more of it. Hell, why not go back to
basics and carry out an online reader survey
(we use PollDaddy.com - it looks great
and is simple to use). It’ll give you instant
insight into how your audience think.
The better you know your audience, the
greater chance you have of tailoring your
video content to appeal to them. It’ll
also help when you’re trying to develop
that killer idea because you’ll have a
spectrum of audience traits you’ll be able
to learn from. That said, don’t let this
frazzle your Creativity Bacon™- the best
ideas are often the unexpected ones.
FRANCO, 32
Model-maker from
Chicago, Illinois
Likes: Facebook ‘banter’
Dislikes: Any form
of actual human
interaction
CARL, 18
Full-time farming
student from Ipswich
Likes: Trolling
Z-list celebrities
Dislikes: Sorbets
FELICITY, 25
Office intern
from Catford
Likes: Nyan Cat
Dislikes: Laughing
out loud
EDNA, 58
Assembly-line worker
from Stockton-on-Tees
Likes: Deal Or No Deal
Dislikes: Noel Edmonds
RAJESH, 31
Pharmaceutical rep.
Mumbai, India
Likes: Long walks
along short piers
Dislikes: Swimming
Draw up a simple pen
portrait of your ideal
viewer. It’ll make it easier
to decide if an idea
will work. Or not.
DO!

7. 12
BUDGET
SHORT ANSWER NO.
LONG ANSWER NO.
HERE’S WHY...
Paying by the minute is
sadly not a realistic way to
quantify the cost of video.
It’s as simple as that.
Anyone can turn on a
webcam for five minutes
and bang on about how
much they love their
new superphone. But
the meticulously crafted
five-minute video a
big brand produces, to
walk you through its
new product, can take
months to engineer.
That’s not to say that both
types of video don’t
have their place - they
just don’t cost the same.
You see when it comes to
film, TV and video, cost
is inherently linked to
the attention to detail of
the production. Take Red
Stripe’s recent hacking of a
cornershop (bit.ly/Rid1ne)
in which they created an
orchestra from products
littered throughout the
shop - triggered when any
customer pulled a bottle of
Red Stripe from the fridge.
Although shot in a fly-on-
the-wall, rough and ready
style, the preparation
work involved to create
such a charming and
engaging experience was
clearly labour intensive.
Behind this 1m 55s video
there were countless
hours and many weeks
of pre-production.
Consider the time it takes
to arrange filming in
such a public location,
or the out-of-hours set
up time, the rehearsals
and choreography of the
musical products, the
engineering involved
and the direction of such
a theatrical live action
experience. All of these
individual facets require
a great deal of time, and
money, to get right. As
evidenced by Red Stripe’s
supporting making-of
video (bit.ly/Tnouxv).
Can I pay by
the minute?
DOnt!
Underestimate the
potential complexity of
what might at first
seem like a simple
production.
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
All about the
Benjamins
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
How long is a piece
of Stringfellow’s hair?
Grab your rulers and
let’s get measuring.
Though perhaps a
metre stick might
be more appropriate
because making video
is a bit like buying a
round of drinks at
the theatre - it can
get pricey.
So you’ve decided that your
latest online video offering
will be presented by a five
year-old. We’ll treat it like
a spoof cookery show, but
the little nipper won’t be
making chocolate brownies
for his teddy bears, he’ll be
showing your viewers how
to assemble your latest
product. Let’s start costing
it up. We’ll need to pay the
child actor. But it’s a 12-hour
shoot and legally children
aren’t allowed to work
for more than four hours
without an hour’s break. So
we’ll need to hire twins.
That’s £200 per hour for
each twin. Pro-rata that
makes them the highest
paid people on set. Both
twins will need a chaperone,
which can cost anything up
to £300 each for the day.
Oh yeah, then there’s
the license. We’ll need a
performance license from
the local authority - we’ll
need the twins’ agent to
sort that. There’ll be a fee
there. Brilliant. We’ll need
a Location Manager to
find a nice little kitchen
to shoot in. He’ll need to
perform the relevant risk
assessments. And this
is all before we’ve even
switched the camera on.
The point here is that video
production can be extremely
labour-intensive. It often
involves jumping through a
lot of hoops, made from the
reddest of tape, and bringing
together many different
individuals and agencies. It’s
time-consuming and there’s
no yardstick to measure
cost by.
But that doesn’t mean
you can’t have video.
Getting a simple, quality
production out doesn’t
need to cost the earth.
Time is money, so be sure
to set clear deadlines. Key
milestones to consider
are concept approval,
completion of the first edit,
and delivery of a final cut
that’s ready for upload and
distribution through active
seeding. Work backwards
from your final delivery
date and agree on timings
for the other milestones
with your agency.
Everything is scalable. It’s
most important to have a
realistic budget and even
more important to stick to
it. Don’t be afraid to open up
to your production company
about what’s in your cheque
book. Remember, they
want to make something
brilliant too and will
always be looking to give
you exceptional value
for money.

8. Internal
audience
External
audience
Above the line marketing
Below the line marketing
Those little idents
at the beginning of
Coronation St that
let you know when
you need to stop Sky
-plussing through
the adverts
That magic thing where
you point your phone at a
newspaper advert and it
makes a video play!
“Secret shopper”
research video
Conference
coverage
CEO address
to staff
Staff induction
DVD
Team-building
exercise
Video training
guide
Behind
the scenes
Seasonal
greetings
Company Christmas
cards are dead - what
everyone wants is a
video of themselves
dancing to dub-step
dressed as an elf
Viral video! *The one where the iPod
comes smashing through
the screen and bounces off
the floor without breaking
Let’s have a little chat
about viral video >>
*
The bits before the
trailers, before the film
A sneaky peek at what
goes on behind the big
velvety corporate curtain.
Whether it’s a PR event,
product launch or
photoshoot - people
wanna see that stuff!
The line
Augmented
reality video
assets
Feature-length
documentary
Scrolling tube
advert
30-second
TV advert
90-second
TV advert
3-second
TV teaser
TV sponsor
bumper
CG product
showcase
Stop-frame
animation
Mini
documentary
Reaction video
Making
of video
Event coverage
Hands-on
product
showcase
Cinema spot
Time-lapse
video
FORMAT
What type of
video do I need?
Now that you understand your audience inside out,
and have a solid picture of your budget and scale of
ambition, it’s time to explore what format of video will
be most effective in helping you meet your objectives.
Don’t forget your internal audience either - your
colleagues are among your brand’s greatest advocates,
so inspiring them with video and including them in
external facing videos can be a really smart move.

9. 16
VIRAL
Can I have a viral?
ONLY IF YOU PROMISE NEVER
TO USE THAT WORD AGAIN
Embrace the unexpectedREPUBLIC PUBLISHING
YouTube Trends Manager, Kevin
Allocca, says that when it comes
to online video, “The audience
defines the popularity.” It’s that
simple. The average uploader is
free to upload whatever he or she
likes - and it’s that freedom which
can often hold the key to creating
a super-massive monster hit video.
Allocca says the most popular online
viral videos adhere to three simple rules.
They encourage tastemakers (celebrities,
journos, bloggers with their fingers on
the Earth’s pulse) to share the content
with friends, fans and followers. They
inspire audience participation (people
record their own pastiche versions of
popular videos, they comment, they call
each other’s mums naughty words and
they engage). Thirdly - and perhaps most
tellingly for a brand - the most successful
videos are completely unexpected.
As a brand, you can’t force celebrities to talk
about your product - especially if they ain’t
gettin’ benefits for it. And you can’t force
viewers to engage with your content. But you
absolutely have the power to surprise people.
Bodyform reacted brilliantly to a facetious
comment on its Facebook page recently
from a ‘disgruntled’ Richard Neill. Neill
moaned about how Bodyform had “lied” to
men “for all these years” - he proclaimed
that Bodyform’s portrayal of a “joyous,
adventurous time of the month” with
parachuting and rollercoasters is misleading.
In the response video (bit.ly/T7W5Ah) a
fake Bodyform executive apologises to Neill
before taking a swig of that all too familiar
blue liquid and telling him that he just can’t
handle the truth. An internet frenzy followed.
So the answer is yes. You can have your
blasted viral video. But you need to be brave.
You may have to shake off the shackles of
the Brand Book and embrace the freedom
of the Internet. Give people something from
your brand they’re not expecting and they’ll
share it. But, to get things moving you’ll need
to make sure you have a good distribution
plan in place (for the tastemakers) and that
your video contains the right components for
users to create their own versions. Easy, huh?
Now, if you overhear anyone in the office
using the phrase “go viral”, tell them to jog on.

10. 18
HOW DO I WRITE A BRIEF?
Brief Encounters
of the Word Kind
BRIEF
DESCRIPTIONKEY POINT
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
There’s no need to be scared.
A brief is nothing more than a few
choice words in a document, simply
outlining what you want from your
video. That said, those words do
need to be carefully considered and
need to cover a few specific things.
If this is your first time commissioning a
video, then writing a brief will be an alien
experience. A tight, concise brief is crucial to
your video’s success. It also gives your video
agency the best possible understanding of
what it is they need to create and achieve.
To create a bulletproof brief there are
certain points that you must cover off as
a minimum. It’s important to remember
that the more explicit you are with what
you want to achieve, the tighter your
brief will be. Here are seven key points
your brief should definitely cover:
If you can’t express your objective in a
single sentence, your video will fail.
What are they and how would you like them presented?
Clearly state who your target audience is. This
will help focus the creative response.
Include one. Being upfront will help give your agency an
idea of how ambitious they can be with their response. If
you don’t want to mention numbers then use something
familiar as a guide. Ford Fiesta, not Ferrari. Or similar.
When does this sucker need to go live?
State where your video will reside online and if there are
plans to promote it, and how. Will it live on your official
YouTube channel or greet people on your global homepage?
Clearly defined, please. Whether it’s “Deliver one billion
views on YouTube” or “Increase page impressions on
the product page by 2,963%”, it will have a bearing
on how your agency will approach its creative solution.
Oh, and if you’re going for views, ask to see the details from
YouTube Analytics. If there is an overabundance of visitors
from small Asian nations, you may have been sold a pup.
Objective
Key messages
Audience
Budget
Deadline
Discoverability
Metrics
DO!
Ask lots of questions.
Video might not be
your forte, so if there’s
anything you’re unsure
of, speak up.

11. 20
AGENCY
How do I
select a video
agency?
SLOW-MOTION SWAN DIVE
INTO THE TALENT POOL
Okay, so you’ve written your shiny new brief;
you’ve had it laminated; you’re carrying it
around in your top pocket and your mum
thinks it’s the best thing she’s ever read -
but who are you going to send it to? There
are so many different options available to
you now, that it’s worth doing a little bit of
research to find your video agency valentine.
Put your feet up and watch some telly.
Spend your lunch break eyeballing videos
of cats burping on YouTube. See what you
like and find out who made it. Find out
what you don’t like and avoid it. If you’re
looking for a super-slick TV advert with
topless men doing slow-motion roly-polies
into a waterfall you’ll want to speak to a
high-end ad agency. Someone like Abbott
Mead Vickers BBDO or Wieden + Kennedy.
Alongside the big hitters there are some
cracking small and lesser-lauded agencies
who can compellingly communicate your
key messages in the art of the moving image.
The majority offering greater value. Granted,
some are better at delivering certain types
of video than others, but don’t be afraid to
ask the agency you fancy if they can work
outside their comfort zone, as this is often
when the magic happens. So if you want a
heartfelt short film, don’t discount an agency
famed for their music videos. Likewise
if your favoured agency is renowned for
creating flagship product launch videos
fuelled by the midnight oil, don’t shy away
from letting them loose on a daring spoof
video. They’ll often surprise you, deliver
the unexpected, and that’s the idea.
Remember to ask your team and folk in
other departments for their thoughts and
recommendations. They’ll often have seen
cool online videos that flew under your
radar, or they might even have a trusted
video agency they turn to regularly, or
details of others who they would like to use.
There are a lot of people, agencies and
individuals, doing some clever stuff for
brands. Take the work Casey Neistat did
for Nike, for starters. He’s brilliant. Nike
gave him money to make a movie about
their #makeitcount campaign. Instead
he took a round-the-world trip with his
friend Max and filmed it (bit.ly/HR8xZd).
Nike were very happy with the results.
The point is there’s some great talent out
there, and if you’re willing to let your agency
act outside their usual typecast restraints,
you could inspire a flash of pure genius.
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING

12. 22
Creating metrics isn’t
just a way of making
sure your agency has
done its job, they’re a
means of measuring
the success of your
production and
may even shape the
approach you take
in the first place.
If your key objective is to
drive more people to a
product page, then your
measurable should be a
tangible reflection of this:
“The video will increase
monthly unique page
impressions on our product
page from 10,000 to 20,000.”
This target may manifest
itself in the video with a
clickable call to action at the
end via a simple YouTube
annotation, taking folks
straight to your desired
destination page (mind
you, only if your company
has a Brand Channel, as
you can only link to other
YouTube videos and not to
external sites on a regular
account, boo, hiss).
You may want to encourage
more people to engage with
your brand through social
channels such as Facebook
and Twitter - if so, break
down the numbers for
your agency, tell them you
want “15,000 more Twitter
followers before the end
of Q3”, and they may need
to adapt the treatment
of the film accordingly.
It might simply be a case of
exposure, benchmarking
how successful you want
the video to be: “The video
must gain 100,000 views and
be picked up by at least five
key influencers globally.”
Targeting key influencers
will instantly focus the
approach you take to your
video - you’ll be crafting
something that is both
palatable to experts and the
masses, and creating positive
news cycles as a result.
Ensure your video agency
is plugged into relevant
internal teams or existing
agencies to get the most
out of syndication.
Choose an agency that is
experienced in actively
seeding content to give the
video the best chance of
meeting your objectives.
Making videos isn’t just
about ‘the experience’ or
having ‘japes’ on set. You’re
doing this because you
want to achieve something.
You have an objective. It’s
no good rolling up to an
agency and saying: “We
want to make a funny video
like this one that our direct
competitors did, because it’s
funny and it made us laugh
and wish we worked for
them and not us.” Chances
are the makers of that video
got your attention because
they’ve taken the time to
think about the purpose of
the content - what they want
to get out of it and why.
Ooo, that all got a bit serious
didn’t it. Let’s wiggle those
fingers and loosen up again...
23
THIS IS OFFICIALLY
WHERE THE FUN ENDS
How do I
measure its
success?
METRICS
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING

13. 24
Who’s the
daddy?
STAKEHOLDERS
WHEN SHOULD I BE INVOLVED?
Creating a brilliant and exciting video is
a lot like childbirth. That includes all the
bits that we don’t like to talk about. The
key to a successful video production is
planning, commitment, teamwork and
lovemaking. As the representative of
your brand or company, you need to work
effectively with the agency that’s helping
you deliver your video baby into the world.
But at the end of the day, YOU are the
daddy. You’ve decided you’re ready for a
little video of your own. You’ve jumped
in to bed with your chosen agency and
together, you’ve nailed the perfect idea
and had it signed off (you have, haven’t
you?!). Before the big day of the shoot you’ll
need to be on hand to help out, advise
and support your video-bearing agency.
You don’t need to be completely immersed
in the process. Trust your chosen partner
to incubate the project and oversee its
growth. Work with your agency to define
clear and concise milestones for the
project - you can then establish when
you’ll be required to input and feedback.
“But why? Why do I even need to be involved
at all?” you may ask. Well, there are certain
things that will require your expertise,
your access privileges and crucially, your
approval. Your agency may need you to help
pin down a date in the CEO’s diary for a video
interview, or lean on your insider knowledge
of the brand to get a rude word past Legal.
It’s your video at the end of the day, you
should want to be involved. Plus, being
on location means you’re not in the office
and you absolutely can’t have your phone
switched on when you’re on set - you
do the math. A sensible and productive
course of action would be to outline key
milestones for your required involvement.
Involve anyone within your company
who needs input from the very beginning
so you don’t get any nasty surprises.
Video production is a time consuming
business, and if you’re new to the process
then don’t underestimate the amount
of additional work that you may have
committed to. And remember, you can’t
fix everything in post production.
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
Dont!
Act like a diva.
No one will ever want
to work with you again.
Look at Lindsay
Lohan.

14. 26
Ever wondered why any
project worth its salt goes
right to the wire? Ever been
sat at home in your pyjamas,
waiting for a file to upload,
so you can forward it to the
sales bods in Japan before
their 9am presentation?
Yeah, us too. Why is that?
It’s because the scope of a
production should always
be scaled to the deadline -
and maybe just a little bit
to the budget, too (see page
12). It should be scheduled
to maximise your time and
squeeze every single second
out of your chosen agency.
Say you want to commission
a behind-the-scenes
documentary of your
company’s annual trade
show, but that’s in a week’s
time. Your agency will nail
that deadline, but they’ll
want to make the most of
every single second: give
them free reign, an all access
pass, and be prepared to
sign off the final edit an hour
or two before it goes live.
That doesn’t mean you need
to push things right to the
wire though. If you don’t
thrive on the pressure of
an impending deadline,
let your agency know. Tell
them you want everything
wrapped up a week before
your boss wants it - so you
can take that well-earned
trip to the Lake District.
Each project will have
its own idiosyncrasies,
challenges and personality,
but you need to plan for
the unexpected. Give
yourself and your agency
a bit of breathing room
where possible. Who could
predict that the head of
marketing hates Helvetica?
Or that the name of your
new product means “ham
sandwich” in Flemish?
The bottom line is: don’t let
the production guide the
deadline. Let the deadline
guide the production.
No-one likes a rolling
deadline. It’s disheartening
for everyone involved. The
great thing about taking on
a new project is the sense of
contentment and closure at
the end, so don’t be afraid
to put your foot down.
How long will
it take?
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
TIMESCALE
AS LONG AS YOU NEED IT TO TAKE

15. 28
CREW
28 REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
There are often many people involved in a video shoot. Film sets can be very busy,
shouty, hectic places. So before you show up for a set visit, it’s worth familiarising
yourself with the size of production you’ve commissioned - especially if you’ve
promised to buy ice lollies for everyone.
What does a film crew look like?Camera Operator
The one who operates the camera.
Producer
The one in charge of hiring people and spending the money.
Sound Recordist
The one who records the sound.
Director
The one who is responsible for every last pixel of the final video.
Researcher
The one who raids the archives and checks the facts.
Director of Photography
The one who makes the magic happen with the lights and the lenses.
1st Assistant Director (1st AD)
The one in charge of the schedule, always with their eye on the clock.
Clapper Loader
The one you hear shouting, “Marker!” and clapping the clappy clapper board.
Focus Puller
The one who adjusts the focus on the camera, to make sure everything is in focus.
“DIT”
The one who is responsible for backing-up all of the digital files from the camera.
Helicopter Pilot
The one who flies the helicopter with the camera hanging out of it.
Stuntman
The one doing all the play-fighting in tights with swords.
Pig Wrangler
The person in charge of the pig you wanted in your advert.
Product preview
Talking head
Mini documentary
Short film
TV advert

16. 30
AND WHY SHOULD I CARE?
So, why is video
important again?
WHY
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
Television took 13
years to reach 50
million viewers.
Internet video took
two years. Drink that
down for a second. The
way people consume
media is no longer
changing. It’s
already changed.
Xavier the video guy isn’t
just sat in his darkened
edit suite watching clips of
rats on cats on dogs - he’s
making history. Online
video reaches everyone.
Over four billion hours of
video are viewed per month
on YouTube alone. That’s
more than half an hour for
every person on the planet.
Video is an infinitely
shareable medium. A recent
survey by Digitas found that
half of the people that watch
an online video posted by a
friend will share it with three
or more people, if they like it.
Having video on your
own website matters too.
According to Forrester
Research, a webpage
containing video is 53 times
more likely to appear on
the first page of Google
search results than one
with purely text content.
Branded video comes in
myriad forms. Short and long
form online video ads are
powerful tools for hitting a
mass audience of people who
may have never heard of your
product. In fact, short form
online video ads have proven
to be 27 times more effective
than banner advertising
for click throughs.
But, branded video goes
much further than online
adverts. Product showcases
will enhance your product
story and offer potential
customers deeper insight
during their online
research. Getting experts
from within your business
to offer opinion through
video will create a deeper
connection than any advert.
And combined, these types
of videos are incredibly
sharable, when done right.
Getting your video shared
through social networks,
blogs and news sites will
expand your reach and
deliver increasing volumes of
video views. This translates
directly to your bottom line.
Instead of paying per view
for a short form video ad,
you can leverage the network
to drive views. With a set
production cost, each view
serves to decrease the cost
per engagement. Double
your views and you have
halved the cost per view.
Unlike TV, where you need
to front production and
distribution costs, brilliantly
executed online video gives
you an opportunity to
produce content at a much
lower cost, and rely on the
Internet for free distribution.
It isn’t just how we consume
video that’s changed. Go
make some history.
DO!
Stay in close and
frequent contact with
your agency so that
the production can
run smoothly.

17. 32
GLOSSARY
ARRI ALEXA (noun)
A high-end digital motion
picture camera used to shoot
TV shows like Law & Order
and films such as Skyfall.
BEST BOY (noun)
An assistant to the head
of a film’s electrical
or ‘grip’ department
(see also Key Grip).
CODEC (noun)
A computer plug-in that
converts a video into a
format suitable for playback
on various platforms
(see also Encode).
DSLR (noun)
A type of camera that
is designed to be used
primarily for taking
photographs, some
of which can be used
for shooting video.
ENCODE (verb)
The act of converting and
compressing your finished
video/film into a format that
is suitable for delivery, i.e.
Uploading to the Internet
or burning to DVD.
FILE FORMAT (noun)
The form your finished video
will take. Examples include
Flash file (.flv), Movie file
(.mov) and MPEG (.mp4).
GRADING OR ‘THE
GRADE’ (noun)
Once the final edit of a
video/film is finished it can
be sent for grading. This
involves a Colourist sitting
through each and every shot,
adjusting colours, to make
sure they are consistent
throughout the film (see
also White Balance).
KEY GRIP (noun)
The person on a video shoot
who is responsible for all
of the camera equipment.
MOTION GRAPHICS
OR ‘MOTION’ (noun)
Computer-generated
content within a film or
video. These assets can
range from onscreen titles
to dancing dinosaurs.
POST-PRODUCTION (noun)
All the stuff that happens
once we’ve packed the
cameras away. Editing,
motion graphics,
sound design, grading,
uploading, etc.
PRE-PRODUCTION (noun)
All the stuff that happens
before we’ve even turned the
cameras on. Idea generation,
scriptwriting, storyboarding,
scheduling, etc.
RED (noun)
A brand of digital video
camera that is used in a
wide range of productions
including TV shows
and music videos.
RENDER (verb)
The act of finalising or
‘rendering’ all of a video’s
footage and motion graphics
before encoding. Every
time a change is made
to a video, it needs to be
re-rendered. So be sure to
give all of your feedback
at once and not in bits.
TASTEMAKER (noun)
Celebrities, journalists
and bloggers are all
considered tastemakers.
They have influence over
their fans and followers.
TRANSCODE (verb)
To convert digital footage
from the camera to ensure
it is suitable to use in
the editing process.
TREATMENT (noun)
A document that details how
a video will be approached.
Generally outlining the
tone, style and length.
VIMEO (noun)
Video-sharing site. Similar
to YouTube with a leaning
towards short films, artistic
production techniques
and motion graphics.
WHITE BALANCE (noun)
The colour white must
remain as consistent as
possible in each shot of
a video/film. The tone of
white can vary considerably
depending on whether
you are shooting inside, in
artificial light, or outside,
in daylight - this camera
setting helps keep the
whites whiter than white.
YOUTUBE ANALYTICS
(noun)
Analytics that detail the
performance of your video.
Glossary
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING

18. 34
About us
ABOUT US
WE’RE WORDY, WEBBY,
CHATTY AND VIDEOY
We do other
stuff too
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
EDITORIAL
We write great stories that
captivate readers.
They share and discuss them.
Your brand’s reach explodes.
Our content engages readers on their path
to sharing and buying. Our experienced
journalists provide the core fuel that powers
Republic and empowers brands. Our passion
for words and language and our ability to
look through readers’ eyes establishes lasting
credibility for you in a transient world.
SOCIAL
We amplify your advocates.
They engage the detractors.
More people will love your brand.
We define a brand’s social strategy, as well
as deliver, moderate and report on social
engagement. Our social audits will help to
align and amplify your messages. But we
don’t believe the hype. We take a different
approach and champion the champions,
amplifying advocates, engaging sceptics
and giving brands worthwhile encounters.
VIDEO
We produce compelling online videos.
They tell powerful stories about your brand.
You gain a significant audience.
Our editorial principles flow through our
video work. Best in class videos that truly
match a brand’s needs, creating a potent
and articulate voice for its audience.
We take away the pain of the entire
production, engaging key stakeholders
only when necessary. In video we’re the
best people you’ve never heard of.
WEBSITES
We create and manage delicious websites.
They are playgrounds of content.
More visitors will love to explore them.
We build the website a brand needs - which
may not be what they think they want. We
are responsive, but like all our work we put
the visitor first. Our websites are packed
with content for visitors to explore. We
provide a complete build solution that is
totally device independent. We’re grounded
by our experience but never shackled to
the past. We’re moving with technology.
We are Republic Publishing. We create stories for brands and
engage with audiences online through world-class editorial, video
(surprise!), always-on social activity and delicious websites.
Some of our brand partners call us their digital comms agency, others
say we’re their content marketing agency, but most just call us by
our first names and like what we do. We mostly do this stuff...

19. 36
CONTACT US
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING

20. 38
CHECKLIST
Video production
crib sheet
REPUBLIC PUBLISHING
1. Engage your boss and key stakeholders
Give them a heads-up on what you’re planning,
gather their requirements (if they have any), and
let them know when their input is likely to be
needed. The four key stages for their involvement
are brief approval, budget sign-off, concept
green light and final sign-off. Establish some
rules of engagement to ensure their expectations
are measured and they’re fully onboard.
For more see page 24
2. Finalise objectives, key messages & metrics
Outline what you need to achieve with the video and
what needs to be communicated. And determine
how you’re going to measure its success.
For more see pages 19 & 22
3. Research your audience
This gives you the best opportunity to connect
and hit them with the unexpected.
For more see pages 10-11
4. Format
Think about where your video will live online,
and what type of video will best serve your
objectives. This isn’t about nailing an idea, it’s
about determining the scale of ambition for your
video project. This will inform the next step...
For more see pages 14-15
5. Finalise your budget
For more detail see pages 12-13
6. Write your brief
For more detail see pages 18-19
7. Select your agency
For more detail see pages 20-21
8. Get sign off for the concept
Your agency should provide you with a concept
in the form of a treatment or a few slides, that
outlines how the video will broadly play out. Get
this signed off before moving to the next step.
9. Enter pre-production
Your agency will be busy doing all sorts.
Writing the first draft of the script and shot list.
Logistics, timings, crewing-up (bringing onboard
a Director of Photography, for example). Your
role here is to co-ordinate or have a member of
your team help co-ordinate any requirements
your agency may have in terms of gaining
access to locations, people or products.
For more see pages 28-29
10. Script and shot list sign-off
If your video doesn’t require a script - for
example if you’re shooting a documentary
or an informal talking head video - you’ll
still need a shot list of who and what you’re
shooting and what needs to be covered off.
11. The shoot
Come along and be on hand. Enjoy it, watch it unfold
and be there to support your agency and anyone
from your brand who may be involved in front of
camera. But don’t attempt to become the Director.
12. Post production begins
So it’s a wrap. First, your agency will spend time
transcoding all the footage captured on the shoot,
selecting the best takes and assembling a rough
cut for you to look at. By now there shouldn’t be
any surprises - this is your chance to suggest any
tweaks before a more refined first edit is completed.
13. First edit and feedback
Assemble a first edit to share with your stakeholders.
Compile all the feedback for a single revision.
Feedback on factual and objective matters,
rather than subjective and stylistic. Your agency
should challenge some changes - if they’re
not, you should ask them to, as their creative
expertise is valuable and this is their craft.
14. Final cut and sign-off
A final edit is called the final cut, and is based
on the feedback and recommendations
gathered previously. Time to get your
stakeholders involved for the last time.
15. Upload and distribute
Your agency will output the correct format for
upload to YouTube or other platforms. They will
write the description, add tags and tracking, then
hit the publish button when ready. Then it’s time to
roll out the active seeding program and watch as
the tastemakers pick up on your creation, spread
the word and watch your video become a mega hit.
Every video you commission will
be different from the last, but
there are some consistent things
that need to happen every time.
Here’s a simple cut-out-and-keep
checklist for you to pop in your
back pocket for emergencies.
Granted, sometimes you need
to get a video out there fast. If
that’s the case, and you need to
skip a few steps, make sure you
at least pay special attention to
steps 1, 2, 5, 6, 13, 14 and 15.

21. www.republicpublishing.co.uk
info@republicpublishing.co.uk
Republic Publishing , 2nd Floor, 35 Great Sutton Street, London, EC1V 0DX