Judith Seegers | Blue Sky Film & Media

About Judith Seegers

Judith Seegers - Media Producer at Blue Sky Film and Media. Judith benefits from over a decade in the health and education sectors respectively, and has been responsible for devising and managing a range of digital media campaigns. She works closely with the creative team, developing concepts and refining messages, as well as contributing to hands-on video production.

How Do I Prepare To Be Interviewed for a Video ?

There are times when a highly creative, dramatised or scripted format for your video will be the right choice for your audience and goals. On the other hand, there are also situations when a talking-head interview video can be a compelling choice for your video requirements. Most talking-head interviews are produced through a ‘prompted interview’ technique. This results in the simple, but effective, immediacy of one person talking to another and as social animals we are used to making sense of the world in this way. It’s how we learn from each other and how we build relationships, [...]

By Judith Seegers|2018-09-05T09:58:13+00:00September 4th, 2018|Shooting Video, Video Interviews, Video Project Management|0 Comments

So What’s The Deal With Video Captions?

At Blue Sky, we’re frequently asked for advice on the use of captions when releasing video on social media. There are a number of reasons why you might consider captions, but the most widespread issue is that platforms, such as Facebook, automatically launch videos in silence. It’s only when the viewer actively clicks on the video player that the sound is switched on. Obviously, this is a user friendly feature, in that none of us likes to be blasted by sound unwillingly – particularly if it’s also imposed on fellow commuters or office colleagues. Why Captions? [...]

By Judith Seegers|2018-08-01T12:58:41+00:00July 27th, 2018|Social Media Video, Video Distribution, Video Strategy|0 Comments

Best Practice Guide to Social Media Video Release

At some point, most of our clients will release their video on social media platforms. This might include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, but the question is – how do you ensure the best results for your video on social media? It’s not unusual for very little thought to be given to this and the video just gets ‘shoved’ out one way or another. In this blog post, we highlight some valuable tactics that will boost both the reach and impact of your video when you release it into the wild on social media. Going [...]

By Judith Seegers|2018-03-21T09:07:53+00:00March 20th, 2018|Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Social Media Video, Twitter, Video Distribution, Video Production, Video Project Management, Video Strategy, YouTube|0 Comments

The Number One Video Marketing Blunder

Should I Put my Video on YouTube? We are frequently asked this question and the answer is … …Yes – BUT with a big BUT… The logic goes - YouTube is the second most used search tool in the world after Google, so it would seem a given that if you want people to find you, then you must have your video on YouTube? This is true, but it’s not simply a question of just ‘being found’ – you haven’t made a video just so that it is ‘found’. You’ve made a video to influence people’s behaviour [...]

By Judith Seegers|2018-06-12T03:55:01+00:00February 6th, 2018|Video Production|Comments Off

How To Win Trust From Your Video Audience

To Script or Not to Script ... That is the Question When building the trust and confidence of your video audience is it better to deliver your message through a carefully crafted script, or go for a more relaxed interview style? In part, this depends on the type of film you are making. There are projects that need precision scripting. For example, an annual report or health & safety induction video require an exacting approach - but ask yourself “Am I choosing to use a script because it’s vital to specify every word or because I’m frightened [...]

By Judith Seegers|2018-02-13T17:30:57+00:00February 1st, 2018|Commissioning Video, Video Interviews, Video Planning, Video Production, Video Project Management, Video Strategy|Comments Off

How To Get High Ranking Google Results For Your Website Video

When it comes to website video, we are frequently asked the question "How do I get my website video to appear high in Google search results?". The answer is you will need to invest in some diligent webpage housekeeping, combined with a few specific practices relating to video hosting. The good news is that generally Video SEO (VSEO) is done really badly, so with a little effort, there is often a good opportunity to steal a march on your competitors. 1. Start With Good Website SEO Of course, your video is more likely to appear [...]

By Judith Seegers|2018-01-23T02:11:18+00:00August 16th, 2017|Video Production|Comments Off

Information Overload – How to Ensure Your Video Won’t be Forgotten

Eavesdrop anywhere in the world of video production and you are likely to hear a producer steering a client towards accepting that 5 minutes’ worth of messaging won’t fit into the 2 minute video they’ve commissioned. This may seem an obvious point and it may even seem patronising for us to be pointing it out, but it’s one of the most recurring themes in pre-production discussions. Information Overload All around us there is an epidemic of information overload and, as elsewhere, video production is not immune to it. The problem is that information overload in [...]

By Judith Seegers|2017-08-04T09:18:38+00:00June 16th, 2017|Commissioning Video, Video Planning, Video Project Management|Comments Off

How to Ensure Success for Your Development Campaign Video

Video strategy - production & release When it comes to development video, the key to a successful campaign is choosing the right approach to both the production and release of your video. In this post we outline some tips and tactics that will help you make the most of your development campaign video. Staging a video release To get the most from video, it's always worthwhile staging your video release in keeping with the unfolding phases of your campaign. This means you will achieve waves of benefit from your video, rather than dissipating its impact in one [...]

By Judith Seegers|2017-05-28T19:47:16+00:00June 20th, 2016|Video Distribution, Video SEO, Video Strategy|Comments Off

How to Write a Really Useful Video Brief

Blue Sky Film & Media Blog Post A good video brief will ensure your video project gets off to a positive start. In the long run, it can save you time and money, and help your producers to deliver the video you want as smoothly as possible. 1. Define Your Audience and Purpose This may seem blatantly obvious, but the first thing to be absolutely clear about when commissioning video is the nature of your audience and what you are trying to achieve. Surprisingly, it’s quite common for organisations to have not defined this fully when [...]

By Judith Seegers|2017-05-28T19:42:29+00:00January 7th, 2016|Commissioning Video, Online Video, Video Distribution, Video Planning, Video Project Management, Video Strategy|Comments Off

Top 5 Reasons you Should Upload Your Video to Facebook

1. Get Noticed - Facebook video uploads are more prominent than posted video links It's plain to see that Facebook is out to promote itself as the ‘go to’ place to find engaging video, rather than competitors such as YouTube or Vimeo. For this reason, Facebook favours ‘native’ video (video files actually uploaded to Facebook itself) by presenting them more prominently. From the screen shots below you can see that the video player splash screen for the native video is about 5 or 6 times larger than the splash screen for the YouTube video that has been linked [...]

By Judith Seegers|2017-05-30T07:37:57+00:00December 11th, 2015|Video Production|Comments Off

How to Get a Job in Corporate Video Production

Here at Blue Sky, we receive hundreds of enquiries each year from people looking for work experience and employment in corporate video production. We always give consideration to every enquiry we receive, but sadly, the vast majority of prospective candidates fail to present themselves in an attractive light. All too often we see a lack of understanding of the needs of a real-world corporate video company and this means candidates miss the opportunity to show how they could be really useful to us. So if you think a job in corporate video is for you, then follow this Blue [...]

By Judith Seegers|2017-05-30T07:48:32+00:00November 26th, 2015|Corporate Video Career|Comments Off

Video Production Case Study – How do you promote a vision of the future?

The Challenge How do you promote something that doesn't actually exist yet? The Client The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust owns five historic sites in and around Stratford Upon Avon - all connected with William Shakespeare’s work, life and times. They receive over 700,000 visitors a year from all over the world. The trust relies on visitor revenue and charitable giving to maintain their heritage properties and an extensive programme of cultural activities for all. The Background New Place in Stratford Upon Avon is the site where Shakespeare’s final home once stood, where he lived for the last [...]

By Judith Seegers|2018-02-02T12:43:55+00:00October 14th, 2015|Video Production|Comments Off

Short Teaser Video – The Long and the Short of it

Next Day Promotion The IT Exhibition: 65 Seconds IP Expo Manchester This Day 1 summary of a two day exhibition, was shot in the morning, edited over lunch and released by the afternoon - on social media and in an email campaign. Used repeatedly by the client, this format has proved successful in driving up visitor attendance for Day 2 of the exhibition. Increasing Enquiries The Hotel: 20 secs Manor by the Lake The Manor by the Lake Hotel is a hidden gem within the regency town of Cheltenham - as one in [...]

By Judith Seegers|2017-06-12T16:05:52+00:00June 29th, 2015|Benefits of Video, Event Video, Social Media Video|Comments Off

Are Your Video Players a Bit of a Dog’s Breakfast? – Player Dimensions Explained

At Blue Sky, we produce numerous high quality videos each year for our clients – but sometimes clients miss out on getting the best from their video investment, because of gaps in technical knowledge or time to research new developments in this fast changing field. We are always on tap to help our clients, but to improve things more widely - here is the first in a monthly series on tips, tricks and pitfalls, for anyone with video on their mind. Wrong Video Player Dimensions 4:3 Players Back in the day, videos were generally [...]

By Judith Seegers|2016-11-29T15:57:47+00:00March 24th, 2015|Video Distribution, Video Project Management, YouTube|Comments Off

So What Happened to Video Rich Snippets?

... and why video sitemaps are still important? Up until July of this year, if you diligently applied all the principles of good video SEO in managing your online video, it was highly likely that Google would reward you with lots of eye catching video rich snippets. Video Rich Snippets looked like this: But alas, some time around the middle of July (2014) - for all but the very biggest players, such as YouTube, The Guardian, Vimeo – those irresistible video rich snippets disappeared. So What? Well, research showed that video rich snippet images are very tempting to users [...]

By Judith Seegers|2017-05-30T07:56:12+00:00September 5th, 2014|Video Distribution, Video SEO, Video Strategy, Website Video, YouTube|Comments Off

DIY or Professional? The Video Commissioner’s Dilemma

OK - so you need a video - but who is going to make it? Back in the 1990's there was a trend for larger companies to set up their own in-house video production units, but most of these didn't survive. They weren't cost effective and didn't yield the best results creatively and technically. So if your organization isn’t big enough to sustain its own professional video producers you have two options: You make a DIY video in-house – using amateur or semi-professional staff e.g. a grateful media student, the web guy who dabbles in video on the side You [...]

By Judith Seegers|2016-11-29T15:57:49+00:00April 27th, 2014|Commissioning Video, Video Planning, Video Production, Video Project Management, Video Strategy|Comments Off

Rethinking Corporate Video – A Fresh Look at Some Key Issues

It’s now almost impossible to ignore the growing importance of video in promoting businesses today. YouTube is the second most used search tool after Google and research by CISCO predicts that 69% of all online consumer traffic will be video traffic by 2017. As we saw with websites, video is rapidly becoming an essential part of your marketing mix - and there are numerous reasons why. Competition for Attention Today we are bombarded with a vast choice of media 24/7 and often on multiple devices at once. With a few taps of a finger we have endless choices of [...]

By Judith Seegers|2016-11-29T15:57:51+00:00January 7th, 2014|Commissioning Video, Neuromarketing, Reviews, Video Distribution, Video Planning, Video Production, Video Project Management, Video SEO, Video Strategy, Website Video|Comments Off

Video Distribution Goals – What are Yours and do They Matter?

Although a lot of energy, creativity, skill and collaboration go into producing a great new corporate video, the day of its release is really just the beginning. Just as with the launch of a new website or the birth of a child, we expect you to be thrilled with your new video, but some careful nurturing and wise choices will need to be applied for it to fulfil its maximum potential as it goes out into the world. To make sure your video reaches your audiences and serves your goals, it’s important to think through your video distribution goals. [...]

By Judith Seegers|2016-11-29T15:57:52+00:00December 1st, 2013|Benefits of Video, Online Video, Video Distribution, Video Hosting, Video Planning, Video Project Management, Video SEO, Video Strategy, Website Video, YouTube|0 Comments

Review – Vimeo Video Hosting

The Early Days – Vimeo Standard To really understand Vimeo you need to understand its history. In the early days, Vimeo was primarily a showcasing site for creative folk who wanted to share their Indie film making with the world. This was in contrast to the highly commercial and badly shot amateur video culture of YouTube. Beloved of break through and wannabe film makers, Vimeo was the place to be seen. Vimeo was for true artists. This original Vimeo account model still exists - is free - and is known as Vimeo Standard. Storage limits are modest, but practical enough [...]

By Judith Seegers|2016-11-29T15:57:53+00:00November 13th, 2013|Online Video, Reviews, Video Distribution, Video Hosting, Video Planning, Video Project Management, Video SEO, Video Strategy, Website Video|0 Comments

3 Good Reasons for Short Form Video

Short Form Video Example - Foster carer recruitment video for Foster Care Associates I guess it’s a basic instinct in us all to go for more of something rather than less, when given a choice. After all, we humans have survived from securing extra resources for what lies ahead. More food, more water, more wood for the fire – we are more frightened of not having enough, than we are of having too much. But is it OK to let this instinct rule us when producing a video. Is a two minute video always better than a [...]

By Judith Seegers|2017-08-16T15:44:24+00:00November 4th, 2013|Benefits of Video, Commissioning Video, Online Video, Video Distribution, Video Planning, Video Production, Video Project Management, Video SEO, Video Strategy, Website Video|0 Comments

Video, Trust and the Reptilian Brain

Many of our clients provide services or products that require a significant leap of faith from their own clients for them to commit to a purchase, donation or further involvement. This could be buying food - secure in the belief that it’s truly made from wholesome ingredients, entrusting their bodies to medical professionals - confident that they will not come to any harm - or something as everyday as being relaxed in the knowledge that the hard earned money they’ve spent on a leisure trip is not going to result in disappointment. In scenarios like these, evoking trust and allaying [...]

By Judith Seegers|2018-04-30T13:07:18+00:00September 1st, 2013|Benefits of Video, Commissioning Video, Neuromarketing, Video Planning, Video Production, Video Project Management, Video Strategy, Website Video|0 Comments