Sound Design for Corporate Video

There are 2 parts to every video:  What you see, and what you hear. 

In our video production practice, our clients are keenly aware of the visuals and help make critical nuanced choices when selecting fonts, colors, transition effects, motion graphics, etc.  When all that is complete we often hear “I love it! Let’s compress it and get it on our website!” Not so fast.  We’re not done yet.  There is the other half of the video that’s been neglected.  The sound.

Have you ever seen one of those “behind the scenes” documentaries on filmmaking where they show a scene from say, Jaws and take the music out?  If you haven’t it is the strangest thing to experience.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2K-YedETiI 

Without the music track, it looks like a couple of guys out on the boat.  Add in that famous music and suddenly the hair on the back of your neck stands up and you are on the edge of your seat and scared to death.  With your company video it’s unlikely you are trying to scare anybody like that, but the point is clear:  What you hear is just as important as what you see. 

Here is a side-by-side comparison of a corporate video with sound design and the same video without:

Without Sound Design: http://youtu.be/p6j-rdKAPb8
With Sound Design:  http://youtu.be/txA8HSx1dpM

Listen carefully and take note (pardon the pun) on how the music builds and crescendos at just e x a c t l y the right time.  Also pay attention to the visual effects and what you hear when you see them.   Kudos to Johnny Marshall for creating such a killer sound design.  www.marshallsounddesign.com.

Sound designing your next video is a smart move.  It’s the best way to turn a good video into a great one.

David and Kathryn Seay are video producers in the Dallas, Fort Worth area

davidseayproductions.com