Codes & Conventions of a Corporate & Promotional video

In this article we will be looking at the various codes and conventions of a corporate & promotional video. For the first example I will use the promotional video for Graphistudio - a graphics design studio based in Italy with clients across the world.

Codes and conventions of this video include:

Music

The music is slow and not very noticeable which is recommended when making a corporate and promotional video. It fits well with the video.

Interviews

Interviews with the company officials feature in this video. It shows them talking about the history of the company. The video also shows that they have directors from countries such as the UK, US/Canada, France, Spain and others, this portrays the company as being large with investors from around the world. They are also informing possible clients about the type of technology they use and how the company has evolved.

Length

The video is just 6 minutes long, which is the average time for a corporate/promotional video to last.

Lighting

The use of lighting in this video is good and no shot is too dark. This makes the video appear more inviting.

Transitions/Titles

Various transitions are shown in the video. For example the names of the people talking on the video, also the logo of the company is shown at the start of the video.

Here is a second example of a corporate video, this one is similar but the aim is different. The purpose of this video is to motivate employees of BAPD in the United States.

Here are the codes and conventions of this video:

Introduction

Throughout the first minute of the video we can see various people working in open offices with a view of an analogue clock every few seconds on various hours as well as a fast time lapse of people working. This may indicate the work they do is fast and motivates employees to complete all work by a deadline.

Music

The music is fast pace which also shows the company is fast and has motivated employees.

Interviews

These begin after the one minute introduction and show various people from the company including the deputy director, customer service team leader, program analyst, pension benefits analyst, division manager, the actuaries and others. They give a brief statement on what their job is and how they enjoy it. This is good because it shows a high motivation and friendly atmosphere in all departments of the building.

Length

The length of the video is about 5 minutes which is about the right length for a corporate video.

Transitions/Titles

Transitions constantly appear throughout the video, usually showing the name of the person speaking and what their job role is. There are other titles that appear also, for example at 1:50 a headline appears on the screen stating "BAPD's Greatest Resource is its Talented Team". This is done to give a good impression of the company and shows that teamwork is good and regular.

The next example I am going to show is much different from the rest of the others. This next one is a message from the executive of a company to all of his employees. The message is recorded by Greg Secker and the message is directed at the Knowledge To Action Group, of which he is the founder and CEO. It is an end of year Christmas message from the end of 2010.

Music

The first thing that makes this video different from the others is the fact that there is no music anywhere in the video. This is because Greg speaks throughout the entire video and any music playing would distract the viewer from what he is saying.

Transitions/Titles

Again these do not exist in the video either, because there is only one speaker. However some companies may provide videos with subtitles for any employees without hearing.

Background

Since it is an end of year Christmas message, a decorated Christmas tree can be seen behind Greg. It should also be noted that Greg stands to the left of the tree to ensure it is in view on the video, this probably means the tree is meant to be shown in the video to try and get employees into the spirit of Christmas. Lights can also be seen next to the tree.

Interview

Greg Secker is the only person who speaks in this video. He starts off by wishing everyone a merry Christmas and new year and then goes into talking about what his company has achieved throughout the year, he mentions about a new project they have launched in Australia and how well it has grown as well as an awards ceremony in London and The Sunday Times newspaper rated Knowledge To Action in the top 100 fastest growing businesses in the UK. He then thanks the graduates and employees for their hard work that made all of this possible and then goes on to talk about his plans, hopes and expectations for the next year,  2011 before finishing by thanking the graduates and employees for their work and supporting and wishing them a happy Christmas and new year.

What's good about this is Greg has a very positive attitude while speaking, he knows what he is talking about and is very proud of what his organisation has achieved.