Since we started making films as ‘Bellyflop.tv’ in 2008 we have created over 1,600 individual videos. For each film only about 30% of the footage recorded ends up in a finished video.
So this has resulted in two things- we have almost 50 terabytes of video footage – about 25,000 hours, and we also have a lot of video that has never been seen!
We have certain ‘specialisms’ (such as opticians, Stockport, textiles, third sector, young people, criminal justice, manufacturing and recycling) so a lot of the footage has a real relevance.
We often delve into this archive for customers to use the footage in their new films. For example, a recycling film needed to demonstrate a process that we filmed last year, or another film needed to show the exterior of an iconic Manchester building from a few years ago that we also happened to have filmed.
Having this archive is a big advantage for our customers:
It speeds up the video making process for a customer as we often don’t have to go out and film anything extra,
It then also saves a customer money as we are not spending working time filming it,
It also gives customers choice and flexibility with their films in edit,
Also as we never delete footage, it always gives customers the option to re-edit their films.
A common sight in the office, various external drives with customers footage on.
We have a searchable database which helps us quickly identify where a video clip is that we need, so when a specific image is required a quick search helps us find the clips and it’s just added back into the edit.
And equally important is we don’t just use footage from other customers films without permission. We also ask them first before we suggest something from the archive could be used in a new film. But often it is usually for the same customer, and the ones that have been working with us for over 5 years have built up a huge array of video and photos.
What makes a website video look ‘cheap’?- an earlier blog post about the subject.
This huge archive is one of the unique elements of our work, and if you are thinking about a video project which requires archive video why not try running the idea by us? Just send us an email.
