Selling Your Act on Videotape

Without a doubt, the single most important marketing tool you can use is a promotional videotape. Your tape’s effectiveness is the biggest determining factor as to whether you’ll get the job or not. The Entertainment Director/Buyer or Agent will make up his mind about your tape immediately. Don’t waste your first opportunity; it may be the only one you’ll get. If your preliminary marketing efforts don’t make a good impression, your later ones will probably be ignored completely.

Demonstration tapes have almost completely replaced live auditions in much of the markets magicians work. Even places that still audition acts will want to see a tape first!  

Recently, I wrote a book titled, “Video Promotions for Magicians.” It is filled with strategies and advice on making a videotape that sells the viewer on hiring you.  Which is much different than simply making a catalog of your routines on tape.

When you are planning your videotape you must concern yourself with format, location, content, preproduction, shooting, editing, structure, packaging, but most importantly salesmanship. Your video is really nothing more than a commercial designed to entice people to buy your show.

Below is a brief excerpt from the book dealing with making a clear and professional appearance by using the media to your best advantage.

Quality of Footage

These days it is possible to get very clean footage from consumer electronic cameras. The digital cameras (DV) have a very high grade of recording and can be edited digitally without losing any quality. The prices vary because of many features, the most important being how it records light. There are three primary colors of light that a camera records. The more expensive cameras have three separate chips or CCDs, one for each of the primary colors. The less expensive cameras only have one CCD to record all three.

As clean as the picture is on these new super camcorders, I believe that you should look for every opportunity to get footage with a Broadcast Quality Camera, the kind television stations use. A good consumer DV camera has a price tag of $900-1,600. The mid-range cameras are $3,000 to 13,000. A high-end television industry camera is $30,000-65,000. No matter what you’ve heard, there is a big difference in output. Obviously, it doesn’t make sense to buy one of those high-end cameras, however, you can hire a crew that has something comparable.  

These broadcast quality video cameras are expensive to hire, but it will add a “Star-Quality” that will really sell you as a “legitimate” stage performer. (Image is everything.) Think of the difference between listening to a symphony on a one-speaker transistor radio or a Dolby digital surround sound system. Same music, but very different impressions. Get as close to the best as you can afford.

You can benefit from at least a two-camera shoot (3 is better), one camera stays at a full-length shot and the other can do close-ups. It is a little more expensive but your videotape is your most important marketing tool, it pays itself back.

Magic is hard to film because the action can often happen without warning. A cameraman can follow the misdirection and miss the effect. That is another important reason to have a minimum of two cameras. If one camera misses the important moment, the other one should get it.

Your Videographer

I want to encourage you to hire a professional videographer. Not only will a professional give you more options but he or she will draw on years of experience. The television screen is a peculiar window to see through. A trained eye can frame you in the picture in a much more flatteringly way than someone that you just hand a camera. The professional should have better equipment and the ability to correct things like low lighting, color correctness and audio constraints (see pages 16-17 of “Video Promotions”).  

Interview several video professionals. Ask to see samples of their work in short subject promotional tapes. Find someone you are comfortable with and shares your vision for your project. A good collaboration with your videographer can provide superior results.

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Copyright © 2001 by Fred K. Becker, IV