Editor’s note: Andrew Wright owns Premier Images, a San Francisco video production company specializing in market research. L. K. Fitkin is a video producer and freelance writer.

At 10 o’clock in the morning, the day you fly to Boston for a series of focus groups, your client tells you she wants an edited video of the research for an important presentation next week. "Yeah, right," you say to yourself. But you arrange for the videotaping and find an editor who will charge you an arm, a leg and your first- born child for the rush editing job.

Three days later, you have 12 hours of tapes to watch and cull for quotes. The picture and sound quality of the tapes are awful. And you still have to figure out what the major findings and recommendations are.

For some researchers, this is a fun and exciting part of the job. For others, it is a rare form of torture and abuse. However, it doesn’t have to be painful. For tips on creating better focus groups highlights videos without losing your mind or your job, read on.

Ten survival tips

1. Establish needs and goals. The decisions you make early in the process will save time and headaches later. During the pre-production phase, do some rhetorical analysis of the project. How will it be used? Who is going to see it? What do they expect to see? What are your deadlines? How much money can you spend? By answering these questions, you can establish some budget and quality benchmarks. Once you figure out how the video will be used and how much you can spend, you can start making important decisions.

2. Choose the right tape format for your project. If the video is going to be shown in a presentation to company officials high up in the corporate food chain, you want the best image and sound quality money can buy. (Read: more expensive videotape format.) If, however, the video is going to be sent with the report to the marketing department to view during a weekly staff meeting, you probably don’t need to spend a lot of money on a broadcast-quality tape format. The chart below shows how three of the most common tape formats compare in terms of cost and quality.

3. Choose the right production company. If you are using a focus group facility, ask them what video production services they provide. If all they provide is a stationary camera, you may want to look elsewhere for video services. Look for a production company that has market research experience. Companies that aren’t familiar with focus group recording may try to overcharge because rates for a commercial or corporate production are higher than for shooting focus groups. Also look for a company that has production and editing services under one roof; you have more control over quality and budget.

4. Pay attention to price quotes. Find out exactly what is included in the price. Extra costs increase your final budget and you won’t be expecting them; e.g., tape stock, waiting time between groups, delivery charges, voice-over, music and revisions.

5. Get involved in the videotape recording. When possible, look at the focus group image on the camera operator’s monitor. Add or reduce light if you feel the image is too dark or too bright. Standing halogen lamps are perfect for adding a warm glow to the respondents’ faces, and closing blinds or curtains prevents direct sunlight from washing out the image with harsh light.

If you can hear loud air conditioner noises, these sounds are also being picked up by the room’s microphone. Most facilities have microphones built into the ceiling, and they may be near the air vent. Turn off the air conditioner immediately prior to the session. If you have concerns about the temperature getting too warm, "freeze" the room before the session by setting the thermostat slightly colder than is comfortable, and then turn it off before starting. (You may already use this technique to keep the respondents from getting drowsy!) When using a table microphone, put a cloth or some foam padding underneath the mic to cut down on tapping and paper shuffling noises.

6. Know the costs and benefits of working with time code versus transcripts. You have two options for reviewing your findings and choosing quotes:

a. Read transcripts of the focus groups. This is definitely the easiest for you. It takes much less time to read text than to watch videos. You simply highlight the quotes you want and then refer to them by page number in the outline you give to the editor. Drawback: cost. You have to pay for the transcripts, and then the editor has to search the tapes for the quotes, which increases the editing time and cost. Benefit: takes less time to review.

b. Watch the tapes and use time code or time counter numbers. This option is more time-consuming. You must watch all of the tapes, writing down the numbers that correspond with the beginning and ending words of the quotes. Drawback: time-consuming. Benefit: cost savings. The editor can quickly and easily find the quotes, saving editing time and cost.

Let’s take a moment to discuss time code. Time code refers to the numbers - hours, minutes, seconds and frames, e.g., 01:54:33:07 - that are recorded onto the videotape. When the time code is invisibly recorded, you can have VHS copies made with the time code "burnt in," or superimposed onto the image. This is called a window dub, and it allows you to view the tapes and accurately write down time code numbers for the editor, who will then edit from the original tapes.

However, if the original tapes were recorded on standard VHS format, and you have a VCR that displays a time counter in hours, minutes and seconds (most newer VCRs do this), you don’t need to spend money on a window dub. Simply put the tape into the VCR, rewind it, and set the time counter to zero before you begin watching it. The editor will do the same and will be able to find the desired quotes. The drawback to this method is that you cannot eject the tape before you have finished culling for quotes; the time counter automatically resets to zero when you put the tape back into the VCR. You must then rewind the tape to the beginning, reset the counter again to zero, and search the tape for your stopping place.

7. Make sure your project is edited on a non-linear digital editing system. Traditionally, focus group highlights videos were edited from one videotape to another, making changes very difficult and expensive. A non-linear computer editing system is much like a word processing program; you can easily cut and paste.

8. Keep your text screens short and concise. The video should complement the report, it shouldn’t be the report. Text is difficult to read on screen, so follow the design guidelines for overhead transparencies or computer presentations:

  • Text: Use large, readable font sizes and styles.
  • Bullets: Don’t use more than seven items in a bulleted list per screen.
  • Consistency: Use headings and text styles consistently throughout the video.
  • Conciseness: Save the detailed explanations for the written report.

9. Don’t forget about the essential extras! Adding elements such as music or voice-over will add polish to the video. Music smoothes over transitions, and helps immensely if you have a long introductory section of methodology/objectives text screens. Voice-over orients the viewer by bridging segments and highlighting critical information.

10. Critically review each draft. When reviewing the edited drafts of your video, check the following:

  • Transitions: There should be dissolves between shots; straight cuts tend to be choppy and jarring.
  • Text: Check for any typos or misspellings.
  • Topic order: If you don’t like the flow of the video, you can add, delete and/or move topics and quotes.
  • Music: Does the music set the proper tone? If not, request a change.

Now you’re ready for duplications and congratulatory pats on the back from your colleagues.

Why use video in market research? Because it makes you richer, more popular, and clears your skin. No, wait - that’s what your client wants the product to do.

Video gives your report more impact by letting the audience experience the emotions of the respondents. Video captures inflection, body language, facial expressions and tonal variations - details that are lost on paper.

Next time your client requests a video by next Tuesday, smile with the knowledge that you are a focus group highlights video survivalist.