If your Florida video production involves still or moving images of food, you’ve got a tough project on your hands. Photographing or filming food is a specialty unto itself and takes a true talent to create images that make your viewers’ or customers’ mouths water.

Have you ever gone to a small, family-owned restaurant and looked over a menu of dishes obviously photographed by the cook’s nephew? The difference between an amateur and a professional photo or video shoot can mean the difference in a restaurant’s success. That’s why you’ll never see an unappetizing image of a food item in a highly successful eatery’s media and advertising materials.

If you are tasked with a project that involves still or moving images of food, Digital Video Arts can help create a look that’ll leave you thrilled with your work and hungry for dinner. Our in-house food stylists and other film/video professionals are specially trained in the art and science (believe us – it takes both) of food styling and related set design, lighting, photography and videography. We create beautiful culinary images for print, television and online media for restaurants, grocery stores, chefs, cook book publishers food packaging companies and others.

Florida video productions involving food are right at home in our 15,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Jacksonville. Our studio includes a full prep kitchen and our primary food stylist Gloria Norton is not only a longtime Florida video production professional, she’s an award-winning cook as well.

For a look at our food styling experience visit DVA’s online portfolio. If it leaves you hungry for more information on our food styling and Florida video production services, contact us online or toll free at 888-340-1010.

It’s an often misunderstood concept, but art direction can make or break your Florida video production or Florida film production. What exactly is art direction, you ask? Easy. Well, easily said, anyway. A film or video production’s art direction involves developing and meticulously maintaining the project’s look. Need to turn your girlfriend’s spotless apartment into a grungy frat house for a day-long indie film shoot? Have access to a bare office space that you transform into a bustling storefront for a TV commercial? Or are you looking to recreate a historic scene for a documentary project?

Talented art direction professionals can transform any space into a scene that perfectly communicates your vision for your Florida video production or Florida film production. Art direction for a film or video project involves designing, building and dressing sets including choosing furniture, wall and floor coverings, artwork, plants, dishes and a million other items that might appear in a believable scene. Wardrobe choices also are a determination of the art department or art direction professionals.

A Wikipedia entry describes the work of an art director or production designer as “in charge of the overall visual appearance and how it communicates visually, stimulates moods, contrasts features, and psychologically appeals to a target audience. The art director makes decisions about visual elements used, what artistic style to use, and when to use motion.”

Originally called “art directors,” these professionals have increasingly been called “production designers” since 1939, when famed film producer David O. Selznick decided that the term “art director” failed to lend due credit to William Cameron Menzies for his work on “Gone with the Wind” and created the “production designer” title.

In advertising, art direction takes a similar purpose in that it involves creating the most effective visual approach for your advertising, marketing and promotional materials including television commercials and print collateral. This involves creating and choosing just the right color, typeface, logo design, graphics and photographs that successfully relay your message to your target audience.

At DVA, our team of art direction professionals boasts decades of experience in all related aspects including set design, construction and dressing, props, costume design, etc. Our advertising art directors are experts in visual communication. No matter the message, DVA has the expertise and experience to create the perfect look for your Florida video production, Florida film production or advertising collateral. Contact us toll free at 888-340-1010.

Financial incentives for Florida video production and Florida film production can help slash your production budget if you know where to look for assistance. Cash rebates, tax advantages and exemptions, travel and lodging discounts and more are available to both Florida-based video production and film production companies as well as projects and companies coming to the Sunshine State from elsewhere.

Existing Florida video production and Florida film production incentives include:

• 15-22% cash rebate for films, TV commercials and music videos with qualified expenditures of $625,000 or more;
• 15-20% cash rebate for multiple commercials and music videos with $500,000 or more in combined qualified expenditures and with a minimum of $100,000 in qualified expenditures per production;
• 15-17% cash rebate for indie Florida feature films or documentaries 70 minutes or longer with qualified expenditures of $100,000 up to $625,000;
• 10% cash rebate for interactive entertainment projects with qualified expenditures of $300,000 or more;
• Various sales and use tax exemptions on Florida film production and television production equipment and real property;
• Discounts on hotel and resort stays, truck rentals, location fees and other items offered through the Florida Discounts & Deals program.

At Digital Video Arts, we keep up to date on all of the Florida video production and Florida film production incentives offered to both in-state projects and to producers of projects coming to Florida from out-of-state. Currently, state legislation sets aside $10.8 million in annual incentives for Florida video production and Florida film production projects, but industry lobbyists are continually working to land higher amounts.

To see if your Florida video production or Florida film production project qualifies for any of these incentives, visit the Film in Florida website, operated by the Governor’s Office of Film & Entertainment. Then, call DVA. We are a full-service Florida video production and film production company that takes the “concept to completion” tagline to a whole new level, offering all the core pre-production, production and post-production video and film services, plus related extras including logo and brand image design, print advertisements and collateral, and Internet and interactive experiences.

There are lots of great reasons to plan your next video or film project in Florida. Jacksonville-based and familiar with all things Florida when it comes to video and film production, DVA can help you take advantage of all of them. Browse our website for a look at our capabilities, then call toll free: 888-340-1010.

At Digital Video Arts, we do much more than video production, Jacksonville. Besides our core business of offering top quality, concept-to-completion digital video production services in Jacksonville and beyond, DVA also offers design services for your brand image, logo, print advertisements and collateral as well as Internet and interactive experiences. Each of these provides an additional layer of your full brand development, helping to build and solidify your company’s name and image recognition with your targeted audience of current and prospective customers.

A great logo can be described as a “silent sales force” for your company. It literally provides a mental image with which clients and prospective clients associate your services, products and their experiences with you. An effective logo is simple and clearly communicates your company’s image and visual message. Think of McDonald’s “golden arches,” the Nike swish or the Mac apple. Even without words, these images are immediately recognizable. That kind of recognition breeds public trust in a company’s ability to produce superior products and services. And that trust translates to dollars.

A well designed and executed print campaign can help boost the potential success of a promotional video production. Jacksonville’s DVA provides design of print advertisements and collateral as a stand-alone project or in conjunction with the production of your commercial, PSA or promotional video. And you can take your campaign a step further with a digital interface. DVA can create an accompanying CD, DVD or Internet presence, including interactive features like games, demos, simulations and eLearning courses that help round out your full promotional campaign and brand development. We use industry standard tools such as Adobe Flash, Dreamweaver, Director and Photoshop to create campaign elements that capture your targeted audience’s attention and move them to act. We also offer digital still photography.

Make sure your company gets the maximum benefit from your next promotional video production. Jacksonville-based DVA has a top-notch team of creative production, advertising, PR and marketing veterans with the knowledge and know-how to help you get the most traction from your brand and campaign. To discuss your next branding and promotional initiative, call 904-281-1001.