How many features can you show in a minute without it turning into a lecture?

Six, if you show them instead of saying them

A baby products maker had a portable play mat that folds into a bag, and it needed a product video for Amazon, its own website and social ads

I produced and directed it

Script, set, talent, the shoot day and the edit, I own the production, so the brand had one person to answer for all of it

One feature, one shot

Here is the deal with product videos, every feature gets its own moment, nothing overlaps, nothing waits

Spacious, wipe clean, easy to open and quick to close, loops to hang it off a stroller, a 2-in-1 design, light enough to carry by the handle

A word on screen, then the picture proving it. The parent opens it in one move. The spill wipes off. The bag hangs from the stroller

A clean white set

We shot it on a bright white set on purpose, because the same footage has to sit next to the product photos on Amazon and the brand's store, and it has to look like it belongs there

Then real life cut in, the baby in the car seat, the baby actually playing on the mat, the yellow bag swinging from the parent's hand on the way out

Babies don't take direction

Ever tried to get a baby to hit a mark? you don't. You get everything ready, light set, camera rolling, and you wait for the baby to do the thing on its own schedule

That's the whole trick of shooting with kids, patience and a lot of memory card

And the parent on camera has to look relaxed while a real baby does real baby things a few inches away. That's acting with no rehearsal

What it's worth

An Amazon listing with a good video gets watched before anybody reads the bullet points. A parent who sees the mat fold in two seconds doesn't need the paragraph that explains it

Fewer questions, fewer returns, more carts

Producer on the camera

When the producer is behind the lens there's no meeting about a crease in the mat or a shadow across the logo, I see it in the viewfinder and it's fixed between takes

See the photo side of this kind of work in the Amazon Shopify Ecommerce gallery and the Products Advertising gallery

Unfold, play, fold, done

Length: 1 min 17 s · Producer & director: David Victory, VRSET video production, Los Angeles & Orange County

Key moments

  • 0:00 The folded mat
  • 0:07 Parent unfolds the mat
  • 0:14 Spacious play area
  • 0:20 Wipe clean
  • 0:27 Easy open, quick close
  • 0:34 Stroller loops
  • 0:41 2-in-1 design
  • 0:54 Baby in the car seat
  • 1:01 Baby playing on the mat
  • 1:07 Lightweight to carry

See the matching photography in the Amazon Shopify Ecommerce gallery.

More videos

The full video library

Also on our YouTube channel.

Planning a video or a fashion shoot? Contact David Victory or call (310) 988-6575 in Los Angeles, (949) 873-4551 in Orange County. Free consultation and quote for first-time clients.